real worlds - research dossier

Research Dossier

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SWOT Analysis

- Strength: For this project, I think that my strengths mainly consist of 2D character design and my ability to generate a multitude of different ideas. Despite having certain areas and styles i prefer, I think that I can produce a variety of different concepts and ideas well. I also think that when it comes down to finalising my designs and creating final drafts, I exceed in being thorough and detailed with my research and design accepts to each thing I create.

- Weakness: In this particular project, I think my skillset lacks in the 3D area, as well as with landscaping and environments. I mainly focus on character design, so elements of environment and asset design i find much harder. I struggle with properly rendering and detailing environments, as well as with understanding perspectives. Despite this, I am willing to learn and develop my skills in this area throughout this project.

- Opportunities: This project brief will allow me with an opportunity to work within the game industry with an existing company. This could possibly allow me to take a step into the industry and gain experience as well as possible job opportunities at the final outcome.

- Threats: The main threat that will face me when working upon this project is time management and the limited time to generate and create work in comparison to the workload. To manage this, I will have to consistently work on this project and keep up to date with my work. As well as this, i can also create things such as management documents like a flow chart, using Miro board etc. to help me keep on top of my work.

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IP

What is Deadzone?

Deadzone is a Tabletop game produced by a company called Mantic Games, base din Nottingham. The game takes place in outer space, in a timeline where countless planets have been destroyed, and the universe is an apocalyptic state, with wars waging between different planets and factions. During the game players control a team, and play against others across the board to collect rewards and take down other teams soldiers to be the winners. The game has a lot of lore and backstories for each different faction, which include information about different species, planets, and specific characters too. Each factions possesses different abilities and powers, which they use to help them in battle.

Overall Design Language

Design language throughout the game varies, mainly varying dependent on different factions. For example, the faction of the enforces use a heavy enthesis on squares, rectangles, and hard shapes. These type of shapes in design language usually symbolise protection, steadiness and stability. This can be shown throughout their designs too, as they wear bulky armour, carry large shields and the machinery is also very squared. Shape language like this is used throughout each different faction, all in different ways.

As well as shape language, colour theory and language is also used consistently thought all their designs and factions. For example, in the nameless faction colours commonly use consist of purples, blue/greens and reds. When used together, these colours created quite a grotesque feeling, and also create a sense of danger. This also works with the harsher shape language used, around things like the spikes and claws seen constantly throughout a lot of the designs of the creatures in this faction.

Anon, 2023b. What is deadzone? [online]. Mantic Games. Available at: https://www.manticgames.com/what-is-deadzone/ [Accessed 15 May 2025].

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Art Direction/Design Language 

In any form of art, design language is vitally important. Design language can help determine the feel and personality of a character, as well as help an audience to infer things about a character just based on their design. For example, a big buff character with sharp accessories and dark clothing will create an unfriendly and dangerous vibe in comparison to a character with round features and brighter colours. These small features such as clothing, accessories, hair, anatomy, species, colour and shapes can all help to tell stories about a character just through their designs. 

Within Deadzone, the designs of the characters tell viewers a lot about them, as well as about the factions they belong too. An example of this within the factions I chose can be seen within the Mazon Labs faction. The colour usage for this faction mainly consists of blues, greys and white. These colours create a very clean and professional feel, and they remind me a lot of the colours of uniforms seen by jobs such as scientists, doctors and nurses etc. These are colours seen in hospital or research like environments, giving them a clean and professional feel. In terms of shape language, there is a large variety of it used within this faction. As this faction consists of many different species and types of characters (for example in some factions, there are just humans, or just elves etc.) in the Mazon Labs faction multiple species are together, giving a large variety of shape language. However one feature that is consist through almost all of the designs are their colour palettes. This can be seen on the reanimated soldiers (zombies) who despite being dead and decaying, they still wear a pristine and clean uniform. I want to incorporate this into my own designs too, keeping with the clean and organised feel the clothing design has.

The other faction I am creating a character for, The Space Bugs, have a much harsher shape language. Their designs have much sharper edges, as well as lots of spikes and pointed features, giving them a dangerous and threatening appearance. As well as this, the usage of colours reminds me a lot of poison or danger, due to usage of red and purple. The designs remind me a lot of deep sea creatures, as they are usually incredibly colourful and patterned to help make themselves seem intimidating. I think I will use this as a source of inspiration when I begin creating concepts for my character design.

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Game Inspiration and Research

To help myself generate a few ideas and get a better idea of the style of designs I wanted to create, I began to look into a few games that fit the theme/vibe of my factions and ideas, as well as fit the genre of game I was going for.

Murky Divers

Murky Divers is a Horror survival based game in which you and a group of up to 7 other people explode the bottom of the ocean exploring an abandoned laboratory, tasked with removing corpses of the researchers who were located there.

"Murky Divers is a co-op survival horror game. The game was developed by Embers and published by Oro Interactive. Murky Divers is similar to other games, such as Lethal Company and Content Warning."

S, 2024. Murky divers review [online]. ComicBuzz. Available at: https://comicbuzz.com/murky-divers-review/ [Accessed 15 May 2025].

Things to take inspiration from: Gameplay, Storyline, Genre, Creature Design (Nameless)

Subnautica

Subnautica is a game that takes place when you crash on an Alien Planet filled with a deep ocean, and must survive and live amongst countless strange environments and sea species. 

Things to take inspiration from: Gameplay (certain aspects), Creature and Environment Designs, Colours and Shape Language (Nameless)

Anon, Reddit.com. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/subnautica/comments/rwymm0/made_a_little_collage_of_every_subnautica/#lightbox [Accessed 15 May 2025].

Half Life

Half Life is a game series that consists of  FPS Action Adventure games that follow along the story of a researcher trying to escape a research facility after an experiment goes wrong and an alien mutation attacks.

"Dr. Gordon Freeman must fight his way out of a secret research facility after a teleportation experiment goes disastrously wrong. A mysterious alien artifact has been recovered and brought to a top-secret research facility in the Black Mesa facility in New Mexico."

Pitchford, R., 1998. Half-Life. USA. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0239023/plotsummary/ [Accessed 15 May 2025].

Things to take inspiration from: Genre, Gameplay, Storyline, character and environment designs (Mazon Labs)

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Factions

For this project, we had to choose 2 different factions that existed within deadzone out of 13 total. Each of these factions differ from one another and have widely different characters and themes. The two factions I chose were Mazon Labs, and the Nameless (Space Bugs).

Anon, 2023b. What is deadzone? [online]. Mantic Games. Available at: https://www.manticgames.com/what-is-deadzone/ [Accessed 15 May 2025].

Factions I choose: 

Mazon Labs - Space Geneticists 

the Mazon Labs are a unit within deadzone who specialise in genetics research and technology. They are the faction with the largest variety of characters and species, leaving a lot of room for unique ideas when I begin generating ideas and creating concepts. The faction mainly consists oh humans, cyborgs and experiments/creatures.  

Initial Ideas:

For this faction, I had a lot of initial ideas and things to brainstorm through. I started by creating a mindmap to jot down a few basic concepts and ideas i had for this faction, and different things i could look into or research for this faction. I took note of things such as common shape language used throughout the existing designs belonging to the faction, colour themes and and palettes of the existing characters and notes of things such as the weapons they use and things they wear.

Above, are a few images from the Mantic Games Website depicting a few of the models seen within this faction. There is a wide variety of types of characters, which gives me a lot to work with. 

Nameless - Space Bugs

the Nameless are a unit within deadzone who consist of many different creatures and mutants. The Nameless and spilt into many smaller factions and groups, the most well known being Ul-Ug’urub, a vicious group plotting against the other factions and particularly the GCPS. They are a hostile faction and want to claim more land and resources for themselves.

Initial Ideas:

For this faction, I had a few initial ideas. I started by creating a mind map of a few ideas and sections I should begin to research into, such as colours, shape language and themes within the current characters for this faction. I noticed that throughout a lot of the designs within this faction, they all resembled either bugs or sea creatures such as squids and octopi etc. With this, I really wanted to look into taking a sea creature themed approach to my design work. I will begin to look into this more when i start to create some mood boards over the next few days.

Above, are a few images from the Mantic Games Website depicting a few of the models seen within this faction. These characters all share a bug-like appearance, which is something I will defiently work into my designs.

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Genre

For this project, we had to choose a genre to base our designs and environments around by creating a type of game they would fit into. This means that we had to generate ideas for what type of game our characters could be seen in, and it also had to work and be appropriate for the Deadzone franchise.

For my game, I wanted to create a Survival/Horror/Hunt and Hide style game. I felt that this type of game would work well for Deadzone, and also tied in perfectly for my characters. I think that this would work well for Deadzone. For example in a multiplayer environment, it could be a type of game where people can choose a size and character to play as, and then hunt down the respective opposite faction. This could also be taken in a single player environment too. Singleplayer games in this style usually consist of an MC hiding and running away from a monster/creature, which could work for both Deadzone and my characters. Examples of games like these could be Identity V (multiplayer) or Little Nightmares (Singleplayer).

Anon, Little nightmares on steam [online]. Steampowered.com. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/424840/Little_Nightmares/ [Accessed 15 May 2025].

Anon, Identity V Official Website [online]. 163.com. Available at: https://idv.163.com/ [Accessed 15 May 2025].

In order to fit this type of game genre, changes would have to be made to make sure it could be played. Considerations to take could be based around the environments. For example, for a game that involves stealth, hiding and running, the map and environments would have to be laced with multiple places to hide and also places to run to escape. For character designs, they shouldn't be too big or bulky, as these would not only cause a distraction for players dependant on if the game was played in third person, but they could also be unpractical for hiding and such. For example a character with big heavy accessories and dramatic hair wouldn't work well in a stealth game as they'd stick out too much. 

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Licensing

An IP license is a contractual binding that registers a party's intellectual property. This usually refers to something they have made, whether it be a song, artwork or game for example.  IPs can be licensed to other party's, which gives them the legal right to use someone else's work. 

Within the gaming industry, this can refer to giving another party access to use characters licensed to a game or assets seen within the game. This can be seen when games or company's do collaborations together, where characters will appear in other games under a legal agreement. A few examples of this can be seen in Games such as Honkai Star Rail or Fortnite, where characters from other games are present and can be used by players under a collaboration of the two companies/games.

Anon, Licensing intellectual property [online]. Gov.uk. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/licensing-intellectual-property [Accessed 15 May 2025].