Online MMORPG- Shipped
Context:
BBC requested a story-driven game based on the popular television series Doctor Who, requiring adherence to strict brand guidelines while allowing for extensive avatar customization and world-building.
Key Challenges:
- Navigating brand restrictions for actor likenesses and pre-existing branded elements.
- Designing a flexible avatar customization system that allowed for recolors.
- Developing a world-building system that was not quite isometric for speed and content efficiency.
Branding & Research
Challenge:
- Strict limitations on the use of actors’ likenesses and established branding elements from the Doctor Who franchise.
Solution:
- Conducted extensive research on BBC’s branding rules to ensure compliance with guidelines for character appearances and overall design.
My Role:
- Ensured that all designs adhered to BBC’s strict branding requirements while maintaining creative freedom within the game’s scope.
Outcome:
- Successfully implemented branding elements in a way that satisfied BBC’s legal and creative guidelines, maintaining the integrity of the Doctor Who universe.
Banner Ad Creation
Challenge:
- Create banner ads under tight restrictions, including file size, length, and format.
Solution:
- Developed a streamlined process for designing ads that adhered to the technical limitations while maintaining visual appeal.
My Role:
- Designed and produced all banner ads, ensuring they met BBC’s specifications without sacrificing quality or brand consistency.
Outcome:
- Delivered a series of compliant, high-quality banner ads that successfully promoted the game.
Not-Quite-Isometric World Building
Challenge:
- Build several locations across the Doctor Who universe in a way that allowed for quick content production without using true isometric perspectives.
Solution:
- Developed a hybrid system that mimicked the benefits of isometric world building, allowing for rapid creation and expansion of the game’s environments.
My Role:
- Helped conceptualize and implement this system, improving efficiency for the content creation pipeline.
Outcome:
- Successfully streamlined world-building processes, delivering a dynamic range of in-game locations on time and within budget.
Avatar Customization
Challenge:
- Design avatars for four unique races with numerous customization options, including faces, hairstyles, clothing, and tools, while ensuring the assets were compatible with animation.
Solution:
- Created a robust avatar customization system, designing all character options and building Flash/Animate rigs for each race.
- Developed a detailed recolorization system with primary and secondary color options for various avatar components (e.g., outfits, hair, and accessories).
My Role:
- Led the design and animation of avatar customization, including building and rigging characters and managing their animation.
- Collaborated with developers to integrate a recolor system that met gameplay and branding needs.
Outcome:
- Delivered a versatile avatar system that allowed players to customize characters while maintaining brand consistency for specific characters and species.
Recolorization System
Challenge:
- Incorporate a recolor feature that allowed customization of specific avatar elements, while ensuring some characters adhered to predefined brand colors.
Solution:
- Developed a detailed recolorization system allowing primary and secondary color customizations for various parts of the avatars, while excluding certain brand-specific characters from recoloring options.
My Role:
- Worked closely with developers to plan and implement the recolor system, documenting how colors, species, rarity, and branding fit into the game structure.
Outcome:
- Created a comprehensive recolor system that offered flexibility for player customization while respecting brand guidelines for key characters.