Another Interlude

I'm not really in the position to be able to upload my level design at the moment, owing largely to not being the sort of person that possesses an A3 scanner. 

So far, my level is apparently large enough to warrant having to work at a smaller size, which mostly means that I have to really lean in at the moment to make sure I'm getting the proportions correct... which will be essential for making sure the level works in a (not real) game setting.

Besides the work at hand, I'm also working on making a background for this blog and some watermarks to start adding onto any work I upload. Partly from a sudden paranoia I have never felt before in my life, and party from it generally being good practice to do so in the world of the internet.

Level Design - Thus Far

After some procrastination, I've decided to upload my progress on this assignment/task since we started on Thursday. Because my ideas have changed as I continued to redesign my level, and I've lost some of the nervousness I felt at the beginning... that isn't to say that I feel like what I've got right now is perfect... I'm just satisfied that I've gotten something that actually resembles a playable level, and that was through the act of drawing, researching, and redrawing to produce better results.

The drawings might well provide a better idea of what I'm doing than retyping the information, so as ever... be sure to click on the images to get a slightly larger view. I can at least say here that I was initially working with a space islands idea, but as the work progressed I found that I couldn't fit so many elements into the level.. and so settled upon an island environment proper, using the Socotra Islands as a rough template - the environment is distinctive. Because I think but don't draw in colour, I have also imagined that the colour pallate would be like that of the film "The Thief and the Cobbler - Recobbled" ... a really nice but tragically unfinished animation. I loved it's use of colour.

This was the initial idea drawin up in class. It doesn't really look playable

This page was more about me trying to work out what I actually wanted to achieve, looking into how I could use the designated abilities to influence the structure and design of the level I was trying to make.

Second attempt at level design - I liked it at first, but the more I worked on it the less clear I became. I was working with a multiple path principle, but I felt the paths were too seperated, and it just didn't feel right.

I went back to the drawing board to work out my ideas some more. I wanted to make sure that there were multiple paths, and that the player would get more than one chance to avoid taking the lowest path whilst making it harder to stay on the higher paths.

Third attempt at level design, and one that I soon abandoned. I felt that I was on the right track with this design though, with the high platform being more difficult and skill based... but I felt that the lower segment was underdeveloped.

Where I am at as of the 22nd October. Whilst I'm sure there is much more to be done, I feel like I've gotten a result that could almost be playable.

For the artists out there

Yeah, For the guys in the class that are drawing and want to learn about human anatomy.

I'm having a bookshelf clear out at present, and I have two copies of Anatomy For The Artist ... I grabbed the second book at a charity shop when it mysteriously appeared, and I originally intended to give it to a friend over in the states... but they politely declined the offer. I really need to make room for the day I get some books more related to Games Design and such.

So basically, I'll be happy to give it to someone in the class instead... but ideally, I'll be wanting to give it to someone who IS already drawing... seeing as it isn't a book on learning how to draw so much as learning about the different muscles and bone structure of the human body... which is why I want to prioritise giving it to someone who already draws but wishes to improve their learning.

I really hope that doesn't sound like me being obnoxious in anyway... but I must stress that the book does have value to it, and whilst I got it cheap and I am giving it away for free, I want it to go to someone it will be most beneficial to. Leave a message in the comments box if you're interested, and I'll lug the book along to class. 

 

Level Design - Assignment 4?

I'm not sure yet whether this is an assignment or not. But I might as well assume so, dohoho.

I took my Friday off, and it was good, and today I've started working on this paper level design... or rather, I'm indulging in a spot of ideas generation and research. Time off made me realise what I was doing wrong on Thursday and why I didn't feel like I was performing well... I was trying to make something without giving due thought to the mechanics we had been given, and how they could be used to influence the overall level structure.

So that is my first port of call, given that I already know where this level is going to be set. I'm presently giving consideration to making use of the Sonic the Hedgehog school of level design... meaning multiple paths, with higher areas of the level proving quicker but more difficult to stay on, and lower areas that are easier but take longer to get through. I'm also considering how sprinting and sliding can be used for accessing different areas and shortcuts, and whether I need more open areas for enemy placement.

Lastly, because I'm either wandering off track or because I'm hoping to be helpful to those who read this blog, I'm going to dump a couple of links I'm going through at the moment. 

http://games.soe.ucsc.edu/sites/default/files/smith-sandbox-08.pdf 

http://www.significant-bits.com/what-made-those-old-2d-platformers-so-great 

I'll stress that these things are not about paper level design, but rather talk about what makes for good level design in older games... chiefly, that in a good game, the levels will take the player abilities/movesets into account and let them use them to explore and interact within the environment. I really want to be keeping that in mind when I reattempt drawing up a stage.

Assignment 3 Conclusion/Level Design Initial Thoughts

Oh golly. Two blog posts in one? Might as well, seeing as these entries are going to be short individually.

So the deadline for assignment 3 has been and passed, and I feel absolutely exhausted. As my previous blog entries will testify, I worked on two very different ideas in terms of themes and mechanics, as well as differing target audiences, and I hope that the documents have done the development work justice. I enjoyed doing the work, and it was really great turning vague ideas into something almost credible.


And as for the lastest task in creating a level on paper... I'm going to confess here and now that I'm feeling a bit nervous about it. My mind works in mysterious ways, and even when I was drawing up imaginary levels for imaginary games when I was younger, my grasp on the actual design of levels was sorely lacking. It is almost a mental block.

That being said and done, I've already got a rough idea for what I actually want to do whilst using the abilities to "Walk, Sprint, Jump, and Slide", and it is really going to be about making the level fit the idea in my head. I am, however, taking a day off from work today (Friday) to just kick back and relax... so I'll be getting to work on the level design over the weekend.

With the fear that I'm overthinking and therefore overdrawing the design at this early stage, I'm going to be cutting out paper shapes to stick onto a sheet of paper, at least until I feel I have something I can work with. I'll take photographs if I can reclaim my camera recharging cable from diabolical theft.

 

Assignment 3 - Document 2 Pottson Panz

Pottson Panz

Introduction

Pottson Panz is a 2D puzzle platformer set in a bright cartoon world, and designed for both single player and co op gameplay using a new tether mechanic to encourage teamwork and humour to appeal across a broad audience.

Story Overview

Chief Protagonis Genuine Lee, Head of Pilfer Inc

In a far off galaxy that isn't the Milky Way, a mining company called Pilfer Inc owned by a man called Genuine Lee has laid claim to a small planet filled to the brim with hallmarks of an ancient civilization. Soon discovering that they could make a fortune in selling any relics they can get their hands on, the company starting hiring relic hunters to ransack the ruins and temples hidden deep underground for relics and treasures, ignorant of the vengeful spirits growing more and more furious at the shameless theft of their possessions. Many of these hunters have fallen to the dark curses and treacherous traps hidden beneath the planet surface... but the lure of fame and glory spurs many more to make their way to this now infamous planet.

Pottson is one such relic hunter, renowned amongst her peers as exceptionally daring and focused in her quest to travel to the deepest catacombs and risk life and limb to bring back nothing less than the most valuable of treasures. Her reckless raiding and thieving eventually catches up with her however, when she finds herself trapped in a chamber, awakening by a disgruntled Djinn called Panz when she attempts to steal the precious vase he has slumbered in for millennia, largely dis-empowered from years of the relics that give him magic being snatched during his hibernation.

Cursing Pottson with the appearance of a chameleon, Panz demands that she work for him in helping to undo the damage she and her relic hunting acquaintances have brought down upon the ancient world, and reclaim the sources of his powers in the process... or else she will be condemned to wandering the chambers and catacombs as a wild monster like so many others who have fallen before her. With the latter choice proving unappealing, Pottson has little option but to reluctantly team up with the Djinn in the hope that by helping Panz, she will be able to lift her curse and escape the world with plans on a career change.

Protagonists Pottson and Panz, tethered together via the purple pot on Pottson's back

Description

“Pottson Panz” is a cooperative 2D puzzle-platformer with local and internet play, where the players must use their brains, unique abilities and each other to traverse bright and vibrant hand drawn worlds, and explore the ruins of ancient civilizations in a blend of science fiction and ancient myth as you set out to free yourselves from the vicious curse of a disgruntled god.

Play as the treasure hunter turned cursed abomination Pottson and her wayward spirit guide Panz in a brand new co-operative platforming challenge. Connected to one another by an unbreakable bond (more physical than proverbial), you and a friend must work together to take on and overcome the odds stacked against you. Race across diverse landscapes, avoid ancient traps and battle treasure hunters and creatures doomed to roam the decrepit catacombs hidden deep underground. Travel across the land to lift the curse that keeps you stuck to your 'friend' before you join the twisted spirits of those greedy

Why Is The Game Fun?

Pottson Panz will use a new tether mechanic to encourage experienced player and players new to the platforming genre to play together and create a new approach to co op gameplay and teamwork. With the added humour from two very different characters that don't get along, the game will provide a challenge whilst avoiding harsh penalties for failure in co op.

Panz acting as a rope whilst Pottson acquires stolen treasure

Pottson holds back whilst Panz dashes in the opposite direction in preparation for a catapult shot

Another demonstration of the catapult mechanic for travelling longer distances than a regular jump.

Key Features

- Fast paced platforming with an emphasis on team work to solve fiendish puzzles.

- The unique tether mechanic used to keep you tied to your friend can also be used to swing and catapult your way through the world.

- Drop In/Drop Out Co-Op gameplay makes it easy to get a friend to join or leave your game at any point.

- Many ways to play On top of platforming, collect one of many power ups and escort stolen treasure to spice up the gaming experience.

- Immerse yourself in 8 distinct painterly environments that blends quirky technology with ancient myth and legend.

Genre

2D Puzzle Platformer, with comedy and fantasy leanings.

Target Audience

The game is going to be looking at an E for Everyone rating and will be aimed at both casual players and those looking for a challenge.

Assignment 3 - Pottson Panz Sketchbook Work

Click the pictures to get a full view.  I meant to scan some of these pages from my book sooner, but XCom interfered with my life. In this instance, these scans are from my development of my game provisionally titled "Pottson Panz". Development is also covered in my earlier blog entries. 

Being an entirely different game from "Heavens Loom", my focus was almost entirely on working out how gameplay could stem from a tether mechanic, and again I possibly went a little too far in thinking up other ways to vary the gameplay. I'm going to write up my logic behind both games when I move onto an Assignment 3 Conclusion.

That is all I will say, I don't feel that rewriting something that is already written in these scans will be worthwhile. I'm lazy, and lazier still for copy pasting the words from the previous blog entry.

Assignment 3 - Heavens Loom Sketchbook Work

Click the pictures to get a full view.  I meant to scan some of these pages from my book sooner, but XCom interfered with my life. In this instance, these scans are from my development of my game provisionally titled "Heavens Loom". Development is also covered in my earlier blog entries. 

I possibly went a little too deeply into the ideas for the game, but I ended up completely absorbed by the work that I kept developing mechanics to see where I ended up.

That is all I will say, I don't feel that rewriting something that is already written in these scans will be worthwhile. Yes, I'm lazy.

 

 

Interlude - Unreal Tournament

So today marks the first time I've ever played Unreal Tournament, and the fact I was able to instantly jump into and enjoy a game speaks volumes.

The most immediate impact the game had on me was in the simplicity of the controls, limiting the player to running (WASD Space) and gunning (Mouse 1+2), and the game itself seems to revolve around a sense of speed, with players traversing the environments at a brisk pace and even death barely interrupts the flow of the game, one is but a mouse click away from respawning and returning to the fight. This more or less ensures that death doesn't feel punishing

The sense of speed and frantic action is complimented by a sense of claustrophobia in the layout of the amp we played on (Deck). Much of the level is situated in tight corridors that run in straight lines, and even in the centre of the map where all paths lead and players can access the different floors, players are still lead down straight paths. The level itself is lacking in colour, which allows any of the collectible items (And the green water hazard at the bottom of the map) to stand out... each using distinct colours which easily distinguishes each weapon or power up.      

Assignment 3 - Document 1 Heavens Loom

Game Concept Document – Heavens Loom (Working Title)

Introduction

 Heavens Loom is a 3/4 top down World War 2 based survival horror where the player has five days to save the world from the threat of an alien invasion, and will be able to use time and recordings of previous playthroughs to explore their surroundings and change the flow of events in the game world.

Story Overview

Heavens Loom is a relatively peaceful town out in the countryside of North West England, largely self reliant and isolated on the coast during the Blitz of World War 2. Out of the way from the full brunt of air raids across the larger cities, Heavens Loom is a place where very little happens. At least, until one fateful day when the unspeakable happens during an air raid.

A UFO is shot down and crash lands near the rural town, and almost overnight rumours and strange events start disrupting life in Heaven's Loom. With agents from London and reserve soldiers being dispatched overnight to investigate the ruin, the town is cordoned off and it's citizens prevented from leaving, rumours initially rumbling about a German plane having crashed in the nearby woods. It is on this night that the game's protagonist Evan Lume awakens with no memory, with nothing but the clothes upon his back and a mysterious LP Record in an empty briefcase. Dazed and confused, Evan stumbles toward the nearest sign of civilization before lapsing back into unconciousness.

Rewakening in an air raid shelter on the first day of what would soon be a full blown alien invasion, he soon finds himself to be a stranger within the rural town of Heaven's Loom, either being ignored or viewed with suspicion – several townspeople believe him to be a german spy, including the town's warden. When the second day begins, rumours fly about a farming family on the outskirts of the community that have disappeared overnight, with suspicion being pointed squarely at Evan. He also discovers that his LP is useless, only playing static when put into a gramophone.

After more disappearances on the second night and rumours starting to fly about tall grey men in the woods, and panic begins to spread through the community. And the third night marks the beginning of an invasion, air raid sirens ignored as the people of Heavens Loom face an attack by mysterious creatures fighting their way into the outskirts of town, trapping the population. With panic spreading and the townspeople turning on themselves in a fight for survival, the protagonist continues to try and find a way out of the town, an increasingly futile goal.

By the final day, the aliens have managed to reach the town's radio tower, using it to summon a larger alien fleet with which to overrun and conquer Heaven's Loom. Desperately fighting for survival, Evan ends up stealing an unknown device from a fallen alien, believing it to be a weapon... only to discover that it is something far more powerful. When he tries to use it, he instead finds himself bathed in white light... before waking up in the same air raid shelter he had been in 5 days before.

At first thinking that he'd just had a nightmare, the protagonist discovers that he still possesses the device he had used in his 'dream'... and also that his LP record has begun glowing. When he puts the record into a gramophone once again, instead of the static from the last time he'd tried to play, he instead discovers a 'recording' of himself wandering off and following his path and actions from the last few days.

Bearing the terrible knowledge of the town's fate, and wielding the tools that can allow him to change the flow of events, Evan Loom finds himself with little option but to use his mysterious ability to use time to alter history and save himself and the people of Heavens Loom.

Description

“Heavens Loom” is an isometric survival horror set in an alternate post WW2 universe in the north of England, where you play as a stranger who soon discovers he is trapped in a vicious time loop endlessly repeating the fall of a close knot community still living in fear of the second world war as a super natural threat makes itself known.

After a plane crashes in the nearby moors, you play in the role of a stranger waking up with no memory of how you've come to be in a cycle reliving the same 5 days in an isolated english village in 1945. With the mysterious ability to record and coexist with your past self, you must use both the past and the present to dig deeper into the dark secrets hidden within the village community of Heavens Loom and the surrounding countryside, and discover a way to break the endless time loop at any cost.

Key Features

-  Use your ability to rewind time and record your past actions to come up with creative solutions to solve puzzles and affect how events evolve within the game world. 

-  Explore and interact within a deep 1940's world that lives and breathes. Npcs follow out their daily lives and deal with personal tragedies through the countdown to the end of days. Use this knowledge to change how the game unfold and learn how to counter the alien threat. 

-  None-linear Gameplay - Freedom of choice on how to survive and explore the horror of the game environment. Use your powers to save and learn about the people of Heavens Loom, or use them instead for personal gain and self-preservation.

Genre

World War 2 Blitz themed Survival Horror set in an alternate universe.

Assignment 3 - Another Picture

I have concluded that I don't like Photoshop's brushes. I don't like Photoshop particularly. My previous blog entry from a few hours ago shows a picture that I drew in Photoshop, and it took me the best part of an hour with very little to show for it. 

In contrast, before I go to bed I decided to draw in my more usual art program of choice these days, Paint Tool Sai. It may just be the brush I use, but I think it turned out far better. It also helps of course that Sai brushes move with your pen stroke, whereas Photoshop doesn't. I digress.

 I'm going to have to practice this sort of art style a bit more. It is something I've been practicing since I decided to ditch line art and try to stop obsessing over details that I get wrong time and time again. I've possibly slipped too far into the other extreme, but it is a result I feel happier with, and want to develop given time.

Assignment 3 - Progress Report

Writing this entry now... more or less because I can. 

The current assignment is going at a slower pace than I would ideally like, but I'm pinning some of the blame on Photoshop playing up. And pinning a lot more blame on my being distracted by Xcom : Enemy Unknown... a game that has really grabbed my attention. At least, if having played 20 hours of it since Friday is anything to go by. 

I'm pretty much done with the documents themselves, finalising the story overviews of the games I've come up with. I'm still having a spot of trouble on understanding what to write in the introduction part of the documents, but I may have to save that for when I'm back in class. Frightfully last minute in that regard, but there isn't an awful lot else I can do at this point.

Artwork is also proving to be last minute, what with Photoshop deciding it doesn't like me actually drawing in it. Still, I managed to do this one picture before it crashed.

 The alien angle has proven most productive in establishing a style to work with, as indeed is working with ww2 themes.  I also cobbled together a logo using a font I've been trying (and failing) to make for a while.

 

Assignment 3 - Some Late Researching

A bit of a quick entry. 

I've been racking my brain thinking of a viable alternative to zombies for my survival horror concept document, so I can complete the writing and have a greater focus for any accompanying concept art I might do.

The earliest idea was to look at a supernatural threat like ghosts, which would certainly delve into more psychological horror than it would survival horror... but frankly, I didn't feel all that convinced that it would prove that interesting. So I moved onto aliens, which immediately poses some interesting ideas. People are meant to disappear, and possibly reappear later as tramatised and insane enemies.However, like the ghosts, I worried about whether it would really work. I've always imagined aliens as a very 50's/60's phenomenon and doing something with aliens set in 1948 might not gel well.

However, I decided to do a bit of research on the offchance that I might have a stronger base to work with, and that paid off very well indeed. I've started looking into something that the allies of WW2 referred to as "Foo-Fighters.". Bright lights in the sky, disk shaped objects in the air. 

I'm not sure I really need to go too deeply into any of this in terms of the actual work, but that being said... I am in the practice of collecting reference material. It can help me establish the tone I want to set, and if I'm working on something historical, it benefits me to be able to see the fashions and styles. Making use of extra terrestrials for the enemies also affords me the opportunity to look at the differing depictions of aliens... and whether I can make the classic silver disks into something very sinister... and I think I can. 

I'm rambling again. Hopefully I'll have some work up over the next day or two.

Assignment 3 - Another Concept Doodle

So this is the doodle that I was doing in class today. With a mouse. I declined to ask for a graphics tablet again because I just wanted to get an idea out of my head in the quickest way possible. Nothing elaborate, or even complete.

I'm going to be getting round to a friend's house tomorrow to pick up a book that I feel I'm going to need for the concept art to accompany the game concept documents. Being that one game idea is set in the 1940's, I want to be quite sure that anything I do draw up for the documents fits into the era correctly... at least, within reason.

Also, I'm still really enjoying this current assignment, I think I've got a grasp on how to word the documents... writing this sort of thing is an area I don't feel is my strongest skill, if only because I worry about whether the things that I write up are coming across clearly.

Assignment 3 - Concept Doodle

I highly doubt that I'm going to really get any real 'concept art' done until the weekend, not while I'm still trying to write up the rough concept documents.

That being said, I decided to take a small break today to try and draw up the two characters from my first game concept "Pottson Panz" (Working Title. Somehow, I think it'd need something wittier and which would possibly reflect the conjoined nature of the characters and the resulting gameplay) .

So yeah. Drawn with a cheap mouse because I wanted to work quickly... and from personal experience, I find when I'm using a graphics tablet I can easily get lost in the details, and when that happens I make mistakes. I just wanted these ideas out of my head and onto the screen. Pottson on the left, Panz on the right.

 

Assignment 3 - Time Travel

Today, I'm working on time travelling, and how it could be use for some new gameplay as well as puzzle solving. I continue to work with the general idea that without interaction from the player, events will play out on their own in a set sequence... and thus, events can be subtly changed by the player's actions. I have been over this point before in a previous post.

The way I'm looking at the game now is how I can make time a vital aspect of the game. Exploration in environments and interactions with npcs will fill a journal that will list key times and events in the game world, which can be used by the player to learn their objectives. This will also apply to the time clones that the player will be able to use in the game, recording their playthrough and letting it replay in their next time loop, and which will show up on a map to let the player know where their time clone is at all times, enabling them to fulfill different objectives before reuniting for a puzzle that requires the use of a time clone to complete.

One example I might have already listed. That of there being an item that the player needs to get, but an npc is blocking their access to said item. The player can talk to the npc and gain information in their present playthrough, and then when they restart the time loop, this recorded action can be used so that the npc is distracted enough for the player to sneak around and steal the item. Something like this can be used for also distracting npcs and enemies to draw them away from a route the player needs to progress down.

Another example is one where the player may need to get information from an npc, whom flees over an obstacle that the player cannot move over. Going back in time and using a time clone from that last playthrough, if the player can get around to the other side of the obstacle before the botched meeting, he can corner the npc as it is fleeing his time clone, and thus gain the information needed to progress.

I'm also considering whether to include an ability for the player to jump between themselves and their clone's timeline for some further puzzles. For example, if there is a route that can't be accessed unless permission is radioed in from a position the player cannot possibly reach normally, and a time clone waits nearby whilst the player travels to the new location to hijack communications and grant permission for himself to be let through the barrier, he can then jump into the recorded playthrough, and thus get through the barrier and onwards.


Should there be a punishment for the player being spotted whilst near their time clone? Something like that could provide further incentive to play smartly, especially when it becomes necessary to operate in the same areas as the player's timeclones without being seen too close to one another. 

The more I've thought about this game, the more I'm considering whether the world should be large, or to break up the game into seperate and distinct sections, from village to countryside to city. As a player gets further into the game, they will have less days left to play with to solve the puzzles. For now, I'm going to bed.  

Assignment 3 - Continued

(Post will be updated with illustrations to accompany the ideas listed here)

I'm presently working on how to work out the puzzle platformer idea "Pottson Panz". For the most part, I've been developing the idea of a bond that keeps the two characters from moving too far apart from one another, as I have mentioned previously... and how to make it a larger aspect of the game. Not that it wasn't in the first place... more that thinking of the game in terms of being two player has opened up my mind to alternatives.

I originally envisioned the game concept as an exploration based affair, with new abilities to be acquired as the game progressed, although keeping the above in mind, I am increasingly working towards the idea of making the game level based to better augment a focus on puzzle solving. 

I remain in a position where I'm unsure whether to have the characters function identically, or whether I should run with the idea that one player is in control whilst the second player follows, and as a result allow the players to have different abilities that they will use to help each other with. I'm also considering whether to include timed abilities that can be collected/used in certain levels, given that I feel with a concept like this, simplicity would be key in avoiding overwhelming players with too many mechanics all at once.

For now, however, one mechanic that has found it's way into my sketchbook is something I'm calling a sling shot. Working on the principle that when one player presses and holds a button, they can stand still and pull against the movement of another player moving in any direction. This in itself could be used for smaller things like lowering a player over a ledge to retrive a collectible item placed over a hazard/trap. However, the way I'm envisioning this at the moment is that if the bond that holds the two players together is stretched by one player moving and the other holding back... releasing would catapult the first player over a set distance, and this could be used for clearing large gaps, swinging up to a high ledge, or even to demolish an obstacle. 
It'll be clearer when I have the illustrations uploaded, but I think something like this could be the beginning of something interesting. 

I'm going to continue exploring the ideas here for as long as I have left. At this point, I'm going to make the decision to drop my action platformer in favour of this one, and also continue to work on ideas for the time travelling game concept.




 

Pictures from the ol' sketchbook

I like to draw. I'm not very good at it though. Related to Assignment 3 work, and I've since acquired a new book so I have more pages to draw on. I've already filled up the sketchbook I had designated for this course. I would say that it is really worthwhile to have at least one sketchbook at all times along with a journal, to keep all your course/assignment related work together.

Also, Fred Aldous in the Northern Quarter seems to have gotten frightfully expensive whilst simultaneously providing less choice since I last shopped there... did it turn into Hobbycraft recently? Lesson learnt, I'm going back to Turners in Stockport. 

 

Assignment 3 - More Idea Dumping

That's right. I'm chucking up some more things I'm feeling oddly compelled to write about. This time, on the subject of the co-operative puzzle platformer.

The idea of binding two characters together originally came from an experience where I was playing Rayman Origins with my parents. Kooky, I know, but I felt like seeing how a game with simple controls could be picked up by people that don't really play games. Also because I am so, so lonely and without any friends to play computer games with. The results were inevitable, and it somewhat had me thinking about how else someone could possibly play a game together with someone who may not have the same gaming experience... but also to have that aspect of one leading the other without relegating the second player into the role of just providing supporting fire. There is no definite answer to this.

Which lead me to an old idea I had once had (Really old. Talking about a whole decade) about two characters bound together by a link that prevents them from being seperated. That was originally envisioned as a comic more than anything, and more recently I had been interested in updating old designs as part of my continued attempts to improve my drawing and design skills. Coming together with this assignment, I can already see how this could create interesting gameplay. 

I am still working out how I'm going to go about constructing a more substantial proposal for the concept. At the moment, I'm looking at whether the characters will have unique abilities to compliment each other or if they will be identical in function. I'm also exploring how I can use the 'chain' bond that keeps them together to create new puzzles and possibly require their differing abilities to navigate the environment. 

This'll be fun.

Assignment 3 - Some more thoughts

I'm going to confess that I've not got much in the way of work done today. I had a very late night, and the day has been a lazy one as a result. However, I have at least been letting ideas stew in the ragged bunch of cells I call my brain in that time.

My mind has almost inevitably wandered towards how I am doing to work with a time mechanic... originally, the idea of the player recording their actions was more of a plot device rather than a gameplay feature, designed to intwine with the story as the main character explores the environment. So needless to say, making this into a big part of the gameplay is going to radically alter my original vision, which is by no means a bad thing... indeed, I think it is going to add to the game concept massively. I'm trying to keep my ideas grounded and reasonable with todays technology... if I weren't, then I could be as wild as I felt like.

So at present, I'm working on how time would function within the game and serve as an overarching aspect of any puzzles and combat that might result in each playthrough. As I mentioned in class, the game is set within a time loop over the span of 5 days or so, and without interaction, the gameworld will follow a set chain of events that will endlessly repeat with every time loop. The player can collect vinyl records that will record a ghost of his actions and which will follow the player's previous actions.

It will be within that premise that any puzzles will be derived from. An obvious application for this would be for the player to activate a switch that would unlock a door elsewhere, and then go back in time to go through the previously locked door when his ghost pulls the switch. I'm also thinking of how else this could function, and one other way to use the mechanic would be if a player needed to steal an item from an npc. Unable to in the first playthrough, the player instead talks to the npc and distracts them, and so when the player goes back in time once again, his ghost will be distracting the npc whilst the player sneaks past in order to acquire the item needed to progress. As the game progresses and the player manages to travel further and further into the story, more vinyl records will be available to create puzzles that involve more than two lives to create a solution.

I'm also giving due consideration to how the player will collect items. I don't think that allowing them to keep everything that they find along the way will be particularly challenging, but that being said, it would easily grow tedious to have to collect key items repeatedly... which gives rise to the concept of the player being able to store some items in a box that exists outside of time, limited in the amount of slot spaces available but allowing him to store items that he might need in the future.    

Lousy, I know. I'll keep thinking.

Assignment 3 - Refining The Ideas

Today's class went rather well, and as ever it was interesting to listen to the different ideas people have been coming up with. Indeed, it was great discussing and talking about them, and I'll be watching with interest to see how they develop over the coming fortnight.

I understand that we're working on only two ideas, after the feedback today I still believe I'm going to at least make the effort to develop three until I can gauge responses and decide which two are going to be strong enough to make into documents. 

This is mainly because I was actually caught offguard with the response to my time travelling idea set in the second world war. It wasn't really as developed as I was hoping to have it for the lesson, but this turned out to be fairly positive, for the possibilities that cropped up as a result are going to be exciting to explore, even as I type I'm starting to think up creative ways of using the time looping nature of the game as a great mechanic. The challenge lies in whether I can make it interesting enough.

I'm also definitely going to develop the co op puzzle platformer some more as well... again, the idea was presented vaguely... all I really knew going in gameplay wise was that the two characters were going to be held together, and it'll be fun figuring out how to use that premise creatively. I can already envision

The easiest idea for me to develop will be the super hero game. Only really because the ideas are already fairly concrete in my head, even if I kept it as brief as I could in class. I'm not going to give it special attention however... seeing as I now also really want to work on the other two ideas. The Admineers unique premises function more in how items are collected and upgraded to allow the player to customise their hero. I'm not explaining it too well, and I'm not going to try to until I've got some concrete ideas on paper.

Unrelatedly, I need to get a new sketchbook. I'm surprisingly impressed that I've managed to get through a whole book within a month of starting the course. I used a thinner book because I wasn't sure how much I'd be using it... turns out I might need to get a thicker one. A trip to Fred Aldous is inevitable.

 

Assignment 3 - Storming Ideas

I'm working at the moment to draw some images and collect pictures from ideas I've written in the past, but for the time being, I thought I'd write down the ideas I'll be bringing along to tomorrow's lesson.

1. The Admineer

A stylised and comedy themed 2D open world platformer with light rpg elements, set in a world where the internet is manifested as super powers.

The semi competent hero Admineer returns to his beloved city Turnet to discover that all the other heroes have disappeared, and crime is rampant. After he is attacked and robbed of his crime fighting gear and secret hide out by an imposter, the Admineer sets out to reclaim his equipment and restore order to Turnet. Fighting on the ground and in the skies, he'll stop at nothing to vanquish the new super villain and shake off his needy ex sidekick.

The Admineer's main forms of attack are his banhammer and arm cannon, and he uses public transport or his jet pack to travel the city of Turnet.

He can make use of "Justice Dispensers" (Vending Machines) located throughout the world to acquire new weapons and upgrade his suit.

2. Potson Panz

A 2D puzzle platformer set in ancient ruins on an alien world, the player will be cast as a mismatched pair of protagonists - A treasure hunter called Pottson and a genie like monster that lives in a clay pot called Panz. After being cursed for stealing a priceless relic and taking on the form of a monster, the treasure hunter must work with the genie that cursed her to restore his powers in the hope that he will then lift said curse off of her.

The two characters each have their unique abilities, and must cooperate and work together/use each other to solve puzzles, and travel deeper into the ancient ruins, battling those that think Pottson is a monster and retrieve stolen relics from fellow treasure hunters.







 Pottson has a no nonsense, serious nature that  remains focused under stress, and is clearly bemused by the chain of events that have lead her to her present condition - the change into a creature however has only improved her keen agility and use of parkour for navigating the underground networks of the ruins. Panz, on the other hand, is a sarcastic and self centred individual with very little respect for anyone or anything... also leading him to be very aggressive and condescending, with his strengths largely aiding in exploring and making use of magic. 
 

3. Black Moore

A 3D survival horror game set in late 1930's Britain. The protagonist is an army deserter and black market smuggler laying low in the North of England when a peculiar phenomenon begins to take hold in the county he has taken refuge in, when people start disappearing and creatures start stirring in the night. As 5 days pass, things grow more desperate and villages start to go quiet, acculmulating with a city in flames.

The game also holds an element of time travel in the vein of Groundhog Day, with the protagonist reliving the same five days over and over, giving him the ability to work out the mystery through exploration and subtly change how events unfold.

The character not only has to deal with the disappearences and resulting creatures, he must also avoid the local police who are actively searching for him. He will encounter many npcs throughout his journey who will shed light on the phenomenon and ultimately help him preventing the tragedies unfolding.

Whilst events largely repeat themselves, the character has an option of keeping the items he has gathered in his travels via the use of vinyl records that he must uncover or purchase.

(Also, I know we're not allowed zombies. And vampires are lame. Ideas right now are to do with radio waves and aliens)

4. (No Title)

Action RPG and black comedy with an emphasis on crafting and combining items/weapons, set in a vaguely dystopian future where most of the world has fallen into disrepair, and most of the population now live in domed cities. A world where five supermarkets have become giant corporations that compete with one another for land which is still arable. A world where nearly everything is now recycled, including people, as resources continue to dwindle. Supermarkets that sell everything from groceries to weapons.

There isn't too much I can really say on the idea, other than it was based on a dream I had where supermarkets ruled the world, and one invented a shopping trolley that generated happiness - a happy shopper is a shopper that will buy more. I combined it with another dream where I was working in a very posh hotel run by a computer and populated with affluent old world people, and yet going outside, the world was ragged and broken, the hotel being independant of the world outside regardless of those that tried to reap it's resources.

I only have a vision of a future that is struggling to avoid the cliches of most post apocolyptic scenarios. A world where things ARE getting worse, but haven't collapsed entirely into survival of the fittest. Where recycling and natural energy are now being pursued, and where companies kill for that extra bit of land where they can grow produce to sell to the masses. I envision it as an rpg, or a story that takes varying perspectives... one that doesn't really have a clear cut "Goody vs Baddy" distinction.