Build-a-lot Mysteries Chapter Introduction Interface Chapter introductions for Build-a-lot Mysteries were one of the few places in the game where we could create atmosphere for the player. This interface screen needed to communicate a fair amount of information to the player, but also needed to be visually compelling. My solution was to create a rich desktop complete with a portrait of the game's host (Elizabeth Graves), a letter from her conveying the overarching theme of the episode, and a collection of episode specific clue items. My duties on the introduction screen were to design the layout for the interface, which included thumbnail sketches and wireframes, completing the full page illustration including the character portrait, the props and the clue clue items and writing the introduction text. All artwork was created using Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk Maya. Interface Screen Rough Sketch
Below is a sketch of the layout for the introduction screen interface. It was decided that the right side of the interface would be the same in every episode and show Elizabeth, a glowing lamp, and a tapestry of the family crest, while the left side of the interface would contain episode specific clue items and story details. The graphic was designed to keep all relevant information contained within a 1024x768 image area, but allowed more of the image to be viewed by players in widescreen.
Coat of Arms Design
Build-a-lot Mysteries is broken up into four chapters which cover four different members of the Graves family. Over the course of each chapter the player will uncover the true identity of each of the family members, so I felt that I could hint at each family members true identity through the design of the family's coat of arms. The coat of arms depicts a vampire, a sociopath, a psychic and a werewolf. Once the deign was complete, I applied an alpha mask of a linen texture to it and the combined image was applied to a mesh primitive in Maya and rendered out.
Elizabeth Graves Character Design Elizabeth is the game's host and represents the only "normal" member of the family. I combined photo reference of two different woman to come up with the design for Elizabeth. Below are three steps I use in my character illustration technique.
Final Interface Design and Illustration Here is the final Illustration in widescreen. The background textures are comprised of distressed wood and stained concrete , the silver bullets, lamp and tapestry are rendered in Maya and the drawings, leash, fair tickets and character portrait are hand illustrated. The finished images were assembled in Photoshop and adjusted for color, levels and lighting.
Final Illustration with all of the interface elements