Monday, 2 June 2008
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Thursday, 22 May 2008
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Saturday, 17 May 2008
Thursday, 15 May 2008
Titles - concept
This a quick idea of what the Paint-Ed titles might look like. (Drawn by Chris and coloured by me)
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
[Level Vectorisation]
With Paint-Ed! Levels complete in design, it’s now time to “Vectorise” them. In other words, trace and colour in Adobe Flash. I had to be careful here, as Chris’ fill effect required a mask to be put over the level with a b/w outline layer above that. Here is a quick breakdown of the technique structure (from top to bottom) to my understanding: The Ed sprite is on top of the B/W Outline layer of the level. This B/W Outline Layer sits on top a White Mask that animates revealing the fully coloured level at the bottom. This results in a fantastic effect. But I have one problem, I cannot give depth to the levels due to the way the technique works.
To achieve depth on flat image, I can not only fade the background as they get further away and have each move at different speeds, but for an extra effect, I can have Ed move behind different parts of the foreground such as bushes. To do that I would make certain parts of the level as separate layers and place them on top of the Ed sprite layer. But they would be above the White Mask layer in full colour, where they should be B/W. In other words, only Ed and the Ink Leeches can be in colour and on the top layer only. Anything else that is above the White Mask layer has to be B/W Outline.
In regard to vectorising, I do the outlines first so Chris can start animating and I let him know of any areas to watch out for such as jump heights a general directions etc. then I continue to colour and do a background for the level. This is the final result:
BG:
As mentioned before, the background was to be faded. I decided to keep things simple by making it less detailed compared to the rest of the map. So I only used 3 tones of green and planned out a “formation of the bg so I complimented the rest of the level (below) "O" means Open.
Everything worked really well yet i felt something was missing. that was when Radhika added minor details to the map that really finished it off (below).
Rome Level [Revise]
This was the version I was not happy with due to the lack of everything. Radhika and I discussed over this and came up with this concept (below). Radhika suggested a “Leech Pit” holding a sea of Ink Leeches and a catapult to launch Ed onto collapsing platforms as he makes his way to the other side collecting the artefacts as he jumps. If you did fall, you would not die straight away, oh no! You would have a very slim chance to get to land but I guess, as there are so many Leeches in the pit, your chances of survival are close to zero. In addition, you cannot progress to the final boss unless you collect ALL the artefacts. If you don’t you’ll have to try again and that might mean a dip in the Leech Pit if you’re brave enough.
Dominic Lopez
Lava Level [Revise]
Above is the original sketch for Level 04: Lava. Below is the revised version. I replaced the “rotating platforms” on the left with more natural looking fragile rocks. This revision not only blends in more with the environment, but it also adds extra challenge after the Mine Kart jump as those rocks break as soon as you land on them. I further replaced that floating brick pillar (top centre) with a more natural “floating/tilting” rock (assuming that floating/tilting rocks are perfectly natural that is!). I also cleaned up that area due it looking clustered. I widened the final climb on the right.
With a note to Chris’ fill technique, I think it would be great if the colour was the lava and as you were running up the hill, it would chase you and fill the level at the same time!
Dominic Lopez
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