Real World Influence Research
For one section of my research, I decided that looking into real-world places could be a good idea for me to obtain ideas and influences which I will then be able to put to use when I create (the writing behind) our games world.
As I am the writer, I will not be apart of the creation of the objects on the islands (such as the models themselves), or the islands/levels themselves, but I will be a part of writing about the islands/levels, and providing ideas for the different islands/levels, and giving the game's world and islands a history, to make them as believable as possible.
While looking into real-world locations I have picked out a number of images of different locations that I could use for inspiration when writing/designing some different islands/locations within our game.
For my real-world influences, I have looked into a number of real-world locations and picked out a number of images that have/might provide some ideas/inspiration for me when writing about the games world/levels.
Additionally, I have also created a moodboard with an array of images, ranging from real-world locations, game locations, and artwork
Antalya Town, Turkey
This image caught my eye due to the dock/port section at sea, which could be a part of some of the more developed/inhabited islands of our game/world.
Hope Island, Maine, Portland.
This image caught my eye as I liked the general size of the island and the ratio of building to nature. I then thought about how this could be a level of our game, which then turned into the concept of an island making use of a forest setting, with areas of development
Aogashima, Japan.
After thinking of possible level/island concepts, I eventually got to the point where I felt using particular themes would be an effective idea. My first theme idea was to have one island/level being a volcanic island, whether there's a volcano on the level somewhere, or the island itself is the level, much like Aogashima.
The images that I have picked out have influenced my ideas in a number of ways. When I come to write the world of my groups game, I now feel that I will want to focus on the different islands of the game, rather than the world as a whole. Additionally, I now know that I want the different levels/islands to make use of a different and unique theme to the other levels, so each level actually feels like a new section of the game, and will be more interesting for the player to see and venture around.
This is because my current idea is for the different islands to have varying and unique conditions, much like the different worlds in a Super Mario game. An example of this idea being that one island has icy and Antarctic-like conditions, whereas another island could make use of more volcanic conditions, such as the island having a volcano on it, or even the island itself being a volcano (much like the image of Aogashima).
Additionally, I don’t think the islands should be too big, as the larger the islands are, almost all of the departments will be required to carry out even more work, which would most likely lead to a strain of time. Because of this I feel as the islands should be somewhat on the smaller size, and on the islands with buildings, there shouldn’t be a large number of completely different buildings (maybe one or two islands of the game are largely inhabited, with the others being islands where there aren’t inhabitants?).
V&A Museum Trip
Moving back to research that has more of a focus on real life, one of the trips that were available to the students of my course was a trip to go to the London V&A museum, to look around the video game exhibition they had running.
I have covered some of the areas I looked into, and how they have/could influence my throughout this project, on a separate page, linked below.
Continued Research into Real Life Locations
Moving on through the pre-production phase of the project, I decided to try and establish somewhat of a link, or influence from real life countries/places when planning my levels/islands.
Level 1 - Possible building styles / Tudor architecture
(Houses & Homes, 2013)
Tudor Architecture
For the buildings of the first island, I thought maybe the buildings could be somewhat similar to a Tudor style, where they make use of wood and stone as their primary materials.
This could be effective as many of the builds are shaped more simply, but also since the wooden pillars/supports are quite a distinguishable feature.
Level 2 - Overgrown / untouched jungles
(Needpix.com, 2019)
Angkor Wat - Cambodia
The concept for the second island/level of the game is to have one section of the island being a jungle with a section of overgrown ruins (this being where the puzzle/map will be).
I search for the internet for some images of overgrown jungle ruins and came across Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and felt the temple complex portrayed a similar image of what I had in mind for ruins section of the second level.
Level 3 - Frozen landscape / island
Hotel de Glace
A hotel in Quebec which changes shape each year, with the buildings being formed from primarily snow and ice.
This could be an interesting architectural concept for the third island of the game/story, as it's main theme snow/ice so this could work nicely together, and make the island more unique/individual.
(Inhabit, 2015)
(MashableUK, 2016)
Harbin Festival - China
In China, there's a festival that takes place where the attractions are created out of ice. Once again this appealed to me as the level could make use of similar architecture, where all of the buildings are ice, or make use of the ice as one of its structural features.
Frozen Lake in Baikal - Russia
As I looked further into different regions of the world that are cold and often freeze over, I found some images of some of the different areas of Russia frozen over.
(Russia Travel Blog, 2018)
(Reddit, 2014)
Frozen Lake in Baikal - Russia
If the 3rd level of the game was to be created, I would want to implement areas such as this to the island, as it not only portrays the theme of snow and ice effectively, but it could also introduce terrain mechanics (such as the ice/frozen lakes being slippery). Either way, a level making use of terrain similar to that of the image could not only be different gameplay wise but mostly make use of its visual appeal.
Oymyakom, Siberia - Russia
As my idea for the 3rd island of the game was to make use of building of ice that never melt, I thought it would be fitting to briefly look into some of the coldest areas of the world. Upon doing so I learned of the conditions of the Siberian outpost of Oymyakom which during the winter is said to be "the coldest inhabited place on earth." (The Telegraph, 2018)
(The Telegraph, 2018)
Level 4 - Mountainous islands/locations with a waterfall
Plitvicka Jezera National Park
I wasn't really sure as to what theme I wanted to make use of for the 4th level/island of the game, at this point I had mainly settled on the occurring theme of elements (such as nature, ice, and fire/lava), so my other ideas weren't fitting with the other levels too well.
But I then stumbled across some images of Plitvicka Jezera
(Earth Porm, 2019)
National Park online, and thought maybe the 4th island/level of the game could make use of a mountainous/water(fall) theme, as my vision of the other levels didn't really include much bodies of water on the island, but instead having them surrounded by the ocean/seas, meaning this could be a unique island concept that could still fit the overall theme
Level 5 - Volcanic Island
Mt. Etna, Sicily - Italy
For the theme of my 5th island, I wanted the theme to revolve around fire/lava.
One feature that I thought could be apparent on the island (or in-game if it was to be created) would be lava lakes or streams running through the island from a source point, which would likely be the island's volcano.
(Uptrending Life, 2018)