Somnium Game: November 2014

Color Palette

In the colour palette, each row corresponds to the complementary colours. So, you can use the colours in horizontal axis, not in vertical axis. There are basically 3 alternative palettes. As we have decided, the last one will be used for train scene and we can use that for other scenes as well.

I am still not very sure about our art direction style, especially after trying the games from 7DFPS. You know, basically you can create functional games with minimalist colours. We decided to use Beksinski's surreal and realistic style but it might not be very helpful since it requires too much time and effort to achieve that quality along with many textures. And this where the difference between painting and games come in actually. Paintings are static, meant to be looked for hours. However, this is not the case for the games as it can also be seen from our post about 'The Way Player Perceives the World'.

Maybe sticking with minimalist, functional and flat colours can help us to progress more fastly and efficiently. Flat colours constitute also contemporary art-style, as you can see from our 'The Elements of Design' post. And this is an example from an awarded game called Mirror Moon EP, released in 2012:

Some other photo references:

Something relevant for train scene in terms of colour:

Clarity trumps consistency - Steve Krug

10 Tips about Level Design

Is fun to navigate – It uses a clear visual language to guide the player along the primary path, and creates interest through verticality, secondary paths, hidden areas and maze elements.
Does not rely on words to tell a story – Aside from the explicit narrative called out by story and objectives, good level design delivers implicit narrative trough the environment, and provides players with gameplay choice from which to create their own emergent narrative.
Tells the player what to do, but not how to do it – It makes sure mission objectives are clearly communicated, but lets players complete them any way they like, and, where feasible, in any order.
Constantly teaches the player something new – It keeps the player engaged by continuously introducing new mechanics all the way through the game, and prevents old mechanics from becoming stale by applying modifiers or reusing them in unusual ways.
Is surprising – Classic Aristotelian pacing is not always appropriate for an interactive medium, and it is not enough to simply pace all your levels to the standard “rollercoaster” model. Good level design is not afraid to take risks with the pace, aesthetics, locale and other elements to create an experience that is fresh.
Empowers the player – Videogames are escapism and, as such, should eschew the mundane. Furthermore, good level design reinforces players’ empowerment by allowing them to experience the consequences of their actions, in both the immediate, moment-to-moment gameplay, and in the long term, through the holistic design of all levels.
Allows the player to control the difficulty – It gears the main path toward players of basic ability, presenting advanced players with optional challenge through clearly communicated opportunities of risk and reward.
Is efficient – Resources are finite. Good level design creates efficiencies through modularity, bi-directional gameplay and integrated, exploratory bonus objectives that make use of the whole play-space.
Creates emotion – it begins at the end, with the desired emotional response, and works backwards, selecting the appropriate mechanics, spatial metrics and narrative devices to elicit that response.
Is driven by the game’s mechanics – above all, it showcases the game’s mechanics through the medium of the level, to reinforce the uniquely interactive nature of video games.