Robot Renders and Texture Map

Perspective Render

Top, Front and Side Renders

Texture Map

Robot Blueprints

Mulefa Renders and Texture Map

Perspective Render

Top, Side and Front Renders

Texture Map 

Mulefa Blueprints

Mechanics, Gameplay and Levels

The mechanics are very simple. You control a circle that is used to select interactive objects. A is the interactive button while B loads up the city view so you can produce buildings and units and see stats. Pressing Start loads up a menu of Options including Help Options, Graphics and Sound Options and a city view showing who is winning and by how far.
 
The aim of the game is to win by any means. There are 4 ways of doing this; by capturing most of the capital cities, by having the most population, by having the most gold or by researching all the technologies. To do this you need to expand your city, fight enemies and capture other cities and think of strategies to produce the most science or gold.
 
The player will encounter a specific order of levels. The environment for the level will be randomly generated islands. Each player will have their own colour to show their territory. Here is a very basic image of this made in Sketchup and edited in Photoshop:

 
Level list 

Lost Kingdom

Units: Tribe people, big animals, machinery constructed by wood/bamboo, leaves and rope

Cities:  1 tree-house, 3 tree-houses, town of tree-houses

Environment: Tall grass/straw with exotic plants

Water: Normal water

Spooky Forest

Units: Ghosts, Skeleton, Wolves

Cities: Scary – Small crypt, haunted house, dark castle

Environment: Dark land with dead trees

Water: Misty swamps

Candy Land

Units: Gingerbread people, machinery (such as catapults) made by sweets

Cities: Gingerbread house, small gingerbread castle, large gingerbread castle

Environment: Sugary/pink land with gummy trees

Water: Chocolate water

Space

Units: Astronauts/Aliens, UFO’s

Cities: Space colonies

Environment: Purple land with crates and weird space-like plants

Water: Red water

Underwater

Units: Seamonkeys/Mermaids, Piranhas, Sharks

Cities: Underwater Colonies

Environment: Sand with sea plants

Water: No rivers/lakes in this level

Carnival

Units: Clowns, Elephants

Cites: Carousel, Small Funfair, Large Theme Park

Environment: Dirt ground

Water: Normal water

Art

Using Photoshop and a font I downloaded called Gretoon, I made a simple cloud logo for the game. It's not the best looking logo but I'm happy with it and it shows the type of art style I'm looking for.

After creating the logo, I went on to make the Front End. I made my canvas 1920x1080 as a good represtentation of widescreen. I used the same font on the menu options but this time I didn't edit the stroke, on the logo, I had to make each letter seperate so every letter had it's own stroke. As the logo is clouds, it seemed obvious the make some big hills and have the background as a sky. I struggled with the hill shading but it was needed and looked odd without the shading.

 



 
I then turned the Front End into an A4 background for my document. I adjusted the canvas size and the sizes of my layers to create the page. For the first page, the logo is big and centred (as I had trouble adding a .tiff to Word), for all the other pages the logo is in the top right corner. Having a background makes my document look a lot more professional and it was very easy to do, it only took a few minutes to adjust the Front End image.

 

Sketches

Here are some concept sketches I made for the game.

Lost Kingdom

 
Candy Land

These two show some units and city development for the Lost Kingdom and Candy Land level.

I like how the city develops and it's also interesting and amusing for each theme as it is not normal to see a collection of treehouses or a huge gingerbread castle.

Here is an example of the UI for viewing a city in production mode. You can select an option at the top to build units, buildings, roads, change resources and see stats. This will be in a bold cartoon style like the rest of the game making it look easy to use and not complicated.

Game Concept Document Idea

For our last document we have to think of a concept for a game. Struggling for ideas as I haven't played many action/adventure games recently mainly just The Sims and Forza Horizon, Pete suggested I think of a god game. I looked into this and liked the idea of doing something a bit different, but I haven't really played a god game and kind of don't see the point in them..

I do like a similar genre though which is turn-based strategy games. Trying to think of new ideas for a turn-based strategy game though was hard as it has all been done before, but while researching, I did look into construction games a little bit like SimCity which reminded me of when I was a kid and I loved playing Theme Park World for PlayStation. Thinking more and more about Theme Park World inspired me to create a different strategy game with unusual environments that would be fun and appeal to children. Thinking about gameplay I thought it could be simplified like Civilisation Revolution so anyone can play it and I also wanted it to be available on multiple platforms as snobby PC-only rules of pretty much all strategy games, I think, turns people away from the genre, even if they have a good PC.

Unique Selling Points

·         Interesting Levels
·         Simplified Gameplay
·         Available on multiple platforms

How do architects and interior designers take inspiration from popular culture to create unique buildings?

By Rebecca Heaton

 

Architecture is amazing. It involves the process of imagining a good idea for a building, but also to determine if it can actually be built. Imagining huge structures with lots of weird tentacles sticking out of the top and wacky ideas for the interior would be impossible to build. That's why we have architects, to build incredibly unique buildings that can actually be built. Nowadays, there are lots of good examples of great buildings. Great modern buildings with glass fronts and quirky features can be found all over the world now and many new builds tend to shy away from the stone and brick buildings and skyscrapers we're so used to seeing. When designing a building, most architects will now design a modern, contemporary building, taking inspiration from other modern, contemporary buildings. Some architects look elsewhere at popular culture, art movements and anything else unrelated to refine and adjust their ideas or use them completely to design weird and wonderful buildings like Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudi. This essay hopes to show how architecture has moved into the modern, contemporary world and where it's being taken.

Sagrada Familia

 

A documentary I was watching called Idris Elba's How Clubbing Changed the World, brought up how seating/chill out areas in clubs helped contemporary furniture as club furniture such as seats, tables, lights and even bars began to feature in offices, shops and apartments making them look “cool and designed” [Jacques Peretti, 2012]. It is a shame it only lasted about 2 minutes of the documentary, as looking at examples it does look like a lot of offices and apartments furniture was actually inspired by quirky seats and odd lights from clubs. George Georgiou, an interior designer mentions Foxtons in the documentary who feature quirky seats and bars in each of their estate agents making them unique and intriguing people to come in. Foxton's call them “cafe-style offices” and say they “have revolutionised the traditional estate agent presence on the high street”. [Foxton’s, 2012]

 

Foxton’s Estate Agents

 

This fitting room is a great example of how fitting rooms have changed from a single cupboard with an old chair outside, to luxurious big rooms like this with a modern, quirky corner sofa and decorative features such as the circle wall and vintage clothing on the wall. Anyone waiting is sure to feel relaxed in this bright, modern room.

 

Topshop fitting room

 

Red Bull have some odd and interesting headquarters including their London HQ above which features lots of white and grey colours and uses a range of a furniture. As you would expect from Red Bull, they wanted to add a little fun into the workplace by adding a slide down to the ground floor!

 

 

Red Bull London HQ

 

Salford Quays is home to many modern and wonderful buildings, including apartments, offices, hotels, the Lowry Theatre, the Imperial War Museum but also unusual buildings like the Morrisons supermarket, the doctors surgery and a high school which are all very new buildings trying to fit in with Salford Quays modern approach to living. Architects saw the potential of building apartments right by the water as it means your walk to the bus stop or the shops is so much more pleasurable and seeing the water from your apartment is so relaxing. Two blocks of apartments took this idea even further by making their buildings actually look like sail boats. Anyone who has ever been to Salford Quays has noticed that there are 3 apartment buildings that look exactly the same, standing next to each other right by the water. These are called the NV buildings. Each building is curved to represent a sail, and the three of them in a line makes it look a little like three boats docked at a port.

 

NV Buildings

 

The other boat-themed apartment block is Abito designed by Les Lang. Situated further away from the main area of Salford Quays it sits on dock 6, a quieter area, which actually has a houseboat as a neighbour. Abito have gone further with the boat idea making the inside lobby of the building a huge open space with a large sail covering the exposed roof. While inside the building, the wind whips through the internal court. The décor is very minimalistic with large concrete walls and white walls adding to the boat-like look. Each apartment is set out quite like a small boat as well. “The put-me-up studios have a vaguely nautical cabin-like feel.” [Griffin, 2010] They are not like normal apartments, they are very designed to compact and use dead space. They are long apartments and the only walls in them surround the main hub in the middle which is quite like a ship cabin in the middle of a boat. The only thing missing is portholes in the walls.

 

Abito

 

Abito Internal Court

 

Abito Interior

 

Chips is a very modern apartment block that unexpectedly looks like three chips stacked on top of each other. Although it doesn't confirm they are supposed to look like chips in print, it clearly looks like three french fries and there's even a photo on the Urban Splash website of two men celebrating the build, one of them holding a bottle of Heinz Ketchup. Each chip has a different colour; maroon, dark brown and a sandy/chip colour. They each have 3 floors, totalling 9 floors altogether. It feels like it was slightly inspired by the Memphis Group as inside and out it looks very quirky and uses some bright colours. It doesn't have many balconies, but each balcony is a different bright colour and the kitchen and separating screen are also different colours. The building also has quirky windows, the usual square and rectangle shapes but they are positioned and scaled differently all over the building making the building look quirky and fun. It also has the names of the region’s rivers printed onto the outside of the building.

 

Chips

 

A similar building to Chips which was actually built first is the Manchester Civil Justice Centre. Completed in 2007, it was designed by architect Denton Corker Marshall. It also has chip-like floors which the architect dubbed “fingers”. It was most likely inspiration for Chips but stands a lot taller at 260 feet. The fingers are made entirely of different shades of glass. For privacy, as courts need, large metal grids cover the sides of the building. The Civil Justice Centre is a beautiful addition to the Manchester skyline and stands out amongst the more dull buildings, not including Beetham Tower of course.

 

Civil Justice Centre

 

Close-up

 

The channel 4 programme Grand Designs features the construction of many modern builds and is very inspiring to watch. They have featured some fantastic buildings over the time it has been running. One of them that were built on the Isle of Skye is a very contemporary house, but on the outside it doesn’t plain and white like most modern builds. The two artists didn’t want it to stick out like a sore thumb against the cottages in Skye, but they didn’t want to build a cottage either. Instead they have tried to blend their house into the hills by having a hill-shaped roof that is covered in grass. The exterior walls are covered in wood panels which looked crisp and new when first fitted, which the artists hated, but they have now weathered into a dull grey colour, like the side of a cliff.

 

Isle Of Skye building, before the wood weathered

 

The Memphis Design Movement was a group of Italian designers, architects and writers. The Memphis movement produced bright and colourful products and furniture. It was founded by the late Ettore Sottsass in 1980 and included graduates straight from university and well-known designers. They were tired of the “slick, black, humourless design of the 1970’s, with its minimalist design” “devoid of personality and individualism”. Inspired by Art Deco, Pop Art and 1950’s Kitsch, the group produced bright and quirky furniture and smaller products. Not everyone was a fan of Memphis’ unique style, one person saying it’s like “a shotgun wedding between Bauhaus and Fisher-Price”.

 

Memphis Living Room

 

Memphis Carlton Bookcase

 

Art Nouveau was most popular during 1890-1910. The name “Art Nouveau” is French for “new art”. Lots of artists, designers and architects experimented with this style making paintings and posters, furniture, buildings and structures. It features “curvy lines and the more austere, linear look of artists such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh” [BBC, 2012] Antoni Gaudi was a popular architect who created many beautiful buildings in the Art Nouveau style. His most famous, Sagrada Familia is still being built. It started in 1882 and as it is such an ambitious project, it is still continuing and is estimated to be completed in 2026-2028. Casa Batllo features curved balconies with unique pillars and 3D jewel like objects on the side of the building. It is also decorated with colourful tiles making the building look beautiful and pretty to look at. A similar tiled building is Majolikahaus in Austria. It was designed by Otto Wagner. It is covered in painted square tiles that are shaped like a pink flowery bowl. It also features quirky gold balconies. Majolikahaus is actually an apartment building which is has its charm unfortunately dampened by the row of shops on the ground floor.

 

 

Casa Batlló

 

Majolikahaus

 

Art Deco combines traditional craft motifs with Machine Age imagery and materials. It was inspired by Bauhaus and Ancient Egypt after the discovery of King Tutankhamen. Symbols, bright colours and patterns became incredibly fashionable, even on buildings. Art Deco uses thick lines and symmetry with zigzag designs. At the time, they were the buildings of the future. Theatres, diners, shops and gas stations were redesigned to keep with the times. Art Deco also changed skyscrapers slightly. They weren't bright and colourful like the smaller buildings but they “often took on a distinctive Art Deco shape: The ziggurat.” [Craven, n.d.] A Ziggurat is a terraced pyramid with the floors getting smaller and smaller as you get to the top. They usually have a spire at the top like the Chrysler building in New York, designed by architect William Van Alen. The building was intended to be the tallest building/structure in the world and was quickly built as it was rivalled by 40 Wall Street, a similar building in the Art Deco style that was also aiming to be the tallest building in the world. The buildings were at the same height throughout most of the construction and finished at around the same time in May 1930. Walter Chrysler however had a trick up his sleeve. He secretly built a 186 foot tall spire on the construction site in the frame of the building. This was then lifted on to the top of the building causing outrage with the rival building.

 

 

Art Deco Buildings in Miami

 

Chrysler Building

 

After looking at some weird and wonderful buildings and art styles, it is clear that the best, most unique and innovative buildings are the ones that take inspiration from popular culture and other areas. With different aims and ideas, like making the tallest building or trying to camouflage your building, these architects have created unique and wonderful buildings. By taking inspiration, not from other buildings but from anything you can think of, new art styles can develop. Architects and designers need to look away from other buildings and think of unique ideas so the world will continue to look more and more interesting and beautiful, making people look up.

 

References

Idris Elba's How Clubbing Changed The World Documentary (2012). Courtesy of Channel 4.

            http://www.channel4.com/programmes/idris-elbas-how-clubbing-changed-the-world

 

Sagrada Familia photo retrieved from

            http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/4121846970/in/photostream/

 

Foxton's photo retrieved from

            http://www.foxtons.co.uk/

 

Topshop Fitting Room photo retrieved from

            http://www.thewomensroomblog.com/2012/07/25/the-womens-room-fantasy-shop-       interior/

 

Red Bull Headquarters photos retrieved from

            http://www.crookedbrains.net/2008/06/interesting_5535.html

 

NV Buildings photo retrieved from

            http://www.toms-travels.net/?p=1189/

 

Griffin, P. (2010). Phil Griffin Loves Abito. Retrieved from

            http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Culture/Architecture/Phil-Griffin-loves-Abito/

 

Abito Exterior photo retrieved from

            http://www.basestructures.com/projects/exterior/abito.html/

 

Abito Internal Court photo retrieved from

            http://www.bestbuildings.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Salford2.JPG/

 

Abito Interior image retrieved from Abito website:

            http://www.abito.co.uk/explore/

 

Moore, R. (2009). Chips, New Islington, Manchester by Alsop Architects. Retrieved from

            http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/buildings/residential/chips-new-islington-manchester-          by-alsop-architects/5202419.article/

 

Chips image retrieved from Urban Splash website:

            http://www.urbansplash.co.uk/gallery/chips/

 

Civil Justice Centre (2006). Retrieved from

            http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=149

 

Civil Justice Centre photo retrieved from

http://c1038.r38.cf3.rackcdn.com/group1/building3225/media/4cb2f47ee95a37.62079277.jpg

 

Civil Justice Centre close-up photo retrieved from

http://www.viewpictures.co.uk/ImageThumbs/DCML-CJC-0019/3/DCML-CJC-0019_MANCHESTER_CIVIL_JUSTICE_CENTRE__.jpg

Isle of Skye Grand Designs image retrieved from

            http://www.channel4.com/

 

Feroleto, P. (2010). Italian Design – Focus on the Memphis Design movement. Retrieved from

            http://italychronicles.com/italian-design-focus-on-the-memphis-design-movement/

 

Memphis Living Room photo retrieved from

            http://creativeactiondesign.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/memphis-group/

 

Memphis Bookcase photo retrieved from

            http://italychronicles.com/italian-design-focus-on-the-memphis-design-movement/

 

Art nouveau (c.1880 to 1910). (2012). Retrieved from

            http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/period_artnouveau.shtml/

 

Art Nouveaum. (n.d.). Retrieved from

            http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/c19th/artnouveau.htm/

 

Tremlett, G. (2011). Sagrada Familia gets final completion date – 2026 or 2028. Retrieved from

            http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/22/sagrada-familia-final-completion-date/

 

Casa Batllo photo retrieved from

            http://www.esacademic.com/pictures/eswiki/67/CasaBatllo_0170.JPG/

 

Casa Batllo close-up photo retrieved from

            http://landarchs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/gaudi_casa_batllo_02.jpg/

 

Sveiven, M. (2011). AD Classics: Majolikahaus / Otto Wagner. Retrieved from

            http://www.archdaily.com/125067/ad-classics-majolikahaus-otto-wagner/

 

Majolikahaus photo retrieved from

            http://lh3.ggpht.com/-nALCTqKtvYA/SgNDoJqTTwI/AAAAAAAAAQE/8JGA_e9st0c/IMG_104

            8.JPG/

 

Majolikahaus close up photo retrieved from

            http://www.archdaily.com/125067/ad-classics-majolikahaus-otto-wagner/sony-dsc-83/

 

Craven, J. (n.d.). Art Deco Architecture. Retrieved from

            http://architecture.about.com/od/artdeco/ss/artdeco.htm/

 

Top 25 NY Buildings. (n.d.). Retrieved from

            http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID021.htm

 

Miami Buildings photo retrieved from

            http://0.tqn.com/d/architecture/1/0/W/A/miami-artdeco.jpg

 

Chrysler Building photo retrieved from

            http://0.tqn.com/d/gonyc/1/0/g/a/chrysler_building.JPG/

Essay Plan

For this module, we need to write an essay around a design question. We first need to come up with a design question we need to answer. I was inspired when I watched a documentary called "How Clubbing Changed The World". I love dance music and this documentary was really good, showing how disco started and evolved into house music, how dancing influenced fashion design and how dance music is now on a lot of TV adverts and when you're put on hold on the phone to your bank. At one point for only a minute or two, it surprised me when it said it was chillout/seating areas in clubs that helped kick start modern, contemporary and unusual furniture you see in apartments, offices and retail stores to make them cooler and relaxing. This inspired my question "How do architects and interior designers take inspiration from popular culture to create unique buildings?"

Topshop Fitting Rooms

Red Bull London HQ

The Red Bull HQ's in London is a great example of this. It features lots of club-like seats and tables with interesting features like the steel ceiling-wall-floor in the top-left photo and also a slide.

My question aims to look into how interiors and also architecture is inspired by clubs and other things surrounding popular culture. I want to look at some buildings I know of that are boat-themed, some interesting builds I've seen on Grand Designs and I also want to look at styles such as Art Deco, Art Nouveu and Memphis Group.

Isle of Skye Grand Design

Abito Salford Quays

                                   Casa Batlló                                  Chrysler Building, New York

Memphis Group