For this project, we are going to be creating a loot crate asset that is commonly seen inside video games. These loot crates can hold common, rare, legendary // epic and exotic items so the chest’s appearance could change dependant on the content, although it probably makes more sense to keep the player guessing and have a light coming from the box that changes dependant on the loot.
Idea 1 – Ye Ole Pirates Treasure
- What genre of game could this be from?
Ocean exploration game. - What type of game is it?
Adventure. - What item is in the chest?
Gold, Pirate Flag, Bandana, Eye Patch. - What Level of Rarity is the item?
Rare. - How could this affect the design of the chest?
When people think of chests that could be potentially underwater, the most common theme for this would be something like a pirates chest. A nice iron frame with planks of wood in between it. A key hole lock on the front of it. It would be interesting to see if I could maybe put a glow coming from the lid of the box.
The design of this one would be similar to the chest seen in Fortnite.
Idea 2 – The Sci-Fi Crate
I’ve been playing a lot of Destiny 2 recently, probably the best looter shooter out at this very time and this project got me thinking of the loot crates used in Destiny 2 and how they could be taken to the next level.
- What genre of game could this be from?
Sci-Fi - What type of game is it?
Adventure. - What item is in the chest?
Weapon, Armor, Currency - What Level of Rarity is the item?
Legendary - How could this affect the design of the chest?
Having seen the loot crates in Destiny 2, they are very plain but a big aspect of why people play the game alot, to see what they are going to get next, to see if the grind paid off. Nothing quite like the feeling of beating a 4 hour raid and opening the chest to some legendary gear. With a game like Destiny, the appearance of the crate doesn’t change too much but they can have different effects on them, so crates on the moon have moon rocks attached to them and the crates on Earth have a bit of dirt on them here or there.
What is also important to note is that the chests are identifiable and visible from some distance thanks to a green light on the front. It is also important to note that the chests in a raid or a dungeon appear different to chests spotted in non-linear levels. I’m going to design a chest that represents a raid // dungeon chest, these normally have extraordinary shapes on them with high details on the lock piece.
Idea 3 – The eSports Loot Chest
With this idea, I have two different ideas in mind. I have the idea of FIFA Ultimate Team in mind where you have a packet of trading cards that you can open to reveal some cards. The other idea was more towards the crates that are used in Overwatch. In Overwatch, the crates a small and when opened, reveal a holograph of the reward.
- What genre of game could this be from?
Sci-Fi, Sports, Adventure - What type of game is it?
Sports, eSports, Adventure - What item is in the chest?
Cosmetic Items, Playable Characters - What Level of Rarity is the item?
Epic - How could this affect the design of the chest?
I think the stronger idea would be a loot crate like the ones seen in Overwatch, as much as the idea of a trading card packet from FUT does interest me, there isn’t much room for creativity there. This chest would be based as a cube with high details, vents coming off the side, a nice holographic lock, a not too plastic looking texture.
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Idea 4 – Gotta Find Them All!
Another chest idea, away from the eSports side could be a Pokeball type chest. What if this was a game where instead of catching all the pokemon, you had to obtain them from chests in an open world? This leads for an interesting concept.
- What genre of game could this be from?
Adventure - What type of game is it?
Adventure - What item is in the chest?
Playable Characters - What Level of Rarity is the item?
Common, Great, Ultra and Master - How could this affect the design of the chest?
The design of these chests is entirely dependant on the loot, if the pokemon inside the chest is common, it would have the colours of a pokeball, if the pokemon is a ‘great’ pokemon, the colours would reflect those of a great ball. The Ultra pokemon would be those of an Ultra Ball and the same for the Master pokemon. The chest would be square with an indented black ribbon in the middle, the lock of the chest would be a Pokeball, but of no colour.
Of all these idea, I think I prefer the Pokémon idea, having been such a long standing fan and with the company celebrating their 25th Anniversary, I couldn’t think of a better way as a fan to celebrate this achievement other than to design a loot crate based on Pokémon. Could even have something like a premier ball for crates containing purchased items.
.Although, my crates won’t be the typical sphere, It will infact be a cube but just the colours of the balls in the game to represent the types of loot that could be inside these crates.
The items in my moodboard represent the shapes I could go for in my loot chest, aside from the balls. I was thinking something more like the Overwatch chest as opposed to the clunky chest in the middle. The Overwatch chest would allow me to bake more details in a normal space. I’ve added images of the balls as a reference to colour and rarity. Whilst my chest won’t be the exact same shape as the lootbox from Overwatch, it will be similar. Unlike the chest from Overwatch, my chest will have a definitive front that will represent the design of a Pokeball.
The lock on my chest won’t be a button like what is on a pokeball but a pokeball symbol iteself. I will also need to look at baking indents for the colour marks on the Pokeballs. It is going to be a challenge to make these as interesting as possible whilst trying to stay true to the franchise.
JORDAN | GLITCH ARCADE 