You will need to brainstorm some possible THEMES for your piece of art that focuses
on a social/political/environmental/school/family situation that you would like to talk to
your viewer about, through your game. For example, you could think about world
events that you are passionate about, OR, think about an object and then think about
the environmental and social impacts of that object. What could be problematic with a
bottle of water? A gold chain? A cotton shirt made in China?
a. Please BRAINSTORM at least THREE different political/environmental/social
problems that you think you could address through a video game.
b. For each of the ideas above, please write down one object that could represent this
problem, and then at least three ways that it affects our world.
ex. A Pineapple- the problems that this object can represent are the clearing of the
rainforest for plantation, unfair labour practices, transportation, mining to extract tin for
cans, forestry for paper label, natural resources for manufacturing such as water,
electricity, waste, processing, shipping, etc.
ASM3M Video Game Art
c. Choose your favourite theme from above and explain why you are most interested in
turning this into a video game.
d. Please write descriptions of your plans on how you will re-create the following:
#1 for Flappy Bird
1) The instruction screen background 2) The game background
3) The flappy bird/jovia bird graphic 4) The pipes
5) Fonts/game description/messages 6) The Lose Screen, messages
OR
#2 for the Memory Game
1) The instruction screen background 2) The game background
3) The question side of the cards 4) The picture side of the cards
5) Fonts/game description/messages 6) The Lose Screen, messages
A)
- The world never seems to be at peace (i.e Always fighting/always at war)
- Country stereotypes
- Homophobia
B)
- Two swords clashing
- There is always 30-40 wars going on at any given time
- People must fight to survive everyday
- People lose their lives everyday due to wars
- A globe
- Country stereotypes causes prejudice
- It prevents people from learning more about different countries
- People automatically assume everyone from a country will be the same
- A rainbow
- Homosexual stereotypes causes prejudice and bullying
- People who are gay/lesbian are treated as inferior to "superior" straight people
- Gays and lesbians have rights taken away just because some see their sexuality as "wrong"
C) I am most interested in the Country Stereotypes idea with the Memory Game. I can easily imagine an idea for the game. I also hope that by showing people the country stereotypes, they will understand that not everyone in that country is like the stereotype and may instead be the opposite.
D)
- The instruction screen background - I used the same background for all the screens. I changed the font and size of the text.
- The game background - I took a picture of the world with a yin-yang form and put that over top of a picture of many, many country flags.
- The question side of cards - For the question sides of the cards I used a picture of the world with a questions mark int he middle.
- The picture sides of cards - For the picture sides of the cards I took seven flags and put something symbolizing that country's stereotype in the middle: Canada - A beaver, U.S - A hamburger, Japan - Anime, Italy - Pasta, Russia - Alcohol, France - A baguette, Brazil - A soccer ball.
- Fonts/game description/messages - I changed the fonts and sizes to keep it interesting, but kept the text mostly the same as before. The message is that even though there is a stereotype, it doesn't mean that the countries are like that.
- The Lose Screen/Win Screen messages - I used the same background as the game. I also used the same font, size, and colour for the text on both screens to keep a pattern.
Danielle MacDonald
Country Stereotypes
Flash CC and Photoshop
April 23rd, 2015
TECHNICAL
I used an already existing memory game on Flash CC to edit and become my own.
I edited reusable pictures from the internet on Photoshop, and created my own cards and backgrounds. I also used Flash CC to change the text font and size.
IDEA OR CONCEPT
My idea was to make a memory game about country stereotypes. I was thinking that by showing different country stereotypes, people will realize it's only a game and not believe everyone from that country is like the stereotype.
Originally, I was thinking of making a Flappy Bird style game about how the world is never at peace and is always fighting. But I decided on a memory game of Country Stereotypes.
INFLUENCES
I did not really have any influences for this piece, although, the anime Hetalia where the countries of the world are represented as people who behave very stereotypical for that country helped with the idea.
COMPOSITION
Because my background has many colours, I had a more limited colour choice for my text on some of the pages, such as the main page, the win page, and the lose page. I feel though that I was able to choice colours that are clearly visible. On the back of the cards, I feel that my picture goes nicely and that the front pictures are clearly visible, making it easy to play.
MOTIVATION
I thought that making a game, even as simple as a memory card game, would be fun. I really liked being able to make my own images for the game and making the whole game my own.
I had the idea of a globe in my head to symbolize the numerous countries around the world. I was happy when I was able to work this into a couple of my images.
CRITICAL ASSESSMENT
I think the background and the back of the cards looks the best. I think the background of the world with country flags behind is cool. The earth with a questions mark for the cards looks cool too.
No parts surprised me too much. I've never used Flash CC before so some of the things surprised me, but nothing else really did.
I would likely work on the fronts of that cards (the countries and stereotypes) a little more. They seem a bit too basic and don't show my true potential.
