Thursday, January 8, 2009

Concept board

Finally....
The Concept Board.

Thank you.

Test out screen

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Option 5

Option 6

Option 7


Finally, I chose Option 5 as my final submission.

Main reference





The PSP Bomberman Land helps me a lot throughtout this whole project. I get most of my inspirations and ideas from it. From character design to game assets to screen, it provides me the best reference.

sketches in A4


A simple sketch for screen and gimmicks.^^
More graphics were created in the digitalization part.


game asset: Speedup power. I thought of replacing the 'car' in Bomberman with this " speedup cloud". This is the first version of my idea.
In the final, the speedup cloud is slightly different.


Buddha sketches:



From the first sketch to second sketch, buddha transform into cuter version.
(front view)


(side view)



(back view)



Lotus sketches:



simplification of the lotus.


Digitalizations..


From the reference above, the main character of my game : Flower Buddha.
below is the digitalized versions.



The main assets of my game: the lotus (bomb).
I took reference of the lotus from google.
Below is the digitalized version which consists frame by frame animatic sequence of each item.

Here are some gimmicks in different colors and graphics.
I have only chosen a set of gimmicks for the soft block, hard block and the melt block.

The background paper of my FlowerBuddha game.
Generally I use checkered floor. It is an idea from the PSP version Bomberman Land.
It looks tidy and nice.


These are all that I have created.
Nicely arranged.

digitalizing game assets

At this stage, I am creating some game assets to replace the bombs, powerups, etc. The purple color item is actually an image of a lotus seed. It is the "fireup" asset.


These lotus in different colors have different powers.
Red : powerbomb
Pink : bomb
Yelllow : getpower
Blue : bomb up


This is one of the gimmicks I have created using Photoshop.
They have to be very small in size : 16x16px. Thus the pixelated image.



Next, I am creating the soft block. Do not missunderstand it as an image of a puppy head. It is actually a creature with 2 eyes and 2 legs. no hands and no mouth.



This is how i draw using pen tool in photoshop. I first drew in a4 paper and i scanned it.
This was supposed to be the buddha image. But later on, i have modified it into a simpler and cuter version. so that it suits my audience : the 4-7 years old kids.



The final visualisation in digital of my main character.
simple color and lines and shapes.



The process of editting in photoshop.
At times I got really mad dealing with these files.
The ones in pencil drawing are the side view and back view of the buddha.




Back look of the buddha done!
I saved them all in .tiff format and basically all in very small size :
not more than 30x30 pixels in 72 dpi. When i reduce the size it definitly got blur.
But that was okay. because the character in my game was small in the game's actual size.


Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Reference/ credit

http://www.nintendo8.com/genre/puzzle/

http://www.agame.com/game/Bomb-It-2.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomberman

http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Bomberman

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j110/Beethovenv/ChessProblem64-RecruitingtheEnemy.jpg


Similar Games Example

These are some games similar to Bomberman:

1. "Bomb It 2"

cover screen


loading screen



game setting screen


4 options for characters
battle screen

2. Fire and Bombs

starting screen


game setting

battle ground

Walkthrough


Laying BOMBS


The trick to succeeding in Bomberman is understanding effective bomb placement. Bombs are more destructive when they are released in intersections instead of between blocks. When they are placed in intersections, they explode in four directions. When they are placed between blocks, they only explode in two directions. As long as you have one bomb power-up and one flame power-up, you can chain bombs that are placed one intersection apart. This technique is useful for fast clearing of brick walls, and trapping enemies in no-win situations. The more bombs that you can lay simultaneously, and the longer their flames reach, the more likely you are to be successful at destroying an enemy no matter how fast it travels.


There is a downside to this however. When you gain the ability to lay four or more bombs, it can be tempting to lay them down continuously, believing that you will have enough time to escape from the blast. Beyond the fourth bomb, it gets progressively more difficult and dangerous to lay a chained bomb and make it to safety unless you have the Flamepass or Detonator power-ups. If you have the Flamepass power-up, then you have nothing to fear except the touch of an enemy. Otherwise, don't lay more than four bombs at a time, and make sure that when you do, you can reach a safety point before the bombs explode. Even if you have the Detonator, think before you move after you lay each bomb down so that you don't end up trapping yourself behind your own bombs without a Bombpass power-up.


Early Stage Strategy


In the early stages, the enemies are your biggest threat. You begin the game very weak, with the ability to drop only one bomb at a time, and an explosion range of only one square. This makes it very difficult to hit the enemies with your bombs. Even with one Bomb power-up and one Flame power-up, it's still very difficult to hit a fast moving enemy. The more alleys that an enemy has access to, the better its chances of escape are. Therefore, the best strategy to employ against enemies in early stages is to get as close as you dare, and trap them in closed off alleys. The less room they have to roam, the better. You only need to get as close as your explosion range. In the early stages, it is best to seek out the power-up item in each stage before actively going after enemies to give yourself the best possible advantage. But if an opportunity arises to kill and enemy quickly before the power-up is found, always take it.


Later Stage Strategy


In the later stages, the biggest threat to your survival... is you. That is, without some of the better power-ups like Flamepass, Bombpass, or even Detonator, you have to be very careful not to set yourself up in a situation where you are caught in your own explosions. By the time you reach the higher levels, you should be very familiar with the bomb explosion timing, so you should know exactly how many bombs you can lay down and still reach a safe place in time. Only expert players should attempt to lay more than four bombs down at a time. If you have the better power-ups, then it becomes easier to stay alive even if you make a mistake. But remember that getting killed means you will revert to a less powerful state and be forced to rely on your reflexes more. As the enemies get more aggressive, you may find yourself in a no win situation, so don't become too reliant on your powers to save you all of the time.


Bonus Stages


Roughly every fifth stage is a bonus stage (the later bonus stages occur one stage earlier.) During the bonus stage, there are only thirty seconds on the timer, and you cannot be killed. An unlimited number of one particular enemy will appear and you will be able to withstand the explosions from your bombs. You are encouraged to walk around and blow up as many enemies as you can within the time limit. As with ordinary stages, the point value for an enemy rises when they are part of a chain of enemy kills. Because you can't be killed by explosions, if you are fast enough, you can continuously drop bombs and keep a chain explosion going indefinitely, but this won't necessarily help you earn more points unless the enemies are grouped closely together.