AGI Stuido 1_ folio 2 plan

AGI Studio 1 : Folio 2 Plan

1. RATIONALE: Intention
What concepts are you examining in your folio work? What do you want your Studio project to do? 

For folio 1, I have started developing a 2D visual novel with modern slavery theme. I have built a basic structure of  game narrative and created some concept of characters and game environment. I also have a clearer idea of how the game might look like with the animated clip I made after folio 1.  For folio 2, I would like to continuously develop the game. I’m planning on jumping into Unity and learning the basic of the application. At the same time, I will work on developing the characters, setting up persona profiles and building stories around the relationships. I will also do some more 2D environment illustration research and develop some main scene backgrounds. As for the outcome of this studio project, I am aiming to have a complete set of character profile, includes character illustrations, character personas, and background stories, and as well as some of background illustrations of the game. The goal is to generate some of the key assets that are ready-to-be-imported into Unity.  

2D visual novel  : Who are the outstanding practitioners/researchers/critics within this field/s?

I have played a few extraordinary visual novels, such as

1. Cinder by Moa Cube http://moacube.com/games/cinders/  
2. Hatoful Boyfriend by PigeonNation Inc and Mediatonic https://store.steampowered.com/app/310080/Hatoful_Boyfriend
3. Night in the Woods by Infinite Fall https://store.steampowered.com/app/481510/Night_in_the_Woods
I’m taking inspiration from these games for the game structures. As for the art style, I’m taking inspiration from Ghibli / Hayao Miyazaki, and illustrators like Beatrix Potter, the author of The Take of Petter Rabbit. I would like to create a digital interactive picture book like how Night in the Woods achieved but in a different style with a different topic.

3 METHOD: Conceptual, Technical, Craft & Management
How will the work you do in the studio support your intention?

I will continue developing the characters and environment in studio 1. I have enjoyed seeing others works and getting feedback in class. This process and as well as the consultation with Max and Uyen are very inspiring while I develop and execute the concepts. Everyone has different approaches for design and creating arts; and I found sharing work in progress with each other helps me experimenting different approaches for my project. Before this activity, I had difficulties seeing other possible approaches while working on projects of my own. Having discussion in the studio helps me to to see how others have their experiments  or where to look for inspirations. As a result of this process, I get to experiment different styles and art concepts more and get less time stuck clueless than before.

4 PRODUCTION: Tools & Plan
How will you make this work, what is your process, when will you do what?

For folio 2, I’m building protagonist, main characters and scene backgrounds for the game. I will also try to pick up the basic on Unity.

The programs I will use:
- Clip Studio Paint
- Illustrator
- Unity

For designing the characters, I will consider the essential clues of the narrative of the game and build the character profiles and environment around the key points. The reason is that the player will have to discover the clues to solve the puzzles through interactions with both characters and environment.

week 7:
- Folio 1 submission
- character art style research
- character persona research
- character thumbnails

week 8:
  - character thumbnails
  - character persona building
  - protagonist character building
  - main character 1 building

week 9:
   - character thumbnails
  - character persona building
  - character research
  - main character 1 building
  - background illustration research
  - background illustration 1

week 10:
    - character thumbnails
    - character persona building
    - character research
    - main character 2 building
    - main character 3 building
    - background illustration research
    - background illustration 2

week 11:
    - character persona building
    - character research
    - main character 3 building
    - main character 4 building
    - background illustration research
    - background illustration 3

week 12:
    - character persona building
    - character research
    - main character 4 building
    - main character 5 building
    - background illustration research
    - background illustration 4

week 13:
    - background illustration research
    - background illustration 5
    - collect wip
    - compile folio 2 & submit