Our task this week was to create a sprite sheet that contains assets for a 2D Pixel Art Platform Game. We were given a design brief that states that the game is set in a fantasy environment with a target audience of younger gamers. A specific style was requested for the asset sets of colours and shapes that are used for the characters in Mr Men.
I opted to create a sprite sheet for an environmental asset which consists of:
- 2x Environmental hazards
- 1x Exploding effect
- 1x Projectile item
- A selection of animted collectables.
The sprite sheet below is the outcome of the assets which I created that is organised in the listed order above.
Based on the design brief stating that the game is set in a fantasy world and that the audience is targeted towards younger gamers, I was inspired to create a sprite sheet that revolves around nature; but more specifically plants.
The screenshot on the left is a moodboard I created with images that I found on Google that consists of different angles of plants. I used these references for the initial ideas I had for the environmental harzards, exploding effects and the animated collectable.
As the design brief states for the assets follow a specific colour and style, I wanted to ensure that the shape of my sprites were rounded and not sharp or jagged.
My initial ideas for the environmental hazard sprites were plants that could cause harm to people, such as thorns and holly. Although I originally wanted my sprites to be round, I believe that following shape language of designing sprites, it was important to emphasise the danger of the hazards; therefore, during the process of creating the thorns and holly, I altered the shape of the sprite so that the ends were sharp.
As for the exploding effect, I struggled with ideas of plants that could have an exploding effect which is when the concept of blowing dandelions came into mind. I liked the idea of dandelions scattering as you blow against them, so I decided to use that flower as the exploding effect in my sprite sheet. To create a variety within my sprite sheet, I opted to use the same sprites but alter the colour to a pale yellow.
In addition to the other sprites, I needed to create a projectile item. I chose a seed. My inspiration behind this idea was a Pokemon move called ‘Bullet Seed’, but the inspiration for the appearance of the sprite is based on another move called ‘Leech Seed’. The references are both images that I had found on Google.
My inspiration behind the collectables is that younger people enjoy collecting acorns. As for the other collectable, I wanted to have a variety of different plants and decided on the lotus flower as I really like how the flower looks!
Improvements
To improve my sprite sheet, I believe that I should have added more flamboyant colours and possibly exaggerated the shapes of the designs to make them appear more rounded than they already are. I think that I should have applied colour and shape theory to my sprites and possibly create and stuck to a specific colour scheme to ensure that the sprites reached the target audience.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I am quite satisfied with the outcome of the sprite sheet as I was given the opportunity to explore different ideas when presented with a design brief. I enjoyed the brainstorming of different concepts while attempting to maintain the consistency throughout the individual sprites!
