Digital Reflection 9 - Group project beginnings

As a group we decided on combining two themes: Western and fantasy, incorporated into a platform-style game.
We started by thinking of a narrative according to the guide provided by our tutors. The concept for the game was that you pick a gang leader to play as and you have to go through this fantasy western world to duel other gang leaders in boss fights. We also wanted each gang leader to represent a fantasy race: Goblin hillbillies, Elven town ladies, Dwarven miners, Centaur bounty hunters and Fairy natives.

We also thought of a vehicle level that could be included, and so someone in our team will be designing a western style locomotive steam engine.

Breakdown of our initial ideas and narrative synopsis

Our asset management grid 

I will be designing the elven town lady gang boss. I think it will be a good opportunity to play around with wild west fashion and fantasy elements combined, as well as thinking about the different materials I would use and how this would translate to a game artist.
For my environment breakdown piece, I was thinking of designing the interior of a saloon. This is where I would imagine the player could have an interaction or a fight with my character, and could offer some interesting obstacles in the level.
For the mood shots, we decided as a team that we would pick the classic wild west location tropes, but add a fantasy twist. I was thinking of a town square or street, and using lighting and objects that would imply the presence of magic. This could also be a possible level design used in game.

For stretch goals, we decided on: UI design, extra weapon designs, a design for a possible stand-alone protagonist (but for now we've decided that you can pick a gang boss to play as) and a character selection screen.

Finally, we compiled an initial collection of reference images. We wanted to make something stylised in form but textured in a realistic style, similar to Dishonored. Using stylised forms will allow us to exaggerate the stereotypical shapes of these fantasy races, as well as to make exciting outfit designs and props. Our colour palette was also discussed, and we played around with the idea of using fairly unsaturated colours with pops of colour to add visual interest and to differentiate the colours used by each gang.

Reference board