Louis Leclair
Explorateur vidéo-ludique
My work on the Fallen Angels project was focused on three distinct parts: Narration, UI & Sound Design.
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NARRATIVE DESIGN
L'objectif premier était de donner un cadre narratif à un gameplay fun et léger : lancer des personnages dans le décor afin d'obtenir le meilleur score (le plus d'os brisés).
Le jeu en lui-même avait déjà un ton parodique et proposait une expérience étonnement cathartique. La catharsis fut le point de départ qui nous permis d'aborder le sujet de la "purification", de la "rédemption". Ajoutez à ce fil de pensées des corps qui tombent du ciel et vous voilà au seuil de la théologie. Alors, pourquoi pas la parodier ?
Fallen Angels. Des anges déchus. Des personnes qui doivent se purifier avant de pouvoir accéder au Paradis. Comment ? Comme toutes les pénitences, dans la souffrance.
Once the context had been set, it was time to integrate the characters into this narrative. The game's character selection system is primarily cosmetic. This meant creating the characters' backstories, identities and the sins from which they needed to be purified.
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UI DESIGN
Once we'd decided on a name for the application, we had to give it a body, a language and a look. Define the graphic charter, design the logo and interactive elements (UI, store, buttons, scoring).
When characters collide with the scenery, visual onomatopoeia are instantiated to amplify the feedback.
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SOUND DESIGN
Then it was time to create the sound universe: theme music, gameplay feedback, UI, character dubbing.
For us, the most important thing was to reinforce feedback during the gameplay phase: jumps and collisions. Jumps are marked by a sentence spoken by the character (short, hilarious). Collisions are highlighted by exaggerated fracture sound effects.
The musical theme required more research. We wanted to create a contrast with something happy and ethereal, without abandoning our comic or even absurd identity. A simple loop with banjo and drums was then introduced into the menu. Three versions: intro, loop and full.
I actually dubbed many of the characters and composed my first video game theme during this project.
Designing the art direction was an interesting and rewarding challenge.