game interface redesign

http://s717.photobucket.com/albums/ww178/FunkyBones/Animal%20Crossing%20City%20Folk%20pictures/?action=view&current=RUU_0076.jpg&

http://www.hookedgamers.com/wii/animal_crossing_city_folk/review/article-293.html

we were asked to either choose an already existing game or a made up game to create or redesign an interface for. 

i chose the game 'Animal crossing: city folk' to re-design.

animal crossing is a sort of slice of life game. it simulates a more fun, childish and simplistic version of adult life. you are made to gather your own money, by selling anything you can get your hands on. once you get this money you can choose to either spend it on furniture to furnish your house or to pay of your mortgage.
in the later, more newer games in this franchise you are able to by things such as 'designer' fashion, hairdressing or coffee.

the very first animal crossing was originally released in Japan on the Nintendo 64. but latter came out on the Nintendo gamecube in English.

wild world and city folk came after. and there is now another game in the early stages of making.

each game have all had similar styles. weather it be in graphics, game play or interface.

all of the interfaces have very distinct similarities. the use of circles and light colours is very common but in the middle one kind of brakes the tradition as the colours are a bit more vibrant. but it still keeps the circle theme

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2008/12/08/animal-crossing-classic-gamecube-review-nintendo-debuts-its-sim-life-communication-series.htm
http://ds.neologasm.org/animal-crossing/
http://wn.com/Animal_Crossing:_City_Folk

when not in the inventory  there is always a clock in one corner of the screen with the date and day.
they all seem to follow similar colour schemes yellows with browns or greens. and yet again use the circle or rounded theme
  

  

i started by sketching up two different ideas for my interface.

because of the use of rectangles in wild world i decided i wanted to bring them in a bit more. 

so both of my designs had squares in them.

in the second design i tried to bring the clock aspect in like in city folk. 

 i decided to go with my second menu design for my interface.
but i don't like the clock from either of my sketches.
in the first animal crossing they use circles to put the date and time in. i wanted to use this as well, so i adjusted it to what i felt was better, by using less circles

with the menu down

with the menu up

interface separate 

overall i like the outcome of my redesign 

it doesn't take up much of the screen, so you are still able to see allot of your surroundings.

i think maybe if i added a stroke, or a glow, or changed the colours around the menu it may be more noticeable as, after i added it to the screen shot it kind of merged into the background

unity and U.D.K

unity

we were shown a program called unity. 

this program enables us to be able to create our own terrain for a game. it lets you add in different things for example. the time of day is changeable, also the type of water you can use can be changed, from purely decorational to water that you can swim in. 

creating a terrain is quite simple. after getting a basic canvas to create your environment. you can start to manipulate it by raising the level of the floor to create mountains or craters. there is a range of different shape brushes that help to give of different effects with the mountains or craters.

the foliage and trees are also just as simple. after choosing a texture for the foliage you can then start to paint it onto your terrain, you can choose how dense you want it to be. unfortunately the tree and foliage brush is a bit irritating to use since you cant see the brush unless you zoom in very very close.

despite this small problem, unity is a good easy program to use.  

during being showed how to use unity, we were given time to play around and create our own terrain, using what we know.

i started to create one of my own. surrounding it in water and making them look like tropical islands. 

Unreal Development Kit

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA2DE3D64B848BC63&feature=plcp

we were also shown how to use the unreal development kit to create a game terrain. this one was a more enjoyable and interesting program to use. it was simple and over all the look of the finished terrain was allot better than in unity. the textures were nicer and you have also got the ability to import or use pre set 3d models. for example you can import things such as pillars , chain fences and more.

like unity you are able to change the time but in this program you can also change and add in different light sources.     

when making a terrain you can put it inside of a hollow box to create a kind of room, and since you have the ability to chop away at parts with different shapes you could create a series of rooms. because of the many different shapes for making things, you can make stairs and extra levels. the possibilities of what is able to be made is allot bigger in this program.  

unfortunately in U.D.K you are not able to create things such as bushes, trees or water.