Semester 3 Project: Compiling Research of How Video Games Implement Folk Tales and Fairy Tales into the Narrative, Visuals and Games Design

While folk tales and fairy tales have been able to leave the pages of a children’s book and venture into other visual mediums; video games have become the newest format to retell these tales. 

How do folk tales and fairy tales play a role in video games?

Players can be an active part of the tale as the character experiences a tale unfolding. As another example players can be a passive part of the tale where they simply exist in a world where creatures and customs from said tales are part of everyday life.  

Mechanics and genres also assist as a means for the player to interact with the tale that is woven into the narrative - whether it’s a 3D open world game where the player must actively sort out and fight characters/ creatures from a folk tale or it’s a 2D point and click game where the player passively avoids or appeases the characters/ creatures. 

What happens when it comes to depicting folk tales and fairy tales?

In most cases video games will take the essence of a folk tale or fairy tale and create their own tale e.g. Child of Light. Some games however take direct influence from a folk tale or fairy tale - however this is bound to deviate from the original source. This is due to one of the major game design flaws of a folk tale - an abrupt or short ending.

This is due to the traditional means of these tales being passed around orally among members of a community and their initial purpose was as a warning to heed those who wander the moors at night or to stay away from bogs and rivers. Because of this a game made directly inspired by a folk tale can be difficult to develop if the intention is to have a long game play and replayability. 

When starting this project i had the task of finding the solution to these problems; but in a way the problem solved itself when i noticed the tasks a Hob does in different folk tales mirrored the tasks of an average life/farm simulation game uses as its core gameplay mechanics an amalgamation was formed that seamed the two concepts together perfectly. 

What i think makes a good folk tale game is when you can see the work put into not only accurately depicting the folk tale but the world and time this folk tale was birthed - i feel having that sort of information as a concept artist is a gateway to research that will visually and contextually breathe life into a game.

Research References: 

https://www.tor.com/2016/11/10/fairy-tales-through-gaming-the-ancient-arc-of-modern-storytelling/

https://www.thepunkwriter.com/article/the-folklore-of-video-games-using-narrative-design-to-create-player-agency

https://variety.com/2018/gaming/features/mulaka-mooseman-folk-tales-video-games-1202915228/ 

https://surrealandcreepy.wordpress.com/2021/07/03/the-folkloric-creatures-inspired-by-swiss-carnivals-in-the-pencil-made-horror-game-mundaun/ 

https://surrealandcreepy.wordpress.com/2020/03/01/what-is-lurking-in-the-mysterious-woods-interview-with-acid-wizard-studio-the-creators-of-darkwood/ 

https://surrealandcreepy.wordpress.com/2020/12/14/horror-games-based-on-traditional-asian-folklore/

Semester 2 Project: Describing my Concept Art Pipeline and Project Reflection

My Concept Art Pipeline - How I Make Concept Art

The Idea - 

Prompted by an image or cultural concept / story

Brainstorming - 

This brainstorming is the part of the pipeline where I ask myself in its simplest form ‘What do I want to make?’ ‘How do I make this into a game?’ ‘How do I make this into concept art’ ‘How do I capture the essence of this idea in concept art?’ ‘What sort of concept art do I need to make?’ At this point I will be using these questions to inform my research and I keep the brainstorming stage very brief as my ideas may change or be scrapped. 

Research -

This is the stage where I compile notes of in-depth research on the subject of my idea and the culture around the idea. 

Research is a gradual part of my pipeline; I will use research as the connection to more research so I can accurately depict the history and cultural significance of my concept subject along with helping me create sources of reference for my concept art.

For me research is the foundation to every idea and decision I make and I believe there is no such thing as bad or useless research; if I find something interesting but I know that it doesn't fit the subject of my concept art or my idea has changed I tend to keep that research for possible future projects.

Design Document - 

This is the documentation finalising the mechanics, characters, story details e.g. time period and locations of the project and concept art.

Having this documentation gives me a clear understanding and gives my concept art function along with giving me direction. 

Reference Research - 

At this point in the pipeline I start to collect images that relate to my research; this usually involves gathering images of clothing, fabrics, patterns, interiors, exteriors, furniture, architecture and aesthetics of the culture along with animals and plants found in that region. I will usually set my projects in the 1800’s or 1900’s; being the golden age of illustration and the height of folklore; with old cottages, flowery fabrics, bonnets and pinafores i find the imagery associated with this time period visually pleasing and epitomises the sense of charm i am trying to communicate.

A Lot of this stage involves capturing the look and feel of the game and building up a visual blueprint of the project.

Initial Concept Sketches - 

Starting with a couple of rough sketches to get the idea onto paper, my art style emphasises soft features and rounded corners, i try to make my designs simplified and readable with many of the characteristics in the smaller details. My sketches vary from static poses to featuring the character completed day-to-day tasks that communicate what the character is like and what the game is about.

I tend to keep pieces of my art symmetrical to work efficiently so one side of the sketch will be given more attention and the pencil lines will be more defined. 

When making the initial concept I will first draw on paper with the character in a full body sketch without any extra designs added such as clothing, hats etc. this is so i can place a new piece of paper on top of the sketch and create multiple concepts.

Digital Layout - 

I will arrange the scanned sketches onto a digital canvas along with adjusting the tone of the pencil line so it is more clear. 

During this part I will place colours around the illustration to use as the palette. What i like to do with my palette is use ‘off-colours’ with my blacks and whites to make the art more softer along with picking one dominant colour (typically green or brown) and slightly blend that into my other colours in order to make a move com

Digital Concepts - 

I will start my digital version of the concept art by lowering the opacity of the layer I will be working on in order to follow the pencil illustration underneath. 

When creating my digital art, although it is styled to look lineless I will draw an outline of each part of the character e.g. head, eyes, hat and body on a different layer; when the outline is complete I simply fill in the empty space.

This is helpful to my process for a number of reasons - it is a simple solution that speeds up the process of art, i can duplicate the outline and recolour it in order to get the line art i need on clothing folds and fingers and it allows me to make quick colour exploration concepts.

Reflecting on where this project has led me I initially planned at the beginning of semester 3 to move onto ‘Idea 3’ which would entail me creating my own original folk tale; however there is so much more i want to add to the concept art, i would like to expand of creating more function concept art to show the mechanics of the game so i see this semester as the stepping stone of creating the Hob game and now I plan to continue developing this project further in semester 3 by expanding my concepts into building the world, characters and folklore of the game - one outcome i would like to explore at the end of Semester 3 is have the concept art printed into book form.

Semester 2 Project: Hob Concept Art

Semester 2 Project: Creating a Design Document & Brief

As this project has started to develop more into a functioning idea i have had two questions that i ask myself with each piece of research and decision written in my notebook -

‘How do I turn a folk tale into a video game?’

‘How do I make this game about a goblin visually charming?’ 

Folk tales are usually short and I need to transcribe this into a game with hours of playability; my first thought was to set the game after the folk tale, perhaps the Hob has moved onto a new village? Or I could rework the folk tale by changing the ending to have no ending at all. 

Researching the many tasks a Hob would do across these different folk tales reminded me of games like Harvest Moon / Story of Seasons and i believe the tales of the Hobs work lend themselves to similar mechanics - games like this are about living an idyllic countryside life and completing day-to-day tasks such as farming, crafting, foraging and caring for animals at your own pace. 

This is the part of my pipeline where these sorts of questions allow me to reflect on the game designer side and the concept artist side of my project - being able to document initial ideas, problem solve, research and then communicate the functionality of these ideas in the form of concept art. 

With the research I have collected I have started to formulate a brief and design document so I could have the story, characters and mechanics of the game refined.

Design Document & Brief: 

My Brief - Create concept art based on an unknown folk tale for a game that captures the charm of a rural english village; you will be using your concept art as a ‘proof of concept’ and to communicate how you could transcribe a folk tale into a game. You will be concepting characters, environments, items and mechanics. 

My Design Document: The game is inspired by the folk tale ‘The Hob of Hobthrush Hall’ - will also take elements from other Hob folk tales.

The game is set in the 1800’s in a fictionalised version of Over Silton, a village in North Yorkshire.

In-Game Locations 

North Yorkshire Moors - Vast moorland filled with heather and home to folklore creatures, this is where the hob forages for plants. 

Hobthrush Hall - A cave in the scarrs on the edge of the North York Moors, this is where the Hob starts and finishes each day, where he stores his foraged goods and works to craft medicines. 

Hobbrush Farm - The local farm found on the trail to Over Silton from the North Yorkshire Moors 

Over Silton - Over Silton is a small village that the Hob visits, it  consists of old stone cottages,a local Inn, a General Shop, a post office and many other businesses. 

Over Silton Church - A small stone parish church with a graveyard, it is located in a small wildflower field near the village. 

The game will be a 2D side scroller where the player will simply move right and left to get to different locations; the assets and environments will be flat and layered to give depth. 

The game will use life sim/farm sim genre and similar mechanics - these games have long playability as they don’t have a conventional ending.

Mechanics 

Foraging - Hob can go to the moors to collect herbs, plants etc. Foraging items can be found once a day and will respawn the next day. 

Crafting - With the foraged items the Hob can create medicine. All crafting takes place in Hobthrush Hall at the Hobs herbalism corner; a table filled with bottles, books and other equipment used to make medicine from the dried herbs and plants hanging by the work station.

Healing and Delivery - The Hob will be visited by villagers who will call out to him from outside his cave reciting the rhyme “Hob Hole Hob, My bairn’s gotten t’kink cough, Tak it off, Tak it off.” 

When the Hob leaves the cave he will see he has received notes signed by different families in the village for medicine to heal illnesses - The Hob must then make the medicine and bring it to the right cottage.

Shopkeeper Tasks - Visit the shopkeeper to help him with food deliveries to elderly villagers. 

Village Inn Tasks - Visit the Inn to make a fire in the fireplace to keep the Inn warm and also churn milk into cream and butter for the morning.

Farm Tasks - Visit the Hobbrush Farm to thresh corn and barley, repair fences, turn hay, top and tail turnips.

Rewards for Tasks - The Hob does not receive money for his work - his reward is either a jug of cream or a slice of buttered bread. 

Cream and bread is left for the Hob to take before a task and put into inventory; the cream and bread replenish stamina. 

Stamina - Stamina is used when doing physical tasks, similar to the mechanic in the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games. Stamina is represented by hearts ♥♥♥♡

Physical Tasks - Churning cream, threshing, repairs, turning hay, topping and tailing turnips. 

When the Hob runs out of stamina he will turn to stone.

Hob runs out of stamina → Hob turns to stone → Screen fades to black → Hob wakes up in the Hobthrush Hall cave with full stamina, starting the new night with new tasks and any tasks unfinished from the previous night.

Doing too many tasks in one night will drain stamina; however the player can do non-physical tasks to store up cream and bread.

Non-Physical Tasks - Foraging, crafting, medicine and shopkeeper deliveries

Day/ Night Cycle - The Hob starts his work when the sun is setting and must return to the cave before the sun rises in order to not be damaged by sunlight {5:00pm - 5:00am}

The game will have a standard Day/Night cycle.

1 real-time minute = 1 in-game hour    1 real-time second = 1 in-game minute

If the Hob goes to bed a new day starts {e.g Hob goes to bed Mon 5am wakes up Tues 5pm}

The game will start will Spring, Monday, Day 1, Year 1

Every day the Hob will wake up at 6am.

If the player does not go to bed and chooses to wander around outside the time will continue into the next day.

Time and Calendar 

The game will have a 28 day calendar.

7 day week ‘Monday’ ‘Tuesday’ ‘Wednesday’ ‘Thursday’ ‘Friday’ ‘Saturday’ ‘Sunday.’

The game will have 4 seasons ‘Spring’ ‘Summer’ ‘Autumn’ ‘Winter’ {the environment will be affected by the seasonal change} 

Items

Jug of Cream - An item used to replenish a lot of stamina.

Buttered Bread - An item used to replenish a little bit of stamina.

*more items to be added

Inventory and Storage - The Inventory is where the player keeps items collected during the game. When outside foraged items will be placed into the inventory at a capacity of 10; to stock up on extra foraged items the player can keep these items in the herb cabinet by the Hob’s crafting area.