Portfolio Introduction
1.Weaving Hope
2.Dream
3.Storm
4.Chat together （VR）
Game Background:
The main character of the game, Hope, is a small koi in the home of a scholar. After learning that the scholar's mother was seriously ill, Hope embarked on a long journey to find a once-in-a-century herb. Players have to navigate four levels: an ink-style maze, a paper-cut style breakthrough, a music game of water rafting, and a final platform-jumping hell. After passing these levels, Hope will receive the herb. At this time, the scholar also found hope is the injured koi he saved ten years ago. It's a good story to watch and it will move and delight the players.
Creation Background：
This was my first time making a game, so I wanted to choose themes and styles I was more familiar with. Although I chose the simplest story, I created an extraordinary game mode. For me and my team, working on a game for the first time was a new experiment and challenge. Let's play this game and see if you can win the challenge.
About the game:
The gameplay is very simple, control the character to explore in the map, trigger the story or solve the puzzle.
There will be some battles, mazes, and level breakthroughs in the game.
Operation method:
WASD for movement, E for interaction, Space for jumping, ESC for menu, Tab for backpack.
Game features:
·Unique Chinese style picture style
·Simple and deeply rooted plot
·Four levels with completely different game modes
Personal creation
Mio17
All the level design and game planning of the game, all the production and CG animation of the first and third levels, as well as the modeling and procedures of the second level were completed by me (Mio17).
Character design draft
Koi is a symbol of good luck in China, so the main character is set as a small koi, while the name implies weaving hope. The whole project adopts the Chinese style as the main tone, so as to promote Chinese culture.
Character details design drawing
There are many traditional Chinese cultural elements in Zhiwang's clothes. For examples, the style of pants is the Chinese fu bag style, the rattan weaving process dating back to the Tang Dynasty is used for the backpack straps, and the fabric of clothes is the earliest linen technology used by The Chinese. And since the main character is a koi, I designed a koi headsuit for Zhiwang by referring to the popular headsuit a few days ago, which makes the character more vivid and lovely.
The first level conceptual design
In the first level, I chose ink painting as the game style of this level. Ink painting is also the representative of Traditional Chinese painting. Brush, ink, paper and inkstone are the four treasures of Chinese study and the basic supplies of ink painting. Therefore, I think it will be more meaningful to integrate them into this level, so I designed that players need to find and collect these items before finishing the level. Simply collection would have reduced the difficulty of the game, so I made this level a maze where the player would have to find items to collect along the road. The rendering of the whole scene was modeled after the ink painting, and the background mountains were also modeled after the ink painting mountains. The walls of the maze have flowing ink, forming an ink painting scroll. There are also many ink paintings, calligraphy and other decorations on the walls as hints for customs clearance. Bamboo is the most common image ink paintings, while plum blossoms, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum are also known as the Four Gentlemen of China. Bamboo represents natural and unrestrained life, elegant, is a modest gentleman. Zhiwang is also a humble person who knows how to repay her kindness like bamboo.
The first level game design
The first level is the ink maze. Players need to overcome obstacles in the maze, and collect a few items such as pen, ink, paper and inkstone to find the final altar. I used yin-Yang taiji diagram as reference to construct a circular maze, and his passage just corresponds to the boundary between Yin and Yang. At the center of the map is a temple, which is the image that the master of ink painting loved to paint. In the end, the main character Zhiwang needs to put the collected items on the altar, and the game will play an animation before automatically jumping to the next level.
The second level conceptual design and game design
The second level is paper-cut style. As a folk handicraft art, Chinese paper cutting is one of the world's intangible cultural heritage. Therefore, a lot of traditional art forms of paper cutting are used in the scene design, such as window carroulette. Secondly, according to the ancient Chinese legend of carp jumping dragon gate, I added a scene, in which Zhiwang could turn into a small koi in order to leap through the dragon gate for the better luck.
The third level conceptual design
I want to make level 3 a drift level. The idea was inspired by the game "A Way Out". Is it possible to drift, dodge and attack monsters by playing the guqin? In addition, it is an interesting idea to add characters in The Book of Mountains and Seas as bosses in the game, and to attack and avoid danger by combining Chinese folk music.
The third level game design
The third level is drifting. Players need to control the direction of the ship to avoid the attack of rocks and monsters. Blue is the customs clearance route, green is the archive point. Red circle 1 is the first boss crocodile Jiao. Players need to use Guqin as a prop to counterattack. Red circle 2 is the second boss big bird Qiwu, who will follow the player's route and spit stones to attack the player. If there is no counterattack, the player must restart from the previous save point. Red circle 3 is a stone cave. There are all kinds of stone obstacles in it. The player need to counterattack the stone wall which is injected gravity by the stone demon inside the grotto. It will have to be replayed if the player's ship gets hit twice. Finally, after passing, we will arrive at the final altar, and then there will be a CG animation for customs clearance.
The first level creation story
An excited start
This level was the first game level I ever made. It was not very difficult at the beginning of modeling, but it was very difficult to grasp the rendering of ink painting style. A bad rendering will make the scene a blur. There was also a time when the scene imported into UE4 became very blurry after rendering, so I re-uv and re-rendered the scene. Although the final effect did not reach the expected imagination, but I tried my best to make the painting style as close to the ink style as I can. Secondly, my mastery of UE4 is not very skilled, so various bugs often appear. For example, the obstacle does not disappear after the character attacks while walking, and the collection prompt icon appears too early. The first level has been adjusted back and forth for nearly a month. Although I am very tired, I am very excited that I can make a level that can play!
The second level creation story
An unhappy quarrel
At first, this level was the work of Mia, another member of the team, but she kept dragging her feet. The design drawings had been handed to her long ago, but she did not do it. Another member of the team and I were very frustrated. The team members did not work hard and did not want to do it, so I had to finish it in the end. Although there were many quarrels and unpleasant in the production process, the final effect of the scene was still very good!
The third level creation story
A little pity
This level took the longest time of me. First of all, the drifting mode had to bind the main character to the hull, and the collision range of the damage after colliding with objects was very difficult to balance. If the collision was too big, the attack range would be too long, and if the collision was too small, the ship would penetrate into objects. There are also various bugs such as the protagonist attacking the monster but the monster does not follow the protagonist to move, and the character cannot move after being reborn. Secondly, due to the large scene and many bosses, the model of this level also took the longest time. Fortunately, I found various materials and consulted teachers to solve many problems. This level is a bit of a pity compared to the previous two levels. Because the initial size of the scene was not well controlled, the whole scene was too large, and the effect of lighting rendering was not as expected. But after changing the camera lens and adding a filter, the effect was slightly better. If the project application is finished, I will revise the scene of this level again, and try to make this level better!
The fourth level, characters and CG animation creation story
Everyone's joint efforts
This level was done by my team member Zora. This level is a summary level, the final test for the protagonist Zhiwang. In Purgatory you need to collect seven coins that correspond to all the previous trials. After collecting the coins, the portal opens. If you fall into the lava, you have to start all over again. When the player enters the portal and returns to reality, God will give Zhiwang the herb, and Zhiwang will use it to save her mother. This is a story of kindness and virtue. The fourth level and the 3D model of the characters were completed by team member Zora, while Mia was responsible for the 2D design of the characters and the scene rendering of the second level. All the production and CG animation of the first and third levels, as well as the modeling and procedures of the second level were completed by me (Mio17).
Mio17
3D Scene art, Game planning and programming
Play link: https://youxibd.com/v2/gamejam/ggj2021/works/730
Game background:
"Dream", as one of the participating work in the GGJ competition in 2021, has been uploaded to the platform above. Those who are interested in this game can download and play it on the website. Made by the unreal engine 4, this work is a light decryption adventure game combined with horizontal version of the clearance and the third person perspective. The player takes on the role of the main character, a small hamster, who escapes from a dark factory. The theme of the game is Lost and Found. We created a hamster who has Lost himself, only work is left in his life, and the world has turned black and white. In order to find the original mind and self, the hamster is determined to escape from the assembly line factory, return to his home, and find the life story in the dream.
Creative background:
The inspiration of this theme is based on our real life. These hamster producers are just like us, who work for 996(9 to 9 for 6 days) and forget the beauty of the world. Maybe we also want to escape from our life like the hero hamster, though we can't do it. The graphics of this game may seem simple, but the meaning of it is very complex. In today's society, people often lose the color of life because of their busy work. The game hopes that people will realize how precious life is and try to enjoy it more. While the game's graphics are deceptively simple, the meaning is not universal. In this case, the spiritual qualities the game is trying to convey to the player are particularly important.
About the game:
The gameplay is very simple, control the character to explore in the map, trigger the story or solve the puzzle.
There will be some platform jumps, mazes, level breakthroughs and Easter Eggs in the game.
Operation method:
WASD for movement, E for interaction, Space for jumping, ESC for menu, Tab for backpack.
Game features:
·Unique black and white picture style
·Scenario transition from 2d to 3d
·Exciting music
Personal creation
Mio17
All scene modeling and rendering of the game, game planning, game level design, and part of the game program are completed by me.
Game creation process
The first level conceptual design
We chose Lost and Found as the theme of this game. We set the first level as the protagonist losing himself, and made the overall style of the first level into black and white painting style. In this section, we also refer to games like Limbo and Inside. On the whole, the platform jumping can reflect the protagonist's mood of escaping from the factory and looking for a way out. In addition, scenes inside the factory are added in the background, which can create a more depressed atmosphere.
The first level game level design
The overall style of the first level is relatively dark and depressed. In a factory that makes work machines, everyone goes about their business and nobody talks. The first layer is the production layer. Conveyors carry all kinds of manufactured toolmen and carry them to work. To create a sense of oppression, we also added some chandeliers flickering on and off. The second layer is the producing layer. It's full of manufactured toolmen who live for work, typing furiously, and continuing to do so even when they fail. The musical atmosphere also creates an atmosphere of tension and terror, similar to the effect of an music box. This makes the player feel more involved and want to escape.
The first level final effect
The first chapter tells the story of the protagonist, the hamster, who gradually becomes aware of himself and wants to regain his freedom and escape from the dark assembly line factory. How to reflect the process of the hamster gradually finding itself? When we were talking about game design, we came up with the idea of making the color of the game black and white from the beginning. Players need to navigate various obstacles and collect small glowing balls on the ground that represent the beauty of the outside world. The balls add up to enrich the picture. After all the collection, the screen will return to normal color instead of darkness. At this stage, the camera program takes a lot of time. We find all kinds of information from the Internet, constantly debugging, finally achieved the desired effect. Another innovation of mine is the corpse of the main character. After the character dies, the corpse is left in the same place and can be reborn to walk on the corpse through the trap. I wanted to embody the protagonist's efforts to escape from the darkness again and again by building corpses. After communicating with my team members, they all thought this idea was very creative, so they began to try to realize it. And it took a lot of trial and error before it finally worked. We choose platform jump to express that the protagonist realizes the freedom of life by jumping again and again. In this process, he will encounter many difficulties, similar to the ground stab: it represents the pen of people in the office; Packaging box: represents the production of tools; Chandelier: represents the oppression of the production layer. The protagonist uses his own body to pave the way again and again, indicating the determination of the unremitting efforts to fight for freedom.
The second level conceptual design and game level design
The second level is about the outside world after the small hamster escaped. He had the life of his dreams, and then he found out he wasn't the only one who escaped and this is setting the stage for the sequel. At the beginning, our group had some differences on the overall style and gameplay control of the second level. Some of the team members wanted to continue the 2d platformer, while the main character had a home at the beginning of level 2. The house is in the center of the map, from which the hamster can explore. But I felt it didn't have that sweet, bitter feeling, and the platform jump was too easy, so I suggested 3d. The 3D perspective allows the protagonist to do an open-ended collection, and this shift in perspective also gives the player a sense of freedom from the repression of the factory. Would it be better for the protagonist to collect all the way, jump on the air platform, and finally get the dream house through his own efforts? Finally, after intense discussion, we finally decided to use my plan as the second process.
The second level of the creative process
This level is much easier to make than the first one. But we did put a lot of thought into the textures, gameplay, and Easter eggs. About the material, although the scene did not choose a super delicate style, but it is not easy to bring out the fresh water color wind. I added two small eggs in the map. One is to pave the way for the sequel by placing another island, implying that there are other people who escaped from the factory like the main character. Another is that we imitated the game "Human All Flat" and ended it with the producer's subtitles, which was quite good. The second part of the overall style is more warm and happy. The main character has just escaped from the factory, so there is a feeling of slowly opening up. Background music is also a change from sadness to happiness, not very high and not particularly depressed, but a light happy. Then the music gets faster and faster to express the happy feeling of the main character. Finally, the protagonist has his own home, and the violin and other orchestral instruments are added to the music part, pushing the happy mood to the extreme. Using this transition musically gives the player a better sense of the protagonist's escape from the oppressive factory to the life of his dreams.
The second level final effect
In fact, the scene modeling is not difficult, but I think it is very important to create ideas. The process of making this game may seem simple, but it means a lot. All the resources in this game were made by ourselves, and all the innovative ideas were the result of several meetings. The scenes weren't elaborate or time-consuming, but the ideas were polished over and over again. Although it may not be perfect in the end, the overall effect is still commendable.
About
Brand new attempt
In addition to the scene blueprints, I also made UI blueprints, including dialogue between characters, cutscenes, etc. I also fixed various bugs, such as doors not opening after human interaction, items not being collected, etc. I added air walls, modified collision volumes, and recorded the game several times after the game was made. The game was relatively simple, using the previous blueprint. Of course there are some new ideas, a lot of new experiments. For example, the gameplay of stepping on corpses, the transformation from 2D scene level to 3D scene level, the transformation from black and white picture to color picture and so on. I'm also much better at mastering Unreal Engine than I was before. With some confidence in the blueprints, it's time to delve into the code and hopefully make something more exciting later.
Game background
In the Melde world, the sea is not only home but also a dangerous battle ground for people. As land resources are very scarce, grabbing land resources has become a primary problem. Here, people, gods, demons and demons coexist. Each of the four ethnic groups has a treasure of the town. It is said that the collection of four treasures can unify the world and capture people's hearts.
Creative background:
This card game is a game that I completed independently and prepared for more than half a year. In the beginning, I chose to make naval and tower defense games based on LOL, Sea of Thieves, etc., as well as adding my personal favorite card mode. The idea of making a board game came to me when I was meeting my friends and having a party and there was no board game we could play together. My friends tried this board game after the game was made, and they were full of praise. I really felt a sense of achievement to play the game with my friends!
About the game:
The gameplay is quite complicated. Players control characters to explore and draw cards in the map, or attack each other.
There will be some random events such as storm and treasure in the game.
Operation method:
Players have action points to attack or collect or move, by rolling the dice to determine the probability.
Game features:
·Unique game including naval battle, tower defense and drawing cards.
·1v1 player battle
·Exquisite cards and wide maps
Gameplay introduction
rookie pirate handbook
There is a player manual in the game, and the player can understand the gameplay, the game character background, etc. according to the manual.
Treasure card
Demon Card
Event card
Character introduction
Zheng he
Solder
Health
2000
General attack
125
Age
30
Height
184
Race
Terran
Character introduction
Liliya
Archer
Health
1500
General attack
170
Age
21
Height
170
Race
Demon
Character introduction
Poseidon
Tank
Health
2500
General attack
100
Age
50
Height
192
Race
Protoss
Character introduction
Deep
Mage
Health
1000
General attack
250
Age
Unknown
Height
Unknown
Race
Evilkind
Creation process:
Everything in a board game is something that I worked on for two days and a night. Due to lack of funds, everything was printed on A4 paper at the school. In view of the complex shapes of all kinds of cards, in order to pursue good results, I carefully cut out the details of all cards with scissors.
In terms of map making, I divided the map into 12 A4 pages and printed them separately. Then cut the edges of all the images and stitch them together. In card making, I cut out the front side of printed cards and paste them on hard card paper. When the cards are dry, I cut the front and back and paste them together. So a card is complete.
Professional Services
At first, I asked my sister to accompany me and tried the game for the first time with simple printed cards and referring to the map on the computer. The first trial had a lot of problems, such as imbalanced character attack skills, too long a turn, uneven distribution of action points, ineffective cards, etc. After many times of trial play and modification, the game finally reached a more ideal state.
This was a test run after everything was actually made. The demo was conducted by me and my teacher, who complimented me on many of my design ideas and expressed her appreciation for my ability to design such a huge game. During the trial play, the teacher gave me a lot of important advice, such as how to display the character cards, how to record turns between players, how to draw cards more interesting and so on.
In the end, I took the advice and changed the game. For example, I use card paper to fold into a ship-shape base on which the character card can be displayed on. I also added a out-game rule that, when players draw cards, they can use deceptive language to induce the others. I went to my friends for the final test. They all found the game amusing and playable. It will usually take two or three hours to finish the whole game. The rival mode is also suitable for a couple of lovers or friends to play. I am satisfied with the final effect of the game, which surely fulfill my original intention. And finally, I have an offline game that I can play for a whole day with my friends, which is totally designed and made all by myself.
Producer list
Qian
Game program
Mio17
Game planning
Game UI design
Game level design
Game scene production
Game background：
Each player will come to a magical church. Behind each door of the church is a different world. Will you stay in church or embark on an amazing adventure? What does the world look like behind the door? Explore the Arwen World together.
Creative background:
This time, I wanted to make a simple and relaxing VR game. Referring to VR Chat, I decided to make a multiplayer online chat interactive game. In addition to chatting, there are many facilities and devices that players can explore and play with each other. This game has a total of three levels, each level adopted a different style of different play, can give all players different audio-visual experience.
About the game:
The gameplay is relatively simple. Players control characters to explore in the map, or players can chat with each other.
There will be some attacks and character changes in the game.
Operation method:
WASD control action, E key interaction, Space jump, ESC menu, Tab backpack
Game features:
·Unique VR chat interactive game
·Multiplayer battle
·Different styles and gameplay of different levels
Personal creation
Mio17
I do all the game planning, all the level design, all the game Settings and all the UI design.
Game creation process
VR first level conceptual design
I want to make the first level a holiday island. Because the reality is that many of us live a two-point life -- home and business. But in this game, people can barbecue, cook, fish and go boating together, and achieve some things that cannot be done in the epidemic life. The overall tone of the game is very relaxed, allowing tired people to get together in this game to chat and heal. The purpose of the game is to change the offline gathering that we can't easily realize into online. At the same time, VR technology can better shorten the distance between people. After looking up some reference pictures and simply designing the layout, I began to make it.
VR first level game production process
The first time I tried to use the ue4.26 water system, the effect was very good. At first, I was not familiar with the operation, resulting in too large waves and different depths. Later, after adjustment and video learning, the effect was much better. There is a cooking system in this level, which refers to the game Eastward. At that time, the cooking system inside attracted me very much, so I tried to make it this time and innovated my own recipes. I feel the effect is also very good. This time I refer a lot of photos to create, and I also encountered many problems on the way, such as how to make the object float with the wind and how to keep the scene from being exposed. I learned the material connection of floating objects from the Internet, adjusted the light source of the scene, added lighting volume, etc., so that the scene is not so dark and bright.
VR first level final effect
The overall production of the level wasn't that hard, but it was a lot of work, so it took a little longer, almost two months. The main problem is how to adjust the material of the object, moving light, cloth simulation, particle effects and water interaction. These problems are not before how careful study of things, so re-learn again, on, a little effort. I have also made great progress in modeling and material making. I can quickly complete the object making according to the photo reference, and the details are more realistic and skilled.
Game creation process
VR second level conceptual design
The second level is to let everyone's mood back to childhood. After the wonderful holiday life, will you miss the amusement facilities in your childhood? Do recreational facilities you haven't visited in a long time make a difference to your experience as an adult? In this level, people can play and chat with VR online friends freely. Our scene has carousel, flying car, message tree, water park and other amusement facilities for everyone to choose to play. You can chat with your friends while you play, and we try to make it feel like childhood.
VR second level game production process
The most troublesome part of the second level is the model making of amusement facilities. I wanted to create facilities that would make the player feel childlike. So I also found a lot of reference images and selected various color schemes. Secondly, the scene uses the watercolor wind that I have tried before, which can bring people a more fresh and energetic feeling. In the very center of the map, there is a clock tower that doesn't seem to match the scene, which is actually a personal bias. I come from Tianjin, China. There is a clock called century Clock in my hometown. When I was a child, I loved to see the century Clock, and this clock represents one of my childhood memories. So I made a clock tower based on the prototype of century clock and put it in this game, which also added my childhood memories to my game. The clock displays the local time based on the player's location, giving each player a unique memory.
VR second level final effect
I feel good about the final result, basically reaching the childhood feeling I want. The final scene also added several small Easter eggs, such as hopscotch, rubber band jumping, kicking shuttlecock and other small games. If the player can get healing and good memories in this scene, then I have made a success.
Game creation process
VR third level conceptual design
I want to design this level as a hide and seek game, so that the interaction between players will be higher. And I wanted to make a game with a similar survival game. Will survival in VR be more exciting? It may not be a shoot-out match, but the unpredictability of enemy movements can jangle the player's nerves. The squid game that exploded a while ago has brought a new wave of the Survival game genre, and I want to try out a new game mechanic. So I made the level three small levels, and the player had to survive each level to win, similar to the Fall Guys. The first level is the game's central hall and a small room, the second level is the corridor passage and a market, and the third level is the maze. A total of 50 players play each game at the same time. The player can choose to capture or hide. The hidden player can hide by changing to any object in the scene, such as a flower bed, a pool, a lamp, or even a wall, similar to Witch It. The captured player must capture the hidden player within the specified time. If the player who catches runs out of three catches and does not catch the other players will be eliminated at the end of the game, catch a player will win the game directly. The player who wins each round will automatically enter the next round, while the player who loses will be sent back to the waiting hall of the level and can choose to leave the level or continue to challenge. In the second level, the scene is enlarged and the player can move in a larger area, but the play time remains the same. All players need to find the final exit in the maze in the third level, and all capture and hide players need to pass the final exit in the last 10 seconds to win the game. Another thing to note is that players caught in this level only get two chances to catch people. All battles are individual battles with more than one victory. The scene design of this time chooses the architectural style full of exotic amorous feelings. One is to increase some scenes of appreciation, the other is to increase a lot of space for players to hide, both beautiful and not lose the practicality of the scene.
VR third level game production process
The production of this level is very complicated. One is to learn more about the architectural styles of Greece, Turkey, Venice and other places. Second, the production of materials and the portrayal of various details need very high standards. This last level is therefore one of the longest in game production. When making this level, I constantly research and modify the color scheme and details of various materials. During the process, I also encountered many problems, such as sudden software crash, files suddenly unable to open, content was covered by errors, etc., resulting in some areas to redo two or three times before the final effect.
VR third level final effect
It came out well in the end. The hiding and hunting beneath the moon is so different to the sweet and happy moon in the previous levels. The intense atmosphere between the players is shown quite good. And it's new attempt for me to make this game. There are both advantgaes and disadvantages in my first ever VR game. This time, our team cooperate well enough. I made the most parts but my teammates all finish the parts of their own perfectly. This is the biggest reason why I call this game a success.