The Art Style of NML
Hello folks, how are you doing? I’m here today with the Visual Art Style behind National Mech League. Mostly everything that you are going to see here is related to the Pre-Production Phase that we had in Term 04. Consider the Visual Style of the game as something EXTREMELY important. After deciding everything related to the art and the whole universe, everything gets easier to just develop your game. So, take this as a tip and work hard in the Pre-Production Phase of your game. 😛
Omar Gonzalez was the responsible for the Concept Arts of NML. He, as Lead Artist, did the Characters and Environment Concepts, as well as the other things that you will see in this post. Omar designed simple shapes with clear colours that are going to be seen in an isometric top down view. Shape, colour and animations speak of what each enemy is supposed to do when they engage with the player.
For the Visual Style of NML, the team had Visual Target references of Borderlands, World of Warcraft, Futurama, NFL, NHL and Nascar. The team is trying to achieve a Handmade – Cortoonish look – for the main characters. The game has clear comic intentions with satire and parody out of the contemporary professional Sport Scene.
Game Characters
NML features a Main Character, four enemies and a Boss. In the beginning we had three different options of Mech to offer to the player, but after the project scope analyses, we decided to focus only on one Mech, and if we have time we can add a second one during Alpha. The Mechs are the materialization of the pilot’s personality and their design is also inspired by it.
Texas Smith is the pilot of The Ocho, the Cowboy Mech. He has a very funny personality and wants to get more attention than other competitors. Texas Smith always wants to be the star. Texas Smith is sponsored by McBoro Cigars in the NML. Between all Mechs, The Ocho is the one with the best balance in his stats. He has a balanced and normal Speed and Health. As weapons, this Mech can attack using The Gatling, The Shotgun or the Revolver.
The Gatling is the Main Weapon of The Ocho. The main characteristic is the fast shot and damage against the enemies, while the Shotgun and Revolver have a bigger cool down but a higher damage. Each weapon needs to be used in different ways to be able to move ahead in the battle.
Wave of Enemies
Measuring almost the same size, the enemies of the League Arena attack in waves, always trying to trap the player through the level sections. Their colours follow the same colour pallet and are directly represented as bots that are carrying the famous brands on their bodies. Their only objective is to kill the Mechs before they can achieve victory by killing the League Boss in the League Arena.
The biggest and strongest enemy of the game, the Fatvertiser, is the League Boss of NML and the final enemy of the game. The Fatvertiser is two times the size of a normal Mech. He can be found in the last section of the League Arena, in the top and central platform. His colour follows the same colour pallet of the others enemies and his body is represented as a giant marketing spot. His only body movement is by rotating around him and, by doing that, he also moves the top central platform, modifying the fight strategy. His Main Weapons are the Machine Gun and the Flamethrower.
Environment
National Mech League takes place in a futuristic universe in which the most exciting sport is Mech Matches. The game features a game universe focused on how the marketing and brands expanded in the world in a way that controls even more of people’s lives. Everything in NML is related to products, sponsorship, sports and machines, and at the same time parodying famous brands and sports. The World of the League Arena is full of lights, flashes, explosions, colours, giant structures, platforms and bots. Everything is futuristic, everything is connected, and there is marketing everywhere.
Sponsornator
One of the core features of NML is the Sponsornator. The Sponsornator is the Sponsor Machine present in National Mech League. To be able to reward the player’s performance in the League Arena, the sponsors created the Sponsornator. According to player’s SP, they can exchange these points to new Mech Pieces in the game. The only way to do so is by accessing one of the two Sponsornators presented in the game.
And this is part of the Visual Style of NML. I hope you guys enjoyed. 😀 Soon I will be posting the characters already modelled in 3D and Texturized, and also provide more details about the Level Design and other aspects of the game. Always stay tuned and leave a comment!
eu amei..