Big Fish To Fry

Heya! 

So, I have a lottttt of updates. 

Last we left off, I gave y'all a rundown on the mermaid situation. Since then, I have had several very productive meetings and conversations with colleagues, course supervisors, stakeholders and industry professionals.

Let's go chronologically, for ease of reference.

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Fathomless Mermaid Concept 2

Notes from meeting with Tim and Oana (Course Supervisors)

This is the feedback I received from a meeting with Tim and Oana about Fathomless. Tim suggested adjusting the torso size and fish tail integration, while Oana emphasized the need for better fin placement and suggested more sunken eyes for aesthetic reasons. I agreed to iterate on these changes, including adding gills and making the mermaid appear sickly. They also discussed the importance of basing the character Mere on a real person to avoid cultural backlash and creating a style guide for consistency. I was advised to find new style references beyond Disco Elysium to avoid being too similar.

Action Items

• - Iterate on the mermaid design, focusing on the torso size, fish tail, and placement/integration of the fins.
•  - Explore more iterations on the kelp/coral hair and make the eyes more sunken in to give the mermaid a more sickly, emaciated appearance.
•  - Ensure the gills are properly drawn on the mermaid's torso to make it look more fish-like.
•  - Instruct Erin to complete a fully rendered character portrait and expression sheet for the first player character, Ian, to establish a baseline for the other characters.
•  - Instruct Yumi to complete a fully rendered landscape to establish a style for the other background and landscape art.
•  - Find additional style references beyond Disco Elysium to avoid the project looking like "Disco Elysium fan art".

Detailed Outline

Feedback on Mermaid Art Proportions and Iterations

• Tim suggested that the proportions of the mermaid art were a bit off, particularly the torso size.
• Oana agreed and mentioned the need to explore different iterations of the fish tail's end.
• I acknowledged the lack of flow between the fish tail and the humanoid torso and suggested adjusting fin placement to improve form.
• Oana noted that the mud skipper fins were awkwardly placed, creating a tangent in the pose.
• I plan to iterate on fin placement and consider a more jagged approach to exaggerate the horror aspects of the creature's appearance.

Adjustments to Mermaid's Features and Style

• I discussed the need to make the mermaid look more sickly and emaciated, as she is an adolescent mermaid in an inciting incident.
• Oana suggested making the eyes more sunken in, which I initially disagreed with but later saw the validity in it for form over function.
• I plan to iterate on the face designs and add gills to the torso to make the mermaid look more fish-like.
• The discussion included the importance of the mermaid's appearance reflecting her unhealthy state.

Character Design and Cultural Sensitivity

• I emphasized the importance of basing the character Mere on an actual person rather than a generic indigenous individual to avoid backlash.
• Oana and Tim advised creating a style Bible or style guide to ensure consistency across all characters.
• I was advised to have Yumi and Erin complete full character portraits and expression sheets as a baseline for other characters.
• The conversation highlighted the need for a diverse range of style references to avoid creating fan art of another game, specifically Disco Elysium.

Next Steps and Action Items

• I was tasked with finding additional style references to avoid creating Disco Elysium fan art.
• The team agreed to update each other on their progress and iterations.
• I noted the importance of balancing form and function in the mermaid's design.
• The meeting concluded with clear action items for each team member to address the feedback and improve the project's art and design.
  

       

Take a wild guess as to what I did next.

If you guessed that I:

• - Had a meeting with Mark, Fathomless' project supervisor, and Evan, my co-producer and co-director, about this very same feedback,
• - Had a meeting with the Art department (myself, Erin and Yumi) directing them on the above action items for them as well as tabling the design of Mere for right now,
• - Had a meeting with Mark and Evan again, this time about a UI brief to put forward to his second year UI design students for their project course,
• - Promptly good very sick after this and was out of commission for about a week with a diabolical case of the flu,
• -Then, finally getting back into the groove of things after clawing my way to a non-snot monster state, had a meeting with Evan about what sort of UI screens would be necessary for our pitch to CODE at the end of the year....

Then I would be very concerned about my personal safety and privacy because HOW did you know all of that?

Jokes aside, this is exactly what I did.

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Creative Project Status Update With Mark and Evan

Evan and I discussed the evolution of their narrative, focusing on the character Graham and the game's tutorial. We emphasized the importance of a strong opening to establish the game's tone and mechanics. The team is refining character designs, particularly Mere's and Klara's, to ensure cultural accuracy and emotional impact. They plan to create an art Bible and conduct playtesting. Mark Rickerby suggested improving the quest documents for better production communication. The team also discussed the need for cultural consultation with local Māori communities to ensure authentic representation in their game set in Kaikoura.

Action Items

• Reach out to the local Marae in Kaikoura to consult on the authentic representation of the Maori character.
• Refine the design of the sick mermaid character (Helen) to convey her emaciated and sickly appearance.
• Create an art bible, including a fully rendered character (Ian) and environment (seal location).
• Coordinate with Glenn (narrative department's supervisor for Fathomless) to get guidance on the cultural consultation process.

Detailed Outline

Status Update and Creative Evolution

• Evan mentions the narrative team's workshop and concerns about pacing, tone, and setting.
• The original idea of Graham as a tutorial guide was deemed contrived and unrealistic.

Developing Graham's Role and Character

• Evan explains the workshop's discussions about Graham's role and the need for a personal stake for Ian.
• The idea of Graham's death setting the tone for the game's mechanics and story was introduced.
• Mark Rickerby appreciates the reasoning and suggests testing the assumptions through audience response.
• Evan emphasizes the importance of a strong opening to avoid a slow build-up of horror.

Inspiration from Jaws and Stranger Things

• Mark Rickerby draws parallels between the game's opening and the film Jaws, highlighting its tight story beats.
• Evan compares the game's opening to the pilot episode of Stranger Things, where a character disappears to set up the story.
• Mark Rickerby and I discuss the significance of the creature's status (alive or dead) and its impact on the game's mechanics.
• Evan clarifies the tutorial's structure and the branching paths leading to Graham's death investigation.

Chapter Structure and Story Delivery

• Mark Rickerby and Evan discuss the chapter structure and the importance of consistent story delivery.
• Evan explains the tutorial's purpose in introducing the game's mechanics and setting the tone.
• I emphasized the need for audience retention and consistent storytelling to avoid overwhelming players with text.
• Mark Rickerby suggests exploring different story delivery methods to maintain engagement.

Art and Character Design Feedback

• I provide feedback on character designs, including Klara's appearance and the need for more expressive features.
• Mark Rickerby and I discuss the representation of Māori characters and the importance of cultural accuracy.
• I plan to consult with local marae leaders to ensure accurate representation.
• Mark Rickerby offers to help with cultural consultation and suggests following UC's process for cultural engagement.

Art Bible and Playtesting

• I outlined the next steps for the art team, including creating an art Bible and playtesting with paper prototypes.
• The team will focus on rendering characters and environments to establish a consistent style.
• Evan and I discuss the mermaid design, emphasizing the need for it to look emaciated and sick.
• The conversation concludes with plans to refine the game's story and art elements based on feedback and testing.

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Then, I organized a discord call with the AD (Art Department) to discuss everything!

Erin provided a full portrait very quickly, and after some feedback from me, she properly knocked it out of the park!

She got my approval for the hairline change, which I had said was originally a bit too low. Her adjustment was perfect.

These are the original full body portraits done by Erin. 

My feedback verbatim was "Erin you always knock it out of the park omg

 [...] my only thought is he seems a bit,,,, orange? idk if its my monitor or something but his legs and arm seem very orange. outside of that, i love him!"

She ceded that she has a tendency to over-saturate her colors, and provided the above alteration, which I gave a seal of approval! I know the change is minor, but it's the little details that count.

My reasoning for the color desaturation is as follows;

1) he spends most of his time indoors,

2) while we are going for a stylized look, we aren't aiming for cartoonish. Bright orange skin does not bode well for the tone of our game.

We're still waiting on Yumi's environment art, however she is also involved in like, 5 other projects so there's an expected wait time with her.

I then asked her to upload everything to our Google Drive master files so that I may transfer them into a formatted style bible, which she was able to do by the end of the week.

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Next up on the chopping block: UI.

Here's the notes I compiled with Evan after our meeting with Mark!

Meeting with mark retroactivce notes

-5 screens of gameplay:

-    Inventory

-    Dialogue

-    Location screen (in the place you clicked on in the map)

-    Map (fast travel)

-    Minigame screens

    o    Exam table (treatment operation/necropsy)

    o    Tank design minigame

INVENTORY

inventory -wise, we want there to be a separate inventory for the lab vs on the player (aka field inventory). An analogy would be like Stardew Valley’s or Minecraft’s player backpack vs the player-made chests, or in the sims, with sim-specific inventory vs household inventory, only accessible via the build mode.

Sims 4: Sim Specific Inventory

We imagine the inventory would work very similarly to the Sim specific inventory, in that you could click and drag the item into the world and have the sim interact with it there, or have the sim interact with the object directly from within the inventory UI.

The field inventory will be accessible whenever the character is In A Location.

For the Lab inventory that will be for the Operation and Tank Building.

Sims 4: Household Inventory

Whenever you are interacting with the lab inventory, the inventory will be sort of like a catalogue, where you can see items that you own and items that you can buy, all in the one place. You also need to be able to see the amount of “funds” or money the lab has and the price for the items you can buy.

Stardew Valley: Reg. Game UI View of Inventory

Stardew Valley: Player Inventory Full

DIALOGUE

We want character portraits visible for the conversations, some way of identifying who is speaking which line of dialogue, response selection. We want there to be a conversation log that can be revisited or reread by the player. 

At this point in time, we are flexible on whether it is its own screen or an overlay, and we would like to see concepts of both.

For the sake of accessibility, we would also like to see different iterations of the screens with different sized font.

FONT

We would like to see different options that are easy to read and also subtly communicate the tone of the game.

LOCATION

    o    Field inventory. 

    o    A way to access the map. 

    o    Time of day. 

    o    Season. 

    o    Party members (who you have travelled with). 

    o    Player and party member status bars (energy, general health etc).

    o    Options/settings button. 

    o    We want a way to identify interactable items.

MAP

You need a way to open and close the map screen, bits of the map will be interactable- location markers, quest markers, clue markers ("someone said they saw [enter hint here] at [location]"), time of day and season. Options/settings. Potentially have an image for the location when you mouse over the marker for the destination.

MINIGAME- OPERATION/NECROPSY

Most of the minigame will be portrayed through art. You want creature status and inventory items that can be click dragged out and used on the creature.

MINIGAME- TANK    

Show the different elements of the overall Treat Value: Enrichment, environment: based on what items/objects etc the player is implementing into the tank. The inventory catalogue.

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And that is where we find ourselves today!

Oh, and on Tuesday until Thursday, Evan, Toby (narrative department) and I will be staying at the Ngāi Tahu Marae!!!

Overnight!!!!!!!!

It will be very exciting and very informative. I can't wait!

Thank you so much for reading, and I'll see ya in the next one!