In this section I will be doing research into the theme Forgotten to get inspiration for my project.
Dictionary Definition for the word Forgotten.
Forgotten – the past participle of forget.
I found the definition for the word forgotten so that I know the kind of things that I need to research. “Past participle” suggests that I should be looking at things that have been forgotten for a long time or not even known about.
Word Association for the word Forgotten.
To give me a bit more understanding of the word forgotten, I played word association to find some synonyms for the word forgotten.
- Ignored
- Disregarded
- Unrecognized
- Unremembered
- Lost
- Missing
- Abducted
- Buried
- Hidden
- Obliterated
- Irrecoverable
- Neglected
- Abandoned
- Derelict
- Forsaken
This word association is helpful as these synonyms of the word forgotten has given me some more ideas of the kinds of things that relate to the word forgotten. For example, the word abandoned made me think of abandoned buildings. And the word Buried made me think of dinosaur bones and fossils. The word neglected makes me think of someone who has been abandoned by their parents or an item that has been left somewhere like toys. This activity will help me with my research as I will now have more ideas of what I could research.
Mind Map of the word Forgotten.
To start off my initial research I mind mapped the meaning of the word forgotten, exploring what links to it.
In this mind map I tried to be as broad as possible, thinking of anything that might connect to the word forgotten. I expanded on some of the words that I came up with in my word association like abandoned and buried. I also came up with some things that would link to the word forgotten. This activity has been helpful for me to get a few brief ideas of what I could do in my project.
I will now use these ideas to produce some mood boards to give me some more inspiration, I will reference any pictures I use in the bibliography.
Initial Ideas Mood Boards
Lost Cities Mood Board
For this mood board I gathered a series of concept art pieces of lost cities and kingdoms. I like the idea of creating some concept art of a lost city as there is a lot of things that I could do with it in terms of architecture, location and art style. I tried to find city concepts in a number of different settings. Which I have tagged each photo with when moused over. Each city has different features based on its location. For example the underwater architecture is a lot more overgrown with plants and obviously has a lot of different sea life surrounding it. And beach city has a lot more sea defenses and docks and harbors. This board will be helpful if I decide to do lost cities for the project as I can use it for inspiration.
Monolith Mood Board
For this mood board I found a few pictures of some monoliths. Monoliths are a large single upright block of stone that are usually shaped into or serving as a pillar or monument. These relate to forgotten because we don’t know why they are there and we don’t know where they came from. An example of a famous monolith is stonehenge, which is a series of monoliths. I like these as there are a lot of ways that they can look. For example the bottom right picture has some smaller floating monoliths next to it. I like this one as it glows which makes it look magic. I could use these to create some concept art. They would help as I could use them to get ideas for the different colours that I could use and how they are shaped. For example the bottom left picture has a circular shape with some runes on it.
Derelict Mood Board
For this mood board I found some pictures of some derelict places. This relates to the theme as they have been forgotten about. I like the idea of doing my project on this, maybe model a few things that would be in an abandoned amusement park or a 2D game where the player explores an abandoned area. I like how everything is overgrown in abandoned areas. For example the picture of the abandoned subway has a lot of weeds and plants growing from the ceiling and walls. This board would be helpful if I decide to do an abandoned environment for my project as I can use these pictures for inspiration for colours and features in the environment.
Alien Creatures Mood Board
For this mood board I found some pictures of some alien creatures from movies and some concept art piece. This relates to the theme as they could be forgotten species of animals that used to live among humans. I could create some concept art pieces or some pixel art of some alien creatures. If I did this for my project I would have a lot of freedom for what I could do as they could look like anything. These relate to forgotten as they are unknown to the world.
Extinct Creatures Mood Board
For this mood board I found some pictures of extinct animals like mammoths and dinosaurs. I could use this to create a lost world where these animals are living. I could create 3D models of them or some 2D concept art. These relate to forgotten because they used to be around but now they are extinct and have since been forgotten about.
Greek Armour Mood Board
For this mood board I found some pictures of some different greek/spartan armour concepts. This armour mostly is made of metal with pieces of fabric and some animal pelts strapped to them. I really like how these look and think it would be interesting to create some 2D art or some 3D models of some old worn spartan armour pieces. This would relate to the theme Forgotten as they aren’t used anymore. I could also look at weapons to model like shields and swords.
Greek Architecture Mood Board
For this mood board I looked at some greek buildings to get an idea of what the architecture looks like. From these pictures a lot of the buildings look like they have patterns chiseled into them, for example, in the top left picture on the big building in the middle has patterns chiseled into the pillars and the walls. Also there are a lot of ruins like the bottom right picture which looks as though the structure has started to collapse. This relates to forgotten as this type of architecture isn’t used anymore as there have been innovations in how much materials we can build with and the machinery that can be used to build things. This mood board is useful for my project as I can use it to get ideas for the kinds of buildings that I could create if I decided to do something on greek architecture.
Roman Armour Mood Board
For this mood board I found some pictures of some roman armour, similar to spartan armour, roman armour is mostly made of metal with some pieces of fabric. It looks as though the metal is layered. These pictures would help if I were to model these kinds of armour pieces in my project or if I were to do some concept art of some armour designs.
I found a few pictures in a book I found of some Roman Architecture:
This architecture looks very similar to Greek architecture with the tall pillars. But these look to be made with stone bricks, whereas Greek architecture is mostly chiseled stone and concrete. I could use this in my project if I were to create a monument of roman architecture. If I were to create something like this some problems I could run into could be making each wall look unique to others, I would probably also have some trouble finding the right colours for the patterns and paintings on the walls.
Egyptian Architecture Mood Board
For this mood board I found some pictures of Egyptian architecture. I really like these as they are mostly made of sandstone with hieroglyphics painted on them and pictures and patterns carved into walls. I am particularly interested by the pillars with paintings on them and the pharaoh’s tombs as I think that there is a lot that I can do with it in terms of the paintings and patterns. I think that it would be cool to model a pillar or something with hand painted textures for the patterns on it. I could use this to get some ideas for the colours that I could use if I were to create something like this in my project. This relates to forgotten as this architecture is hundreds of years old and isn’t used in modern buildings.
Apocalyptic Structures Mood Board
For this mood board I found some concept art pieces of some post-apocalyptic structures. These interest me as they can look like anything and can be made from anything, as it is made from scrap pieces of metal and wood with walls made out of lots of different materials. I think it would be cool to model some post apocalyptic objects and maybe throw them together to make a scene. I could use this in my project to get ideas for the kind of materials that would be included in an apocalyptic structure, giving me ideas for what colours I could use if I were to make something like this.
Portal Mood Board
For this mood board I found some pictures of portals. I like these as they can be any shape and they could be see-through or coloured. I like the idea of doing some concept art of a really dark abandoned building with a see through portal that goes to a futuristic city or something. I also think that modelling a portal with hand-painted textures would be cool. These relate to forgotten as they would lead to forgotten worlds. If I were to create something like this, some problems I would run into are what colours I would use, the size and shape of the portal and how I would relate it to forgotten.
Dragon Mood Board
The images used in this mood board are from a book called Dragonology by Dugald Steer. For this mood board I collected a series of illustrations of dragons. The top right picture would be helpful for animating a dragon flying as it shows all stages of the takeoff into flight. I also like the close up image of a dragons head as it shows a lot of distinct features like the shape of their head and their scales. This mood board could helpful for me to use as inspiration for some concept art. I could also use the flight stages picture to try and adapt it into pixel art to make some animated sprites. These relate to forgotten as they are mythical creatures that aren’t actually real.
World War Trenches Mood Board
For this mood board I found some pictures of some trenches from world war 1 and 2. This links to the theme as they are historical areas. I could do a concept of a trench or I could model part of a trench using these pictures as reference . I could hand paint the textures as I would only need a metal texture and a wood texture and maybe a cloth texture for sandbags.
Bomb Shelter Mood Board
For this mood board I found some pictures of some old bomb shelters. I think that this would be a cool thing to model with hand painted textures. For example, the rusty metal textures and the dirty cloth textures. I particularly like the bottom left picture as I think it would be a good scene to model and texture. I also think that an exterior like the top four pictures would be cool to do. I can use this mood board for more inspiration if I do decide to do a bomb shelter for my project.
Castle Mood Board
For this mood board I found some pictures of castles. I like the idea of photo-bashing together some castles to create some concept art. There are a lot of different locations that the castles can be in like on top of a mountain or in some woodlands. There are also usually lots of different landscapes around the castles, as shown in the pictures, like snowy mountains, marshlands and grasslands. I could model a castle but I think that it would take too long given the time that I have and my skill in 3D modelling isn’t great.
Level 3 Games Development 1st Year 