Cactus World
MFA thesis project completed at the Academy of Art University's School of Web Design & New Media. Honorable mention in the thesis category at the Spring Show 2013.
Abstract
Design a mobile game that blends appealing characters and narratives. Use a simple user interface and a gradual ability upgrade scheme. In addition, riddles rack player's brain to create an addictive playing experience.
Character Design
To grab the player's attention, an engaging game must include cool or cute characters. Character design has become an important component of this endeavor. After doing some study on cactus species, I discovered that King cactus is a fantastic match in this post-apocalyptic battle against robots.
Story and Narrative Design
I generated four tales to show the first chapter of the entire game scenario, from raw sketches to storyboards to completed comic strips:
A post-apocalyptic world occupied and ruled by androids. All species have disappeared except for the world's toughest plant, the cactus. Suddenly, they realize that, as the only survivors in the world, they need to take action and ask the robots to pay. Now, the journey of cactus revenge begins!
GUI Design
Regardless of whether you're creating a mobile game or not, it's critical to have your information architecture in place before diving into the wireframes. The primary purpose is to map out the necessary functionalities and arrange them in intuitive locations.
Focus on finding the proper color balance for the whole user interface, such as the in-game HUD, ability upgrading panel, and award system. Along with all of its icons, buttons, and badges.
Summary
The mobile game is trending and experienced massive growth, which is good news to a hardcore gamer like me who wants to enter this industry. It has been a learning curves for me at every stage, understanding that develop a game from scratch is required multiple skills from different aspects. It is a bumping road but quite a fun journey. I enjoy all the hard works along the way as much as the award-winning honor in the end.
