research for game

1. Research
Will And

2. Existing Product
Hollow Knight is a 2D Action Platformer which utilises heavily contrasting lighting
to create an attractive environment whilst maintaining a bleak atmosphere. Black
is commonly found throughout the setting to emphasise this effect. Furthermore,
it helps to bring out the colours in the background to create a vibrant contrast.
These features will help adhere to my target audience of teenagers as a dark and
gritty setting is popular amongst this demographic.

3. Existing Product
Limbo is a 2D Puzzle game with a gothic horror aesthetic. This is created through its
heavy use of black, which strongly contrasts with the hazy white and grey background to
produce an eerie feel, which as previously mentioned is an aesthetic that I aim to create
for my target audience. The characters themselves share a similar colour scheme, which I
will not incorporate into my own work as I aim to have the characters stand out more
vividly against the background so that players can identify with the characters’ looks.

4. Existing Product
Sonic gives us a much different aesthetic than the previous 2 games I researched,
using vibrant colours throughout the entire level to create a more inviting design.
We see that the characters also share this art style, with bright blues, whites, reds
and more incorporated into their designs, a huge different from Limbo and Hollow
Knight’s black and white colour schemes.

5. Existing Product
Similar to Sonic, Shantae uses brighter colours in the level and character designs
to create a more fun feeling. A small HUD is used to give basic information to the
player whilst not blocked the view of the level design. As previously mentioned,
this technique is used in most platformers to allow for the screen to not become
too cluttered for the player to be fully engaged in the level and characters.
Shantae herself is far more ‘energetic’ than the playable characters of the other
games, with even her idle animation includng plenty of movement. Furthermore,
her facial expressions are far more visible to the player, allowing for a greater
attachment to her personality.

6. Research Analysis
• What common features do the researched products have?
– The use of heavily contrasting colours is found frequently in each
product, showing that a colour scheme that helps to bring out the
different parts of an image is popular amongst the target audience.
Furthermore, the contrasting colours used are mainly black and white
with some darker shades of green and blue thrown in to accompany
the main colours. This gives the game a simple yet effective design
that helps to emphasise the gothic aesthetic.
• What aspects of the research will you include within your on work?
- I will include the heavy use of black in my own work, and much like
Hollow Knight will use greens and blues to add detail to the level
design. My backgrounds will utilise brighter colours e.g blue and
white to add contrast to the setting whilst maintaining the eerie
atmosphere.

7. Bibliography

8. Bibliography
1. Developer. (Year of Release) Game’s Name
2. Team Cherry (2017) Hollow Knight
3. PlayDead (2010) Limbo
4. SEGA (1992) Sonic 2
5. WayForward Technologies (2014) Shantae
and the Pirate’s Curse