Vector/Vectoria

Just a quick posting today on a vector logo I made for a family member recently.  It is sans colour as the image will no doubt change, but I like the idea of it so wanted to post it. 

Original sketch for the idea

Vector image with no colour

3d Character...it moves!

So this is the first draft of the animation of Ophi.  Still in the process of unwrapping as the first attempt didn't go so well.  With a deadline looming I thought it best to simply show that the character is rigged and can walk and put it into a basic environment to show scale.
Essentially the character will be in udk, so the important part here is to make sure the unwrapping works and there are no bits going skewy on the mesh.  There didn't appear to be but as I said, it's a first draft and will need more editing before it matches the original concept exactly.
Still, for a first attempt at animating like this in 3ds Max, I am well chuffed.  The joy of seeing your character rigged and actually move without the biped leaving the mesh behind...well its a very proud moment to say the least. :)

and here's another :) :

More Numbchuck and Dr.Piddles

So I am in the middle of uploading some images I've done for the game as the UI and it is amazing the amount of images generated for the simple 'press button' in a game.
Anyways, some of the finished bits are here...and if I'm honest a slight bit of burn out kicked in on this assignment as I'm getting closer to the end and the energy was not as forthcoming as previous assignments.
Still, gonna have to eat spinach and hurl myself over the finish line...still got 2 big assignments due and the final project which is the game.  Fun but definitely keeps you on your toes.  This week I found myself doing 'deep breathing' counting exercises...only instead of 'breathe in 1,2,3,4'  I  found myself counting '1,0,2,4' ...dimensions for boxes in 3d...hmmm....

Dr.Piddles - created by Hilbo

Numbchuck Scramble

So I'm getting closer to the finishing line of completing my course.  Just have a few more assignments and then the final project and then an exam.  It seems like it'll never get to the finish line, and meanwhile when you think you have most of the work done something else creeps up to grab your attention.
The image for this posting is a starting design for a UI for my 'Numbchuck Scramble' game.  The assignments come at you thick and fast, and sometimes it is so frustrating not being able to create the image or design that you had in your head because a deadline demands it gets finished while you are still in the process of learning and honing your craft.
So this is a stage 1 image, it's closer to what I had envisioned for the game and for the first time in a long time I feel like I might actually get to express the full idea that was in my head.  I won't hold my breath mind, as I have little time to do this and juggling tasks is proving interesting to say the least...but fingers crossed anyways!

3D Ophi

Stuck in the middle of designing the character for our group project in 3D and developing an alpha level for the game.  I'm a newbie to the alpha creation and downloading and reinstalling software is pretty much a 24hr job for the last 5 days.
Sometimes the software works, and other times it partially works before crashing.  I know my pc is capable of running it, but when there is a deadline and the installations keep appearing to have a bug in them, the clock ticking gets super loud.
So below is a rendered image of the character I have designed so far.  It still has a long way to go before finishing.  I'm currently doing the mapping for it and deeply regret the tiny pointy bits on the collar and sides and arms..but will keep going!

Ophi far far away by Hilbo

Logos

Difficult thing to try and design a logo, but that is exactly what we have to do as part of the final project for Games Design.  As we're all mature students we thought 'Spring Chicken Games' would work and so designs are being based around those ideas attached to the words.

Without going straight for the obvious, I wanted to try out something that still involves the words 'spring' and 'chicken' but that was a slightly different take on it.  Some of the concept sketches are below, and the first draft of an idea is outlined too.

The one concept sketch that did work well for me is the spring in the rainbow curve with feathers coming out of it(over on the other blog).  It applies the words without going for the chicken attached to a spring.  I'll be doing up a few more of these to try out in the next while and a further analysis is available over on the www.springchickengamedesign.wordpress.com site.

UI Designs

Interesting few assignments the last while, with a brief given on a specific game and theme which you then had to design the UI for the games.  Here are a few completed designs that I did, showing examples of the UI for the Game Boy with a 4 colour palette restriction and the Nintendo DS with full colour palette options. 
Resolution for both UIs were really limited so it was interesting to try and work within those limitations.  I went for a really simple approach with the Game Boy as I wanted to keep it clean and bold.  The intention was to ensure it was clear and easy to use and navigate around.  Going back over it now I'd probably try out more pixels to give depth to the font but overall I was happy to hand up what I did.

Crow Hero - UI by Hilbo

Fairytale Snap - UI by Hilbo

Fairytale Snap - UI by Hilbo

 The Fairytale snap design was focused on a target group of young girls, so the bright colours and inviting fairytale ideals of a castle and unicorn were the key focus.  As the brief included a reference to Princesses and Little Red Riding hood, it made sense to include the castle in the background.

Space Snap - UI by Hilbo

Space Snap - UI by Hilbo

For this version, the aim was to design a snap game that would appeal to young boys, so the colour palette became more primary in colour and retained a strong hue throughout.  The 50's style rocket and background were chosen for their simplicity and quirky designs, which I felt were more playful and friendly which would help to balance with the strangeness of the aliens.
The cards displayed in the snap games were borrowed from stock photo searches on google, while all other elements were original designs for the game.