Hey ho,
I'm starting to work on a game idea i had for a while, but alas, the image of the game in my mind is so fuzzy i don't even know where to start.
The basic gist is a Utopian/Dystopian near future cyber punk world, think bladerunner. Rocked out urban zones, industrial areas, megacon buildings, you get the idea.
The Genre is a platformer with beat'em up and shooty elements. The idea would be to have fun moving around in bigger areas, running across roofs of warehouses, grapple hook onto flying cars or monorails, and have a more methodic approach in indoor areas. Not necessarily stealthy, but i'm thinking across the lines of the blackthorne covering system, but with more options (back attacks, generally melee, who knows).
So the main character was supposed to be a gruff detective type character, but then i remembered i have this character i created for a cyberpunk game jam, so i'm reusing and redesigning this right now.
Turns out character design is not my strong suit, among other things.
original
remake
redesign steps
(left most character is from Hyper Iria just for scale/reference)
She has protheses for her lower legs, initially thought of as spring/coil type things, but i'm having trouble getting a detailed version going without it looking odd/wrong. I looked up some references on this, but they are mostly C shaped springs that just dont-look-as-cool so i'm trying out a couple different designs, also influenced by
this (
by Adrian Dadich).
So far the design is all over the place, and it's hard to make a decision. Gruff looking character vs metroid zero suit kind of design. I think i'd rather go with a gruff, dirty, dystopian design but i have a hard time to figure out design elements for that. Would love to know some references for this, as my repertoir for that is pretty slim (movie, anime, anything).
The other trouble i have is the environment perspective.
i like the slanted sideview, and that it creates more depth. What i dont like is the mixed perspective (outer walls) it just projects weirdly.
having the perspective fixed would work (i.e. the right outer wall is flipped) except if there is a wall in front of that house (i.e. you're outside of it) you would not see the window and therefore break into it.
The flat view is more consistent, but it fails to represent depth as nicely and its hard to make out the door frames and windows.
I'm kind of torn between things and i'll probably have to look up more refs of games that project as either, although most platformers i know dont even bother with depth at all (being a flat 90degrees orthographic view).
So why am i posting?
Several issues. I'm not looking on immediate feedback on the art itself, although it is still appreciated. I'm more looking for ideas, suggestions, and references on the design attempts, as actual design (and analyzation thereof) is something i really wanna improve in. That said, if some pixels rub you the wrong way, dont hold back and let me know