IDEAS
For our final project - part of the MA in Game Art at Escape Studios - we had, as students, to suggest and negotiate the brief. It was completely up to us to come up with ideas and concepts of projects to work on.​
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We had to pitch three ideas to the tutor; after negotiations and discussions, one idea had to be chosen. Another choice had to be made: the choice of the game engine, either working with Unreal Engine 4 or Unity 3d.
Idea I
The first idea was a Villa Raid, a Lebanese architecture style villa; renovated old architecture mixed with modern architecture. The villa, a lavish real estate, located on a private large land with private gates and a large backyard, etc.… will serve as a home of a drug lord or a mafia leader.
The idea was inspired by Narcos and Pablo Escobar and slightly by Grand Theft Auto Vice City (and later versions of the game). The game environment would be the state of the villa after a police raid of the place.
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The second idea was a Petrol Station, a deserted petrol station prior to a chemical attack. A post-apocalyptic devastated petrol station, right after the virus outbreak, where healthy survivor and zombie-like infected people have raided the petrol station’s shop, looting food and supplies.
Inspired by many movies and series such as The Book of Eli, I am Legend, Resident Evil, and The Walking Dead etc… and also by Fallout 4 and The Division.
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Idea II
The third idea was the Gemmayze Street. It is one of the remaining preserved heritage Lebanese old streets in the heart of Beirut, with its iconic old Lebanese houses and the Saint Nicolas Stairs.
The Gemmayze Street has become a hub for pubs, restaurants and nightlife in the last decade, giving it this mixture between modern and traditional architecture. The environment would reflect the traits of this preserved old Lebanese street.
Idea III
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The Decision
The hard part was up next; to make the decision to proceed with one of those ideas. All three do seem appealing and challenging to execute but one has to be chosen. And after some thinking and negotiations with my tutor, the choice was made on the Petrol Station that I found to be the most appealing and has the most potential to show various skills and techniques and also has the chance of expansion.
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I then had to create a brief to explain my choice and pitch my idea showing the main axes of the project and my main goals with some references.
I elaborated and developed the idea using the garbage crisis that Lebanon went through in the year 2016.
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Following the garbage crisis in 2016, the garbage piled on the streets of Lebanon, forming even rivers and mountains. The crisis went on for nearly a year. As protesters took the streets, mosquitoes and rodents took over the country, turned into a heaven and a favorable location for breeding. As their numbers skyrocketed, a terrorist organization found in this situation a perfect opportunity to strike. They developed a mutated virus and used the rats and mosquitoes as transferring agents. A couple of months later the virus widespread - through mosquitoes and rodents bites - infecting the population. Infected agents were turned into zombie like creatures hungry for food and blood. The minority of survivors had to resolve to arms or whatever they could get their hand on to protect themselves and survive this zombie apocalypse.
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The Brief
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Art Bible
Now that the decision on an idea was made, the next step was to create an art bible for the project. Similarly to any project we need to work on, we need some guidance to follow, thus the art bible. In the art bible I divide the project into various zones then would make a list of the main props in each zone, and create a basic blockout. I would also add some reference images for inspiration and to grasp the feel of the environment. The art bible would also include the Moscow list and the importance and priority of the various zones and props and the possibilities of expansion. Not to forget the preliminary schedule, the lighting, color palette and the material feel and type.
References
[1] Narco official trailer on Netflix – Published on July 2015 available on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7elNhHwgBU
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[2] The Vercetti Estate – Properties GTA Vice City available on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obrBTCNGsy4 min 5.00
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[3] CNN - Lebanon trash problem not going away – Published on Feb 24 2016 available on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1c7DJ70TW0