Design changes to guard enemy - UQdeco2800/2021-studio-2 GitHub Wiki

In Sprint 2, I modified the guard sprite so that he had a more vibrant purple cloak than the standard ranged elf. In my user testing, no one realised that the sprite for the guard elf was different to the standard melee elf - the different purple cloak colour was "too subtle" and they "didn't notice the difference with everything else going on" [referring to playing the game].

I realised that considerable changes would need to be made to the guards look, so that it would be more clearly differentiated. I researched "medieval guards" and noticed that most wore helmets. I thought that helmet would be a really clear way to indicate the different character type - the helmet would be very visible. Including a helmet also meant that I had to remove the character's hood; this would change the silhouette of the guards which I thought was also another way to clearly distinguish the character type.

I liked the idea of still having a cloak, as I thought that having a cloak a brighter purple than the melee elves' was a good status symbol (as discussed in my Sprint 2 documentation). I researched "medieval cloaks" to see how cloaks without hoods were commonly worn, and noticed that most cloaks without hoods were worn over the shoulders and connected by a clip (see below). I modified my design so that the guard wore their cloak this way.

To make the guards's clothing look less worn than the melee elf's I made their pants a light grey colour (rather than a worn grey-purple). I also made the texture shading on the pants, less distinct; the colours I used for texturing were all very close shades of grey.

I also wanted the guard's shirt to have a different pattern than the melee elf. I found this image of a medieval guard with a shirt two different colours, with the colour split down the middle (see below). I decided to include this shirt design for my guard as well.

Final