During the past 2 weeks we have been working diligently attempting to polish the game through the beta process of our game, one of the major pieces of feedback we got through this process was that our game needed an entire graphics overhaul. During the beginning stages of the project we were aiming for a more abstract type feel to the game however with the addition of the heavy reliance on physics in the mechanics it became apparent that this would have to change, for it to "make sense" in it's own way. With the release date (Today) looming however we had some serious thought about what was possible in the current time line, so we came up with a simple idea for the theme that being "the bloops are trying to escape into the sky". With this our graphics designers got back to me with a basic mock-up of the background, shown below.
After getting this piece of concept we decided that if the background and general theme of the game was changing, the hazards would need to change as well. We had some trouble figuring out what to make the hazards, they had to stay the exact same size and shape however they would need to be objects that were appropriate with the new theme. The first idea was for the death hazard, the most appropriate thing for this being a spinning blade shown below, this worked well thematically as we could create a large splatter effect for when the player dies.
After this we simply had to figure out simple textures for each one of the other hazards, which came with relative ease one we figured out the type of colour palette and what kind of items work thematically. Some of the other hazards are shown below.
We added these and the new background, as well as some new audio flair and this was the result.
This is pre some other aesthetic, game play and functionality updates. However this short example shows the difference between the same game after a simple graphical update. Some people have said they like the new aesthetic feel, others that they hate it. However the fact that it is more consistent and polished is enough for me to say it is a successful update.
Thanks for reading,
Joel.
