In order to practice drawing more raccoons, and the more sketchy style, I decided to draw a raccoon inspired by the well known ‘Hang in there, baby!’ posters, featuring a kitten hanging from a branch
Hang in there!
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level idea
brainstorming ideas for potential levels! here’s an example sketch (i’ll walk you through my though process here)
– have a picnic (would require player to scare off people at picnic blanket and then sit on it)
– ruin everyone’s lunch (steal all the food on the level and place it in bin.
– have fun on the slide (scare off child on slide, climb it, then go down the slide)
– have fun on the swings (same as above, except by pressing the movement keys back and forth perhaps you could swing?)
– reenact the discovery of gravity (lure a human to under a tree, and drop an apple on them)
these are all examples and concepts, and need to be further developed, but give a general gist of the total plan.
– ellie
The Bin – 3D Modelling
One element that will be needed in the game is a simple bin model – an American-styled metal ‘trash can’, complete with lid. This asset could be useful in levels, or in the title screen – which we have envisioned having a bin with the raccoon in it!
I am using 3DS Max to model and map this asset
This is my simple bin model to start – the ‘body’ and ‘lid’ are separate pieces, so can be removed from one another, and the lid is designed to be slipped on and off with ease. the shape is simple, and low poly, to fit the likely game design
This shows inside the bin – it is hollow, so it can contain items or other models, and for the sake of ‘realism’ if the camera was to look inside the bin – so, it isn’t one solid object
The lid is also partially hollow – designed to slip over the top of the bin, in order to allow it to come off easily, while not simply sliding off if we are to implement physics
Here is what that model looks like with a simple ‘metal’ noise texture is applied, without a UVW map, or any kind of ambient occlusion, normal or specular maps. As you can see, it is less than appealing to look at – so, I will need to unwrap my model
Here is the main body of the bin, complete with seams – represented by the green lines
And here is the UVW map – the two rectangles represent both the outside and inside of the bin, whereas the circles are for the bottom of the bin (inside and outside), and the ring is for the rim of it. I can then place this into photoshop and map it myself
Here is the lid, also showing the seams – both on the handle and main lid
Here is the UVW map for the lid – it looks more complicated due to the more complex geometry, despite being smaller – but, when modelling, it shouldn’t be too difficult to work with
These are my completed diffuse maps, complete with metal texture, for both the main bin and its lid. To make these, I used photoshop, as well as metal textures I found online
Here they are placed in the material editor, under ‘diffuse colour’ and ‘bitmap’
As you can see, the bin still looks wrong, and rather flat – that’s what the other types of map are for!
In order to save myself time, I will be using a generator for my normal, specular and ambient occlusion maps on most all of my models – it can be found using this link: http://cpetry.github.io/NormalMap-Online/
Here is the material editor as shown now, along with a render of the bin, now factoring in the others maps – it looks far more textured than before!
Gameplay Ideas
Even though it is early on, basic gameplay ideas have already been discussed. Obviously, everything here is subject to change, based on time constraints, our abilities, and how the gameplay actually works out later – but, these are our basic ideas so far!
Controls:
Movement – WASD
Jump – Space
Run – Shift
Pick up/Use – E
Growl – Left click
Toggle two legs/four legs – Right click
Check tasks – TAB
Pause – Esc
General Gameplay:
Picking up items
As the raccoon, you must pick up items to do various things – be it items you need to collect, or items you can use to get what you want. Approaching an item not held by another character and pressing ‘E’ will allow you to pick it up. If you are walking on all fours, you may only carry one item – in your mouth – but, if walking on two legs, you may carry up to three small items – or one larger one. If you are carrying items, you can no longer growl without dropping the item first.
Some items will be usable – either to build primitive devices, to get to new areas, or to scare off anyone that may interfere with your dastardly plans.
If collecting an item to meet objectives – or wanting to put something out of the way – the item must be placed in a bin.
Walking on two legs
As the raccoon, you will have the option of walking on either two or four legs.
Walking on four legs allows you to run and climb – though, you can only carry one small item
Walking on two legs allows you to carry up to three items – though, you only walk slowly, and you cannot climb
Humans
When it comes to humans, there are several ‘personality types’ the raccoon will meet:
The coward;
This is the least interrupting of the personality types – if they see you, or hear you growl, they run away or cower. May alert other npcs to your presence.
The ‘doesnt care’;
This human just doesnt care. You dont threaten them, and they wont react if you growl. May get in the way. If they see you with an item, they will try to take it off of you
The brute;
Will ruin your day. Chases and hits/swats you so the raccoon drops all held items and is knocked back a few spaces.
Growling will cause the brute to pause for a moment, before continuing their chase. Once they have hit you, they will leave you alone and return to what they were doing and will take whatever items may have been taken from them.
The animal lover;
This human never learnt to respect nature; they think youre cute, and want you to know. Growling at this human will cause them to back off a moment, before continuing their chase. They will continue to look for you, even if they catch you once
When caught, this human will hold on to you – you must click the growl button really quickly to break free
concepts and sketches
while thinking of ideas and styles, I had to teach myself how to draw raccoons and figure out a style for them. here are my sketches from that! a lot of raccoons doing raccoon things. I settled eventually on a pillow-shaped raccoon! they’re soft and cute and fit the overall vibe of the game i’m aiming for.
– ellie
Mood Board
As part of our planning, we made a ‘mood board’ – putting together images that gave us inspiration for our game, or that included things we intend to put into our game
welcome to raccoon… 2!
hi!
originally, when given a project brief about an untitled goose game-inspired mischief game, I immediately thought about raccoons. little hands and a penchant for mischief makes for a fun idea! the direction I hope this project goes to is a ways similar to untitled goose, but with its own raccoon spin to make it separate enough to be somewhat standalone. we’re aiming for a number of unique mechanics that make use of the raccoons particular skillset, like their little hands and climbing skills.
overall, making a fun raccoon experience is top priority for this project, and its still very early in development, so the details are subject to change.
happy raccooning!
-ellie
Welcom to Raccoon
First things first – welcome to our blog! Whether you’re here because you like games, raccoons – or you’re grading us for our qualification (hi!), we thank you for checking us out! Your interest is certainly appreciated, and, we’re glad we caught your eye!
Raccoon Game will be a game inspired by Untitled Goose – in which you play as a raccoon, and cause all the chaos possible when you have tiny little hands and a healthy appetite for mischief.
Of course, its very early days at current – so its hard to say how our game designing adventure will go! But, we hope you will join us on it, and follow our journey as we move forward – one paw-step at a time!
~ Amelia
Raccoon Game 