This project is a video game design based on steampunk style. In the background story, the doll ( the main character) was adopted by the old couple. Gradually, the doll learned to express human’s emotion. Growing up, the doll decided to explore where he/she came from. The theme of ‘looking for identity’ is shown on the journey. The game is applied to any smartphones that have cameras since it requires players to take photos of anything in real life. Automatically, the game will transform the photo into clothes or equipment that can be put onto the characters. This piece is a character design that includes the girl doll and her clothes for different careers. Tool design contains weapons and other props which indicate examples of transformation of scissors and so on. The wand can be transformed from any stick-like things such as a pencil or a flower.
The second piece is a series of character design including main characters and mechanical monsters in the game. To exhibit the characteristics, Grandma is digitally painted with fashionable lavender headset and dress while Grandpa with tools in his front pocket. In the story, Grandma is not young anymore but still holds a heart to be fashionable in the steampunk generation. Grandpa, who is an honest and serious person, works as a clockmaker. The couple serves as background storytellers in the game. The other group of characters is monsters that are painted with details– most of them have two or more bulbs with a light on them. I intend to create steampunk monsters inspired by natural or human-made things. For instance, Thunder is designed inspired by eagles combing with metals, screw and so on. It can tell from its name that Thunder works fast to some extent. It works as a guide in the game that provides players with instructions. The other characters also serve different functions.
In order to show the concept of backgrounds in this game, I created the third and the fourth pieces. This one shows an interior steampunk living room with warm light, clocks, vintage television, sofa and other decoration. To illustrate the cozy and comfortable room, I used the uniformity of warm yellow light appropriately. The complex texture of carpet and wall indicates the well-designed steampunk room as well. The other conceptual background design is the harbor. The scene is considered as the origin that appears at the ending in the game. In this game, the doll will collect stories of him/her by taking different photos. Therefore, in the end, the doll finally finds where he/she came from—factories at the harbor. The light source is important for the harbor at night that makes the player hold in awe and veneration for the unexpected ending. Finally, the collection of your photos on the journey will be exhibited and shared with players’ friends if they want. What makes it meaningful is that the photo players take show close relationship with the stories of characters in the game. The game tries to connect the real world and artificial game world on players’ phones by telling related stories and anecdotes. The last piece including two scenes shows how the real game background looks like. The game will be presented in the way it shows. One of them is the interior shown in the game where main characters appear for the first time. The other one, vintage shop, is an initial path they have to walk through. Textures and other details are shown and the light indicates different paths they can move on.