G3 Revised Game Design

By munkahunkus on November 10th, 2014

Game Title: Elemental

Team: Hipster Cyborgs

Members:

munkahunkus

thisisaname

demmina

Game Information

Story

Wilson the wisp is lost and wants to find his way home.  Using his ability to manipulate objects formed from certain elements, Wilson will attempt to create a path back to his house.

Gameplay

The player will start the game controlling Wilson the wisp in his elemental form.  In this form, the player can float around the level, exploring the environment and determining what elements need to be used to escape the level.  As an example, if the player’s path is blocked by a large fire, a possible solution would be to return to a nearby pool, become the water in the pool, and roll over to the fire, putting it out.  To add to this mechanic, we could force the player to collect the water from multiple pools in order to accumulate enough water to put out the fire.

Level Design

Due to the relatively short development cycle of this project, the entire prototype will consist of a single level.  The level will start with the player inside of a room with a locked exit, to unlock the exit, the player will have to combine the elemental objects of the game in a certain way.  For example, if the exit is behind a fire, then the player will have to become a ball of water and put out the fire to proceed.

Art

Due to the relatively short development cycle of the project, most assets in the game will be built with Unity’s primitive objects instead of custom meshes.  Textures will be kept very basic, consisting of bright colors.

Sound and Music

Sound effects and music will be pulled from various open domain resources in order to avoid copyright issues.  Music will be kept very basic to avoid becoming annoying, and sound effects will simply serve as a means to convey interactions within the game world to the player.  Ideally, elements will have special sets of sound effects that reflect the various uses they have in the environment (splashing sounds for water, crackling for fire, etc.).

User Interface

While the player is in wisp mode, there will be no UI in order to allow the player to see the environment better.  However, when the player can transform into an element, an icon will appear on the screen to indicate this.  While the player is in the form of an element, an indicator will be displayed which indicates how “strong” the player is with the current element.

Game Controls

The game will be controlled with a third person, controllable camera perspective.  This will allow players to rotate the camera around the wisp character to more easily explore the level.  While in wisp mode, the player can both float across the ground and jump to explore higher areas, but as an element, the wisp will only be able to move across the ground.

Schedule (Updated)

Nov 10:

• Setup git for all group members
• Create a basic character

• Begin work on elemental mechanics
• First pass on sound effects
• Finalize the game architecture

Nov 17:

• Complete element objects
• Implement the level goal

Nov 24:

• Complete player character
• Finalize sound effects

Dec 1:

• Complete of prototype level
• Finalize the polish of the game

 

Job Distribution

William: Character Feel, Element Interaction

Kirsten: Level Design and Polish

Dale: Game Architecture, Prefab Packaging

 

Goals (New)

Minimum

1. A functional implementation of the water element.
   1. Water is implemented as rigid, blue spheres.
   2. Player can possess and control the element.
   3. Water objects can combine and separate (player controlled).
2. A partial implementation of the fire element.
   1. Exists as part of objects in the map (torches, campfires, etc.).
   2. Can be put out by sufficient amount of water.
3. A sandbox level for element interaction.
4. A basic third-person player-controlled character.

Achievable

1. A single polished level.
   1. Has a goal the player must reach.
   2. Requires usage of all implemented elements to be completed.
2. A functional implementation of the fire element.
   1. Player can possess and control the element.
   2. Fire can be transferred between objects.
3. A polished character.
   1. Movements enhanced with Attack/Decay curves.
   2. Graphics enhanced with a simple idle animation.

Not Expected

1. Polished implementation of all 4 elements.
   1. Convincing graphical effects for each element.
   2. Comprehensive implementations of possible interactions between elements.
2. Multiple levels to play through.

 

Milestones (Updated)

Alpha

• Intuitive element interaction
• Proof of concept level
• Basic player character

The alpha will be the first opportunity to observe how players intuitively use the elements in the game.  The level that will be shown to players at this stage will be a “sandbox” style field with multiple areas of interest that contain sets of objects that the player can interact with.  We’re hoping to see if players are able to discern what they are supposed to do with each element in each area of interest.  Also, we want to see if players find the experience as a whole to be fun.  Data gathered at this stage will have a major impact on the direction the game takes as the final build is developed.

Final Prototype

• Polished, well designed level
• Polished player character

The key differences between this prototype and the alpha will be that this prototype contains a completed level, more detailed polish effects, and will incorporate all of the improvements that we determined were necessary during user testing.  By showcasing a “completed” game, we can determine if the game, as we envisioned it, is actually very fun to play.  Also, this will be the first time that we get to see how players interact with the level that we create, as the alpha’s level will just be a sandbox.  If players struggle with completing the level due to some balance or design issue, we will be able to fix these problems before the final submission.

 

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