Sword
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As one way of addressing theme of greek mythology as set by the design committee, we decided to implement the sword weapon. This document contains the final design of the sword and its supporting documentation.
The is the final Sword design. The Sword was created using pixilart.com.
- Damage: 26
- Cooldown: 1.2 seconds
- Weight: 2
- Attack type: Melee
- Level: 2
- Craftable? Yes
- Materials: Gold: 3, Iron: 3
The source of inspiration for this weapon is the Ancient Grecian 'Xiphos' weapons shown in the photo below.
The xiphos were carried by Ancient Greek soldiers as a secondary weapon and were used when spears snapped or were lost in combat. The xiphos blade was typically around 0.6 metres in length and were also used by hoplites to chase down enemies [1]. These will be a strong and formidable weapon within the game.
Initial sketches of the item are shown below, inspired by the Greek weapons found in the museum shot.
An iterative design process was followed to gradually improve the quality of the design and to inspire the generation of new ideas.
User testing was conducted using the testing guide here: User Testing Plan
The user testing revealed that users resonated with the Greek mythology theme and agreed that the colour scheme of the weapon and its design was consistent with the theme. As can be seen in Phase 2: iterative design, it can be shown how user testing impacted the path of the design. From the initial design, the users highlighted that the plain grey tip of the sword was too dull and did not fit with the 'fancy' and 'rich' Greek mythology theme. This then transpired into the yellow and black coloured tip in the design - however, it was pointed out that with respect to historical accuracy, that having a golden coloured tip on the sword would not be suitable. As such, on the final design, the golden tip was removed.
Taken from: Design Development Guide
During this sprint, we decided to create the weapon attack animations for this sword. In order for us to implement this design within the game, initial research was conducted to see what other animations existed. After research was conducted, we proceeded to incorporate certain aspects of these inspirations into the animated design for the sword.
There were several inspirations behind this design and are seen in the bellow table.
| Inspiration Number | Image | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Inspiration 1 |  |
The main inspiration here was taken from the swing path of this sword. We originally considered this sword to be a heavy item that dealt a reasonably high amount of damage to enemies. As seen in this inspiration, the size of the sword and the swing pattern of the sword creates the notion that the sword seems rather heavy to carry due to the slightly delay between when the sword is swung up and when the sword starts to swing down to the ground. |
| Inspiration 2 |  |
The reason why this gif was chosen as an inspiration was because of the uniqueness of the number of attack animations being conveyed. As seen from this image, there are at least 6 different animations being played to swing the sword. From this, we took the inspiration to create the possibility of a dual-hit animation gif. |
| Inspiration 3 |  |
This was yet another inspiration because of the rotation and swing of the sword. It brough a better perspective on the potential of using the horizontal plane to convey the swing instead of just the horizontal plane. |
From the above inspirations, sketching was further done on the animation of the sword. During this time slight alterations were made to the sword in terms of the static design. This was justified as we were trying to go with replicating a realistic animation as possible. Seen within the final design of the sword, the handle was relatively thick. As such, within the animations, we toned down the thickness of the handle so that it would seem reasonable for the player to hold the weapon.
| Sketch 1 |
|---|
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| Iteration Name | Sprite Sheet | GIF |
|---|---|---|
| Original |  |
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| Iteration 1 - Fillers |  |
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| Iteration 2 - Shade Effects |  |
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| Iteration 3 - Soil Effects |  |
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| Iteration 4 - Impact Effects |  |
 |
| Iteration 5 - Smoothed out Frames |  |
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| Iteration 6 - Frames added to make initial swing prominent |  |
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The user testing questions can be found here.
Overall user testing results came back with a positive feedback saying that the weapon path swing was great. There was one comment where an individual was picking out the fact that the start of the sword swing seemed 'missed' or hard to see since the swing animation was relatively fast. As such, in order to address this issue, more frames were added to the animation to make a more detailed animation swing for the first 3 frames. This allowed for the animation to look more realistic and ultimately, provide more value towards the game within the design aspect. The changes within this is seen within the 6th iteration.
In terms of future iterations of this weapon, we would like to see the evolution of this sword in terms of the alternative swing patterns that could be done. To elaborate, the above example animation could represent a heavy swing or a heavy attack by the player. As such, we could also incorporate a lighter swing that doesn't require as much cooldown so that players have an option to decide between a heavy or light swing. This would enhance the game further and allow for a dynamic gameplay.
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- Lachlan Benson (@LachlanBenson) (Lachlan.Benson#4926)
- Caleb Ang (@PurrplePandaa) (🅰nnyeong Haseyo™#8083)