Sunday 28 December 2014

Character Design: Mechanism example (Henry)


Henry is the main protagonist and therefore must have a mechanism that makes him standout from the others to portray this. So in light of this I have chosen to make henry an extremely bouncy and enthusiastic character through his movement.

This also ties in with his character design as the pilot hat he wears is symbolic of flight and being in the air so its only right that his mechanisms and movement depict this. Also the hat makes him appear somewhat young and childish so the very hyperactive feel to his movement makes sense.

Saturday 27 December 2014

Character Design: Mechanism example (Blu)


The mechanisms for Blu are the stereotypical big blob stretches and wobbles. Similarly to Crazy Moe, Blu stretches but only horizontally while simultaneously opening his mouth to eat the candy and gain points.
It is also a strategic decision to choose Blu because although he is a very slow moving character, he opens his mouth wider by stretching which enables him to consume more than the others in a bite.

Character Design: Mechanism example (Mandy)

 

Mandy's character is a tricky one because on the one hand she is the most simplistic and sweet character but then on the other is one of the most powerful when she gets enough points and evolves. I've shown this through her mechanisms by making her the only character to glide while the others bounce and roll in her normal state but in her transformed state, which runs out after 30 seconds of gameplay, she moves rapidly and the candy close to her is attracted to her almost magnetically.
              
This makes choosing her a strategic decision as she may be the slowest player in her normal state but hands down is the most speedy and efficient when evolved and in her second state.

Character Design: Mechanism influences


Influence Map

             For the mechanism and movement of the characters in the game I've looked at various other phone app or arcade games that require the main character or object to navigate around by bouncing and rolling. From this research I've decided to make my characters seem more of a flubbery type of material to link more with the key word "elasticity". I plan to do this by making them wobble after their movement or consuming the candy in each level.