Music Hero Blog Post 3 - Modeling and Texturing for Prototype

So after making some initial concept art, I was given the task of making some objects to fill our environment, as well as texture the city (which won't be included until the team thinks the final texture will be best for prototype).

Without further ado, I present the items I modeled and textured for our prototype!

Not much to say really.  Basis stuff for a prototype, but I did learn more about text and using the same model over and over to make work easier.

Music Hero Blog Post 2 - Artwork for Prototype

Over the weekend, I went out of town.  So for our prototype, instead of making models or 3D objects, I did the artwork for what would become some of the textures and designs for the prototype.  So here they are and what each mean.

So here is a concept for the hero.  During our talking about how to show the enemies and player in the prototype, we thought it would be easier if they were common shapes.  So he is rendered as a cube, and has each side a different side of his body.  However, I felt we needed a new concept that strayed from my original pitch.  Instead of being a rock star, I figured our main character had to have the look of an up and comer.  He is here for the fun of it.

The enemies were a little harder because of the different shape (I had a small forgetful moment and drew characters in the wrong shape or forgot how the shape functions).  But here, we have a security guard, and demon, and a hooded boss demon to contend with.  I made both a security guard enemy and still frame so it can be used in the level as a humorous backdrop.

To save on space, I rendered 3 different repeating patterns for the levels.  The top half is the street concept.  The bottom is the same level, but on each end.  It is the inner office level, and it begins with white walls and ends in blood smeared walls.

This was rushed, but the top half is where the satanic ritual takes place.  The bottom is office items which could be scattered.  Desks, clocks, computers, money, shoes, whatever could be in an office.

Some of the various things which could smother the walls as you progress through the office level.

And lastly is the final still when you complete the level.  It gives off the graphic novel vibe as it pans out to the helicopter flying away with the big cheese.  It is not colored because I feel it wouldn't of done justice being colored by me.  It needs to be done by a computer!

Music Hero Blog Post 1 - Concept Art

For my first bit of work for this project, I was asked to design concepts for the level, enemies, and various things to make our game what it should feel like.  Here is what I came up with so far.

I was asked to make a "suit" seem evil and devilish, so I made a "suit" that is evil and devilish.  The basic concept is shown on the left, with some cool head designs in case we go with something other than what's given.

What do you get when satanic people in corporate offices worship something?  Hopefully something along the lines of this.

For what might be considered our chase sequence, I came up with what it might look like, or even what might be splattered about the walls and platforms we will be scaling along the way up.

I decided on my own a concept for what could chase us down the hall.  Cerebrus, the Dog of the Underworld in Greek Mythology, is a pretty scary guy.  I mean, one ferocious head is enough, let alone three.  And since this is the music business, making them a sort of bodyguard is kinda funny.  Clothing on a dog is hilarious, even if it is just a pair of shades.

Research for Music Hero: Part 2 - Music and Rhythm Games

What makes up the other half of our game is definitely the music genre.  Although it has been steadily declining as of late, there is no use denying how powerful and fun these games were, and maybe still is.  To this day, I try and get friends together, dust off my instrument peripherals, and jam out on one of the many downloaded songs I had for Rock Band 2.  So let's see what I think should be in our game.

Before Rock Band included a microphone and drum set, there was just the guitar (and occasionally a bass guitar), and I think Guitar Hero was at its peak with this game.  It had a polished design, great music, and smooth gameplay.  I really wanted to make myself play this game to continually get better and better.

So what worked?  The character design really felt solid in this one.  I could really sense the genre each character represented.  I want our characters to have that same sort of design philosophy.  Along with that, but how the music was played felt polished and flawless.  When we are bounding through levels, I feel we  need that polished gameplay so those who play it over and over again can expect what to press and really feel like a rock star.

And if we can make our music sound as great as the set list to this game, that wouldn't be so bad either.

Mario Paint was a real weird game when it originated for the Super Nintendo, but more people know it today by it's music composer sub game, shown below.

This version of Mario Paint is now available on your computer (through a ROM hack), and youtube has tons of videos of people making songs with this composer.  I think having some form of this in the game would be a very cool addition.  Whether that's being able to use sound bytes for specific attacks and jumps (representing what button you hit) or even a player being able to make their own track list for the background music.

Although this might be a huge hurdle, it would nonetheless be a cool addition if pulled off correctly.

The last game I would like to go over is Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.  Essentially it is just like any other Japanese RPG (role-playing game), but now the battles are fought using something similar to a timed button mission.

One of the discussions our group had was for how our boss battles would be managed, and I think this game is the perfect example of how it can be accomplished, especially when multipalyer can be managed.  By building our combo, the players can unleash the full power of their instruments.  Each player can have a special grid, similar to Rock Band or this game, and if things are executed correctly, the player can attack the boss.  Maybe the harder the riff, the more damage can be done.  If it doesn't work, the players have to rebuild their combo and try again.  But this game can help paint how the game could look when fighting the boss. As they sit on the side, the players attack using the power of rock!

Research for Music Hero : Part 1 - Platforming

So since this game kind of has two aspects to it, a rhythm game and a platforming game, I decided to start out by researching each specific genre linked to Music Hero.  I will say what I feel could work in our game and what I think might not work.

So to start out, I would like to introduce you to...

I have had this for my Gamecube since 2005, and it is one hell of a game.  You use a peripheral sent out by Nintendo called the DK Bongos to move left and right, perform combos, and fight the baddies as you try and accumulate the highest banana total for each level.

I picked this game for its use with the Bongo controller.  You use the left pad to move left, the right to move right, and a sound sensor was used to hear claps, which performed about everything else.  Because it only had 3 different buttons, the game worked and didn't work in a few aspects.  It was easy to get in and start pounding the drum, moving across the screen to your goal, and it was lots of fun!  What became hard was the advanced aspects of the game.  Ground pounds, punches, slaps, and wall jumps became hard to use because they were used only in specific instances.  There wasn't a couple of buttons to fiddle around, you just had to be lucky sometimes.

The concept of a musical instrument can work, and the game still was a blast to play, and where our game can benefit is in using more than 3 buttons to work our attacks, combos, specials, jump, whatever we need to make our game fun.

Speaking of Donkey Kong, this is by far my favorite 2-D platformer of this generation.  Never have I experienced truly breathtaking level design than in this game.  This is where we can learn the core mechanic and fun for our game.

I praise this game mostly due to the little things it has.  There are secrets littered everywhere in each level, and only by stopping and examining bits and pieces can you find what you are looking for.  This could be a cool mechanic to include in our game, but I am looking a lot deeper.

This game made me realize how well you can design a level.  For example, some of the minecart levels include tricky jumps.  For a beginner new to platforming, they might just jump the highest they can to make it, and most of the time it works.  But these levels include what can be called "short-hopping".  It essentially means how long you hold the jump button is how long you stay in the air before coming back down.  I soon learned a lot of these tricky jumps meant I didn't need to reach the peak of my jump, just halfway.

What also works is the seamless way they do their design.  They include, after you beat the level, to do a speed run of that level, and the faster you get to the goal, the better medal you achieve.  They designed these levels with speed running (where you try and beat a game in the lowest amount of time) in mind, and then made all the little secrets and features later to play around with.

Our game can benefit with that deep design feel to it.  When we play our instrument as a controller, I feel a need for it to work in specific ways so it feels like we are truly playing an instrument in game.  Sure we can look around, just mash buttons and make it sound like an instrument, but when it's done in a specific way, then we truly feel like playing the rhythm section of this game.

Oh, and it includes a level based around the background music, shown above.

The last platforming game I will talk about is Rayman Origins.  This is my second favorite 2-D platformer of this generation, but also my favorite multiplayer platformer as well, far exceeding New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Just like Donkey Kong Country Returns, Rayman Origins has the pleasure of having some of the best level design I have seen in a long time.  And just like DKCR, it also has hidden areas, speed running, and great music.  However, it is not as difficult as DKCR (there are no lives, you can just resume at the checkpoint every time, and characters can balloon themselves just like in NSMBWii), but it has a really great art direction.  It is funny, zany, over the top, and filled with unique characters and crazy bosses, which I feel our game can benefit from.

But I feel this game shows how multiplayer can be used the best in a platformer beat-em-up style game.  This game lets you compete and cooperate at the same damn time!  Sometimes jumps cannot be made, and you need a partner to give you a small boost (by letting you stand on them or jump on them), and maybe even just stand there as you try and get a pesky secret, in case you die and need a friend to pop your balloon life.  But as you collect the Lums throughout the game (the equivalent of coins in Super Mario Bros. or bananas in Donkey Kong Country, without the 100 = extra life bit), you are competing with your friends over who can grab the most.  Or maybe you sacrifice getting Lums yourself so you can increase the amount of Lums your partner, and by all accounts, your team as well can achieve at the end of the level.

This game pictures a great use of using your friends as a means to an end, whether good or bad.  It's competitive and cooperative.

One more quick word.  This game is getting an exclusive sequel for the new Wii U system, and in the demo was included another music based level.  However, this level doesn't just feature a level where the music plays a key role in determining the traps and perils, but it becomes the level!  By using little things like jumping at the right part or punching through a barrier, we can include little parts like cymbals crashing or a guitar riff behind the background music, so it feels like we are indeed playing the instrument we have in our hands.