Life Drawing - 24/10/12

Charcoal.

More ReferenceReferenceReference

From my silhouette iterations earlier on, I've got a couple of distinct outfits I want to pursue and flesh out. Now that I'm looking at particular items of clothing/gear I need to get deeper with the reference. The weapon I'll give the soldier is a 'Mauser' rifle. There are a ton of different variations, but they all keep the same basic look:

 
I want to give him a bayonet, as this plays into the loose gameplay I've already worked out (melee combat). These rounds seem to be fed individually (although rounds were clipped together for quick reloading), so reloading in gameplay would manifest itself as a repeated button press until the gun is full. The 2d sidescroller 'DeadLight' (2011) has a similar system which I feel is satisfying. I'm going to leave iron sights on the weapon.

In terms of webbing/load carrying gear, there is a consistent look to the pouches the non-uniformed left forces wore: made of leather, wide and boxy.

For other pouches/yoke/strapping I'm going to use 58 pattern webbing for reference. The British Army used it up until the 80s and I actually used it in the cadets at school (it's horrible, everything falls out...). So I already know a bit about how it all fits together and how the canvas material feels. This stuff's actually surprisingly tough.

One of the silhouette iterations I really like is the idea of a double breasted woollen cardigan, collar up. Couldn't find a whole lot of period reference for this, but There Be Dragons (2011) has something similar in one scene:

At any rate, it useful for the fabric it's made of. More modern reference is easier to come across:

I want to look at giving the character a heavy cloak/poncho; it seems fighters did use them in the desert.

There are quite a few options for headgear in the period, I like the idea of giving the soldier one of these puffy flat caps.

Looking at Light

'Organic Valley', Andree Wallin

Wallin has an incredibly proficient understanding of how light moves around an environment, and this can be seen in his work. 'Organic Valley' shows an example of light diffraction causing the distant mountains to appear lower in contrast and detail. This technique is pivotal in creating a sense of scale/perspective/distance. Wallin has allowed himself to use a simplified color palette and yet still convey the form in his environment.

We see yellower tones towards the top of the image, showing the sun is low in the sky. Because of 'Rayleigh scattering' light is again diffracted around the environment lending yellow tones to the more distant peaks. (This principle also explains why our sky is blue.)

We can also see an example of the 'Frenel effect': the water in the centre of the image reflects more light towards the 'camera' (through which the viewer would observe the environment) as its angle is sharper. As the water surface moves closer to our simulated point of view, we can see less light from the sky reflected back at us. If the water surface were to continue, we would expect to see completely through into the riverbed below. Although the waterfall below suggests the material causing such reflective effects, without such well-observed mimimcry it would be much less obvious that we are indeed looking at water.

Towards the foreground we see enough detail for shadows to be prevailent. These are of course arranged to the opposite side to the light source.


Concept art for 'Deus Ex: Human Revolution', Jim Murray

Human Revolution has a distinctive art style inspired by renaissance paintings, utilising primarily the colours gold and black. Most of the levels take place at night, justifying the use of a sci-fi noire aesthetic along the lines of Blade Runner. This particular image shows how different materials can be suggested through understanding of how light relfects. Skin is soft and allows light to permeate through its layers, resulting in 'sub-surface scattering' of light waves. We can see this in Murray's image in his use of soft shadows/highlights on the skin of protagonist Adam Jensen; his face and exposed torso seem to glow. Other materials are conveyed similarly through the harshness of their shadows/highlights: Jensen's bandages around his waist, his trousers, his synthetic arms and the glass of the whiskey bottle. The harder the surface, the sharper light is reflected.

Jensen's cigarette smoke is drawn particularly well, shown through light from the windows caught in its particles and diffracted around.

Level Design - the Cave

Before I get onto thinking about the design of the environments in my telling of the story, I thought it a good idea to get a basic understanding of the layout of some of the play area. I've made this overhead map of the arguably the most interesting environment: the cave. Key points from the story need to be conveyed: there are three distinct areas, each with a different 'treasure' and guarded by a different monster. These areas are of course connected by the central chamber, which the soldier enters through the tree.

Each area needs to have a distinct visual style differentiating it, but also appear consistent with its brothers.

In the story, the soldier goes into each area and fills his pockets with the treasure he finds. As he finds more valuable items, he replaces what he finds. Clearly for this to make sense in the context of a game there needs to be a structure of gates to ensure the player doesn't skip straight to the last tunnel and most valuable treasure, missing out the majority of the level in the process.

When the player first spawns in the central chamber the route into two of the tunnels will be blocked; only by methodically venturing around the caves will they find the items they need to access the rest of the level. In the first chamber the player finds dynamite which can be used to destroy a boulder blocking the second tunnel. In the second tunnel the player finds a ladder which is used the navigate a chasm preventing access to the third area.

These puzzles also factor into the combat. As the monsters appear later in the story they obviously can't be killed at this point. Therefore, while the player character has access to a rifle for ranged combat and it's bayonet for melee combat, the monsters cannot be defeated merely by pumping a certain number of bullets into them. The player needs to use their environment to defeat the monsters. (I'm going to refer to them as monsters from now on for clarity.) The player can call up to their companion to drop down more ammunition at any point while in the central chamber.

The first monster spawns as the player is traveling back to the central chamber. It's arrival knocks columns over, impeding the player's quick access back to the central chamber and ensuring the player needs to defeat the monster first (perhaps a hole in the newly formed rubble must be crawled through slowly and the monster can easily grab the player character's foot and pull him out). 

The player must lure the monster to the chasm near where they found the dynamite sticks and force it off the cliff edge through repeated attacks (the monster would react to attacks by shuffling backwards a few steps each time, with perhaps an extra physical push needed at the very end).

The second monster is not defeated but rather avoided by carrying the ladder back towards the central chamber and using it to climb up to the ledge above (see 'drop down' on map image). However, the ladder is heavy and movement while carrying it is slow: the monster must be stunned by successive hits followed by a melee sequence. This causes the monster to be immobilised for a short time. Once the player character returns to the central chamber, he pulls the ladder up behind him, stopping the second monster's progress.

Monster #3 is defeated by shooting brittle stalactites on the roof of the third cave area. Eventually enough are destroyed that the cave roof collapses, destroying the cave floor between the monster and the player.

Once the player has explored all three areas, they must find the 'tinderbox' (or cigarette lighter in this transposition) before they are able to return to the surface. Some sort of puzzle involving information or items acquired over the course of the level in its solution would work well here.

Character Iterations 1

Just finished these, I've taken a few of the silhouettes I like the most and played around with them to see what clothes I can get to fit into the shapes. I like the idea of doing something with a cloak - Spanish soldiers did actually use them in the desert. The asymmetrical nature of double-breasted jackets is another feature I want to keep working with. Also this exercise has certainly taught me the importance of sketching characters in more natural poses and not standing face on.

Next up, I'll be taking a few of these iterations and making sketches in more detail...

First batch of reference

 Considering the setting I'm working with I've been watching a tonne of films around the 1930s/spanish civil war, to get a feel for the sort of outfits people used to wear around that time.

First up:  Road to Perdition (2002). Set in 1931, it follows a mafia hitman and his son fight back against the mob in Chicago. A lot of good reference here, particularly for men's suiting/outerwear and interior decor. As it's a modern film, it's in colour: particularly useful.

 

Dark City (1998). A modern sci-fi-noire film, which, although not set in any particular period, features a heavily stylised appearance meant to emulate 40s/50s film-noires. Lots of flappy coats and fedoras, not to mention good environment reference.

For the Spanish civil war, one of the best films to look at is Ken Loach's Land and Freedom (1995). Extremely detailed costumes of the leftist fighters throughout, particularly the militia-like forces away from the main cities. For these semi-organised fighters there was no official uniform except the red neckerchief.

Another good source of reference for the Spanish civil war is There Be Dragons (2011). Again it focuses largely on the Republican forces fighting in desert conditions.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) is an obvious choice for the civil war, but as it mainly focuses on the fascists it's of limited use to me in this project.

 The Maltese Falcon (1941) is one of the quintessential noire films. Although made slightly after the period I'm using as a setting, visually it is definitely relevant. Made when it's set, it's aesthetics are reliably accurate. I'll probably go back and look at it for environmental reference, especially.

First bunch of silhouettes.

For the soldier.