Visual references –
This moodboard shows what the design of Novigrad looks like. Novigrad is the city that my game level is based in, and is the largest city in The Witcher 3. This moodboard shows what the medieval buildings and stone streets look like, and what they will look like in the demake. One problem I may encounter is capturing the verticality of the city’s buildings in the graphics, this would not be an issue in a 3D game engine, as 3D models would do it for me, but capturing height in 2D pixel art graphics could be an issue.
This mood board shows gameplay, level design and UI elements from Pokemon Blue, these images will help as a good reference for designing the graphics and the gameplay style, as I am limited to using graphics that would work for the platform this game runs on, the Gameboy. Possible problems that could arise from these limitations are mostly graphical, such as being limited to a certain sprite size, as well as making the graphics “fit” in the style of Pokemon. Another problem could be that of the inventory system, which could be a real issue in the future, as it may be difficult to keep track of the items as they move layouts. I could solve this problem by adding a very limited amount of space in the player’s inventory, or by only adding a couple of items to the game, such as health and stamina potions.
De-make Demo Breakdown
Game to be de-made: Witcher 3 Intended Platform: Gameboy
| Main Gameplay Loop: Walk around, fight, collect item, hand in quest, repeat. | Section of the Game: Cabaret, in Novigrad |
| Style of Graphics (show examples): 8 bit | Game Perspective: Top down |
| Actors to be included: Multiple NPCs, the player character, random combat NPCs | Mechanics to be included: Combat, small cutscenes |
| Type of Game (being translated into): Pokemon | Potential Problems: The dialogue, inventory and large map |
| Audience Expectations (audience appeal) A Witcher game in the style of pokemon |
The only real problems I can see with this game are the dialogue, inventory system and large map, though the map size most likely won’t be that big of an issue. The implementation of dialogue is new to me, as I haven’t used it for any construct game before, it won’t feature actual audio of people talking that will need to be synced, which makes it a bit simpler, though I do believe that I will encounter an issue regarding it at some point. Another issue I see myself having involves the inventory system and carrying it over into other layouts. This may be a problem that I will solve through research on the topic, or it could be solved with assistance from classmates, I also plan to minimise this system as much as I possibly can, by making alterations to inventory size etc.
In terms of mechanics that I will be implementing into my game, I plan to add the dialogue of the Witcher 3, as well as the exploration, but for a demake of the game I believe that is all I can add from the base game. I do, however, plan to add the combat mechanics from Pokemon, as well as the visual style of the dialogue from the same game.
Asset List
Working title: Witcher 3 Demake
| Sprites |
| Geralt of Rivia player sprite, Geralt of Rivia combat sprite Dandelion NPC sprite, Dandelion combat sprite Bandit combat sprite Random NPC sprites Priscilla sprite Monster combat sprite |
| Background elements |
| Buildings, water, city ground, stone pathways |
| UI Elements |
| Health & sign/stamina bar Quest marker Weather/time Action buttons (bottom left) Mini-map (only as an extra addition) |
Rosemary & Thyme layout
This layout shows the inside of one of the few planned interiors in the game, The Rosemary & Thyme Cabaret. This will be the main location that the player will return to after completing the demake’s quest, which is based off a real quest from The Witcher 3.
This image shows the proposed layout of my level, with some indicators of possible placements for friendly NPCs and enemies. The enemy encounters are marked in red, whereas the NPCs are blue and purple. The building marked in green is the Rosemary and Thyme, the building that the player will build up over the course of the level.
This image shows what the Geralt sprite could look like when it comes to production of the graphics, as it fits the style and size quite well. The colours are the think that will most likely change, however, as I am limited to using mostly black and white colours to design the entire game. I could ignore this limitation and create the graphics in an 8 bit style, just with modern colours, but I am yet undecided on this.
Real life inspirations –
Novigrad –
Novigrad is heavily based on multiple cities throughout the world, the largest and most clear inspiration comes from the town of Novigrad, Croatia. This city is a beautiful coastal town located along one of the northernmost points on the Croatian coast, which features tightly packed houses with distinct red/broun roofs. This is a very clear inspiration for the roofs of novigrad, as well as the tight-packed coastal nature of the city.
I believe an inspiration for the walls of novigrad was from the city of Новгород, or “Novogrod”. The similarities between the names are too clear to ignore, and the walls of this part of the city look almost exactly like the ones seen in the Witcher. The city itself went through a 300 year period of declaring itself a “free city”, which perfectly mirrors the game’s version, which states Novigrad as a city free from outside rule, that is until the events of The Witcher 3.
The city also undoubtedly takes inspiration from Gdánsk, a city in Poland, the country in which CD Projekt Red are based. Novigrad likely took inspiration from the river that runs through Gdánsk, as there is one very similar running through Novigrad itself. The game also features a crane which is almost identical to its real life counterpart.
Oxenfurt –
Oxenfurt, being a city of rich people and intellectuals alike, is rather similar to Oxford, here in England, as even the name is a direct reference. The style of red roof tiles is very similar too, this is also seen in the city of Novigrad, though the roofs there are more brown than red.
Skellige –
The Isles of Skellige are heavily based on areas in rural Ireland or Scotland, with the names of towns in the game being direct uses of Gaelic, such as a high castle being named “Ard Skellig” with Ard literally meaning “high”. The visual comparisons are clear as well, as the small huts look incredibly similar to houses of the same nature in Scottish and Irish villages. While most locations in the game host Polish inspiration in the buildings and setting, this is quite a jump to make, which makes sense in the game’s world as Skellige is basically a viking country, which calls back to Scotland’s relatively Scandinavian/ viking roots.
Audio in my demake –
The type of audio that is expected for an 8 bit game, is that of chiptune audio. This is the style of audio for older games, as they couldn’t use actual music/ audio in the games due to technological limitations, especially in regards to size. For the demake’s soundtrack, I intend to use chiptune covers of songs from The Witcher 3, and using standard 8 bit sound effects for the regular audio.
Sound Design Planning
Game working title: Witcher 3 demake
| Please list every part of your game that a player would expect to hear sound, this would include (objects, locations, background, movement, player signifiers, music) |
| Combat music, wandering music, tavern music Possible ambience sound Walking sound effects Combat button sound effects Dialogue |
Sound Asset List:
| List of sound required | Description of Sound | Library or Foley |
| Music for combat, tavern and travelling | Chiptune covers of the Witcher 3 soundtrack | Library |
| Ambience | Possible ambience sound that plays in different zones | Library |
| Walking | 8 bit walking sound effect | Library |
| Dialogue | Sound effect that signifies words are being spoken, not actual dialogue | Library |
| Combat | Sound that plays when combat buttons have been pressed | Library |
| Interactable sound | Sound that plays when Geralt activates anything | Library |
The game itself won’t feature too much in the way of sound, and I don’t believe any specific sound would be a pain to acquire, as 8 bit sound effects are very popular and numerous. I plan to use pre-existing sound effects from other 8 bit games, as well as 8 bit music from the Witcher games, as I had encountered those covers earlier in the project.
Production Schedule –
This production schedule reflects the relatively simple but time consuming nature of my planned game, it won’t feature too much in the way of mechanics and features, as it’s a demake in the style of quite a simple game. There are some areas, however, that I believe will be quite annoying to create, such as the inventory system that will allow the player to heal mid fight. I can see this implementation of this becoming an annoying thing to make, as I will need to include a way to hold on to health potions and carry them across layouts. I can see other problems arising from the lack of practice with using Construct 3, as I haven’t used it since last year’s FMP
Finn's Games Design Journal 