Style Guide

[Stormy]

What we need to do is decide on an overall style for the game and the best way of doing this is with a style guide. The idea here is to bung in a shead load of referances which you think is a good representation of what style our final art/design assets should encorporate. A good style guide also is a good starting point in keeping all art assets consistant and gives good bounderies as to what can and cannot go into the game. If the work dose not fit in with the style guide it dosnt fit with the other work and will look out of place or messy in the final production.

So what we want here is an image dump, throw in what you think will work well with the premise and from here we will condense it all down into a smaller selection of images and create some kind of thread/collarge which will layout the final style of the game.

Images can come from anywhere, games, cartoons, films, magazines, go wild and right now nothing is wrong! Damn isnt brain storming good fun :)

http://static.filefront.com/images/ylnchtlpzc.jpg

http://www.govashir.com/ShortCut/deanesmay-incredibles.jpg

http://www.t-shirtking.com/graphics/166-00132.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/80/215720654_bbe1a470f4.jpg

http://cache.kotaku.com/images/2006/06/mariokartsourcebeta_bg.jpg

http://www.galeon.com/download-a-saco-2k2/Carmageddon.jpg

[Jintor]

I much prefer the TF2 things, but... hmmmm...

[Stormy]

http://janedark.com/over%20the%20hedge%20pci2.jpg

http://www.arkart.com.ar/WackyRacers/Wallpapers/Wacky%20Races_files/Photos/Wacky%20Races%20(web).gif

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e0/Dastardly_muttley_cast.jpg/250px-Dastardly_muttley_cast.jpg

http://tinear.net/images/106.jpg

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/warner_brothers/tim_burton_s_corpse_bride/timburtonscorpsebride_bigearly.jpg

http://www.timburtoncollective.com/images/cbreview1.jpg

[Ennui]

I especially like TF2, The Corpse Bride, Over the Hedge, Wacky Racers, and Mario Kart. I think those styles could mesh well together.

[_Z_Ryuken]

I'm thinking something a little less real and a little more twisted would be good. Something like a blend of Mario and Wacky Racers.
Maybe even have different characters using different art styles for the sake of diversity. Some can be hyper anime cute, others, kinda morbid Dark Horse style.

[Qonfused]

I especially like TF2, The Corpse Bride, Over the Hedge, Wacky Racers, and Mario Kart. I think those styles could mesh well together.

Exactly what I was thinking.

[Jintor]

May I propose a vague art styling like... say, Grim Fandango or PSYCHONAUTS?

[Ennui]

I think the Psychonauts environments might be class for this mod.

http://www.xtgamers.com/editor/psychonauts/3.jpg

[Vegeta897]

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9973/isotownqe9.png

[Naudian]

^ That one plz kthx olololl

[Shinobi]

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9973/isotownqe9.png



what is that from? looks familiar

[Ennui]

That's Vegeta's own creation, his pixelart comic Isotown.

http://www.isotown.net/

[Adabiviak]

Ha! I had forgotten about the Wacky Races - that'd be a funny spin. Copyright issues?

[Shinobi]

crazy :D

[Vegeta897]

That's Vegeta's own creation, his pixelart comic Isotown.

http://www.isotown.net/
Haha sorry it was supposed to be a joke, I find lots of things funny late at night including myself.

By the way props Ennui I really admire your dedication to this project. :)

[Samon]

It'd be good to have like, maps based off different forums. :p

[99.vikram]

So, convoluted maps will be called politics_*** ?

[Krynn72]

D: We could have maps based on the different forums, and then we could have certain members who are famous in those sections be the enemies! IE: In one for politics it could be stern, mecha, clarky etc. General off topic could be pitzy tollbooth etc.

For style, I was thinking something along the lines of Pixar movies. I like the toy story style the best.

http://www.lair2000.net/Toy_Story_pictures1a_downloads/Image21.jpg
http://www.render.ru/images/uploads/Image/Pixar/pixar%202.jpg
http://www.pixar.com/shorts/gg/images/landing_1.jpg
http://www.sfondideldesktop.com/Images-Toon/Monsters-Inc/Monsters-Inc-0001/Monsters-Inc-0001.jpg

[Absinthe]

BUMP WOOO

I think the important thing to ask before deciding on visual aesthetics is what kind of mood or atmosphere we want the mod to exude.

We're obviously not aiming for gritty sci-fi. But there are differences between the kinds of "fun" we have in mind. For instance, if we just want to go bonkers with a gaudy and almost infantile sort of entertainment, then I would personally lean towards something heavily cel-shaded, with abstract environments, and big puffed-up visual effects (like cartoonish explosions).
Comparatively, something like TF2 (while still quite silly) is more grounded in real-world references. Characters have somewhat distorted proportions, but their flat-shaded look and readily identifiable clothes/items make them seem conjured from stylized comic books rather than daytime cartoons. For example, I think the first aesthetic I described is less likely to raise eyebrows if the players were rocketjumping into the skybox or halfway across the map.

Personally? I'd like a style along the lines of Jet Set Radio, Cel Damage, or XII, albeit without the latter's real-world grounding. I'm not in a position to say how hard or easy that may be from a coding paradigm, but from a design standpoint I think it allows people to go nuts for the most part and not have to worry about so many constraints.

Also, sorry for the late posting. I don't check my e-mail often.

http://www.gamasutra.com/resource_guide/20030714/xiii_screenshot.jpg

http://www.nintendospin.com/images/1067/ss03.jpg

http://www.planetxbox.com/features/reviews/2002/jsrf/02.jpg

[_Z_Ryuken]

^^
Cell shading I think is the best route. This way we don't get too complex with models and what not.

[TollBooth Willie]

Cel-shaded sounds good.

[Naudian]

Is cel-shading hard to do in source???

[Absinthe]

Is cel-shading hard to do in source???

It was possible with the original Half-Life engine. Look up "Buzzy Bots" if you want an example. That mod was far from accomplished and seemingly very amateur, so I can't expect it to be too difficult. But again, I'm just speculating.

EDIT: I just read up a bit on that mod and apparently they weren't using true cel-shading. It was just a "cheat" so to speak to make something that looked similar. So with that now known to me, I have no idea how difficult it would be to implement it in Source. Certainly possible, but the idea should be dispensed with or at least put aside for the time being if it's going to require a lot of work. Should be brought up again further down the line if the mod is something people want to seriously continue.

[Ennui]

It's always possible for us to use an engine other than Source if it really lends itself to what we have in mind.

[Krynn72]

I dont have a clue when it comes to coding these things, but it sounds like doing a cel shaded game in source would require a total rewrite of their rendering system.