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Erin Hao
Description
Main character is a newbie traveling merchant that dreams to have his own adventure like the heroes in tales. Player travels between cities and accumulates wealth by trading/selling to NPC and city markets. Goods could be bought or collected from nature while player travels in the wilderness.
Design Process
Design Challenges
Game Flow:
Simulators often stay in a simple but interesting enough loop for players to quickly immerse in the game flow. The key of our game is about combining simulation experience with adventure, but there is no combat. How do we ensure variety in simple designs, to create a captivating adventure?
We brainstormed possible features such as
randomly generated NPC, different forms of trading, weather/time factors, regional specialties, changing demands and other economical changes.
Art Challenges
Unifying a Style:
We are going for a fantasy adventure with a bright and lighthearted mood, so I decided on a 3.5 headed proportion, vivid color palette, and cartoon stylization.
Mood Board:
Character Design:
Different from classic Main characters in adventure RPG, the main character is not a warrior, but an average villager with no offensive ability, so he looks harmless. Then what does he wear? Not a warrior’s clothing, probably have some money for decent adventure gear and clothing as a merchant, and definitely a backpack. It’s fantasy. Main character not being completely human immediately gives the hint, so the little horns, but not too much deviation from basic human silhouette.
Other NPC should probably also fit in with the loosely European fantasy setting, and potential non-human features.
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Final Choice:
Main character is an adventurous and hopeful one in their youth. They also have to stand out against a nature environment background. The purple one, the most dreamy one out of the color variations, also enough contrast against a greenish background).
Animation:
This is my first experience with 2D game animation sequence, so I was uncertain about best moments to capture to optimize for a game. Animation took a lot of drafting and back and forth testing in the engine.
Jumps
Walk cycle
Reflect & Learn
What went right?
Within this 72-hour game jam, our team had limited member and limited time.
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We were able to take advantage of the nature of game jam, a small and concentrated team. Members of different roles are able to maintain constant communication while collaborating.
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We all liked this early idea, and moved past the early decision stage very smoothly. Majority of the time was spent on refining the game play logic, and agreement was easy with open mindsets.
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As the artist of the project, I gathered a lot of references, and made sure to widen the variety before starting.
What went wrong?
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We urgently needed a prudent producer or project manager who could properly organize tasks and track progress within the limited time frame. For a simulation game, we were too tempted by all the potential gameplay variables, and underestimated our time. Without a clear hierarchy in the add-on features, these flexible numbers caused extra work in data-testing.
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We had talents in both development and art, but neither side knew enough about the technical art side. This resulted in constant experiments and adjustments to integrate of art assets and accommodate the engine. It was particularly difficult to regulate and format art assets and the lack of technical expertise meant extra effort in troubleshooting issues and a delayed schedule.
What I learned?
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We rushed to the development stage too soon without spending enough time in the planning stage. It would have been helpful if we sat down as a group to list specific goals and organize a schedule pre-production.
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For a game to have complex add-on features, a clear hierarchy and categorical structure is helpful.
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More engine experience in other game types are helpful for an artist (this is my first 2D unity game)
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