Enviornment Precedents

I have been looking at 2 games for ideas to make my enviornment. One of these being 3D to meet Kah's request in not looking towards 2D games, and then one being 2D just because it's one of my favourite games and a great inspiration towards making my project.

These two games are Jak 3 for the Playstation 2 and Burning Force for the Sega Megadrive.

Jak 3

Jak 3 is the final chapter to the hugely popular Jak and Daxter series for the Playstation 2 and by far my favourite of the 3 games. I absolutely love the gameplay in this game as it has a bit of everything. Platform based melee combat mixed with a bit of vehicle action for racing and other missions. I love the freedom in the desert enviornment the most. The place is quite expansive and leads to some interesting areas. I like how realistic it is also, with sands changing dependant on the time of day. The sunnier it is the calmer it is, the darker it is the more gusty it becomes. Not sure how I might include this in my design but will definiely include sandy winds in my area to stay true to a desert enviornment. This is also good reference as to what you might see out in a desert and the changes in the landscape. The artistic style of this I think is also worth mentioning. It uses simple colouring but does so in more detail than what you would see in games for that of the Megadrive for example which is just pure colour. Here it uses more shades as well as texturing to give a polished look to the gameplay.

Burning Force

Burning Force is a rather unheard of Megadrive game, a bit like Pulseman is here in New Zealand. Regardless of this though, It has got to be one of my top 10 favourite games to the Megadrive console. What I liked about this game was its bright use of colours and the fast paced action in its gameplay. What was also cool was the 360 degree range of movement in the gameplay as well, something that wasn't so much seen in games that were made in this persepective, which at the time were only really racing games where the car would stay planted and the enviornment scroll past you. For my enviornment I want to do something similar to this but to a better degree. For example I will use more detail in my colouring as well as in the landscape itself. Here you can make out that the game is set over top of water but I guess the presentation of the water is lacking, I don't believe I have ever seen water that is a bunch of radical jagged lines and two shades of blue. I would prefer to see something a little more refined and realistic.

The enviornment in Burning Force is like a 2D car game. It reveals itself as you move through the game much like Jak 3 does as well. Both have a set horizon line and then the landscape changes as you progress, trees appear from the distance for example and disappear once you move past them. I like this setup because you don't know what's to come. It's a bit of a mystery so it keeps you guessing which I think adds good attraction to the gameplay. Especially since it doesn't just do this with the landscape but with the opposing enemies to. As you progress new enemies appear and they get stronger and stronger adding to the challenge which I like. They shoot a lot quicker and in some cases become more erratic.

Level wise Burning Force changes with the weather and daytime which adds realism to the game. Jak 3 does something similar but it has no levels, new missions become available as you progress instead which I quite like because it means there is no break in the gameplay unless of course you were to stop playing the game literally.