Videogames – avaray.com

‘MIXEE LABS’ CONCEPT ART RESEARCH (2016)

General info

This concept art series was developed for a proposed mobile game project. The game was intended to be another iteration of the “infinite runner” genre.

However, the game was going to include a major and original difference. Instead of one character or a few characters with similar gameplay, it was going to be playable with a large number of characters. The key: the further you advance in the game, the more “creature essences” you would unlock. These essences could be mixed together in different combinations, resulting in a different playable character for each combination.

A game like this was both a game design and visual challenge. Every character had to have its own personality, gameplay and features, while still belonging to the same game and following the same design rules. The final game project contemplated eight essences and twenty-eight characters, all of them susceptible to being evolved or modified by the player.

Due to the nature of the game, it was clear from the very beginning that it had to be a highly humorous, surreal and pleasant game, which led to a clear, vivid and simple vectorized visual style, related to comic-strip cartoons. Character animations were going to be powered by real-time physics, with small additions of traditional animation. This approach also pushed towards a clean vector style.

Developer: Kitmaker
Publisher: unpublished
Platform: Android

My role

Lead artist and concept artist.

ART RESEARCH

CHARACTERS DEVELOPMENT

Before achieving the “essences” concept, we had to propose, design, redesign and discard literally dozens of characters while figuring out what these essences were going to be and how they would combine with each other. To manage such a large amount of visual information, I had to use panels like this one to visually present every change and decision. It took months.

Finally, the selected essences for the game. They are quite surreal, as promised. They were not going to be available from the beginning, but would have to be unlocked as the player progressed. The final versions of these essences were designed by Katiana Alomar using my sketches and art direction guidelines.

Every essence combination creates a new creature in the game’s laboratory. Here are some examples, along with the associated scientific formula, the character roster approved for development, and some discarded characters that almost made the final selection.

Some of the characters were also illustrated as high-resolution images for marketing and project cover purposes.

SCENERIES DEVELOPMENT

A highly humorous and vivid game like this, set in some kind of mad laboratory maze that the creatures are trying to escape from, needs backgrounds that add crazy details and atmosphere. Following the design guidelines established for the characters, a simple and clean visual approach was chosen. Outlines were discarded, and a paler, colder, darker and more desaturated palette was used in order to achieve proper separation between the characters and backgrounds.

Two main sceneries were proposed, along with a third one that would serve as a “transition” scenery, allowing the mobile CPU to unload and load graphic sets. When memory resources are very limited and the nature of the sceneries makes them prone to repetition, you have to use some visual tricks: introducing small hue and saturation changes among similar pieces, making small variations to patterns, and creating two or three variations of every tile class to introduce some randomness. Creating sets of decorative props also helps.

First, the High-Tech Lab theme; then, a transition theme that is considerably simpler than the others and has no scrolling parallax; and finally, the Old Lab theme. More lab themes were sketched just in case they were needed: military lab, underground lab, sewer lab, circus lab, etc.

FINAL RESULT

Finally, we populated the sceneries with our characters, FX and some basic game objects. It looks nice! So much better and nicer than the fake device screenshots.

‘CAR RACING GAME’ CONCEPT ART RESEARCH (2015-2016)

General info

This is a selection of concept art I made for pitching the look and feel of a car racing video game project. I had to explore many different aesthetics based on the client’s requirements and feedback. The main goal was to achieve a look that would stand out from the mainstream photorealistic style used for this kind of game in today’s industry. Taking strict photorealism as one design pole, I created a pure cartoon style as the other pole and moved between them.

I believe that this research is quite interesting because of all the many different artistic choices explored.

Developer: Kitmaker
Publisher: unpublished
Platform: Android

My role

Lead artist and concept artist.

ART RESEARCH

EXTREME CARTOON DEVELOPMENT

Generally, this kind of game uses real-world car models or modifies them to create recognizable models. One possibility was to explore a deformed style, playing with more or less exaggerated designs. Although the client was confident in a realistic approach to the shapes, this was a solution worth exploring.

The extreme cartoon style chosen as a design reference pole is depicted in these concept arts. Finally, exaggerated and saturated sceneries were combined with realistic but smoothed and slightly deformed cars. The proposal also includes a fake UI in order to provide a better basis for evaluation.

Many times, I had to rework a concept art piece in order to provide different lighting and atmosphere solutions.

MODERATE CARTOON DEVELOPMENT

Moving to an intermediate step between photorealism and the previous cartoon style, I developed a more sober style that was still cartoonish, thanks to smoothed details and a proper outline around the game cars. Due to schedule constraints, we decided to recycle previous cartoonish concepts by re-rendering them using a more realistic shape solution and color atmosphere. Those, plus the addition of some fine details, proved to be a valid time-saving solution.

As happened with many of the previous concept arts, I was required to find many different lighting and atmosphere solutions.

GAME ENGINE LOOK & FEEL TESTS

The client was worried about how to translate those aesthetics into the chosen game engine. At this point, it was clear that the approved approach for the project’s shapes was a realistic but smoothed and refined one, so the variations had to be developed by playing strictly with lighting, rendering and atmosphere. This is an easy goal to achieve using a game engine scene with the same meshes in each proposal, and much quicker than painting each one individually. My pipeline at this stage consisted of creating a quick paint sketch to find a new approach and, after that, trying to replicate it in the game engine using car and city meshes based on my own concepts. Only the game engine tests are of sufficient quality to be shown here.

A great number of possibilities, ranging from strict photorealism to increasingly refined cartoonish or comic-book styles, were provided, demonstrating that all the previous aesthetics and many more were practically achievable. In these images, you can find different styles proposed, many of them related to animation, anime, comic books and graphic design.

‘THE GOOD DINOSAUR’ ED TABLET (CLE12054) (2015)

General info

The Good Dinosaur tablet is an educational pad featuring lots of games for your free time, where you can learn the alphabet, numbers and shapes.

Developer: Clementoni
Publisher: Clementoni
Web: Future Art Shop

My role

Main artist and animator.

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VECTRON: RETURN TO 1979 (2013)

General info

Vectron, takes you back to 1979, when arcades where something brand new and the graphics where not as important as now. If you liked SpaceInvaders and Phoenix, you will love this game, with the sounds and feeling of true arcades from dose days.

Developer: Dolores Entertainment
Publisher: Dolores Entertainment
Web: Apple AppStore site.

My role

Cover splah screen art and GUI art.

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THE ALPHABET GAME / PASAPALABRA (2012)

General info

“Introducing the game version of the succesful TV program based on alphabet and words. Will you be able to complete the famous letter ring? Get enough seconds to find out it or play in Ring mode against your friends. You will get the same experience as Pasapalabra contestants!”.

Developer: Dolores Entertainment
Publisher: Mediaset.
Web: Apple AppStore site.

My role

I worked on this game as the 3D & 2D Supervisor, specializing in character design, 3D character model corrections, and GUI graphic design.

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L-FUN 45 (2011-2012)

General info

This game won appreciation as 2nd best 2011 iOS music game for “L-Fun 45″ at BestAppEverAwards.

“Help Nathan getting back his love in this indie musical for iPhone! Play the rhythm game and keep up with the music to find your summer fling. Charismatic characters, a funny story, indie music of your favourite Elefant bands and a mini game. Play with the songs from many of The School, Helen Love, La Casa Azul, Papa Topo, Fitness Forever, Cooper, La Bien Querida, Band À Part and a lot more…

An Indie game with Indie music. What else could you ask for?”.

Developer: Dolores Entertainment
Publisher: unpublished
Platform: iOS

My role

This game won the 2nd best 2011 iOS music game prize from Best App Ever Awards.

Writer: story and plot first treatment.

Concept artist:original character design, later reworked by another artist. Background art.

Animator: 2D animation of secondary characters.

Marketing artwork.

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PIG RIDER FIGHTING CARDGAME (2010-2011)

General info

This game tells the story of a kid who finds a cracked egg containing a baby flying pig with crippled wings. They become lifelong friends, and some time after the kid grows into a teenager, they discover that the little pig can provide him with some superpowers and a fancy pig-rider costume. From that moment on, they start searching for the pig’s origins, fighting several troops and final bosses in different settings.

The game’s fighting mechanics were based on physical card games, with two different types of card decks and a turn-based system. In order to make the game quite dynamic, only a few turns were allowed, with very limited time for each one. You could also play a “story mode” and a “fight mode” over Wi-Fi networks and the Internet. The chosen business model was “free-to-play”, selling new card decks and scenery updates periodically; the collecting impulse was going to be one of the main driving forces behind gameplay.

Developer: Dolores Entertainment
Publisher: unpublished
Platform: iOS

My role

Main concept artist.

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SUPER 3 (2011)

General info

“Now, series and programs from Super3 channel are available on your iPhone! You will see a lot of Super3 family videos, Mic, Doraemon, Espies de veritat … And the most popular songs and dances! You also could hear and learn the song “Per molts anys.” Pay attention to the upcoming application updates, you will find soon new surprising features.“

Developer: Dolores Entertainment and Televisió de Catalunya.
Publisher: CCRTV Interactiva.
Web: Apple AppStore site.

My role

I worked on this project mainly as a graphic designer and composer, because most of the artwork used was provided by TV3 itself.

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SOCCER QUIZGAME (2011)

General info

This soccer-based quiz game was offered as a potential franchise game to FC Barcelona and Real Madrid FC. Unfortunately, they were not interested or had just licensed similar games at the time. The scenario was conceived as a kind of “soccer casual universe”, avoiding dark colors and using nature, vegetation and water as the main elements. Due to this “casual” atmosphere, the characters were drawn in a quite familiar and likeable style.

Developer: Dolores Entertainment
Publisher: unpublished
Platform: iOS

My role

Main concept artist.

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PLANET 51 ONLINE (2010)

Download link

Not available.

General info

“The doors are open. Now you can get into Planet 51’s universe: just download the game and enter this reathtaking online world. Make new friends, overcome defiant challenges, and collect the most amazing pets and items.”

“Everything is ready. Get planetized!”

Developers: Zed Games, Pyro Studios
Publisher: Zed
Web: http://www.planet51online.com

My role

Lead Artist and Artist Manager. Also produced an animated commercial.

Gallery

Animated commercial

PLANET 51 RACER (2010)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Apple AppStore site
Plataforma: iOS.

My role

Artist Manager.

Gallery

ZED CITY / DANCE STAR STUDIO (2009)

Download link

Not available.

General info

“ZedCity is a futuristic and idyllic virtual city, a new online world to have fun and meet new people: here you will be able to chat with your friends at the different thematic rooms located along the city, take a look at other users’ profiles, or download images, videos and games directly to your mobile phone.”

Developers: Zed Games, Pyro Studios
Publisher: Club Zed
Webs: http://city.zed.com, http://dss.zed.com

My role

My role in this project was Lead Artist and Artist Manager, inheriting this project from a former team and working together with a Pyro Studios resident team.

This project was an unsuccessful MMO based on social interaction in the style of Second Life, to which game mechanics related to dance competitions were added.

Also produced a couple of commercials.

Gallery

Animated commercials

REVERZED (2009)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: JAVA

My role

Artist Manager.

Gallery

100% RALLY (2009)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: JAVA 3D

My role

Artist Manager.

Gallery

TERROR’S SEED TRAILER (2008)

Animated commercial

I created an animated commercial for the game Terror’s Seed using animated photo compositing of all kinds of disturbing elements: dark forests, animals, storms, laboratories, monsters, etc. One of my most creative works, produced in very little time and with almost no resources.

NBA PINBALL (2008)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: JAVA

My role

Artist Manager.

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MAHJHONG NBA (2008)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: JAVA

My role

Artist Manager.

Gallery

NBA HANGMAN (2008)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: JAVA

My role

Artist Manager.

Gallery

MY MAHJONG (2008)

Download link

Available soon.

“My Mahjong is now available for Mobile and PC! We’ve prepared quite a few Mahjong challenges for you, but, if you get tired of them… simply download the free PC version and design your own! Share your new Mahjong puzzles with the whole Zed Community!”

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: PC

My role

This project was designed as a fresh and original Mahjong game. Far from Eastern aesthetics, it offers modern and dynamic designs. The original functionality included a battle mode and championships between characters and/or players, for which I had to develop some of my best visual FX to date. Unfortunately, only the solitaire mode was finally developed.

I created the graphic design for this project, all the card sets, the visual effects and the first character cast concept. The authorship of the backgrounds and the final character designs belongs to two other colleagues of mine.

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BLOCK RUNNER (2008)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

“Help Rob-oto find a way to the portal. As you progress through the mission, find the energy cubes, which will open portals to new and amazing worlds. Enjoy playing for hours with this mix of puzzle and platform!”

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: SYMBIAN 3D

My role

My role in this project was my first time as an Artist Manager, inheriting this role from my former boss in the middle of the project. This game was acclaimed for its design originality and playability.

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FORMULA RACING 3D (2007)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

“Formula Racing 3D is a high speed car racing game with impressive 3D graphics where you get behind the wheel and feel the thrill and excitement of high octane racing in your mobile.”

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: JAVA 3D

My role

I had to finish a workmate’s project and create more 2D and 3D graphic material. I also produced a small TV commercial.

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ALEXA TRAILER (2008)

Animated commercial

For the game Alexa, a kind of clone of the Marvel character Black Widow, I produced an animated commercial together with a colleague who handled the animation, using the visual style of the Metal Gear games of that era.

PINBALL ROCKS (2007)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

“Long live rock n Roll! Prepare to relive the good old arcade days with Pinball Rocks. All the thrill, fun and excitement of the classic pinball machines in your cell phone. Get ready to play with Pinball Rocks!”

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: JAVA

My role

This project was again a pioneering one for the company. I worked on it with three other colleagues due to a very tight deadline.

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BUBBLE BOOM DELUXE (2007)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

“Guide the bubbles through the deep sea in order to trigger chain bomb events to stop the line of bubbles reaching your friend the fish.”

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: PC

My role

I created almost all of the graphic material for this project, except for the in-game background art. I also developed many of the visual FX.

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NEENYA NINJA (2007)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

“Help Neenya Ninja, the worlds smartest ninja, defeat the evil army of robots who have stolen a whole lot of diamonds. Run through each level jumping over scary abyss and defeating terrible robots, whilst recovering as many of the diamonds as you can!”

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: JAVA

My role

Neenya Ninja was a reskin of the former game and was given the same development time. That’s why an illustrator joined the team. So it was a much more relaxed experience than the previous one.

This game won a prize from Pocket Gamer magazine, a PocketGamer Silver Award.

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PIXIE PLATFORM PARTY (2006)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

“The Crazy Pixies PIN and PUK are back again. Run, jump, battle the baddies and save the presents from their evilness so that the Pixies can enjoy a party!”

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: JAVA

My role

It was the first platform game developed at the company, and the project was assigned less than three months for development, so this became a very intense and urgent development, marked by technical restrictions that were overcome in later projects. At that time, we had to carry out all the technical research, graphic production for an ambitious project, and a promotional animation video. Despite the circumstances, I was able to work on many of my own art ideas in this game.

I also created an animated commercial that was eventually broadcast on MTV Europe.

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Animated commercial

SEXY STRIP POKER (2006)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

“Poker has never been so much fun! Play against four beauties, each one prepared to strip off their clothes if you beat them at Texas Hold ‘em.”

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: JAVA

My role

In this project, I developed all the graphic design and part of the pixel art, working together with an illustrator colleague.

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CÁLICO ELECTRÓNICO (2006)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

“Manage a team of super fast racing cars. Chose your team, mechanics and strategies well in order to win season after season.”

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: unpublished
Platform: JAVA

My role

I was the graphic artist in this project. Calico Electrónico was a very popular Spanish Flash animation series in the second half of the 2000s. This game was never released due to legal issues related to the IP rights.

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FORMULA TOON MANAGER (2006)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

“Manage a team of super fast racing cars. Chose your team, mechanics and strategies well in order to win season after season.”

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: JAVA

My role

I was the graphic artist in this project and also made a promotional video. It was one of the most pleasant professional experiences I have ever had, thanks to the creative freedom we enjoyed and the great colleagues I worked with. Never had fresh ideas flowed so easily. A racing game full of charm and touches of absurd humor that was quite well received, as shown by the sales figures.

I also created an animated commercial that was eventually broadcast on MTV Europe.

Gallery

Animated commercial

CENTRAL CITY (2005)

Download link

Available soon.

General info

“Online Multiplayer Gang Action! Now it’s your turn to become Boss by running your own gang. Demand the respect you deserve… time to take over the city”.

Developer: Zed Games
Publisher: Club Zed
Platform: JAVA

My role

In this game, I worked together with our programmer to develop a 3D fake system and the associated graphic set in order to simulate a three-dimensional bird’s-eye view of the city. Basically, every building is composed of a roof image plus a facade created using repositioned and scaled primitives from the player’s point of view.

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‘MIXEE LABS’ CONCEPT ART RESEARCH (2016)

General info

My role

ART RESEARCH

CHARACTERS DEVELOPMENT

SCENERIES DEVELOPMENT

FINAL RESULT

‘CAR RACING GAME’ CONCEPT ART RESEARCH (2015-2016)

General info

My role

ART RESEARCH

EXTREME CARTOON DEVELOPMENT

MODERATE CARTOON DEVELOPMENT

GAME ENGINE LOOK & FEEL TESTS

‘THE GOOD DINOSAUR’ ED TABLET (CLE12054) (2015)

General info

My role

Gallery

VECTRON: RETURN TO 1979 (2013)

General info

My role

Gallery

THE ALPHABET GAME / PASAPALABRA (2012)

General info

My role

Gallery

L-FUN 45 (2011-2012)

General info

My role

Gallery

PIG RIDER FIGHTING CARDGAME (2010-2011)

General info

My role

Gallery

SUPER 3 (2011)

General info

My role

Gallery

SOCCER QUIZGAME (2011)

General info

My role

Gallery

PLANET 51 ONLINE (2010)

Download link

General info

My role

Gallery

Animated commercial

PLANET 51 RACER (2010)

Download link

General info

My role

Gallery

ZED CITY / DANCE STAR STUDIO (2009)

Download link

General info

My role

Gallery

Animated commercials

REVERZED (2009)

Download link

General info

My role

Gallery

100% RALLY (2009)

Download link

General info

My role

Gallery

TERROR’S SEED TRAILER (2008)

Animated commercial

NBA PINBALL (2008)

Download link

General info

My role

Gallery

MAHJHONG NBA (2008)

Download link

General info

My role