Task 6 -Weapons and Armour

I have been tasked with creating a suit of armour and array of weapons for a game, i realise that with computer games today armour and weaponry play a big part in not only recognising a game by its creative choices but also by the characters themselves and what they wear, creating a new demand for designers to create original and incredible designs for armour and weapons.

Inspiration and research!

I have played many games, and i have found that all have their own style however i believe that with certain genres there are more options available to designers, for example Assassins Creed has some great original weapons such as the hidden blade that is worn on the arm and extends out when stabbing an enemy.  However this is a game based on earth and reality, so is bound by the laws on earth, not allowing for as much leverage on the design since we could not have a weapon such as a plasma gun or lightsaber weapon as these are not real.  Where as game genres like Sci-fi allow the designer more leverage and input as more weapons can be created as it is not bound by the laws of science and reality.

This is an image from Dead Space, a science fiction game where the protagonist is cast into a world of darkness and the unknown, and because of the darkness a great symbol was created.  The armour lights itself, creating shape and definition from the armour itself.  This works well because of the setting, because it is dark we are able to see the armour more.  And we don't see the protagonist but because of the armour design and concept we get a grasp of the character anyway.

In this image we see a more detailed version of the armour and 'Plasma cutter'.  Dead space was different Isaac faced aliens but where in other games you are encouraged to just mindlessly shoot at enemies, Dead space encourages the player to find ways to dismember the aliens as this will kill them quicker and will save ammunition.  It because of this game mechanic and concept that gives even the weapons an identity of their own.  This is important as we can then become attached to weapons, and become better at using them and upgrading them.  In contrast to other games Dead space is original and different to other games because of its weapons and armour and gameplay.  Compared with other games based on earth with earth based laws such as physics and biology and even gravity weapons and armour seem dull when linked back with the Dead Space series.

With games such as Assassins creed, are earth based games set in the past, so here armour and weapons are what we would expect too see, because the armour is human made there is a lot of research into what it could look like, which differs to science fiction games such as Dead space where the imagination is used in creating weapons and original armour, i am not implying that games such as assassins creed are not creative because they are i am just stating that more rules are in place restricting what the designers can create.

As you can see from this image of Ezio from assassins creed 2, the armour is very minimal but very normal too us, with shoulder, arm and wrist armour, with shielded boots and legs. These pieces of arms look very aesthetically pleasing and the whole suit in general looks from the era that the game is based in.  However as the game is based at a certain point in history, so the design is also stuck in that era, making the armour for me not as inventive as in other games.
Also the weapons simple knives and swords, these weapons again will have to be stereotypical of the assassins creed era, i see a lot more detail in the Plasma cutter from dead space not because of the designers but because of the world that the game is set in is very restrictive. Which is why i have decided to create my weapons for a science fiction game, where the possibilities for design are endless as they are not bound by earth rules of science.









The plasma scythe and Plasma rifle.

I chose a scythe as my heavy weapon, and i did this because i have always loved the shape and colour of the scythe and i thought that it would be interesting to put a new and different spin on the weapon.  I have always admired the glow and the effects that this type of plasma glow has on the environment and again looking back at games like dead space where there is little ambient lighting, and so the weapons themselves become a light in the darkness which is what i enjoy about these weapons, inspiring me to create a plasma scythe.

I began by researching the grim reapers scythe and also farmers scythes that they use for farming and i found and used these as a slight reference for the shape of the scythe and the handle, however i began to think of interesting shapes for the blade and as you can see at the top of it there is a break in the blade, and i had a concept idea that a plasma beam would flow through the break in the metal however beginning too think how the player would use it in game made me realise this was not a viable concept.
However another concept that i had was that the plasma itself was running throughout the weapon, even powering it which is why i chose to have plasma glowing around the hold of the scythe, and also a concealed weapon is the bottom of the scythe where you can see it glowing, this  is a hidden plasma blaster allowing small bursts of plasma energy to be fired out the bottom, making the plasma scythe a formidable and lovely looking weapon.

My next task was trying to develop a design for a secondary weapon, as the primary (heavy) weapon was a melee weapon i thought to mix it up a bit and add some diversity to my designs i would design a plasma rifle, although the name is not too inventive it doesn't need to be as it does not differ that much from rifles at the minute, however i knew the plasma theme had to run throughout which is what makes it different from other weapons. As you can see from the screen shot there are two parts to the gun, the lighter part at the top that has the scope and sight is larger that the bottom half with the trigger and the barrel is slightly smaller, so i decided too add a glow of plasma coming from the top leaking out underneath the top of the gun, this keeps the theme running throughout the weapons.



Armour and aesthetics.

It was just as important to get the characters armours correct, it was important too me that the same theme of the plasma running throughout the armour, as if the player is special and only they can control the power of the plasma.

This was my final concept for the armour, this was my first attempt at hand painting a person instead of using line art to shape the body and colour.  It does slightly remind me of a super hero named Iron man with the heart glowing and pulses coming out his hands, however this was accidental and i feel that it still runs with the theme of controlling plasma. i think that the armour looks aesthetically pleasing with the padding to the left of the body and the glow coming from his eyes and body.  I have placed the plasma scythe on the back of my character to put it in pre portion with an actual character.

This is my final weapon design sheet, and as you can see all weapons have a certain glow too them, and because of the vibrant colour scheme that i have chosen, we can see that plasma runs through them all but also it helps the weapons look fresh and bold because of the glowing blues and greens against the harsh shades of black and grey.