iron core (game)
This is our major group project from our 3rd year at University. We were working on behalf of Silo Black games. The task was to create a 4 player, 2.5d sidescroller, taking inspiration from games like Metal Slug and Gundam. One of the major requirements was that the players would encounter a large boss at the end of the level. The boss would have to be so large, that players could actually run across it as it moves along. The boss would head toward a city and once reached, the level would end in failure, the player's job is to destroy the boss before this happens. Players would make use of a grapple hook mechanic in-game to make for some fast-paced gameplay, with plenty of verticality.
I had multiple roles within the project. These included:
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Concept Art
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3D Modelling
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Artistic Direction
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Texturing
I started producing concept art. Firstly, on the boss as this is the main area we were struggling to envision.
animalistic quadruped design, figuring out ways of adding more verticality
exploring a biped version and again designing mechs with verticality in mind.
having eventually decided on a biped version, we decided to create the boss based on the red mech shown
Based on the above left red mech, I started building the boss. I imagined a route the players would take up the back of this giant mech and I tried to keep some consistent flat platform sections throughout the model to serve as a clear reference for the players, to indicate which platforms to interact with.
I used lights along the spine of the mech to serve as an indicator as to the route the players have to take.
Moving on from boss concepts, I created concepts for the player character, a drone enemy, grapple points and very rough level layout designs.
drone enemy first iteration (left) after contact with client, they requested it look more in-line with the animalistic style of the boss, so it was amended to the above drone (right)
final low poly 3D model below
Below are some player character concepts and the final model. I was requested to make the character up of mainly two distinctive colour combinations.
early rough concepts
slightly refined character concept
Refined further still, I wanted this image to demonstrate the different types of armour the character could have. As a group, we decided the lighter armour was preferable
low poly final character design
Below are examples of grapple point concepts, the modular platforms used to build up the level and the UI I designed for the game.
low poly modular platforms
grapple point concepts
UI element: pause screen
UI element: player stats overview