Leviathan Production.

30/04/2013

So I'm deep into production now and programming Leviathan myself at the same time as producing the art and overseeing  various other bits and pieces that need doing such as sound and the piecing together of the trailer.

With being so busy recently I haven't had much time to blog and dropped the ball in that respect, to give an accurate depiction of these final jam packed days I will be doing a daily blog that is much more diary like to give a cutaway kind of look at the ups and downs of building just the end slice of Leviathan.

Two weeks time is the hand in but the graduation show is about six weeks away, I intend to continue the blog right up until the graduation show itself. Teams doing a really great job!

Sam.

Ethical layout

                                             

Here is the full layout of the game in text form, every choice and its consequences. The game has one main quest which is a large ethical puzzle in itself, from this there are three smaller quests that are all ethical based puzzles and in these three quests are three hidden ethical choices.

The outcomes of these choices are shown in the main quest.

The games ethics are based around my own experiences within games and the writings of sicart.
Deb was a massive help for the massive brainstorming night where the games puzzles were finalised (at long last)

Now on to the build.

 

On the 19th of november there is a presentation to show where we are, I want my presentation to be a game itself so taking what we have built so far the team has put together a small game entitled 'stop hitting me' (above) that sums up the mechanic of the game and how it plays. Its a tech demonstration but it shows off the art of the game too, a little taster of whats to come.

I wanted something I could play that was a presentation in itself so I wasnt explaining out answers to questions but showing people answers to how the game works by playing it. hands on visual.

A play through copy of 'stop hitting me' will find its way up here after the presentation, fingers crossed.

The Great City Tartarus.

The Great City Tartarus.

Taking inspiration from old greek mythology as Milton did I have named the devils prison city Tartarus although all the many areas within it have different names and their own look based on various aspects of different mythologies and religions. In this way I neither approve or disprove any religion, my devil is as much a malleable faceless force given form(s).

Story.
The devil created a prison world in the form of a small puppet theatre which is the only doorway in or out. Inside the puppet prison is a fake world which prisoners come to believe is their own real world, in this way they are tricked into staying there endlessly searching the great puppet world.

The look.
Tartarus is based on many different places, I have looked at baroque architecture as this is my feeling of what hell would look like, a place of excess and beautiful wonder with a kind of broken jumbled look about it, think an old museum with long red velvet curtains and junk everywhere. Less a place of fear and more just a place someone could get lost in forever.

I looked at babylonian and old sumerian ruins although I only took pieces of babylonian architecture in the end. I looked at specifically old english baroque architecture and prague's many beautiful buildings. My version of hell would incorporate these styles asian and european together. A mish mash of world culture to create the devils fake city.

Other areas have slightly different looks but I'll come to these later.






This was my first mood board, I really felt baroque domes should populate the main cityscape the player sees upon entering tartarus. With it being a kind of half limbo type prison I looked at willow trees being its main type of vegetation  this is certainly not a christian version of a hellfire prison and nor is this hell, my devil old scratch fashioned this realm himself so its design can bend any rules that may constrict my design.

The babylonian black and white image gave me the idea for a series of towers over the city which light this fake world (which obviously has only a fake sun.)

The Tower of Maalik.
The tower of Maalik is based upon the Islamic tale of the angel Maalik who guarded the hellfire with his 19 mysterious followers. His 19 followers are the stone angels atop 19 towers over the great city that light it. The tale of Maalik tells how he told the wicked they must remain in hell as ''they abhorred the truth when the truth was brought to them'' (from the Qur'an)

Maalik will feature in the story. I won't give too much away here but its ethically important. The tower of Maalik will be a playable area.

Another mood board collecting a few ideas for the tower of Maalik and the gardens (more later)

Concept art Depicting the main square of Tartarus, This area will lead to every other area the player will travel too and the player will need to return here a lot to cross over to other paths. While very eastern in style There will be plenty of european baroque references added, This is merely a concept rough

Inspiration.

                                   

                                     

I drew inspiration from journeys architecture Which brought together many aspects of different cultural designs. Their beautiful renditions certainly helped me think about the importance of the shape and form of buildings in regards to play.







I also drew alot of inspiration for my asian/european devil prison from Mike Mignola's concept art for the city of Pandemonium based upon the works of Milton. The domes and intricate details conveyed in silhouette are very powerful and his designs here are just stunning. I think my own city will swap the majesty and roman look for a more scottish look. Epic square cut cliffs and standing stones, While the devil built this prison and would have tartarus built in his own style the prison must serve the function of distantly persuading its prisoners that they are still in their scottish homeland, the areas they are kept will show this more than the city. After all this prison is a vast fake world with its own culture derived from as many religions as have trickster gods.

A few colour palettes for the first area. The one on the left is more for decoration while the one on the right is for the eastern design of Maalik's tower and his guardians. The european sections will have warmer greys.

Sam.

Level design 1

I'm working on the most complex puzzle first as it more effectively summarizes what I wish to do within the game. This is just the first iteration and will no Doubt change quite a bit, there's still a long way to go but it gives you an idea of what we will be looking at.

The character you play is the puppet priest in the bottom left of the screen, you will have to leap about the devils theatre where you can interact with the other creatures and scenery on screen.