Phoebe Portfolio
Magika Machina Buccaneer Odyssey DX 3
This project is something I had worked on in a team while in my second year at university. Our goal was to make a single screen SHMUP (shoot 'em up) game with at least 3 levels.
I worked as one of the main artists tasked to design the enemy designs as well as the projectiles the enemies would shoot out to the player as well as the level background for the three levels.
Our group had the internet to make a non-serious game with a mix of different ideas to see what we would come up with. The main ideas we took from was Pirates and sea monsters, Lovecraftian horror as well as including giant robot mechs piloted by magical girls - girls who use magic to fight villainy who often transform into their magical girl outfits with a transformation scene.
You can play our game here!
I started this project by making some concept art for our game. When I had started, we were initially deciding what to make and Lovecraftian sea monsters was brought up which I took and started to make some very quick doodles. Within the hour, we decided to make something sillier where we would add more genres and ideas into the game making me unable to focus on the Lovecraft idea as much.
Looking back on the project, there is not much Lovecraft horror in the game as the game ended up looking cuter to fit the magical girl aesthetic and, with a mix our our art styles, we were directed to use an 80's anime style for the final design of the game.
These were the doodles i started out drawing when our only focus was Lovecraftian horror. this would soon be dropped as an idea to implement.
We toyed with the idea of including an opening cutscene in the game to give basic information on what is going on and why the player is flying around fighting aggressive fish. The style we wanted to go for as a comic book style, where the camera would move from panel to panel to show the player what is going on. This would not be implemented in the final as we were running close to the deadline.
These were some of the enemy designs I had come up with once we agreed to drop the Lovecraft elements of production. There are not a lot as the designers of the team designed different enemy types for the three stages to follow.
These were the doodles i started out drawing when our only focus was Lovecraftian horror. this would soon be dropped as an idea to implement.
Fuka Concept Art
Moving from the concept art stage, I was tasked with designing one of the playable characters named Fuka. Fuka means 'shark' in Japanese. As this game is inspired by pirates and sea monsters, we decided to make the magical girls based on fish too. we wanted to make one of the playable characters more tough looking which I had done with the triangles in her design. This contrasts off the other playable character who is based on an octopus which as a lot of circles in her design.
Enemy Spritesheets
Moving on from Fuka, I then started to work on the enemies which the designers had come up with and agreed upon following a group meeting. The enemies we decided on having would be squids who would shoot ink at the player, to reference the main antagonist who was based on Cthulhu, which would be in the first level of the game and would take place on the ocean. The second would be seagulls shooting bird poo at the player with a sunset backdrop. The final would be aliens fought in space.
This is the squid enemy facing both left and right, so the squid would look at the player taking the lighting into consideration. The yellow orbs are the frames for their death animation.
This is the projectiles the squid enemies shoot to hurt the player.
This is the laser projectile shot from the aliens in their ships.
This is the squid enemy facing both left and right, so the squid would look at the player taking the lighting into consideration. The yellow orbs are the frames for their death animation.
Enemies Animated
This is the first time I had made any sprite sheets in my life and I am happy with what came out for the first attempt. However, I am even happier to see these designs move and animate. It made me feel really happy to see me made an animation in the form of a .gif. The squid is my favourite.
This is the animated squid enemy from level 1.
This is the seagull enemy animated from level 2.
This is the alien enemy animated from level 3.
This is the animated squid enemy from level 1.
Backgrounds
Finally, the backgrounds needed to be made and we decided for them to also be made in a pixel art aesthetic to fit the player characters and enemies. We chose to show the progression of time with level 1 starting in the morning, level 2 is later when the sun sets with the third level being set in space which would be at night time. We chose space as we also wanted to show the progression of height as the player continued to play. This would give the player a sense of progression and achievement as if they are making a change in the game through defeating the enemies and playing the next level.
This is the background for level 1. This is set on the ocean in the morning.
This is the background for level 2. This is set in the afternoon while the sun is setting.
This is the background for level 3. It is set in space. These backgrounds show the progression of time through the day as well as the players ascension into space.
This is the background for level 1. This is set on the ocean in the morning.