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Nostalgic Game Design for Horizon Chase
Horizon Chase is one of those games that brings back a lot of good memories, especially if you are from the generation that played the classic Sega Outrun or Nintendo's Top Gear. Outrun is the best reference because of the Ferrari. Another amazing thing about this game and game design is that I know the folks behind it, they are from my hometown, which makes me even happier. So for this post I just wanted to share the work that Rodrigo Bellão published on his Behance profile. I added the info he was kind to share with us. As the Lead UX/UI designer on this project I worked alongside the game designers to revamp the nostalgic experience of the classics racing games from the 90's in this multi platform game developed by Aquiris Game Studio. Achievements 8+ MILLION ORGANIC DOWNLOADS Editors' Choice on App Store - Worldwide App Store “Best of” 2015 Worldwide App Store “Best of” 2016 Apple Tv category “Android excellence” 2017 - 15 games featured only Game of the year - App store iPAD in Brazil and Mexico Game of the week - toucharcade.com Gold award and game of the year nominee - Pocket Gamer Best game - Big Festival 2016 Featured on the Apple Stores’ devices around the globeI Game design The team did not want to just replicate 16-bit graphics of classic games. The process of visual exploration led us to a combination of low poly 3D objects with high detailed illustrated backgrounds and a colorful palette. To design the key visual I used a prototype screenshot combined with a montage of landscape illustrations from our mood board. A basic HUD was design, inspired by digital panels from 80s and 90s cars. I kept my wireframes ready to include new features. The economy and the meta game went through several stages until maturing. Many features were tested such as the store, the collections, upgrade systems and the introduction of currencies. With the time they were removed to let the player focus on the gameplay. I experimented with low poly visuals in the UI, but I noticed that overusing it could affect the usability impairing the contrast of elements. My solution for the UI visual was a mix of low poly with retro looking 3D buttons. The HUD required a lot of iterations and user testing to achieve a good usability. We had to experiment with large variation of screen sizes and input devices to accommodate digital controls and visual feedbacks according to user customization. All promotional materials were made in house. We created an entire digital campaign that included the website, 5 trailers and several assets for the stores.
Pure Inspiration: Kirby Café, Nintendo's latest Venture
All you Nintendo fans out there, here is the excuse you were waiting for to get tickets and pack to Japan. Nintendo just opened a super cute cafe in Osaka and Tokyo. Kirby Café incorporates elements from the video game series into everything they do. So of course you will love everything about this place. From their website to the items they serve to their location, every details is filled with style and cuteness. Check it out! More about Kirby Café: Website Facebook
Wicked Concept Artworks by Eytan Zana
One could state that today is concept art day at Abduzeedo. We really can't get enough of it, even more when we get to see amazing artworks by talented artists, like American artist Eytan Zana. He's got a sweet set of concept artworks. Eytan is a concept artist at Naughty Dog, the badass company that developed games like The Last of Us and the Uncharted series. He has made amazing concept pieces for these games, and some others as well. He's got an amazing style, really worth checking out. For more of his work, please visit his portfolio at ArtStation. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did! Cheers! ;)
The Witcher 3 Gwent Cards and Concept Art by Marek Madej
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is my first try on the Witcher universe and I'm pretty satisfied with the quality of this game, which has an giant open world and dozens, even hundreds of hours of possible gameplay. One of the coolest things about it is a card game called Gwent. I was pretty amazed when I ran into the artist that has made some card designs for the game. Polish artist Marek Madej has made some of the coolest Gwent cards you'll find in the game... he has also come up with some amazing concept arts that really capture the variety of scenarios you'll find in the game. I really love what he's done, and for more of his work, please visit his portfolio at ArtStation. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did! Cheers. ;) Gwent: Yennefer Gwent: Geralt Gwent: Triss Merigold Gwent: Regis Ice Giant Ancient Leshen Sewers Concept Art Village Concept Art Frozen Lake Concept Art Ice Tower Concept Art Battlefield Concept Art Yennefer Triss Merigold
Weekly Apps: Hook, Dull, Back to Bed and more
If you are a game lover and an Android user, I'm sure yoy'll enjoy this list! Take a look at the new Back do Bed and Monument Valley. And for iOS, give a try at Dull! Hope you guys like these apps and all the whole selection, and stay tuned for the next week! You can keep sending me your suggestions via Twitter twitter.com/FabianoMe and include #abdz_apps in the message. TagBox - tagbox.com.br Save money with the brands you love! With TagBox you learn firsthand of promotions and news of your favorite brands. HOOK - playthehook.com HOOK is a minimal, relaxing, puzzle game. Back to Bed - bedtimedigitalgames.dk Back to Bed is a 3D puzzle Indie game set in a unique, beautiful and artistic dream world, wherein you guide the sleepwalker Bob to the safety of his bed. Monument Valley - monumentvalleygame.com In Monument Valley you will manipulate impossible architecture and guide a silent princess through a stunningly beautiful world.Dull - dull.rocks The best of the internet is waiting for your dull moments. Swipe cards with trending, interesting, top rising, most visited content as rated by you, the internet.
The Long Dark Game Beautiful Scenes
I know we're not used to do this here at Abduzeedo, but we usually share with you beautiful nature scenes from time to time... so I thought that it would be nice to share beautiful nature scenes from a game! The game is called The Long Dark, and the story happens in the Canadian wilderness, where your mission is to survive for as long as you can. I've played it sometimes and it's pretty impressive how beautiful this game is. From sunrises to sunsets, with snow all over the place and even a huge frozen lake to look at, it's all just really beautiful. I've selected some screenshots from gamers for you guys to check this game's beauty. I hope you enjoy these and find some inspiration. Cheers! ;)
Assassin's Creed Concept Art by Ivan Koritarev
2013 had some pretty amazing, beautiful games, like GTA V, The Last of Us and Assassin's Creed: Black Flag. The latest installment of the assassin's franchise is simply breath-taking. Sincerely, piratry didn't look this awesome since the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Ivan Koritarev, a Bulgarian artist previously featured here, came up with some fantastic concept art for Ubisoft... these capture a portion of the game's atmosphere. I really dig the scenes in open water and sea battles, but these are are awesome nonetheless. For more of his work, please visit his DeviantART portfolio. He'll definitely enjoy it. Also, happy 2014 everyone! Thanks for keeping up with us during 2013. We love you all. Cheers. ;)
Wicked Fighting Game Background GIFs
Stop everything you're doing, because you can't continue with your head blown. That's right, because this is one of the freshest things you'll see around the web these days. For any of the gamers out there who've been in love with fighting games for a long time, this is for you! Redditor RudeBootie has made an album consisting in 125 fighting game backgrounds as GIFs. That's right... remember all the arenas where you defeated your foes in the past? Well, they're back in a glorious way. In my opinion these below are some of the best you'll find in the collection, but don't be mistaken: they're all great! Check it out. Cheers! ;)
Incredibly Detailed Character Design by Yu Cheng
It's been quite a long time since we posted about character design. It's not exactly our forte but we really love the field and especially the work that we see out there on the internet. Most of the work is for the game industry and it's amazing the amount of details some of this characters have. To give you an idea of how awesome character design is, we picked some examples from Yu Cheng, a illustrator, graphic and fashion designer from Taipei, Taiwan.
Video Game Characters in Real Life by Aled Lewis
Who doesn't love gaming? Almost everyone here was raised playing old school games in their Atari, Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo and I must say that it's super awesome to see those games back in other ways. One of these ways is through design! English designer, Aled Lewis, one of the most beloved artists out there took his shot on the concept of mixing games with photography, and I must say that result is awesome! His take is somewhat minimalistic, but very awesome nevertheless. For more of Aled's work, please visit his portfolio at Behance. He'll definitely enjoy it. Cheers! ;)
Weekly Apps: Fantastical, Pixlr, Predators Game and more
This is a selection that Android user will love! Pixlr and Runtastic are two really nice apps, also we're featuring the Predators Game, for Android too. If you have an iPhone, you should try Fantastical and the 500px app, they are beautiful! Hope you like all those apps, and stay tuned for the next week! You can keep sending me your suggestions via Twitter twitter.com/FabianoMe and include #abdz_apps in the message. Predators - angrymobgames.com Play as the Predator in this official game based on the iconic sci-fi film franchise!runtastic PullUps PRO - runtastic.com The runtastic PullUps PRO app is your personal pull-up trainer that uses an easy to follow scientific sports training plan that helps you build strength and see constant improvement.Pixlr Express - pixlr.com Pixlr Express is a fun and free photo editor that lets you quickly crop, re-size, and fix any picture, remove red-eye, and whiten teeth.Fantastical - flexibits.com Fantastical is the fastest and friendliest calendar app. 500px - 500px.com/iOS The definitive 500px experience is now available for both iPhone and iPad!
Vintage Games Advertisements
The good ol' days! Nothing would beat getting home from school and playing your favorite game in your Genesis or your Super Nintendo. It was the 16bit and 32bit glory days and I must say, they're very much missed. And here are some heart-warming advertisements of some classic games, such as Rambo, Indiana Jones, Top Gear, and many others, that anyone who got to be a kid in the 90's might remember. Also, we'd love to know which games were your favorite ones. My favorite was definitely Tiny Toons and Desert Strike. I hope you enjoy these ads! Cheers. ;)
Logo Design: Games
We keep going through our weekly journey checking out great logos! We're thinking ahead and we want to find new topics, good ones, to share with you guys. Last week we had a great post about logos with butterflies, and today it's all about game logos! Every week we search through our beloved Logopond, but starting this week, we are also gonna search for logos on Dribbble, a great community for designers everywhere. Also, if you you'd like to suggest ideas for the next subjects, please, tell me by sending me sending me a tweet: @paulogabriel. Cheers! ;)
Create Sonic The Hedgehog Opening on Illustrator
The other day while I was cleaning up some stuff in my bedroom I've found my Sega Genesis - Mega Drive in Brazil, one of the first 16 bit consoles released in the 90s. I remember most of my friends were more into Mario Bros because they had a SuperNES. I played Mario Bros years later, but at that time my eyes were focused only on playing frenetically Sonic The Hedgehog almost everyday. So, continuing our "nostalgic tutorials" series this one will be about this classic game opening, sure this will probably give you some really good memories so let's do it. Just a warning before we can proceed: this is an more advanced and step forward tutorial, so a previous knowledge of the software and the character will be really helpful. Also, this can all be solved with a mouse, althought using a tablet will make it way more fast. Tunnel I kind of don't know If that's a tunnel or a giant ring on the opening titles, anyway the first thing you should do after creating a new document on illustrator is to create a perfect circle using the ellipse tool (L) + shift. You're actually going to create four of them, use a white fill to understand which is under and which is bellow. So I added a blue metallic linear gradient on two of them, a more intricate golden gradient on one of the circles and a black fill on the circle on the front in order to symbolize the hole. I also wanted a hard shading on the golden circle, so I just created a white circle, selected the soft light blending mode, pulled it a bit to the right downward diagonal and made a clipping mask (ctrl + 7 / command + 7) with a duplicated golden circle. Let's add some stars, first click on the start tool to create specifi star with the parameters bellow. Make another one inside of it. Then add some blue gradients, use a stronger on the one inside and a softer on the outside. I also added a drop shadow on each of them to look more funky. Then duplicated it and alligned like the picture bellow. Here's the first we're going to use for the SEGA logo, you can get it here So, after I wrote SEGA I turned the font into outlines (ctrl + shift + O / command + shift + O) and added the same blue gradient used on the circles. Ok, now go to Object > Path > Offset Path and set the parameters like this. Use a white fill on the new path. Wings Never quite get why there's wing on theis opening, anyway I just draw then using the pen tool (P). Then add a grey radial gradient on it. I also used the same offset path here, so you can pretty much repeat the procedure. Don't forget to duplicate and flip it to the other side (just right click and go to Transform > Reflect). Ribbon Using the pen tool (P) I made this shape with a little hook shape on the end, this will be like a folding of the ribbon. On the sequence I just made the extremity using the previous tool. I added some red linear gradient, just watch for the gradient directions, they will help to enhance and give depth to the image. To make a the white shapes, I basically duplicated the red ones and adjusted it using the selction tool (V) and the direct selection tool (A) I also added a shadow by creating this shape right on the ribbon folding then selecting the blending mode called multiply. Ok, then just duplicate it and flip it to the other side. I also added the stars used on the circle, but on a larger size. For the main title first I wrote "The Hedgehog" using Hevletica (you can use Arial with you prefer), turned it to outlines and used offset path on it. You can get the next font that we're going to use on the Sonic type here. I outlined the type and added a mettalic intrincate gradient. Ok, then access Effect > 3D > Extrude & Bevel, set the parameters like the ones bellow. Now that we just finished this part, let's add a black background by creating a big black rectangle using the rectangle tool (M). I decided to add some shiny stars so I clicked on the star tool and configurate it to make some thin 4 points stars. I also added some golden gradient on them. Sonic Ok, here's the most anticipated and also the toughiest part of the tutorial: drawing Sonic. Before trying to draw this character on the final pose, I made some several studies of it and it's body structure and movements, Sonic is one of these classic big-head cartoon characters, the hardest part to understand it's how you will place the eyes. So, I would suggest you guys to try some sketching looking to some original images, it's good to understand the logic behind some characters, that's enhance you graphic repertory. So, after a lot tests adn studies, I tried to make the classic Sonic pose and laced it on the Ai file on the bottom to help you guys. As you can see I divided the character in a lot o ellipses, this is way of showing the body struture, where are the main parts and the joints. After putting it on illustrator, I started tracing over the most simple shapes, mostly ellipses,like the ones in the eye, head and body. With some help of the pen tool (P) I traced the rest of the body, I know this may not make much sense right now, but this is the best way to vectorize a character with less effort. Ok guys so right now here's a great test for you, as I know our readers are really good this should be piece of cake: using the pathfinder tool called Unite, you should wisely unite some of the traced part in order to get this vector Sonic. Don't worry, this is just a test, If you don't feel confortable on trying, there's a ready vector version on the downloadable file. After we got it all vectorized, let's add some flat colors, I like to do that before adding gradients and shadows as it's better to preview how we should add light and shadow on the image. I started with the eye, adding some grey radial gradient, then added some grey gradient on the nose and on the eyes. I decided to substiture the beige for a hotter color as a orange gradient, just watch for the gradient directions and formats (linear and radial). The glove it's a bit intricate, so here's a tep by step on the gradient directions, watch it carefully. Finally I added some blue radial gradient on the top of him and posicionate him on the scenario, right behing the ribbon. Final Result Although the tutorial was really step forward, I hope you guys got a better understanding on character design, as this will always be a really tough part when doing a illustration. Studying movements, faces, gestures it's wuite important for any illustrator. Hope you guys enjoyed this lesson. Download the Illustrator File Click here to download the Illustrator file used for this tutorial.
45 Awesome Game Concept Arts
Last week we had a great post featuring some stunning illustrations and game concept arts that were a big hit. This kind of illustration, the one that artists make to the gaming industry, is usually super-cool and detailed, and that's why I've selected these game concept arts. Found on ConceptArt.org and DeviantART, these are some truly awesome pieces, from games such as Assassin's Creed to Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends. I really hope you enjoy these as much as I do, and for more, visit each site linked above. Cheers! ;)
Videogame Remakes by Orioto
During a little visit to Fubiz yesterday, I ran into something that really got my attention: Videogame remake wallpapers! These are really incredible and just blew my mind! Since many people didn't find the link to the author's page and didn't get to download these wallpapers, I'm also posting abou it and making direct links to each wallpapers. Orioto, the author, is SO cool that he even released XL versions for printing... for FREE! Now that's what I call sharing. I'm totally hanging Mario in my wall. This dude is awesome. Anyways, here are the wallpapers! Hope you enjoy these. Cheers! ;)
Snes Game Cover Arts
A little more than 2 months ago we had a great article about Mega Drive (Sega Genesis) game cover arts. Many people enjoyed it very much, and many asked for a next post: Snes cover arts. And here they are. Unfortunatelly, Snes cover arts are a little bit harder to find than the Mega's ones, but I've managed to find some cool ones. I really hope you guys enjoy these as much as I do. Cheers! ;)