Interactive Media Foundations, Semester II, 2018 ———————————————————————————————————————
Assignment 2: Layered Compositions for 2D Game Design (25%)
Brief: In this assignment, you will be creating three layered compositions as concepts for 2D game backgrounds using original digital graphic elements. While these three compositions all explore the illusion of ‘depth’ with 2D graphic elements, each design is distinct and they are not related to each other. Importantly, these compositions are game backgrounds and not game interface designs; no interface elements, text, game navigation, power-ups, point counters are needed.
Task: Your first composition is a background for a mobile or tablet game consisting of repeated elements. Your canvas will be sized 1024 by 512 pixels and needs to ‘tile’, that is, the left side of the image should join seamlessly with the right so that the background could be looped indefinitely when animated. It is assumed that the player or game character is moving through or against this repeated background. Your game background may be a landscape, a cityscape or any kind of imaginary world, but it important that you craft your repeating elements (trees/buildings/clouds/mountains) carefully and consistently to lend cohesion to the work. The images in example 1, example 2 and example 3 are references to guide your concept only and should not be copied.
example 1, example 2 and example 3 as initial design examples.
One of your key challenges will be to render the illusion of depth so that your compositional elements appear superimposed. Blending effects, colour grading, drop shadows and opacities will be important considerations, and further example reference images will be discussed in the lectures and tutorials.
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Assignment Submission (via Moodle):
(a) All your compositions should be saved as JPEGS, the dimensions of your final designs vary; the first composition will be 1024 by 512 pixels, the second 2048 by 1024 pixels and the third 2048 by 2048 pixels.
(b)A project folder with your final PSD files. We are setting an upload limit of 100 megabytes for this assignment submission, so please compress and optimize your files accordingly or contact your tutor for advice on alternate submission procedures.
(c) Assignment Documentation: As in Assignment 1, your documentation is an annotated visual project diary with screenshots of your assignment process and progress. Your tutors will be interested to see how you developed your concept, your creative process, and the research and experimentation that contributed toward your final designs. Again, please compress your image files in your documentation file so as not blow out your submission file size.
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Grading Criteria:
> Originality and creativity in response to the brief
> Technical implementation of digital graphics and rendering the illusion of depth in each layered composition > Interpretation of design elements and principles
> written and visual documentation, including and conceptual research and reference images
Your second composition will be an exploration of silhouettes, blurred opacities and ‘depth of field’ effects; it
is a single composition sized 2048 by 1024. Colour is the important limitation here; you can only use black,
white and one other colour. However, you can split the one colour you do include into various tones to convey
depth. While this composition is primarily atmospheric, it may include the silhouetted outlines of characters
(optional). You can use the images in
Your third composition depicts a scene – probably a landscape – at a larger scale. Using brushwork and superimposed layers, you will craft a large landscape scene ‘matte’ background sized 2048 by 2048. Remember to include familiar objects such as trees or buildings as a reference for the scale of your scene. You can use the images in example 1, example 2 and example 3 as references.
Due Date: Monday, Week 9