Contribution Colour-Coding Key
Aysa / Camilla / Combined
Art Style
The artistic style for the game will be a low-poly aesthetic with vaporwave, cyberware inspiration. Having a balance between technological surrealism and retro minimalism will make the environments and Character feel eerie, but with simplified, almost cutesy designs. A mix between nostalgia and uneasiness, the technical art direction for the game will adopt a 2.5D low-poly style, with sections entirely in 2D and others blurring the lines between 2D and 3D elements. This style will allow the setting and perspective to change whilst hopefully maintaining a consistent style. This style choice is well suited to the games environment, which is mostly confined to a computer and the bedroom it resides in. The low-poly aesthetic creates a digital and artificial environment, reflecting the online and virtual themes of the game.
The 2.5D style of the game also mirrors the main characters experience throughout the game, exising in both the digital and physical worlds. With the player character being a streamer, much of her time is spent online. By blurring the lines between 2D and 3D spaces, it may enrich the players understanding of the MC’s headspace, also fitting well into the narrative of the game.
Colour Pallette
The game will have a cool-toned but vibrant colour palette to keep with the digital aesthetic, whilst also creating a cold and unsettling undertone. By including vibrant colours, it reflects the artificial and fake nature of digital spaces. As the game progresses and the narrative becomes increasingly serious, the colour palette will subtly shift towards darker, less saturated tones. This will mirror the growing tension in the game, using colour choices as a way to support and portray the overarching narrative.
Environmental Design
This moodboard contains a mixture of environmental and wider design aspects that inspired our games art direction. Some references align more closely with the vibrant, low-poly style we aim to achieve. Whilst others focus in more on the overall layout, aesthetic, and details of the streamer’s bedroom and setup.
We aim for the environment to be presented in an isometric, almost fish-eye perspective, to really hone in on the intensity of the narrative through distortion of the player’s view.
The game may potentially have a grainy/static render view on the cameras to really emulate and push the intended vapourwave, cyberware aesthetic more in line with the thriller genre of the game.
Combined, this moodboard helps to establish an atmosphere that aligns with our visual style whilst containing aspects of a more digital and lived-in environment that we want to achieve within the level design.
We have created some early 2D and 3D prototypes of the game from the players perspective. The main goal of these designs was to understand how the game could look aesthetically, portraying a vibrant, digital looking design of a computer setup. Through this process we have determined that something like this perspective would work better for a menu or setting screen, not the core gameplay. However, we will still be utilsing the lighting in these perspectives.
Character Design
The character’s design has a darker, more grunge-inspired aesthetic. The inspiration moodboard consistently features a strong emphasis on darker hair and clothing, helping to ground the player character in a more realistic and melancholy tone that reflects the game’s main themes. We deliberately wanted to avoid portraying the character as bubbly and bright, as this would conflict with the overarching psychological horror aspects of the gameworld. These designs instead support a more subdued and melancholy presence, aligning well with the narrative.
Our current designs for the main character, produced by Camilla, stay in line with the more grunge aesthetic and vibe explored within the moodboard. Here are some quick concept sketches of what the character could look like, not just visually but also within their vibe. Giving each design its own unique personality whilst also tying it into streaming through the inspiration of current trends. We want the character to have a clear visual portraying one passion, such as music, retro gaming, or reading. Whilst we have yet to decide what will be our final design, we feel as though there are a few designs that would stand out visually and design-wise within our game world.
