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Art Direction / Among Us Project

24.4.2024 - 24.7.2024 (Week 1 - Week 14)
Takuto Hozumi / 0354047 / Bachelor Of Design (Hons) In Creative Media
Art Direction
Among Us Project

INSTRUCTION

Module Briefing

We were briefed on what we would be working on in this module.

In this module, students will learn about art direction in video games, animation, and other creative industries. For the project, you will work in groups of three to redesign "Along Us". While retaining the gameplay, students will change surface design elements and create visualization concept art.

Fig.1-1: Among Us © 2015-2024, Innersloth LLC
https://www.innersloth.com/games/among-us/

Project Brief and Timeline
This module allows for a hybrid of on-campus lectures and online consultation for the project. The schedule is as follows.

 
Fig.1-2: Timeline

Stylization

 
Fig.1-3: Lecture Slide (Stylization)

Genre, Style and Theme
Differences between "Genre", "Style" and "Theme"
  • Genre: A category of production
  • Style: A distinctive appearances of the artwork
  • Theme: An idea that recurs in the work
While art style describes the outward aesthetics of a work as specific colors, materials, and forms, theme refers to the overall setting, including time, place, and costume.

Unique art style makes the game stand out. For example, PC games tend to be more detailed than console or handheld games, and the design of game details can be tailored to screen size and device specifications to enhance player immersion. Also the age range of the target player should be considered.

Character design has the following scale; Proportionate style is a character design with a realistic appearance. High stylized is a deformed character.

Visual Goals

 
Fig.1-4: Lecture Slide (Visual Goals)

Based on the theme of the game, set the pillars of the visual design to determine how the game will be set.

Lighting and post processing helps to give believable depth to the environment design and encouraging immersion for the players.
Post processing helps to adjust certain environment design due to movement of the sun, light sources, angles, or to suit the theme of the scene.

The game UI should be consistent in how the players operates actions, interacts with certain stuff.
Colors and space should also be unified. You could of course pick more or less colors depending on the specificities of your project.

Shape language is the key in designing characters, objects and environments.
Work with signature colors and size combination to achieve the right design.

PROJECT

Project Outline
You are challenged to propose a re-imagined art direction strategy for the game “Among Us” without altering the original narrative plots and game mechanics. As this is a video game, the new proposed art direction must capture the essence of “playfulness” at the heart of the new aesthetics.
Think of creating visual design that presents the essence of the game as a thrilling, whodunit sci-fi, in space narrative that relates players to the original game.
Think of rehashing the interest of existing players and intriguing new audiences to play.
Cross research on the game itself with other similar games. Identify the player base by understanding their wants, needs, and expectations. What playful design concepts are most likely to engage their attention and spark interest to play again?

1. Game Play

First, I had never played Among Us before, so I started by actually playing it to get a feel for what the game was about. The group observations after the play are as follows.
  1. A party game of 4-10 players - In a game the players are divided into 2 teams, crewmate and impostor
  2. Winning the game - The crewmate can win the game if they succeed to keep the spaceship fixed or successfully eject all the impostor
  3. Crewmates - Their goal is to complete tasks and maintain the spaceship
  4. Impostor - Their goal is to sabotage the entire mission. They can kill or sabotage the task.
Player Needs
Want
  • A visually appealing game with great UX Design.
Need
  • A social deduction game of identifying the imposter.
  • All users being able to be involve in the game.
Expectation
  • A simple and visually appealing game to have fun with friends

2. Initial Research

We then analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the current art style and compiled a list of possible improvements that could be made.

2-1. Pros of the Art Style
Simplicity
  • To prevent delays when playing, for low-spec device users.
Attractiveness by Gap
  • The gap between cute characters being brutally murdered has a unique charm.
(Some) Button Design
  • A clear message implied to the buttons.

2-2. Cons of the Art Style
Font
  • Too long body in main font causes to low readability, and spacing is not accurate in some fonts.
(Some) Button Design
  • This design makes it difficult to tell if it is a button and the design tend to be overly crowded and complicated
Colorblind Accessbility
  • The use of colors to differentiate each player can be a disadvantage to color blind children.
Narrow Layout
  • The hallways of the maps are too narrow and characters often run into the walls.
2-3. Analysis Background
Must Have
  • Characters
  • Buttons
  • Text box
  • Task bar
Good to Have
  • Map/environment
  • Animation
Nice to Have
  • Type design
  • BGM
  • Cosmetics & Apparel
  • Recommended settings

3. Proposal Presentation

This proposal slides includes above research and visual references, and the proposal slides, including the art direction we are aiming for.

 
Fig.2-1: Our Proposal

4. Design Work

Fig.2-2: Ideation

Fig.2-3: Ideation from Visual References

We decided to adapt the old cartoon style and make a farm simulation game. With the chicken as the protagonist, the imposter becomes a predator in chicken skin. The kill scene will be mildly child-friendly and will be changed to depict the captured chicken being cooked and eaten by imposter.

Fig.2-4: Consideration of Color Scheme

A color scheme that matched the Rubber Horse Cartoon was considered, and the idea on the far right was ultimately adopted.

Fig.2-5: Initial Character Design

This was initially a vector character design drawn by one member. I was in favor of this idea and thought it could be approached by applying textures, etc. to this base. However, another member objected and this idea was rejected.

Fig.2-6: Idea Sketch 1

Fig.2-7: Idea Sketch 2

Fig.2-8: Idea Sketch 3

At this stage I also suggested these sketches for the background and map design, or explored the possibilities of map design with isometric method. However, these ideas were rejected neither.

Fig.2-9: Game UI Ideation

At the same time, the UI design, including buttons we should produce, was discussed.

Fig.2-10: Landing Page

Fig.2-11: Play

Fig.2-12: Game Mode

Fig.2-13: Room Create

Fig.2-14: Room Select

These series of flows, from opening the app to starting the game, have been prototyped and are easier to understand if shown in a video.

Fig.2-15: Game Start Flow (Demo Video)

Fig.2-16: Emergency Meeting

Fig.2-17: Dead Body Reported

Fig.2-18: Cook & Eat

These are some of the most memorable scenes in the game with cut-ins.

Fig.2-19: Emergency, Report and Cook Scenes (Demo Video)

Fig.2-20: Voting Screen

Fig.2-21: Voting Screen after Vote

Fig.2-22: Chat Window

Fig.2-23: Voting Flow (Demo Video)

And here are the scenes of players who will be excluded after the vote.

Fig.2-24: Imposter excluded Scene

Fig.2-25: If Chicken excluded

The following is a sample screen with the character actually on the map and UI such as buttons displayed.

Fig.2-26: Player in Bedroom

Fig.2-27: Player in Dining Room

Fig.2-28: Player in Labor Room (Imposter)

Fig.2-29: Player in Living Room

These screen designs are created in collaboration with other members of the team, including button design and background illustration.

In addition, the final character and logo designs proposed by the other members are as follows

Fig.2-30: Final Character Design

Fig.2-30: Final Logo

These aforementioned designs are combined into the final project design, which is stored and submitted within Google Drive with links in the Final Outcome section below.

FINAL OUTCOME

Week 6 Proposal Presentation Slide
 
Fig.3-1: Proposal Slide (29/5/2024)

Week 14 Final Presentation Slide
 
Fig.3-2: Final Presentation Slide (23/7/2024)

All Design Data:

REFLECTIONS

Experiences
In this module, first, the lectures were a comprehensive study of art direction for creative works, using games as the subject matter. We students learned the difference between theme and style, and in stylization, whether and how much to deform a character's appearance from realistic, and the degree of fantasy of the background setting. At the same time, in the project, through the redesign of "Among Us", which is first experience of playing for me, we also practiced setting visual goals from research to actually designing the game.

Observation
Throughout this module, we were reminded of the problem with group assignments. Once we referred to our skill-levels, we could consider that an idea that can realistically be completed in 14 weeks and an idealistic design are different means to an end. I suggested vector data design as a means of production that would maximize deliverables within our limited resources, but as it turned out, that was not chosen. This is fine because different person has a different opinion. But as a result, we had to use a local software called Procreate, which is only released for iOS, to create raster data. Thus, the drawing part was done by all members except me, who did not have an iPad. The thing is, while raster data is not necessarily bad, I think that the quality is easily influenced by individual drawing ability, and it is difficult to harmonize the final project as a whole.

Findings
My idea sketches were rejected at every turn, so I was primarily responsible for screen design, which was very difficult because web/application standards were not accepted. I researched the game's UI and found that it generally seems to use a lot of illustrative elements. This was to create an overall atmosphere, and I believe a game designer to think a little differently than web design, which places the highest priority on clarity. When I was a kid, games had a very simple visual design due to the hardware's storage, like game-cassette of gameboy. Nowadays, such problems have been solved due to improved specifications, and I keenly felt that we are in a more decorative era.
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