Structures Overview
On this page, there will be an overview of structures in the game which includes towers, traps and walls. Also, how it has been developed over time.
Temple Structure is an attack tower that damages enemies when they are in its proximity. They do not use a projectile, but the enemy’s health is automatically reduced. The whole concept of making the structure a temple is to bring out the concept of good and bad or rather holy and unholy. The main character is good and can build temples which then attack the bad enemies that come to destroy the crystal.
The temple is a podium with small fire ball at the beginning in level 1 which becomes a huge structure with 4 pillars and blue fire (Blue fire is more intense than red and hence applied in level 2). Upon upgrading the structure once more, the fire turns into a huge phoenix which is a Greek mythological bird and the pillars become longer.
Level 1 Temple
Level 2 Temple
Level 3 Temple
Designed a Poseidon statue.
Made the base platform for the structure
Designed a single pillar for the structure
Constructed first iterations of buildings – https://github.com/UQdeco2800/2022-studio-1/commit/9d8f577e3a2459e9aa35dcb49eb127707654b99f.
Wanted to get user opinion whether to implement the statue or the building.
5 users of the age 18-22 were questioned for user testing.
Users preferred buildings attacking the enemies rather than the statue.
There aren’t a lot of circular buildings in Greece.
The pillars look like candles.
Does not look like an attack tower.
5 pillars make it look too compact in the width.
Pillar designs looked good.
Needs shadow shading in the back on the platform.
Needs a floating fire
Added the statue to landscape objects.
Made the building square and discarded the circular structure.
Got inspiration from ionic pillar design and constructed a platform for a single fire to be placed on.
Placed a fire on top of the platform.
Animated the fire - https://github.com/UQdeco2800/2022-studio-1/commit/2ad0aafc6e5573045ced82a458399d857315e983
5 users of the age 18-22 were questioned for user testing. This time they were also informed about the three levels and their opinions were asked on how to modify the building to fit three levels.
Gave a thumbs up for the structure design but were unhappy with the fire.
The structure was already very big for it to be a level 1 structure.
Implement a smaller structure for level 1.
“Blue fire would be cool” – user’s exact words.
Got inspiration from Olympics torch for level 1- https://olympics.com/en/news/watch-the-olympic-flame-begin-its-journey-to-beijing-2022
Constructed new designs - https://github.com/UQdeco2800/2022-studio-1/commit/6e2465219eb6a64c82f5d415db3be2fe4d86e115
Blue fire is stronger and hotter than red fire. Hence, implemented blue fire in the level 2.
Created animations for the fire level 1 - https://github.com/UQdeco2800/2022-studio-1/commit/03a6d2ae0ecea09545b2e618d0850f86c264f0dd
Created animation for fire level 2 - https://github.com/UQdeco2800/2022-studio-1/blob/main/source/core/assets/images/attack_towers/lvl2spritesheet.png
Made the pillars to be longer for the level 3 of the building.
Got the inspiration form here to use phoenix in the building - https://www.britannica.com/topic/Phoenix-Greek-mythology Implemented the fire of building to look like a phoenix - https://github.com/UQdeco2800/2022-studio-1/blob/main/source/core/assets/images/attack_towers/Attack_Structure2_lev3.png
Implemented animation in the phoenix to making it look like it is floating - https://github.com/UQdeco2800/2022-studio-1/blob/main/source/core/assets/images/attack_towers/animatedTempleLevel3GIF.gif
The animations weren’t implemented in the game. So here are the three animated building levels - https://github.com/UQdeco2800/2022-studio-1/commit/baaeec6534612e96b7bccf83775926be34f96f8c
6 users of the age 18-22 were questioned for user testing and asked for opinion on the
Really loved all the three designs (3 levels) of the structure.
The design was accurate for the upgrades. Got bigger and better as the building was upgraded.
The phoenix looked really and loved the integration of mythology in the game.
“The fire in the first level it looks small and cute. It looks right for level 1” – user’s exact words.
The blue fire was well received, and a majority of users wanted a blue phoenix but did not have enough time to implement this.
Greece – buildings, pillars and structures
Circular structure - https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/572731277583935562/
The Parthenon (Inspiration) - http://kenney-mencher.com/pic_old/classic_early_christian_byzantine/greek_classic_Parthenon_c450_BCE_large_exterior.jpg
Ancient Greek pillar - https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/252453
Ionic pillar design - https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionic_order
Phoenix design - https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/614882155372083627/
Phoenix design - https://i.redd.it/uha93jby6da01.png
Fire design - https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/fire-pixel-art-isolated-on-purple-1757711759
Blue fire - https://www.pixilart.com/art/blue-fire-bec4080766f35e4
The design was inspired by Atlantis from the movie Aquaman, Asgard in the movie Thor and the game League of Legends. These matched the whole theme of the design criteria.
At first, Guardian was hand drawn to gather general feedback from the team. The team have thought to build on a physical component such as a box to look like a statue. However, that made look too big, hence, decided to change the main weapon instead to make it look strong as it upgraded.
It has been finalised to the first design output since everyone was happy and did not mention any modifications or changes. NOTE: level 3 shield was strongly influenced by League of Legends.
The design of the tower was inspired by the traditional stone lighthouses of ancient Greece. Most stone lighthouses were built on islands or by the sea to provide visible warnings of shipping hazards, so they come in many different heights. To resist the erosion of the sea, its walls are hard and thick, uniform in shape and darker in color. The tower is a sign of hope and protection for navigators, so I named it the Blessing Tower.
The design prototype adds design elements such as the weapon trident in the game store and the amethyst in the middle of the game map, so that the overall color of the building is no longer monotonous.
Adjust the canvas size of sprite, optimize the shape of sprite, make the design of the tower more three-dimensional, the transition of color changes in the connection area natural.
Substantially adjust the overall color style of the building, so that the color of the tower is more in line with the game tone.
Traps cause damage to enemies when walked over. There are two different traps: Skull trap and Corpse Flower trap.
The design for skull trap was inspired by the ancient Greek themed skulls as well as the skulls with poisoning green flame. Furthermore, the design for the corpse flower trap was inspirited by the fly catcher plant as well as some cartooned versions of it.
These Structures are obstacles meant to block enemies. They do not cause any damage to the enemies what so ever.
Small walls with left and right iterations to make it easier to place on different locations in the map - https://github.com/UQdeco2800/2022-studio-1/commit/da566942f581567596d31f060d7f6c6d6bbafa0e
They did not align properly if two walls were placed beside each other.
Thicker walls were made to react with UGS properly. Inspiration for these were from - https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/pixel-art-stones-seamless-texture-1674347002
These walls were very tall and completely blocked the buildings behind them. They were made shorter and this was the final wall - https://github.com/UQdeco2800/2022-studio-1/commit/c85d989cfced1a45f1174fe4d4f8b411b6afb10a
https://github.com/UQdeco2800/2022-studio-1/wiki/Game-to-Entity-Name-Guide
### Reference:
Greek. (2020，August 24). The traditional and historic stone lighthouses of Greece. greeknewsagenda.com: http://https://www.greeknewsagenda.gr/topics/culture-society/7283-the-traditional-and-historic-stone-lighthouses-of-greece
Johann. (2010, November 11). Gravure imaginant le Phare d'Alexandrie. wikimedia.com: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pharos_Alexandria_(Fischer_von_Erlach).jpg
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Heimdall - Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki Guide - IGN. (2015). IGN. https://www.ign.com/wikis/marvel-studios-cinematic-universe/Heimdall
r/worldbuilding - Guardian Statues of New Atlantis. (2022). Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/uknn2w/guardian_statues_of_new_atlantis/
Wiki Targeted (Games. (2022). Turret. League of Legends Wiki. https://leagueoflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Turret
Cohut, M. (2018). Skull-drilling: The ancient roots of modern neurosurgery. [online] Medicalnewstoday.com. Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322109#_noHeaderPrefixedContent [Accessed 18 Oct. 2022].D&D Beyond. (2018). Flameskull. [online] Available at: https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/17091-flameskull [Accessed 18 Oct. 2022].Freepik. (2022). Freepik. [online] Available at: https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/venus-flytrap [Accessed 18 Oct. 2022].Holland, T. (2022). Venus Fly Trap Grow Kit. [online] TotalGreen Holland. Available at: https://consumer.totalgreen.com/products/venus-fly-trap-grow-kit [Accessed 18 Oct. 2022].Vaping skull art (2017). Vaping skull art vector image on VectorStock. [online] VectorStock. Available at: https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/vaping-skull-art-vector-14084241 [Accessed 18 Oct. 2022].Venus (2022). Venus Flytrap Cartoon Images – Browse 510 Stock Photos, Vectors, and Video. [online] Adobe Stock. Available at: https://stock.adobe.com/au/search?k=venus+flytrap+cartoon [Accessed 18 Oct. 2022].