Cerebronauta Slide

CEREBRONAUTA I n s p i r a t i o n

&

c a s e

S t u d i e s

04

CONTENTS 01 Programming and Game Design

02 Character design and Drawing Style

03 Background design and Drawing style

04 Sound Design and sound Style ispiration

05

06

PROGRAMMING AND GAME DESIGN

DYNAMIC DIALOGUE SYSTEM

Cerebronauta will have a very special interaction with the characters.

Each dialogue will be managed in a dynamic manner and each of our choice of dialogue will negatively or positively influence the results of the conversation.

07

8

PROGRAMMING AND GAME DESIGN

S EKIRO

SHADOW DIES TWICE

It was decided to take Sekiro as a case study for how the stamina of the character and the enemies is managed, through the posture it is possible to wear down the enemies using the shots at the right time.

This particular mechanic should be implemented in the dialogues of our game.

The player using the right phrases will be able to fill the npc bar until they are emotionally exposed allowing them to expand the available lines of dialogue.

9

010 The more the stress bar is filled the more it will be possible to extrapolate useful information to the npc, this mechanic can also be useful to receive bonuses (eg: discounts from vendors etc)

Like the NPCs we too will have a stress bar that will fill up depending on the answers we receive.

Most likely we will no longer be able to have a conversation if our bar is full.

011

STRESS AND EMOTION

12

PROGRAMMING AND GAME DESIGN

The strength of Visual Novels lies in the elasticity of the dialogues, the more you dig into the background of the npc the more information can be obtained.

It would be optimal to subdivide the bar in various steps so as to unlock information or the possibility of extra dialogue every few bars filled.

There will therefore be some “key� sentences that will block a portion of the bar thus avoiding losing the goal achieved.

13

14

PROGRAMMING AND GAME DESIGN

DA RKES T DUNGEON

We decided to take Darkest Dungeon as a case study because of how the game’s party members are handled.

Each character has a mental characteristic that influences the interactions with the game world.

A claustrophobic character will be less efficient in enclosed spaces and perhaps a kleptomaniac character will hold the coins we will find in the dungeons.

This distinction between the characters would be interesting to transpose it to every npc we will meet, thus making each dialogue unique.

15

16

PROGRAMMING AND GAME DESIGN

DIVINITY 2 OR IGINAL SIN

Divinity Original Sin 2 has revolutionized the genre of role-playing games by exploding the basic concept and bringing it to its maximum expression.

We decided to take this game as a case study for how dialogues with the game’s npc are handled.

In divinity it is possible to approach in different ways depending on the road one wants to take, it is possible to be arrogant, kind and mysterious, the way in which we set ourselves determines a series of completely different consequences and reactions.

17

018 CHOOSE WHO TO BE

In divinity it is possible to play role with the answers, if we want to be bad we can do it and this is not necessarily a bad thing but rather could allow us to intimidate our interlocutor and make him say what we need.

019

The NPCs will talk to us and it will be possible to decide how to respond. it is possible to unblock lines of text depending on our knowledge of the situation.

The more we are aware of what we are talking the more it will be possible to explore new lines of dialogue.

020

PROGRAMMING AND GAME DESIGN

Health Stress Circle*

Npc’s Name mental peculiarity*

Stress Bar Npc

Text Box

Dialogue option Stress Bar Main character

WIRE FRAME

*The psychology of the npc will negatively or positively influence the results of some answers that we will give, this will allow us to guess what to say to quickly fill the stress bar.

021

*Every npc with which it will be possible to have a dynamic dialogue will have one or two “energy bars” these will be consumed to arrive at the conclusion of the conversation that unlocks hidden dialogues.

22

CHARACTER DESIGN AND DRAWING STYLE

DRAWING STYLE “NOT A SIMPLE NOVEL”

Cerebronauta is a visual novel that aims to offer a completely innovative game mechanic (for the genre) so it is fundamental to have a unique and recognizable art direction and character style.

Since this is our first work as a development team we must be able to leave our mark of recognition in the players.

23

24

CHARACTER DESIGN AND DRAWING STYLE

PERS ONA 5

SHIGENOR I SOEJIMA

We decided to take as the first case study for our game Persona 5 but more generally the works of Shigenori Soejima.

His unique style and his recognizable stroke are a great example of how characters and personalities can be given to characters.

You can combine his style with the classic style of Japanese drawings (eg manga) with a more pop and underground style.

He uses very simple but incisive lines and traits that give his characters a really powerful and attractive look.

25

026

CHARACTER DESIGN AND DRAWING STYLE

01 an extreme use of shadows

02 The importance of authorship and of the elements recognizable in the design

Soejima makes a deliberately heavy use of black.

This method of using shadows gives the characters so much expressive depth.

Gradients are absent and flat colors are used to color the characters.

All the characters he created have many aesthetic and physical elements in common.

This allows him to create a connection (of style) between one character and another, thus creating an artistic coherence.

ART

Shigenori Saejima

027

28

29

30 The use of colors is also very important.

We need to take care of the characters’ outfits to make them unique.

Each character, even the secondary ones, must be strongly characterized.

32

CHARACTER DESIGN AND DRAWING STYLE

HA DES

BATTLE OUT OF HELL

Hades is a title that struck us for its captivating and exquisitely Japanese art direction.

Each character is made with an obsessive care, the use of colors is never taken for granted and the way in which the various characters and npc are characterized has led us to consider this small indie jewel as a case study.

33

CHARACTER DESIGN AND DRAWING STYLE

36

CHARACTER DESIGN AND DRAWING STYLE

S T E PS

W H A T D O W E D O N OW ?

01 Physical and psychological characterization

02 Preparatory drafts and sketches.

03 Choice of color and how to apply it.

04 Application of the realized material

First of all we must delimit all the characteristics of the characters.

How tall are they? How are they dressed? etc. all this will serve us to create particular and unique characters.

Starting to draw characters is the first step to get convincing results.

Each character must be unique and have their own distinctive traits so you need to do various preparatory tests.

Color is very important, you have to decide how to use it and how.

To define our style, we must choose how to use the color to use in our characters.

The final step will be to create the material to be used in the game and for the kickstarter campaign.

All the material that will be created will have to be ready for a conversion on unity (therefore very high resolution drawings etc)

38

BACKGROUND D ESIGN AND DRAWING STYLE

DRAWING STYLE “NOT A SIMPLE NOVEL”

Cerebronauta is a visual novel that aims to offer a completely innovative game mechanic (for the genre) so it is fundamental to have a unique and recognizable art direction and background style.

Since this is our first work as a development team we must be able to leave our mark of recognition in the players.

39

40

BACKGROUND D ESIGN AND DRAWING STYLE

DA RKES T DU NGE ON CHR IS BOUR ASSA

Chris Bourassa oversaw the design and character of Darkest Dungeon.

His style is very particular and his use of flat color is interesting.

His designs are reminiscent of a comics style but it is possible to apply this style to a more Japanese vision.

Cerebronauta’s atmospheres, very dark and mysterious, need a work of background design that can represent the oppression of the city where the story is set.

41

042

BACKGROUND D ESIGN AND DRAWING STYLE

01 an extreme use of shadows

02 The importance of authorship and of the elements recognizable in the design

Bourassa Bourassa uses shadows very heavily, its lines and the lines it creates convey a sense of darkness

Bourassa uses shadows very heavily, its lines and the lines it creates convey a sense of darkness

It is possible to recognize the style of Darkest Dungeon due to its strong characterization of each element.

Our goal must be the same.

Create a style that can be recognized and convey the mood of the work.

ART

Chris Bourassa

043

44 The use of colors is also very important.

For the realization of the background it will be essential to create a color palette that can be used in any situation.

Copper city is a damn city.

The coal of countless industries does not show the sky.

46

BACKGROUND D ESIGN AND DRAWING STYLE

VA LIA NT HEA R TS PAUL TUMELAIR E

Paul Tumelaire is the artist who oversaw all the design of Valiant Hearts.

He uses very simple traits, flat colors but it is the use of the latter to be effective and to convey many emotions.

Looking at his drawings, you seem to see technical drawings that come to life.

Its accuracy and effectiveness in representing even the most banal elements is amazing.

47

48

50

52

BACKGROUND D ESIGN AND DRAWING STYLE

S TEINS GA TE HUKE

Cerebronauta will be a Visual Novel so the art director of Steins gate is the one that comes closest to our style.

His style is very “standard� with visual novel productions but they have managed to make themselves unique by using a color method that almost resembles watercolor brushstrokes.

The colors are dull and washed out, this way of making the background is very interesting and would be a good choice for our game.

53

54

56

2 0 19

S t u d i o

B e a s t