Insight #2 – Iteration

In this entry I will present the iterative process behind the creation of the Behemoth’s cannon and the changes that it went through from its conceptualization until its current alpha-ready state.

The concept of Behemoth called for a disproportionately large cannon as one of the cornerstones of its aesthetic. With this in mind, we decided on a military sci-fi setting with dystopian and cyberpunk elements, which resulted in a simple yet rugged and powerful design. Our main inspiration came from SNES games such as Super Metroid (Nintendo, 1994) and John Berkey’s and Ralph McQuarrie’s work on the Star Wars series.

The first iteration of the cannon was produced and used for the first mock-ups of the game during the second week of production, it is a simple square with an oblongated base underneath to represent the anchor that joins it to the moving rail on the hull.

The first on-model UI elements of the game were already present in this stage, a charge bar to represent the amount of shots that could be fired before reloading and a simple directional arrow that would tell the player which key to press in order to complete “commands”, a game mechanic consisting of series of several inputs through the directional keys with which the player performs actions such as reloads and reparations to reinforce the mechanical aesthetic of the game.

When we started to produce assets for the Alpha version the cannon underwent several re-designs to allow for better visual identification, more UI elements being displayed on it, and a more holistic feel that ties in with the mechanical side of the game. It was at this point when the decision to implement a “power-shot” was taken, a mechanic in which the player would be able to choose to spend additional charges to reach further with the laser. It was imperative to have a display for this, as it would help the player understand how many charges a shot would consume.

This earliest version of the alpha cannon featured a more streamlined design. Seeing how it was a laser cannon the idea of a laser turret with a longer sleeker barrel was toyed with, ultimately being discarded due to an unsatisfactory size. The base of the cannon was also much smaller, which led to a sense of frailty when turning, something that was diametrically opposite to our goal.

Another cannon was designed shortly thereafter, taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of previous iterations and refining them. We knew the cannon had to be big, and although the mock-up version was the longest (75px), the final version for the alpha ended up being a bit shorter (68px) but placed further to the right of the screen to allow for a better turning angle as well as space on the hull of the ship for UI elements.

This refinement of the asset led to a better overall feel of the shooting mechanic and general aesthetic of the game. The cannon will undoubtedly keep changing and adapting to player feedback. The next big change for this asset will be animation, where it will cease to be a static asset and become a sprite-sheet of mechanical wonder with a heavy feel thanks to timing and movement.