Reflecting back on my work, I can say that I am far more confident in the work I produced in the first half of this module than in the second, being the pre-production in the first half while my game demo creation is where my work is more low-quality and somewhat rushed.
Starting off with the module, I was quite excited and enthusiastic about task one, as it consisted of drawing up ideas and documenting the creative side of game production which I enjoyed and often did aspects of as a hobby anyhow. To keep my interest in the project, I used a cyberpunk world that I had already developed as I enjoy writing in my spare time however I went back in time from what the story currently is so I would be working on something almost completely new for the work.
Within my first concepts and idea descriptions, aesthetics and style alongside the reasonings behind these choices were something I believe I thrived with.
One of the first creative assignments I completed for this module was the script and story synopsis. With my passion for writing, I was already familiar with how to convey my ideas. I wanted the realistic and casual dialogue between the characters, as a way to tell the relationships between them without directly saying how these characters interact through narration or description. I enjoy the concept of “show, don’t tell”, which is quite simple and common writing advice but I believe can be used correctly.
Looking back at my artwork, I am also very satisfied with my outcomes. When creating the background first, I took inspiration from the usual classic cyberpunk imagery and aesthetics which is often very dark but with contrasting bright and colourful neon lighting. I used many different contrasting colours for the lighting on a mostly greyscale or muted-coloured background, making the vibrant lights stand out more. Also since the lights have no specific colour palette, this gives everything a more chaotic and almost realistic feel, as the different lights and objects chaotically clash with each other.
While the background also is depicting a very futuristic setting, I also wanted classical elements within it as the story revolves around a group of rebels with a far more old-fashioned and vintage aesthetic rising up against the highly modernised and almost militaristic rulers of the city. So to include this more classic side in the game's art, I drew all the art with bold black outlines and rarely used completely straight lines to give the art a more organic yet bold look.
Moving onto the characters, first of all with the main character, I made a majority of her clothing a very bright white. This makes her stand out on the background and although I didn’t have time to create the other characters, this also would have made her stand out besides the other characters as well to give a clear signifier that she is the main character and drawing most of the attention. The white I used, as well as the shades in most of her clothes, are very cool colours such as different shades of blue or a blueish white and grey. This also would’ve been highly contrasting the other character, who I planned to have a much warmer colour palette.
The second task of this module is where I believe the quality of my work lowers since I am lacking in confidence and enjoyment of the subject when it comes to programming. I encountered many issues during this segment of work, and ended up with a product I am not entirely satisfied with and I do not believe does my ideas justice.
The first problem I encountered though was able to fix was within my coding. Due to a misspelling in my coding, which I had learnt from online tutorials, my character kept slowly sinking through the floor of the game world. Though it took me a long time to discover it, I was eventually able to realise my mistake and correct it so at least the very basic first function of the game was working correctly.
Thinking back on this part of my work, I believe it could have been improved if I had more consistent access to the school’s resources and face-to-face guidance, however, that was not possible for me at the time due to financial struggles and replying on the buses for travel to and from campus.
Despite the technological execution of my ideas lacking, I think I chose the right concept for the current times. This story is focused on rebellion and standing up for what is right within a dystopian and unjust world. With all the current unrest and struggles the world and this country is going through, I think this story is something that people may have gravitated towards if it had been a much larger production that I could not fully create alone. The story could be one that encourages people to follow in the footsteps of the main characters and stand up for what they believe in or at least be cathartic for those that feel like they can’t make that change to the world.
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