What makes a video game stand out or flop? Granted, the quality of graphics plays a significant role. But so does the story. Many gaming businesses seem to underestimate the power of a compelling narrative. A 2015 study once revealed that a gaming narrative contributes to players' overall immersive experience.
The video games that work are those that players can relate to, those that transport them to a different place and time, or those that can emotionally connect to them to empathize with the hero's journey. Otherwise, they feel like they're the hero. For this reason, a 2D video game art development uses a storyboard.
What Is a Storyboard?
A storyboard is a visual representation of the flow of the game's narrative. It's a sequence that captures the essence of what happens in the game, from the significant events to the dialogue and interactions between characters. Developers and designers also use storyboards for planning purposes.
A storyboard usually includes the following parts:
Major events of the game's plot
Character's actions and expressions
Props involved in the scene
Dialogue and sounds
Storyboards offer many benefits, especially to game developers:
1. Storyboards help in the programming of a video game. Those who have experience creating games know how difficult it is to implement certain parts of a game without a clear idea of what happens before and after each scene.
2. These boards can also help developers determine whether they should add or change any element in the storyboard.
3. Storyboards show whether scenes in the game flow well.
4. They can help designers create better characters, which they visually develop into sprites (animated character images used in video games).
5. They can also serve as layout guides for designers, allowing them to implement changes without compromising the integrity of the game's narrative.
6. This type of development is cheaper. Developers can start with a basic outline, which they can always build upon as the game progresses.
7. It saves time and money if the developers decide to change any storyboard part.
8. This type of planning can keep a game on its schedule, so it won't be delayed until they start coding for it.
How to Make Storyboards
Every animation has these components:
Sprites: the visual designs of the characters and objects in a video game.
Frames: each sprite appears for a fraction of a second. These frames are synchronized to create what players experience as movement, so designers call them animations.
Timing: how quickly or slowly the sprites move.
Scenes: these include all elements in an environment that will be animated.
Audio tracks: sound effects and background music that complete the game's presentation.
Backgrounds: the setting for where actions take place.
Animation: the sequence parts that indicate motion, such as dancing or fighting.
Dialogue: what characters say while performing specific actions in the storyboard.
Sound effects: all sounds other than speech in a video game, such as crashing cars or footsteps.
These components make the storyboard come alive. They help visual artists create scenes that could be viewed through different camera angles. Designers can then decide which angle is ideal for specific locations.
How to Create a Storyboard
The process of creating a storyboard can vary between developers, but they often include the following:
1. Find a concept. Developers choose one central idea for their video games, which they build the entire game around. This helps them establish a clear objective.
2. Create a script. Characters, dialogues, or descriptions of actions are included in this stage to establish how the storyboard appears before design begins. Of course, since changes might occur later on, developers write scripts to allow for revisions.
3. Lay out the storyboard. Developers determine how elements should arrange themselves to present an event as it happens.
3. Add some dialogue and sound effects. Developers or other team members record these.
4. Record sprites. Designers create images to represent characters in a game's scenario, so these images should appear on the storyboard. They usually use graph paper or tablets for this process.
5. Design backgrounds. Each scene has an environment that sets its tone and mood. Designers must determine whether the location is serious, carefree, or ominous.
6. Add motion. Usually, this is when designers add movements to sprites and attach them to images in each frame of the storyboard.
7. Add dialogue. Sound effects and music come next in most cases, and developers add any sounds characters might make during the storyboard.
8. Adjust timing. The speed at which scenes are played out is determined in this stage, so developers can ensure each character's action is smooth and convincing.
9. Review the finished product. They evaluate it to see if any changes are needed to make sure everything appears as it should. This process repeats until the desired effect is achieved.
Developers are always looking for new ways to save time and money. They need every resource possible to create a profitable video game, so they need to plan with the available tools. Storyboards are one of those.
They provide an early look at how a game will turn out, so developers must consider every element involved in creating a storyboard before they have a final product.