Concept Art

Concept Art is an essential tool in game design, it allows developers to see visualisations of concepts to better understand there impact and implication. Concept Art is a form of prototyping allowing for ideas to be tested before they are committed to development, some later become implemented into the game and some are discarded after being judged as the wrong way to go. Concept Art is produced in all game development processes and is a key aspect of games design.

Below are two pieces of concept art relating to a created games concept. These will show visualisations of two aspects of the concept and will give people a better insight into the potential of the game.  

Game Concept:

Familiar - Echon Daimonion

Betrayed by the Righteousness Order and left for death, the player takes control of Malarath in this third person action-adventure game with connotations of horror. Taken as part of a horrific ritual, Malarath is slowly turning into a horrible demon and must not only battle with hordes of bloodthirsty enemies to get his revenge, but himself. The player will fight throughout a savage world with four distinct areas, reachable only by harnessing an assortment of demonic powers gained as the players corruption increases. Combat is fuelled by combo, the higher the gauge reads, the more powerful the special attacks preformed however the player will also have access to a variety of collectable items to help shift fate in their favour. In the end the player will have to make the choice between revenge or salvation.

Concept Art:

In-Game Interface - Concept Art

Above is a piece of concept art showing the design for the in-game player interface and the main game view. These two aspects are found in the core Gameplay section of a games design document, as they are important design issues that must be dealt with before the specifics of Gameplay are considered. From the concept art it can be seen the main game view is in three dimensional third person mainly due to genre and perspective issues when battling. The player interface consists of six key components, in the top left is the demonic power indicator to show the player what power they have currently selected, below that is the corruptive energy gauge showing the player how much energy they have remaining in the form of crystals. Above is the health gauge to show the player their current health level in the form of blood vials and to the right is the mini map displaying the landscape and current objective arrow. In the bottom right is the combo meter displaying the players current combo level and in the bottom left is the item pad, displaying to the player how many items are left and what direction needs to be pressed in order to activate them.

Demonic Powers and Combo Abilities - Cocept Art

Above is a piece of concept art showing the designs for the demonic powers and combo abilities. This concept art would be included in the contextual Gameplay section of a game design document, as it contains information on the specific features of the game mechanics. From the concept art it can be seen that there will be four specific demonic powers, demonic blades that extend from the arms to act as swords in combat, demonic black flame which will act as an offensive ability to burn enemies and certain environmental features to allow access to new areas. Demonic wings will be used for flight, gliding and some combat moves, demonic hide will reduce damage taken and allow the player to cross through certain hazards. During combat the player can use specific special abilities depending on their current combo level, from the concept art it can be seen that five different animations at 10, 20, 35, 50 and 100 combo. At 10 the player deals medium damage to one enemy, at 20 the players deals medium damage to multiple enemies in front, at 35 the player deals heavy damage to multiple enemies in front, at 50 the player deals medium damage to all enemies in a large radius and at 100 the player deals ultra heavy damage to all enemies within a large radius.