For my midterm, I want to create a mini ecosystem relating to sharks and fishes. The sharks would be able to eat the fishes, and its body parts would be affected by multiple things such as the amount of fishes it ate and the various kinds of fish it ate. If the shark eats harmful fish accidentally, it would get sick and die. I want the overall piece to act like a game but also as an art piece demonstrating relationships between animals. The final piece would have graphic effects such as blood stains, and the fish would move in a cyclical pattern flowing through the water, while the shark would move randomly trying to eat its prey. People would first generate how many fish they would want there to be on the screen, and then when they’re done, they can wreak havoc by creating a shark with a keypress. I want to use the colors of underwater, make fishes relatively colorful, and the shark grey. The composition would look like an aquarium turned into a war zone.
I will rely heavily on classes. The sharks would definitely need their own class so the body parts can be properties in processing and altered when fish are “eaten”. I will also rely on my skills on animating to make a dynamic aquarium, so the fish can look and feel alive. I need to learn about optimal mathematical relationships and more knowledge about how to use classes properly.
I drew some inspiration from a relatively recent viewing of blue planet, so I am now more fascinated by the ocean life. It might be seen as ironic that I would want to create a scenario where death of fishes is optimal after watching this documentary, but it’s more about showing how fishes can evolve to protect themselves in nature. Hopefully, I can implement more species into this aquarium sketch.
