Starry Mind - Concept Art Project

This project was set by myself for my final major project at University. The concept for the game these concepts were inspired by is as follows: The player plays as a student in highschool/college, who uses their imagination to cope with their anxieties. The main character, Star, warps their perception of other classmates and teachers turning them into monster like creatures, representing their fears in a physical form. Using a transformed weapon based on an Star's skateboard, the player must defeat these “monsters” in order to progress. This idea would represent one level of the game, as future levels may take place in other settings where these anxieties brew.

The opening of the game would teach the player the main mechanics, having them defeat these “monsters” assuming they’re real and in a reality whereby monsters actually exist. Upon defeating them, the player would shift back to reality to realise that this is all in the Star's head.

The overall theme of the game is to try and represent this social anxiety, through the means of an action-based game. Showing how this character copes through the means of their imagination to try to overcome their worries.

I designed the weapon first as I wanted it to influence Star's design rather than the other way around. Initially, I preferred the idea of her using a more hoverboard like weapon/mount that acted as a chainsaw, in combat. However, after disliking the outcomes I changed up the design to create the SwordBoard. 

This asset acts as the primary form of movement in this game, but is also used to fight off enemies. A combo system would be in place, as the player will also be able to perform skateboarding tricks to help boost their attacks. I really wanted to focus on creating an asset with multiple functions which would potentially make for interesting gameplay, whilst simultaneously having it be a key identifier of the main character.

Star's design details her own perception of herself outside of the real world, free from worry and able to express herself. Here in her dream-state she be whoever she wants to be and dress how she pleases, taking most inspiration from her passion of skateboarding. 

Furthermore, details of her design emphasise certain aspects of herself. Her hat highlights a main theme of alienation and feeling like an alien amongst peers. It looking like it’s eating her head also emphasises that this form of thinking is all consuming, literally eating her alive. The asymmetrical stripes disrupt the symmetry of the design and cause an imbalance. Asymmetry is often used to convey a disruption in the expected. Finally, the spiral design is something I wanted to incorporate into most of the other character designs. It acts as a familiar symbol but also represents the idea of spiralling and feeling a lack of control. This is a common feeling that people can relate to and I’m using it as a way of showing that the character and her peers are more alike than what meets the eye.

I created two basic enemy ideas, based around Star's warped perception of her peers. They appear to be rat and dog like, with eyes growing out of them constantly watching for Star's every move. However, they also share the symbol of a spiral with the shapes of their tails. This commonality is there to hint at the idea that people may have more in common than you think; those fears and anxiety, that can become all consuming. makes it much harder to realise.

The boss for this stage of the game is Star's warped perception of one of her teachers. For this design, I have tried to incorporate elements that would hint at this to the player. Their tie wraps around their arm, almost like a tourniquet, trying to bandage the growths of eyes breaking out of their skin. More growths appear on their back and symbolise the age old saying, that many teachers like to claim, having "eyes in the back of their head". This boss further represents Star's fear of being watched, emphasised with their eyes being stapled wide-open.