Characters: A good story needs to have distinct, believable characters. Many characters within stories will have definitive good or bad personalities so the player can define between the good and evil.
I personally, will often prefer the "false hero" or sometimes the "villain" in a story because their actions and morals are more realistic and easier to relate to. Heroes that are too perfect in their morals can sometimes feel too superior and arrogant or just unrealistic.
A successful story will be able to appeal to a mass audience, the franchise of Star Wars is a good example of this because it has multiple elements. The conflict and battle, best represented by the famous light sabres. It contains the young boy and his struggle and growth into becoming a hero seen through Luke Skywalker, it also contains romance between Hans Solo and Princess Leia. All of these genres appeal to many audiences, and the created world becomes a place every viewer can imagine themselves set in.
Physical story worlds can be seen in Theme Parks. They create a physical fantasy environment for visitors to explore, much like exploring a world in a video game, visitors can be immersed into whichever area they like.
Ludologists are people who believe play is more important in games whereas Narratologists are people who believe the story is more important in games. I believe games need a good balance between the two because if one was without the other, it would have to be exceptionally good to still be a good game. For example, if the game play was not very fun, the story would have to be gripping enough to make the player want to continue, and vice verse, if the story was not very exciting, or lacking, then the game play would have to be really fun to keep on playing. Games which started out with the game play idea, such as Portal and its unique puzzling game play, are proof that a vast and dynamic storyline is not necessary to create a good game, however, when you add a storyline, the world becomes more immersing and the player begins to care about the characters (such as Chell and the ever witty GLADOS) and continuing the game is about finding out where the story will lead, as well as the fun of the game.
A good story will introduce the problem within the first 5 minutes of the game/film/story so as to grip the viewer straight away.
TASK 1: Answer these questions:
a. What is the relationship between the main character and the goal of the game?
b. Why does the character care about the goal?
Answers in the context of the game Dragon Age: Origins
a. Ultimate goal is to survive, must defeat The Blight to do this.
b. The character suffers a tragedy at the beginning of the game, this leads to the joining of a group of warriors called Grey Wardens who are trained to defeat the Blight and it is their duty to protect the people of Fereldon. When another tragedy strikes, your character becomes one of only two surviving warriors, so the character feels compelled to take on the task.
TASK 2
a. Take a franchise (e.g. Star Wars)
b. Jot Down 5 Iconic Elements
c. Why are these elements memorable?
d. Why are they important elements to your chosen franchise?
The franchise I have chosen to look at is the Harry Potter franchise. Five iconic elements I think of are: Magic, the world is set in the real world, but with Magic, this makes almost anything possible, which is why it is both important and memorable. Hogwarts is another big element, it is important because it represents a home and sanctuary. Its memorable because it is where the majority of the story takes place. The third element I thought of is Harry's Scar, it is important for a number of ways, it represents the tragedy of Harry's situation, it identifies him, it is his signifier to both the reader and other characters in the book and it aids in the story (it burns at significant points of the book). All these aspects is what makes it so memorable. Another element I think of when I think of this franchise are the school houses. They are memorable because of their physical representation )colours, names and animals) as well as the characteristics they value. For example, Gryffindor is represented by the colours of Mahogany and Gold the Lion , this house values courage, bravery and chivalry. The houses are also important because they can group people together and give reason for them being together, it is unlikely that the trio would be friends if they weren't in the same house and forced to be in the same group. The final important element I think of is the character or Dumbledore, he is important because he plays so many roles within the story, almost every role of the 8 broad characters Vladimir Propp describes. He is a father figure to harry and many other students, he represents all knowledge and the rival to any evil, he also represents safety as most characters are shown to believe they are safe from the dark evil of Voldemort if he is around. He is almost as memorable as Harry because of all these things and shows a resemblance to what we know of Merlin from children's tales of King Arthur with the long white hair, beard and robes.
Friday, 21 October 2011
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Puzzle and Maze Development
To give my game some variety, I have decided to include some puzzles into the mazes. Zelda games have been a big reference point for these puzzles as has Professor Layton.
Block puzzles: These types of puzzles involve pushing blocks around to get to a blocked or higher space, to press switches or to create a picture by combining the images on the blocks.
How I could use this in my game: Having items within the maze which Fred can push onto or off switches to open doors, or drop down ropes for Fred to climb up. Stacking items to create an image may also open doorways or reveal hidden rooms.
Enemy puzzles: These type of puzzles involve defeating enemies to proceed through the maze, to open doorways, recieve important items or to complete the level.
How I could use this in my game: Fred may have to trap certain enemies into boxes, rather than defeat enemies. However, I am still developing the idea of enemies being in the game.
Return Puzzles: This involves the player having to return to a pre-visited room to use a collected item.
How I could use this in my game: This would work well for Fred because it is set in a maze, certain treasures may be collected to unlock new areas of the mazes.
Switch Puzzles: This involves the player manipulating an object (such as a lever or button) with another object, such as a weight on a switch or "hookshot" on an out of reach lever.
How I could use this in my game: Fred could manipulate a rope to hold a lever into place, to rotate an object, or move it out of the way to get through a trapped corridor
Torch Puzzles: The player must light one or more torches to open a doorway or recieve an important item by transporting fire to the torches.
How I could use this in my game: This would be harder to incorporate into Fred, but the idea of transporting items, maybe via ropes may work. For example, swinging a rope to light two fires.
Other puzzle ideas:
Portal: Involves the player having to place transportation devices. These maybe usefull for my game, perhaps Fred could have two objects which he/she can drop in any part of the maze, so she can telepot between the two.
Bibliography:
http://www.zeldawiki.org/Puzzle
Block puzzles: These types of puzzles involve pushing blocks around to get to a blocked or higher space, to press switches or to create a picture by combining the images on the blocks.
How I could use this in my game: Having items within the maze which Fred can push onto or off switches to open doors, or drop down ropes for Fred to climb up. Stacking items to create an image may also open doorways or reveal hidden rooms.
Enemy puzzles: These type of puzzles involve defeating enemies to proceed through the maze, to open doorways, recieve important items or to complete the level.
How I could use this in my game: Fred may have to trap certain enemies into boxes, rather than defeat enemies. However, I am still developing the idea of enemies being in the game.
Return Puzzles: This involves the player having to return to a pre-visited room to use a collected item.
How I could use this in my game: This would work well for Fred because it is set in a maze, certain treasures may be collected to unlock new areas of the mazes.
Switch Puzzles: This involves the player manipulating an object (such as a lever or button) with another object, such as a weight on a switch or "hookshot" on an out of reach lever.
How I could use this in my game: Fred could manipulate a rope to hold a lever into place, to rotate an object, or move it out of the way to get through a trapped corridor
Torch Puzzles: The player must light one or more torches to open a doorway or recieve an important item by transporting fire to the torches.
How I could use this in my game: This would be harder to incorporate into Fred, but the idea of transporting items, maybe via ropes may work. For example, swinging a rope to light two fires.
Other puzzle ideas:
Portal: Involves the player having to place transportation devices. These maybe usefull for my game, perhaps Fred could have two objects which he/she can drop in any part of the maze, so she can telepot between the two.
Bibliography:
http://www.zeldawiki.org/Puzzle
Contextual Studies: Fairy Tales and Vladimir Propp
Original Fairy Tales have long been dark and violent tales intended to scare children and teach them morals. Their development has lead them to be happier tales, more suitable to provide children entertainment rather than teach them a lesson.
Examples of Fairy Tales in Video Games:
The Studio of Tale of Tales use old folklore and fairy tales in many of their games to provide a new twist on them. One of their most talked about games called The Path is a moody and strikingly poignant game inspired by the tale of Little Red Riding hood.
Disney has turned many fairy tales into classics and the game Kingdom Hearts has taken all of these fairy tale characters and integrated them into multiple plots that sees the most unlikely of characters to cross paths in their respective story worlds.
Vladimir Propp:
Vladimir Propp was a Russian and Soviet formalist scholar who wrote Morphology of the Folktale. In this book Propp looks at the study of narrative structure and by breaking down a large number of Russian Folktales, depicted 31 functions of a tale.
These functions are:
The Villain - one who struggles against the hero
The Donor - prepares the hero or gives them a magical item
The Helper - helps the hero in the quest
The Princess or Prize - The hero often deserves this but can not have it because of an unfair evil
The Father - gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero
The Dispatcher - character who sends the hero off
The Hero - the seeker who reacts against the villain and dispatcher
The False Hero - disrupts the hero's quest (by taking credit for the hero's actions or marrying the princess etc)
Examples in Classic Fairy Tale: Little Mermaid
The Villain - Ursula
The Donor - Ursula
The Helper - Flounder and Sebastian
The Princess/Prize - Prince Eric
The Father - King Triton
The Dispatcher - King Triton's outrage sends Ariel off
The Hero - Ariel
The False Hero - Ursula (Human Form)
Examples in other media: Shakespeare's Hamlet
The Villain - Claudius
The Donor - The King
The Helper - Horatio
The Princess/Prize - Ophelia
The Father - The King
The Dispatcher - The King, Hamlets father
The Hero - Hamlet
The False Hero - Laertes
Example in a Video Game: Zelda:Ocarina of Time
The Villain - Ganondorf
The Donor - Saria: Gives Link the Ocarina/ Shiek: Gives Link Melodies to play
The Helper - Navi: Aids Link in his quest by constantly telling Link what to do next/ Epona
The Princess/Prize - Princess Zelda
The Father - Princess Zelda
The Dispatcher - The Deku Tree
The Hero - Link
The False Hero - Shiek
Bibliograohy
http://tale-of-tales.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propp#Characters
Examples of Fairy Tales in Video Games:
The Studio of Tale of Tales use old folklore and fairy tales in many of their games to provide a new twist on them. One of their most talked about games called The Path is a moody and strikingly poignant game inspired by the tale of Little Red Riding hood.
Disney has turned many fairy tales into classics and the game Kingdom Hearts has taken all of these fairy tale characters and integrated them into multiple plots that sees the most unlikely of characters to cross paths in their respective story worlds.
Vladimir Propp:
Vladimir Propp was a Russian and Soviet formalist scholar who wrote Morphology of the Folktale. In this book Propp looks at the study of narrative structure and by breaking down a large number of Russian Folktales, depicted 31 functions of a tale.
These functions are:
- ABSENTATION: A member of a family leaves the security of the home environment. This may be the hero or some other member of the family that the hero will later need to rescue. This division of the cohesive family injects initial tension into the storyline. The hero may also be introduced here, often being shown as an ordinary person.
- INTERDICTION: An interdiction is addressed to the hero ('don't go there', 'don't do this'). The hero is warned against some action (given an 'interdiction').
- VIOLATION of INTERDICTION. The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale). This generally proves to be a bad move and the villain enters the story, although not necessarily confronting the hero. Perhaps they are just a lurking presence or perhaps they attack the family whilst the hero is away.
- RECONNAISSANCE: The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc.; or intended victim questions the villain). The villain (often in disguise) makes an active attempt at seeking information, for example searching for something valuable or trying to actively capture someone. They may speak with a member of the family who innocently divulges information. They may also seek to meet the hero, perhaps knowing already the hero is special in some way.
- DELIVERY: The villain gains information about the victim. The villain's seeking now pays off and he or she now acquires some form of information, often about the hero or victim. Other information can be gained, for example about a map or treasure location.
- TRICKERY: The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim). The villain now presses further, often using the information gained in seeking to deceive the hero or victim in some way, perhaps appearing in disguise. This may include capture of the victim, getting the hero to give the villain something or persuading them that the villain is actually a friend and thereby gaining collaboration.
- COMPLICITY: Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy. The trickery of the villain now works and the hero or victim naively acts in a way that helps the villain. This may range from providing the villain with something (perhaps a map or magical weapon) to actively working against good people (perhaps the villain has persuaded the hero that these other people are actually bad).
- VILLAINY or LACK: Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc., commits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc.). There are two options for this function, either or both of which may appear in the story. In the first option, the villain causes some kind of harm, for example carrying away a victim or the desired magical object (which must be then be retrieved). In the second option, a sense of lack is identified, for example in the hero's family or within a community, whereby something is identified as lost or something becomes desirable for some reason, for example a magical object that will save people in some way.
- MEDIATION: Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc./ alternative is that victimized hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment). The hero now discovers the act of villainy or lack, perhaps finding their family or community devastated or caught up in a state of anguish and woe.
- BEGINNING COUNTER-ACTION: Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action. The hero now decides to act in a way that will resolve the lack, for example finding a needed magical item, rescuing those who are captured or otherwise defeating the villain. This is a defining moment for the hero as this is the decision that sets the course of future actions and by which a previously ordinary person takes on the mantle of heroism.
- DEPARTURE: Hero leaves home;
- FIRST FUNCTION OF THE DONOR: Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc., preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
- HERO'S REACTION: Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against him);
- RECEIPT OF A MAGICAL AGENT: Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
- GUIDANCE: Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
- STRUGGLE: Hero and villain join in direct combat;
- BRANDING: Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
- VICTORY: Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
- LIQUIDATION: Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed);
- RETURN: Hero returns;
- PURSUIT: Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
- RESCUE: Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
- UNRECOGNIZED ARRIVAL: Hero unrecognized, arrives home or in another country;
- UNFOUNDED CLAIMS: False hero presents unfounded claims;
- DIFFICULT TASK: Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);
- SOLUTION: Task is resolved;
- RECOGNITION: Hero is recognized (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
- EXPOSURE: False hero or villain is exposed;
- TRANSFIGURATION: Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc.);
- PUNISHMENT: Villain is punished;
- WEDDING: Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).
The Villain - one who struggles against the hero
The Donor - prepares the hero or gives them a magical item
The Helper - helps the hero in the quest
The Princess or Prize - The hero often deserves this but can not have it because of an unfair evil
The Father - gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero
The Dispatcher - character who sends the hero off
The Hero - the seeker who reacts against the villain and dispatcher
The False Hero - disrupts the hero's quest (by taking credit for the hero's actions or marrying the princess etc)
Examples in Classic Fairy Tale: Little Mermaid
The Villain - Ursula
The Donor - Ursula
The Helper - Flounder and Sebastian
The Princess/Prize - Prince Eric
The Father - King Triton
The Dispatcher - King Triton's outrage sends Ariel off
The Hero - Ariel
The False Hero - Ursula (Human Form)
Examples in other media: Shakespeare's Hamlet
The Villain - Claudius
The Donor - The King
The Helper - Horatio
The Princess/Prize - Ophelia
The Father - The King
The Dispatcher - The King, Hamlets father
The Hero - Hamlet
The False Hero - Laertes
Example in a Video Game: Zelda:Ocarina of Time
The Villain - Ganondorf
The Donor - Saria: Gives Link the Ocarina/ Shiek: Gives Link Melodies to play
The Helper - Navi: Aids Link in his quest by constantly telling Link what to do next/ Epona
The Princess/Prize - Princess Zelda
The Father - Princess Zelda
The Dispatcher - The Deku Tree
The Hero - Link
The False Hero - Shiek
Bibliograohy
http://tale-of-tales.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propp#Characters
Contextual Studies: Coherant Worlds in Films
This is a list of films we watched the opening scenes of to look at how the different worlds they are set in are coherent.
Gladiator:
Blade Runner:
Brazil:
Sleepy Hollow:
Amelie:
All of these films managed to set the scene of a coherent world within these first opening scenes by explaining all that the viewer needs to know about the world. For example, Blade Runner gave us a date set in the future and showed a flying car right at the start. This meant the viewer would expect to see ordinary objects doing impossible things, because in the future, anything could happen.
Gladiator:
- Starts with short text about the Roman Empire: viewer automatically remembers what they know about the Roman Empire and how powerful they were.
- Music is sad, yet warm colours and children laughing:
- Scene suddenly switches to cold colours "Germainia"
Blade Runner:
- Starts with short text about the background of this world as well as the date 2019
- Vast city scape shows the setting for the film
- Night time setting, flames shooting from buildings: Viewer expects this to be a dark and dangerous place
- Car shown flying towards the screen: Lets the viewer know that technology has advanced and therefor will accept unusual objects.
- Large pyramid building: Suggests a building of power
Brazil:
- Starts with text "somewhere in the 20th century" with the exact time: like a bomb
- Futuristic music, yet vocally old fashioned to a modern audience
- Sudden explosion on a calm scene (Red Herring): disrupting the peace (terrorism)
- Change of music = sharp and fast, imitates terror
- News report about terrorism: scientist shown to be working, not paying any attention to the report. Suggests to the viewer these terrorist attacks are not unusual/have been happening for a while
- Text at the beginning sets the scene, futuristic, About paranoia and schizophrenia.
- Psychedelic swirling: disorientation
- Chaotic music
- Flashback of traumatic childhood: Sound of wind gives cold. empty feeling
Sleepy Hollow:
- Drips of Red: Assume Blood after a series of images, drips shown to be wax. Suggests not
- Snow falling and child like music
Amelie:
- French Joyful Music
- Setting is given, 1979
All of these films managed to set the scene of a coherent world within these first opening scenes by explaining all that the viewer needs to know about the world. For example, Blade Runner gave us a date set in the future and showed a flying car right at the start. This meant the viewer would expect to see ordinary objects doing impossible things, because in the future, anything could happen.
Friday, 14 October 2011
Contextual Studies: Introduction
For this terms contextual studies we will be looking at creating a coherent world within video games. We will also be looking at good and bad examples of a coherent worlds within video games as well as other medias such as film and television.
The definition of “coherent” is something that is logically connected and consistent.
In the concept of video games, creating a coherent world is creating a world that is believable and clear to the player. Anything is possible within a video game, yet it needs rules and boundaries for the game to be fair. When a gaming world lacks this consistency it is something that can be seen clearly, yet a coherent world can easily be taken for granted because the player immediately accepts it and will probably not think any more about it. Gravity is a good example, most games show the use of gravity, yet we as players don’t really notice this because it is what we expect.
An example of an incoherent gaming world may be one where the player is constantly under attack from enemies yet has no understanding of why they have to fight. This can make the player feel cheated and quickly lose interest in the games, however, by simply mentioning there are dangerous monsters, for example, the player automatically expects these battles.
While in our first Contextual Studies lecture, we were asked to discuss video games set in the future and how the worlds are coherent.
We started by discussing some video games we had played set in the future, but found it hard to find one we had all played. We finally settled on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed because, although not all of us had played the game, we all knew the franchise and story behind it from watching the films.
Myself and the others who had not played the game, were given a brief overview on how the game starts by someone who knew it well. It was easy for myself to imagine because many of the environments in the game are the same as the settings in the film. This made me wonder if the game world was coherent, or whether players accepted it because of the film franchise. The Star Wars franchise is famous for being set in space, yet this environment is not necessary to the story, the narrative can be transferable to other worlds and times, another peer mentioned that the story was even based on old samurai tales. Therefore, it could be argued that the background is not functioning.
We then went on to discuss games set in the past and how these worlds are coherent.
L.A Noire is the game we discussed and managed to find the opening sequence to watch for those who had not played it. The game opens with a panoramic view of the city, followed by scenes of the people that live here and their lives. A voice over informs the player of how it’s a new age and times have changed, while detective, mystery style music plays. This combined with the attire of the people, style of cars and other such visuals immediately lets the player know it is set at the end of the second world war.
The definition of “coherent” is something that is logically connected and consistent.
In the concept of video games, creating a coherent world is creating a world that is believable and clear to the player. Anything is possible within a video game, yet it needs rules and boundaries for the game to be fair. When a gaming world lacks this consistency it is something that can be seen clearly, yet a coherent world can easily be taken for granted because the player immediately accepts it and will probably not think any more about it. Gravity is a good example, most games show the use of gravity, yet we as players don’t really notice this because it is what we expect.
An example of an incoherent gaming world may be one where the player is constantly under attack from enemies yet has no understanding of why they have to fight. This can make the player feel cheated and quickly lose interest in the games, however, by simply mentioning there are dangerous monsters, for example, the player automatically expects these battles.
While in our first Contextual Studies lecture, we were asked to discuss video games set in the future and how the worlds are coherent.
We started by discussing some video games we had played set in the future, but found it hard to find one we had all played. We finally settled on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed because, although not all of us had played the game, we all knew the franchise and story behind it from watching the films.
Myself and the others who had not played the game, were given a brief overview on how the game starts by someone who knew it well. It was easy for myself to imagine because many of the environments in the game are the same as the settings in the film. This made me wonder if the game world was coherent, or whether players accepted it because of the film franchise. The Star Wars franchise is famous for being set in space, yet this environment is not necessary to the story, the narrative can be transferable to other worlds and times, another peer mentioned that the story was even based on old samurai tales. Therefore, it could be argued that the background is not functioning.
We then went on to discuss games set in the past and how these worlds are coherent.
L.A Noire is the game we discussed and managed to find the opening sequence to watch for those who had not played it. The game opens with a panoramic view of the city, followed by scenes of the people that live here and their lives. A voice over informs the player of how it’s a new age and times have changed, while detective, mystery style music plays. This combined with the attire of the people, style of cars and other such visuals immediately lets the player know it is set at the end of the second world war.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Development
Throughout designing this game I have come up with many different ideas, all of which seem really good at the time, but all together are making my game far to complicated to explain and understand myself. I think my problem is I am trying to force certain aspects into my game which do not fit together, or do not work as well now the game has developed.
At this stage I have the basic story in place and the basic game play decided, however, I am still unsure and finding it hard to imagine how it will work. I have been trying to add lots of different things to make it fun and take it away from the simple searching through a maze, but I believe it would be better if I made it simpler. I need to fully understand the game myself and believe it is a good idea in order for me to pitch it well.
My idea at this stage is the game will have 5 main 3D mazes, which will each represent one level. Within these 3D mazes will be items to collect and these items will be viewable from Freds "memory bank" on a pop out menu at the side of the screen. Selecting these items will give you the option to "follow up memory" and take you to a 2D maze where you have to collect all of the items in order to recieve a short animation of an event Fred has remembered. At the end of each of the 5 levels, you will then be asked numerous questions based on the memories you could have collected throughtout each level.
This idea still feels very complicated, so I have decided to strip it down and get rid of the 3D multiple mazes and simplify the game play to a 2D side scrolling. Once I get manage to fully understand the game and how it works, I may then look into developing it into a 3D puzzle platformer.
At this stage I have the basic story in place and the basic game play decided, however, I am still unsure and finding it hard to imagine how it will work. I have been trying to add lots of different things to make it fun and take it away from the simple searching through a maze, but I believe it would be better if I made it simpler. I need to fully understand the game myself and believe it is a good idea in order for me to pitch it well.
My idea at this stage is the game will have 5 main 3D mazes, which will each represent one level. Within these 3D mazes will be items to collect and these items will be viewable from Freds "memory bank" on a pop out menu at the side of the screen. Selecting these items will give you the option to "follow up memory" and take you to a 2D maze where you have to collect all of the items in order to recieve a short animation of an event Fred has remembered. At the end of each of the 5 levels, you will then be asked numerous questions based on the memories you could have collected throughtout each level.
This idea still feels very complicated, so I have decided to strip it down and get rid of the 3D multiple mazes and simplify the game play to a 2D side scrolling. Once I get manage to fully understand the game and how it works, I may then look into developing it into a 3D puzzle platformer.
Monday, 10 October 2011
Research
I have decided the best genre for my game would be a puzzle platformer, like Portal and Catherine.
Catherine
Catherine is a horror puzzle-platformer adventure game developed by Gamebryo and Criware and published by Atlus for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Players control a man named Vincent who begins having strage nightmares after his girlfriend, Katherine, begings to talk about marriage and commitment and the introduction of another girl names Catherine intensifies these nightmares. The game flips between Daytime and Nightmare scenarios. Within these Nightmare stages, Vincent must climb up giant staircases that are slowly collapsing underneith him and saftely reach the top. To accomplish this, Vincent must push, pull and climb blocks as quickly as possible while avoiding traps such as spikes and ice.
This is an image of the gameplay in Catherine and below is a link to a video of the gameplay.
http://www.giantbomb.com/catherine-gameplay-trailer/17-4552/
Why I chose this game.
How it relates to my game.
Portal
Braid
3D maze
This game gave me the idea of the player being able to flip between first person view to a whole view of the 3D maze. This asset could make the game a bit too easy as players may start off by looking at this view and work out where the maze leads and thus loose the feeling of being lost aspect. Therefore, if I add this into my game, it will be an added extra you can get by finding a certain object, similar to being able to buy or find a map which is used in many adventure videogames.
http://www.flashgames247.com/play/274.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_(video_game)
Catherine
Catherine is a horror puzzle-platformer adventure game developed by Gamebryo and Criware and published by Atlus for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Players control a man named Vincent who begins having strage nightmares after his girlfriend, Katherine, begings to talk about marriage and commitment and the introduction of another girl names Catherine intensifies these nightmares. The game flips between Daytime and Nightmare scenarios. Within these Nightmare stages, Vincent must climb up giant staircases that are slowly collapsing underneith him and saftely reach the top. To accomplish this, Vincent must push, pull and climb blocks as quickly as possible while avoiding traps such as spikes and ice.
This is an image of the gameplay in Catherine and below is a link to a video of the gameplay.
http://www.giantbomb.com/catherine-gameplay-trailer/17-4552/
Why I chose this game.
How it relates to my game.
Portal
Braid
3D maze
This game gave me the idea of the player being able to flip between first person view to a whole view of the 3D maze. This asset could make the game a bit too easy as players may start off by looking at this view and work out where the maze leads and thus loose the feeling of being lost aspect. Therefore, if I add this into my game, it will be an added extra you can get by finding a certain object, similar to being able to buy or find a map which is used in many adventure videogames.
http://www.flashgames247.com/play/274.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_(video_game)
Development
I have decided to develop my second idea, about Fred in a coma, collecting memories and solving a mystery because this idea felt more creative, unique and interesting to myself.
I have spent this past week developing this game design idea, focusing on the story and the basics of the game. This is what I have come up with so far:
Prelude to Fred:
Game starts with a dark rainy scene, shows a blocked out figure finding something (e.g. a necklace) a shot of the characters eyes (or face with just eyes visible) shows a look of shock and then realisation come over his/her face as another blacked out figure appears over Freds shoulder, arms raised and hits Fred over the head.
Start of game: Shows Fred laying in a hospital bed, still silhouetted, but recognizable. Fred begins to get up and as you take control of the character, Fred realises he is in a bright white, sun lit, hospital ward and soft music is playing. Things seem to be all fine, untill you hear a voice around you, it is one of a nurse, relaying what has happened to you, but you cannot see her and soon find out she is talking to someone else. This is when it is made clear that Fred is not in the real world, but in a coma.
Basic story: Fred is in a coma and has to work out who he/she is. Fred remembers he/she was knocked out because of what he/she saw and must retrace memories of the the night and work out what happened, what she found, and who knocked her out.
Ideas for Crime Witnessed:
Muder/Attempted Murder - may be too dark
Illeagle Dealing - Drugs/Stolen Goods/ Bent Coppers
Con Artists - Unsolving a case, Twist could be Fred part of the Con gang.
Fraud
Arson - Would be good, Fred would be the only clue/evidence left if everything was burnt down
Theft - Jewel Thief, best for non physical violence or chance of death (like murder and arson)
Idea for game play:
The memories you collect in each level can lead to multiple memories, but not all will lead to the main story. This way the story will also be like a maze. Dead ends in the story will be of memories that are of little or no use to the main story e.g. a memory that proves someone was not at the crime scene.
I have spent this past week developing this game design idea, focusing on the story and the basics of the game. This is what I have come up with so far:
Prelude to Fred:
Game starts with a dark rainy scene, shows a blocked out figure finding something (e.g. a necklace) a shot of the characters eyes (or face with just eyes visible) shows a look of shock and then realisation come over his/her face as another blacked out figure appears over Freds shoulder, arms raised and hits Fred over the head.
Start of game: Shows Fred laying in a hospital bed, still silhouetted, but recognizable. Fred begins to get up and as you take control of the character, Fred realises he is in a bright white, sun lit, hospital ward and soft music is playing. Things seem to be all fine, untill you hear a voice around you, it is one of a nurse, relaying what has happened to you, but you cannot see her and soon find out she is talking to someone else. This is when it is made clear that Fred is not in the real world, but in a coma.
Basic story: Fred is in a coma and has to work out who he/she is. Fred remembers he/she was knocked out because of what he/she saw and must retrace memories of the the night and work out what happened, what she found, and who knocked her out.
Ideas for Crime Witnessed:
Muder/Attempted Murder - may be too dark
Illeagle Dealing - Drugs/Stolen Goods/ Bent Coppers
Con Artists - Unsolving a case, Twist could be Fred part of the Con gang.
Fraud
Arson - Would be good, Fred would be the only clue/evidence left if everything was burnt down
Theft - Jewel Thief, best for non physical violence or chance of death (like murder and arson)
Idea for game play:
The memories you collect in each level can lead to multiple memories, but not all will lead to the main story. This way the story will also be like a maze. Dead ends in the story will be of memories that are of little or no use to the main story e.g. a memory that proves someone was not at the crime scene.
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Fred: Initial thoughts and ideas
Before designing the game, I thought about the aspects of Fred I wanted to keep, and which I wanted to change. I also took into consideration the different genres of game I could make Fred into.
Maze = puzzler
Enemies/gun = FPS
Collecting Treasure = adventure
I first started with the environment and thought about how I could change this. I wanted to keep the maze aspect of the game, but at first found it hard to think of anything different to caves, labyrinths and abandoned castles or mansions. The only other mazes I could think of were maize mazes and hedge grown mazes. I then started thinking about non physical environments and metaphorical mazes which lead me to the idea of using technology and the mazes of networks within computers and the Internet. These networks lead me to thinking about the nerves we have running through our body and the nerve centre that is our brain.
These lead me to two strong ideas I wanted to develop:
Idea 1.
F.R.E.D standing for F R E Defence, where you play as an anti-virus system loaded into a computer that has to collect and destroy virus' within a maze of networks. Visually this would look like Tron, futuristic and modern.
Idea 2.
Fred is a man locked within his subconscious, he is in a coma trying to wake up by escaping surreal mazes representing his thoughts and memories.
The plot of the game would be to find out: Who is "Fred"? What happened to you? and most importantly Why are you in a coma? (The first level could be a tutorial where you find out your name and image)
Within these mazes would be objects that trigger Fred's memories, for example, within the first level you may find a mirror which would trigger a cut scene or image of Fred looking into a mirror which would give the character an image.
The story would be like a maze itself, where the player has to chose which direction to take. For example, within the first level Fred may find a name badge which would trigger a cut scene or image of Fred pinning a name badge to himself which shows his name as well as his place of work. This would then lead to two separate maze levels, the player can chose whether to focus on trying to remember who he is, or where Fred works and what this may have to do with the events leading up to Fred's comatose state.
Start at level one: Then the memory you gain from this level will lead to 2 or 3 different maze like memories to explore. Which may lead to more memories, or lead to a dead end. So this story follows the maze theme.
Multiple memories would be collectible but not all would be necessary. Some memories would lead to a dead end in the main story, but perhaps be enjoyable for the player to discover more e.g. a memory of where you live may lead to you remembering you have a cat, but this would not lead to any other memories.
Towards the end of the game you realise you’re a witness to a crime? E.g. murder/kidnap and you can save the victim as long as you can retrieve that memory and wake up.
Each level would be a surreal representation of the place or event Fred is remembering, but at the same time, seem normal (like dreams and how things only seem strange once you wake up)
The start of the game shows you asleep in a hospital bed, then at the start of each level, you hear someone visiting you and you have to work out who they are by finding the correct memories and what role they play in the story (e.g. are they the reason you're in a hospital bed)
Maze = puzzler
Enemies/gun = FPS
Collecting Treasure = adventure
I first started with the environment and thought about how I could change this. I wanted to keep the maze aspect of the game, but at first found it hard to think of anything different to caves, labyrinths and abandoned castles or mansions. The only other mazes I could think of were maize mazes and hedge grown mazes. I then started thinking about non physical environments and metaphorical mazes which lead me to the idea of using technology and the mazes of networks within computers and the Internet. These networks lead me to thinking about the nerves we have running through our body and the nerve centre that is our brain.
These lead me to two strong ideas I wanted to develop:
Idea 1.
F.R.E.D standing for F R E Defence, where you play as an anti-virus system loaded into a computer that has to collect and destroy virus' within a maze of networks. Visually this would look like Tron, futuristic and modern.
Idea 2.
Fred is a man locked within his subconscious, he is in a coma trying to wake up by escaping surreal mazes representing his thoughts and memories.
The plot of the game would be to find out: Who is "Fred"? What happened to you? and most importantly Why are you in a coma? (The first level could be a tutorial where you find out your name and image)
Within these mazes would be objects that trigger Fred's memories, for example, within the first level you may find a mirror which would trigger a cut scene or image of Fred looking into a mirror which would give the character an image.
The story would be like a maze itself, where the player has to chose which direction to take. For example, within the first level Fred may find a name badge which would trigger a cut scene or image of Fred pinning a name badge to himself which shows his name as well as his place of work. This would then lead to two separate maze levels, the player can chose whether to focus on trying to remember who he is, or where Fred works and what this may have to do with the events leading up to Fred's comatose state.
Start at level one: Then the memory you gain from this level will lead to 2 or 3 different maze like memories to explore. Which may lead to more memories, or lead to a dead end. So this story follows the maze theme.
Multiple memories would be collectible but not all would be necessary. Some memories would lead to a dead end in the main story, but perhaps be enjoyable for the player to discover more e.g. a memory of where you live may lead to you remembering you have a cat, but this would not lead to any other memories.
Towards the end of the game you realise you’re a witness to a crime? E.g. murder/kidnap and you can save the victim as long as you can retrieve that memory and wake up.
Each level would be a surreal representation of the place or event Fred is remembering, but at the same time, seem normal (like dreams and how things only seem strange once you wake up)
The start of the game shows you asleep in a hospital bed, then at the start of each level, you hear someone visiting you and you have to work out who they are by finding the correct memories and what role they play in the story (e.g. are they the reason you're in a hospital bed)
What is Fred?
For our first project we have been asked to re-imagine an existing game, design this game and then pitch our idea in a 10 minute presentation. I am looking forward to this project as it will be a challenge to keep the skeleton of the original game while infusing my own creations and ideas to make a different game.
The game I have been given to redesign is a 1980s video game called Fred, where you play an intrepid adventurer exploring mazes disguised as ancient ruins and caves. You must climb and escape each maze while collecting treasures and avoiding dangers of ghosts, rats and poisonous drips. Fred is armed with a pistol but only has 6 bullets so the player must use these shots wisely, and collecting each treasure is not a necessity but will give the player a higher score for the more collected.
The game I have been given to redesign is a 1980s video game called Fred, where you play an intrepid adventurer exploring mazes disguised as ancient ruins and caves. You must climb and escape each maze while collecting treasures and avoiding dangers of ghosts, rats and poisonous drips. Fred is armed with a pistol but only has 6 bullets so the player must use these shots wisely, and collecting each treasure is not a necessity but will give the player a higher score for the more collected.
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