HAN: Three Kingdoms
HAN: Three Kingdoms (under DigiPen, Redmond)
Game Spec Overview
GAME TYPE: 1st Person action-adventure game
GENRE: Historical, Ancient Chinese
MOOD: Adventurous
ART STYLE: Realism
MUSIC/SFX STYLE: Heroic Fantasy
Color Palette
5 Important Environmental Factors: Water, Land, Greenery, Sky, and Structures
Combat Feel (Melee Attack) Research
Heroes of Three Kingdoms (HOTK)
Released in 2009, it was a 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in ancient China during the fall of the Han dynasty. Players were given the option to choose between the three warring factions (Han, Shu, Wu), choose between 22 weapons, and pick between two races (Yan, Miao).
Art Style: Realistic (for its time)
Reason for Choosing: Representation of using ancient Chinese weapons
PROS/WHAT I LIKE & WANT TO EMULATE
•Character movement of wielding the weapons
•Every weapon has its own unique animation, skill, and design
•VFX were beautifully done for its time and engaging
CONS/WHAT I DON’T LIKE
•As it was an MMORPG, the VFXs emitted from other players’ weapons overlapped, and it would become very overwhelming and messy when everyone is fighting the same entity.
•VFXs might cover the beauty of the weapon designs
•SFXs do not match the spacious design of VFXs
Naraka Bladepoint
Naraka Bladepoint is a battle royale multiplayer fighting game that was released in August 2021.60 players will spawn in a map after choosing their desired spawn location, and they will be able to choose between 17 heroes.
Art Style: Realistic
Reason for Choosing: Representation of using ancient Asian (Japanese) weapons
PROS/WHAT I LIKE & WANT TO EMULATE
•Emphasis on heavy melee attacks
•Smooth combat movement
•Impact of attacks were very clearly depicted into the environment
CONS/WHAT I DON’T LIKE
•Impact of attacks did not really affect the player, non-immersive
•Lack of decals
•Normal melee attacks are much more lacklustre in terms of camera movement and VFXs
Chosen Melee Attack Weapon: Glaive (关刀; guan dao)
Physical Description
A type of light Chinese polearm that features a flat and heavy, curved blade.
Combat Feel Description
Glaive users should be able to wield the glaive gradually fast using their body weight to swing the blade swiftly before hitting the skill action.
•Light
•Swift
•Heavy-hitting
Attack Weight | Visual Effects | Audio Effects | Physics Effects | Camera Effects | HUD Effects |
Light (Normal Swing) | •Wind; ‘swoosh’ • | •Soft ‘hwing’ •Soft ‘hoo’ • | •Heavy initial wind-up •fast-swinging | •Slight zoom when dragging glaive • | •Reticle hit effect |
Medium (Normal Swing – Critical) | •“Stronger” wind, ‘hwah’ | •Medium volume ‘HA’ •Medium volume ‘HWAH’ •‘keeng/ting’ on-hit | •Slightly heavier initial wind-up •Faster swing | •Bigger zoom when dragging the glaive • | •Reticle hit effect •‘Critical’ indicator beside reticle |
Heavy (Slam Swing) | •Spark-like effect when hit enemy •Slam effect | •Loud volume ‘hoooooooooAH’ • | •Longer and heavier initial wind-up •Slower swing | •Zoom out when winding up •Zoom in and look down when slamming down | • Different color reticle hit effect |
Combat Feel (Ranged Attack) Research
Apex Legends
Apex Legends is a first-person shooter battle royale game released in February 2019. In a standard match, 60 players will spawn into a dropship where they can decide when and where to drop into the respective map. Players will typically work in teams of 2 or 3 to defeat all other players in the lobby to win the game.
Art Style: Realism
Reason for Choosing: Modern take to realism,
features a first-person ranged shooter gameplay
PROS/WHAT I LIKE & WANT TO EMULATE
•Smooth camera shakes, not too distracting
•Gun movement
•VFXs are minimal yet enough
CONS/WHAT I DON’T LIKE
•Gun model can occasionally cover enemies on
screen when shooting
•Barely any recoil (due to the nature of the game)
•Reticle designs are fixed and different according to the gun type
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a first-person shooter game released in November 2011. Players will take on roles of various characters during campaigns to clear missions and acts to finish a campaign.
Art Style: Realistic
Reason for Choosing: Detailed realism, combat feel is more prominent in a campaign shooter game.
PROS/WHAT I LIKE & WANT TO EMULATE
•Unstable gun movement while walking and shooting
•Bullet shooting VFX
•Almost realistic depiction of camera shaking
CONS/WHAT I DON’T LIKE
•Gun model can cover quite a big portion of the screen
•No recoil
Chosen Ranged Attack Weapon: Scepter (如意; ru yi)
Physical Description
A scepter that features a curvy wand with a sacred gemstone on its head.
Combat Feel Description
It is intended to ensure that casting abilities using the scepter will typically take a longer wind-up time than the melee but will deliver a powerful attack when cast.
•Slow
•Powerful
•Patient
Attack Weight | Visual Effects | Audio Effects | Physics Effects | Camera Effects | HUD Effects |
Light (Basic Cast) | •Fire/Spark-like balls will fly out from the scepter •Enemy will have a slight spark-like effect when hit • | •Soft ‘zz’ • | •Scepter will move slowly •Short wind-up | •Minimal camera zoom when casting • | •Reticle hit effect |
Medium (Basic Cast – Critical) | •Fire/Spark-like balls will fly out from the scepter •Enemy will have a bigger spark-like effect when hit • | •Soft ‘zz’ •Medium ‘zzzah’ when enemy is hit | •Scepter will move slowly •Short wind-up | •Minimal camera zoom when casting • | •Reticle hit effect •‘Critical’ indicator beside reticle |
Heavy (Spell Cast) | •Slowly forming a ball of magic while winding up •Ball of magic will fly forward •Enemy will have a full body spark-like effect when hit | •Gradually increasing loudness of ‘vwooooom’ •Loud ‘hwah’ •‘zzzzz’ when enemy is hit | •Player cannot move while casting | •Camera will zoom into reticle when winding up •Slight recoil when spell is casted | •Reticle change |
Combat Feel (Special Attack) Research
Overwatch 2
Overwatch 2 is a multiplayer team-based first-person shooter released in August 2023. Players are split into 2 teams of 5 players in a typical game of either Quick Play, Competitive Play, and vs. AI. There are currently 40 heroes and 36 maps that are playable.
Art Style: Comic
Reason for Choosing: Rare to find bloodless first-person games that mainly uses special attacks out in the market.
PROS/WHAT I LIKE & WANT TO EMULATE
•Information displayed around the reticle (e.g. Spell Duration)
•Abilities will shoot towards the reticle center
•Different abilities = Different SFXs
CONS/WHAT I DON’T LIKE
•Can’t see how far the ability goes
•No decals from own abilities
•Barely any VFXs on enemies/teammates when ability is casting
Wuthering Waves
Wuthering waves is an open world RPG game that is scheduled to be released on May 22nd, 2024. As of the creation of this slideshow, it is only revealed that there are 16 characters that players will be able to roll a gacha system for, and 8 different areas that players can explore freely.
Art Style: Comic, cartoonish
Reason for Choosing: Beautiful visual effects for its special attacks
PROS/WHAT I LIKE & WANT TO EMULATE
•Elegant art style of VFXs
•Interesting character movement paired with abilities
•Camera movement when using abilities
CONS/WHAT I DON’T LIKE
•Lack of feedback when enemy is hit
•No reticle to aim the ability
•Can’t tell where the ability will hit/land
Chosen Heavy Attack Weapon: Staff
Physical Description
The staff features a long handle stick with slight stylizing of the ends, inclusive of visual effects.
Combat Feel Description
It is intended to ensure that the normal shooting of the staff will feel heavy and way slower than the others, but with slightly stronger hits.
Attack Weight | Visual Effects | Audio Effects | Physics Effects | Camera Effects | HUD Effects |
Light (Instant Shot) | •Fire trail of staff • | •Soft ‘hwih’ when shot •Soft ‘vomp’ on hit | •Short wind-up | •Minimal camera zoom during wind-up • | •Reticle hit effect |
Medium (Instant Shot – Critical) | •Fire trail of staff •Small spark-like effect on enemy hit | •Soft ‘hwih’ when shot •Medium ‘vomp’ when hit | •Short wind-up | •Minimal camera zoom during wind-up •Slight camera shake when hit | •Reticle hit effect •‘Critical’ indicator beside reticle |
Heavy (Aimed Shot) | •Strong burst of fire from the staff •Big spark-like effect on enemy hit | • Multiple wind 'vomp's as the staff is being swung •Loud 'boom' when shot | •Long wind-up •Character movement slows | •Camera zoom into reticle to aim •Slight recoil/camera shake when let go | •Reticle change |
Combat Feel (Enemy Attack) Research
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom is an action role-playing game that was released in March 2018. You play as a young king, Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, who got his throne seized, and you will set out to build a new kingdom.
Art Style: Comic, cartoonish
Reason for Choosing: Interesting melee boss fights
PROS/WHAT I LIKE & WANT TO EMULATE
•Realistic attack movement
•Charge-up time for players to dodge/parry
•Physics of enemies
CONS/WHAT I DON’T LIKE
•No decals when damaged
•Minimal camera shake
•No SFX when damaged
Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact is an open-world, gacha RPG that was released in September 2020. Players play as Traveller, as they set out to explore 8 different nations (currently available: 5) and can roll for 81 playable characters (as of the creation of this slideshow).
Art Style: Cartoonish
Reason for Choosing: Interesting melee boss fights, player damage feedback
PROS/WHAT I LIKE & WANT TO EMULATE
•Player will have a ‘damaged’ animation when hit by enemy
•Knockback when enemy hits a heavy attack
•Unable to switch characters during ‘damaged’ animation
CONS/WHAT I DON’T LIKE
•No decals
•Hit effect can be stronger
•No danger warning when health is low
Attack Weight | Visual Effects | Audio Effects | Physics Effects | Camera Effects | HUD Effects |
Light (Normal Attack) | •Wind motion effect • | •Soft ‘hwi’ when enemy attacks •Soft punch-like SFX when hit • | •Movement speed reduced for a short moment | •Slight but minimal camera shake/knock when hit • | •Minimal white vignette |
Medium (Normal Attack – Critical) | •Wind motion effect •Spark-like effect on body | •Soft ‘hwi’ when enemy attacks •Medium punch-like SFX when hit •Player grunts | •Movement speed reduced for slightly longer •Unable to attack for a very short duration | •Harder camera shake/knock when hit | •Bigger white vignette when hit |
Heavy (Charged Attack) | •Wind motion effect •Bigger spark-like effect on body | •Medium ‘vooooom’ when enemy winds up •Loud and different punch-like SFX when hit •Player grunts | •Player gets knocked back •Unable to attack for a very short duration | •Camera knocks back | •Red vignette when hit |
HUD Research
Overwatch 2
Overwatch 2 is a multiplayer team-based first-person shooter released in August 2023. Players are split into 2 teams of 5 players in a typical game of either Quick Play, Competitive Play, and vs. AI. There are currently 40 heroes and 36 maps that are playable.
Art Style: Comic
Reason for Choosing: Clean and Simplistic HUD
PROS/WHAT I LIKE & WANT TO EMULATE
•Cleanliness & Simplicity – Straightforward
•HUD Color scheme sticks out comfortably from the environment
•Textless UNLESS absolutely necessary
CONS/WHAT I DON’T LIKE
•Too simple, may be difficult for new players to understand
•Decals may be too bright and distracting
•Melee Impact is only displayed via the reticle and a minor ‘ting’ SFX
Chivalry 2
Chivalry 2 is a multiplayer hack and slash action game that was released in June 2021. Players are able to equip between 7 different weapons to attack enemies and other players as well depending on game mode.
Art Style: Realism, Medieval
Reason for Choosing: Relevant to desired art direction for HUD
PROS/WHAT I LIKE & WANT TO EMULATE
•Medieval HUD art concept
•Simple, not too much active elements
•Only important elements will appear around the reticle
CONS/WHAT I DON’T LIKE
•Reticle color scheme blends into environment
•HUD could be more stylized and engaging
HUD Overview
The overall HUD design will revolve around a medieval, ancient Chinese styling while maintaining simplicity and cleanliness. Visual effects will be added to the player’s health bar, decals, and reticle.
Art Style: Elegant, Realistic
HUD Wireframe
HUD ELEMENT #1 - Attack Mode Indicator
Attract | Signal | Update | Resolve |
Player wants to change weapon, player presses R2 on their controller | Weapon 2’s icon will light up for a quick moment | Weapon 1’s active state will fade to inactive | Weapon 2’s inactive state will fade to active |
HUD ELEMENT #2 – Player Health Indicator
Attract | Signal | Update | Resolve |
Player takes damage that brings player’s health down to 50% | Health bar will flash yellow and show a yellow overlay over the lost health | Health bar will be reduced to 50% | Health bar turns yellow |
HUD ELEMENT #3 – Enemy Health Indicator
Attract | Signal | Update | Resolve |
Enemy takes damage | The amount of health that the enemy will lose will flash | Enemy’s health bar will gradually reduce | Enemy’s health will display current health |
HUD ELEMENT #4a – Stamina (Melee) Indicator
HUD ELEMENT #4b – Ammo (Ranged) Indicator
HUD ELEMENT #4c – Cooldown (Special) Indicator
HUD Element #5 – Aiming Reticle
Melee
Ranged
Heavy
The Process, The Research
ABOUT
Play as a new soldier of your chosen warring faction (Wei, Shu, or Wu) in ancient China as you take on quests, grow your mastery, and join the civil war to fight for your faction in the Han dynasty.
