Kevin Barker - Spike Ball

3D Object Design Learning Outcome 3

When coming up with the idea I chose to do the 3D object in Super Mario Brothers. I chose this because I thought it was the category I could be most creative in. I was told that I could choose an object from any game as long as it had the same sort of style as Super Mario Bros, so I chose Pokemon. The reason i chose Pokemon is because it was one of my favourite games and I like the art style and the simplicity of the items within the game.

The item I chose to make was my very own Pokeball. A Pokeball is an item that is used to catch the Pokemon within the game, different pokeballs have different effects and styles to the ball so I thought I could make one that would fit in with the games.

My first idea was to make a pokeball which is combined with a health potion, which would allow the Pokemon to be healed after every battle. I liked this idea but decided that it may be to complicated to make when I was in the process of modelling it in 3D Max. My second idea was the "tazer ball" The idea was that the tazer ball would make a Pokemon easier to catch by at a parylise effect to the Pokemon when they are inside the ball but I couldn't think of any decent designs that could go with this ball. My final idea was the "Spike Ball" this would have spikes on it and was design to do a slight amount of damage to a Pokemon so that they would be easier to catch. I decided to do the spike ball idea as it wasn't too complicated and it could also be a useful item in the game.

When I made the spike ball I liked the design and decided to give it a black and metallic silver material so that its style would match with other items in games. Although I was quite happy with my designs there was a few ideas that my class mates made that could possibly improve the design.

Kathryn was the first person to review my design and determined that my design was planned out well and had a could design but also added the idea that I could add different colours or materials to destinguish diferent parts of the pokeball more easily, she also added that I could maybe add a from of grip so that the pokeball could be easier to hold. I believe that there is alternate colour choices I could have used that might have improved the Spike Balls design but I thought the colours that I used fit in pretty well with the games style because of its simplicity. I don't of disagree with the grip idea as I don't think the item looks so spiky that it would be hard to hold.

The next person to review my design was Connor. Connor thought that it looked like it would fit in well with the Pokemon games and that my design was added something that other pokeballs didn't have. One of the ideas that he had was to add a logo so that it would look a bit more evil. I do not like this idea as it would would take away from the simplicity of the design, also the item was not intended to look evil. He also got an idea from another class mate that would include adding a special glove so that the item could be held, but no other items work like this in the Pokemon franchise so I don't agree with this idea.

The last person to review my design was Kieran.Kieran thinks that the item would be useful in Pokemon games and also thinks that the design suits the items purpose. His idea was to have lots of small spikes on the ball instead of a few big ones. I like this idea but I think my design would fit into the game better.

Overall I think my design was a success and it fit in well with the theme that I had chosen. There are a few ideas that I should take into consideration and maybe make a more refined version, but ultimately I feel that there is not much that needs changed.