Updated Dissertation Recap! (Changes to Style Guide Contents, etc)

There have been quite a few changes made to the overall plan of the artefact. This post serves to list these changes, and the reasons behind them:

[PREVIOUS] Style Guide Details:

•   About 15-30mins of gameplay for each visit to the village. Village is there to act as a break from the current quests and combat.
•  Mostly digital images, but may include some pencil sketches, especially for initial drafts.
•  Final artefact will be digital, either a PDF or Word document, although I may get a physical copy made, time and funds allowing.

[CURRENT] Style Guide Details:

• The artefact is going to focus largely on the cinematic portions of the scenes. This is because the cinematics are the easiest parts to control, as the player cannot influence them; this is more of an issue in an RPG game, as it tends to involve a lot of free-roaming gameplay. The amount of gameplay intended for each section of the game has not changed; I just will no longer be focusing on the gameplay part itself.
• Rather than just have piles of concept art, I decided to have storyboards for scene A and B, in addition to some concept art. The storyboards will allow me to clearly illustrate all the important parts, without the need to focus as much on drawing fully detailed artwork. The concept art will then be there to act as an extra guide - so that the style of certain parts of the game can be seen at a glance (the main character, the village, etc).
• I was really struggling to digitalise the storyboard, so in the end I decided to just create a finalised version in paper form, as I find it much easier to work with pencil/paper. Also, the hours I would have spent trying to digitalise the remaining parts of the storyboard would not be worth it, when I could make something that I am much happier to present as my final artefact, in much less time, leaving me more time to focus on the important parts, such as actually iterating the storyboard itself, rather than obsess over its appearance. There will still be some digital artwork, but the main storyboards will be on paper, in a sketchbook.

[PREVIOUS] Style Guide Content List:

• Village at point A in storyline: approx. 20 images.
• Village at point B in storyline: approx. 20 images.
• Characters (player and non-player): 5-10 images, plus a small description for the main character and each tribe or group featured in the game. So for example, the villagers that live in the village mentioned above will have a small paragraph describing the village's backstory as a whole, rather than a paragraph for each person. The main character of the game will get their own paragraph, as they feature much more heavily in the game.
• General World Overview: 5-10 images. Just a few images of the area around the village, so game artists know what kind of world the village exists in.

The village at point A and B are the main focus, but I will want some artwork for the world and the people in it, to give game artists more scope when creating the villages.

[CURRENT] Style Guide Content List:

• Exile Scene: one storyboard, approx 20 panels. Exile scene was added, as it shows how the hero goes from a confident, powerful being, to a scared, weak individual. It also sets the scene for the rest of the game
• Scene A: one storyboard, approx. 20 panels.
• Scene b: one storyboard, approx. 20 panels.
• Characters: Hero, Villagers (Children, Adult, Elder).
• General World Overview: Village, Aldarene, Dagneserena.

The exile scene is not actually the first scene in the game - the hero will be introduced, and will commit the act that will lead to her exile. As I am focusing on Scene A and B, I don't want to storyboard the entire game, as that will take more time than is appropriate for this dissertation, when the focus is on a specific point. Instead, I will make concept art of the hero and city before the exile; this will serve to show the power of the hero, and the beauty and majesty of the city, without having to storyboard every scene. A storyboard would also be visually less detailed, so concept art is even more beneficial.

[PREVIOUS] Marking the Artefact:

I want to be marked on the contrast between the village at point A in storyline, and the village at point B in storyline. I want to be able to use the knowledge and skills I have gained to make the same location have an entirely different look and feel. I want the emphasis to be on what I choose to put IN the scene, not the quality of the pictures. The pictures will be sketched out similar to a storyboard, like this: Margrave: The Blacksmith's Daughter Early Storyboard. If I have time I will make the storyboard into finished images, but I don't want to rush the artefact, when the main focus is more on the thought behind the images.

[CURRENT] Marking the Artefact:

The intent for the marking of the artefact remains unchanged, I am just focusing on the cinematic parts of the game, rather than the gameplay sections. I felt that a storyboard is a better way of communicating information than just using concept art, especially seeing as the focus is not on the quality of the sketches, but the content. Environmental sketches and such will be more detailed, so artists can get the feel of the landscape, and the characters. The storyboard part is more for giving specific instructions. Having a mix of both will improve the overall quality and scope of my dissertation.