This is a 2D game where the player can always see the main moving part: the spaceship. Other elements in the game are there to complement the spaceship, to make it stand out more. This is because the spaceship is what drives the power fantasy of the game. The game will have a minimalist stylised art style. There are three key parts in the game that will each have slightly different art styles; however, it is important that these styles are not too different from each other so that there is a consistent theme across the whole experience. Therefore, restrictions described below in the ‘overall style’ section will apply to all visual elements. The rest of this document has been divided into sections that cover each visual part of the game; these are the “spaceship”, “civilisations on the surface” and “space.”
I have produced the following concept art to show how the game should look during play.
The key to the visuals is make everything pop-out using bold strokes, shadows and colours. However, nothing should be too detailed and it is important to represent any elements in a recognisable but abstract way, if possible. For example, when representing a city in the background, it is key to represent the architecture of that city in its time but it should still have a simple blocky aesthetic that does not detract from the spaceship. Everything will look clean and any colours will be vibrant to make the illustrations pop out of the screen.
When detailing the visuals, use shadows to add depth but only add one layer of thick shadow. The shadow should be created by adding a new layer, with the shadows coloured in black, and using only 70% opacity for the layer. Use white highlights on elements, such as rooftops, asteroids or modules to show reflections.
There will be very few animated elements, such as the thrusters firing or ship exploding, and these will focus on the ship most of the time. Animations, such as asteroids flying or clouds moving, will be static images just moving across the X axis and potentially rotating.
The spaceship in this game is modular, allowing the game to easily mix and match parts as the player selects new modules. I have compiled this image of modules, which are used in rockets across the world, to inspire modules that could be added in the game.
The spaceship will be positioned on an invisible grid and modules will take up one or two of these grid spaces. This will make development easier as the art will always be the same dimensions.
When modules are added, as in the case with real stages in rockets, they will always be added to the middle of the ship and making it taller, rather than the sides. The player has no choice on where modules are added, instead the game automatically decides where they would fit best. As the spaceship grows in size the camera zooms out so that it is always in view. This also allows the player to view more of the background civilisations which will also grow to towering skyscrapers alongside the ship.
The player begins with a basic crew module that has a thruster attached. They can choose different designs when starting each run. The designs available will be based on NASA and Russian designs. Each will have an accompanying colour palette that affects the whole ship. The branding for each of these, such as logos or flags, will not be used in any way.