Here is my mind map of the word “Western” I used Lucid chart (Lucidchart.com) to create this. In this mind map I explore the various different things that I thought linked with the theme Western and then I put them all into four groups, These include Characters, Buildings, Environments, and weapons. I then split the western themed things into what they consist of or what comes to mind after hearing that word.
After creating the mind map you see above I moved onto creating a mood board for each of the four sections and then more for some of the buildings as they can be vast. The first mood board I created was on the characters that I thought looked western in some form. These included cowboys, bandits, sheriffs, and other citizens of the western culture. I also used multiple styles of character in this mood bored including Cartoon,Hand drawn, Actual photos and other illustrations. Some of these photos are from various games, films, comics and others were just drawn for the fun.
The second mood board I created was on the topic of western weapons. For this mood board I thought about the different types of weapons that were used in the west, These included Knives, Swords, Bows, Lever action rifles, Revolvers, Shotguns, Dynamite, TNT. I also included a few pictures of horse back weapons as horses were used a lot for carrying weapons and transport around as it was quicker than walking and they could carry a heavy load of weapons ammunition, skins, and meat after hunting.
The third mood board I created was on the topic of environments. For this mood board i put together multiple pictures of different western environments including deserts, cliff sides, caverns, and some towns. I got these pictures from multiple sources including photos, concept art, and different Game scenes. I like the style of these photos as they are mainly concept art of small towns and desert environments.
Here is a mood board on the topic of western saloons, It consists of different styles of saloons some of these are pictures of real saloons and others are miniature and to scale dioramas this mood board is going to be useful if i need to look at different styles of saloons for my background of my game when i create it.
Here is a mood board on western jails. It includes different styles and designs of western themed jails in the form of photos, 3D Models, and concepts. most of the jail cells are made out of metal bars as they were very strong and you could see the prisoner through the bars and speak to them when needed.
Here is a mood board on Western Banks. Including different designs on bank vaults, Safes and places for bank tellers to be safely hidden behind but still able to communicate with the customer and give them their money . Most of the bank tellers windows are made out of metal or Wooden bars so that bank robbers could not get over the counters.
Here is a mood board on different western stores these include drug stores, general stores, Gun stores and blacksmiths. Many of these stores are made out of wood as it was a easy resource to acquire and was easy to cut down into planks to make buildings. This mood board may help me to design some stores for my background.
Level 3 Games Development 2nd Year 