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Video Game Design Foundations
If the designer is setting a scary scene, the use of dark colors, a gray or
muted palette, and sharp-edged shapes will help set the mood. As players
enter this scene, they would anticipate seeing characters and traps related to
this type of setting. Opponents would be dimly colored and might be ghosts
and skeletons. Anything brightly colored, like a shiny coin, would likely be a
reward. In general, dark colors identify opponents and bright colors identify
rewards or friends.
Before you design a scene you must first create a storyboard to sketch out
the design. A sketch of the important frames, each with the general ideas for
motion, traps, and rewards, is called a storyboard, as shown in Figure 4-10.
Storyboards have been used for years in the motion picture industry. They help
organize and plan what will happen in a video game or movie. Your storyboard
does not need to present great detail, but it should serve as a guide to the
digital design of the scene. The storyboard will also help the scene designer to
set the dimensions of the frame.
The scene dimensions are measured in pixels.
Pixels,
or picture elements,
are the smallest points or dots of color a computer screen can generate. A pixel
can only be one color at any given time. All objects displayed onscreen are
created with pixels. The computer uses these points to create an image.
Storyboards
Image Properties
Figure 4-9.
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
Here, color is used to portray two different moods. A lighthearted mood is portrayed in
the game on the left, while a darker and more sinister mood is portrayed in the game on
the right. Bright colors convey a happy mood, while the dark colors convey tension.