Play test with team notes (update)

Hey guys I created a survey and chose a few questions I thought were relevant.

Directing the player to the survey link will give them download options and brief instructions to begin play.

I tried not to make it too long. To make the playtest consistent, I think we should explain the following to the player and allow them to play for 3-5 minutes (observe and take notes of responses during play if possible):

    •    explain movement controls
    •    explain that space bar activates gravity to pull in objects around the ball
    •    explain that releasing M will scatter the stuff you've pulled in
    •    explain that M will absorb stuff you pulled in (do not explain it makes them more powerful etc.)

Compress v3 for the Web:
http://web.me.com/ericbeasley/gam392/WebPlayer.html

Compress V3 for Windows:
https://files.me.com/ericbeasley/7nr9tg

Compress V3 for Mac:
https://files.me.com/ericbeasley/g1x8h0

Survey Link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/formResponse?formkey=dHFNX0twV2hENGNKX1haRnFOd2w0MFE6MQ&ifq

Let me know what you think or if we should change the questions at all.

Shooting script and Junk spawner

I've got the Shooting Script going and working well.
http://nateselof.info/upload/upload/shooting.txt - to be plugged into an enemy.

Also, I have a junk spawner that spawns junk when there are very few left on the field.
http://nateselof.info/upload/upload/JunkSpawner.cs - to be plugged into an object.

Enemy progress

I've been working on two types of enemies. One that rams you, one that stands at a distance and shoots at you.

David, I can't figure out how to get "forces" to work right on the ramming enemy, so I've just plugged in the velocity transform. Feel free to attempt your own solution.

Here is the link to my CS file for the ramming enemy.
upload/enemyRam.cs

This enemy will die and toss out two junk objects. Take a look at how I did it.

Things I'm working on:

• Getting the shooting enemy to shoot.
• Creating a spawning controller, I have one that works now, but it lags alot.

Possible AI beginnings for ranged enemy

// Update is called once per frame
// Possible shooter enemy ai.. needs force backwards at certain distance
// orbits around player
void Update () {

//look at player
GameObject playerGO = GameObject.FindWithTag ("Player");
transform.LookAt(playerGO.transform.position);

this.rigidbody.AddForce(transform.forward * speed);

if (Vector3.Dot(this.rigidbody.velocity,transform.forward) < 0)
{
this.rigidbody.AddForce(transform.forward * speed * 10.0f);

}

if(this.rigidbody.velocity.magnitude >= maxVel)
{
this.rigidbody.velocity.Normalize();
this.rigidbody.velocity = this.rigidbody.velocity*maxVel;

}

}

Enemies

Hail Glorious Victory!
Was tinkering around with enemies and thought about having very simple shape enemies that of course look cool and this is what i came up with. I'll bring the Maya file tomorrow so if we think of anything else we I can make a quick model. Again these are just very simple and keeping to the concept of shapes.....and yes Sam they're green

Background update

After hours of hand-drawing each line, carefully inspecting them to make sure I didn't miss anything or make any sort of noticable mistake, I have at least half of a running background.

Check it out!

Of course one thing I always say is that you never get it right the first time.
My current problem with it is that it runs kind of slow for my tastes. Looks pretty sweet so far though. You'll notice a white line in the upper left corner. I can batch-process that thing out pretty easily in Photoshop, but given this is just a demo of what I have so far, it isn't important. Now the current plan this week is to get used to Unity shaders so I can finally start on the tiles. Maybe even work on getting the current background to loop, which MUST be done before this game is due.

Also, looking to get feedback from the team on it. As the blue-green debate is still under way, it is good to know I can pretty easily batch-process the colors too.

Work so far

Prototype and more prototype, working on building up my knowledge of unity and a simple working prototype.

Recap of work

During the last week I confered with the team to try and solidify the game, also met with Sam and Nadia to do some filming of our story section on the green screen.

This week will be talking about the gameplay and trying to put the finishing touches on it so Dave can finish the prototype. Also i will attempt to finish the movie for our story section and turn us into holograms.

Art so far

So right now I have a rudimentary idea on art design. The tiles are really setting me back though, getting the right shader for them has been nightmarish.
For the record I plan on using this as my background. Of course i'm gonna animate it. Frame by frame. Yeah, that won't take an absurdly massive amount of time to pull off, but if I can git 'er dunn, it should be awesome.

As for the tiles, glass and hologram shaders haven't been working right. I think i'll try setting up some sort of toon shading with minimal light reflection and make that transparent for a similar effect.

Schedule

This is a preliminary schedule. If you have any additions/changes just post under comments and I'll update. 


Thanks,
Nate


JAN 16TH - 23RD

• Continue with gameplay design. Solidify a core mechanic that the game can expand from.  
• Paper prototyping game mechanics.
• Artistic prototyping and concepts: background, floor tiles, terrain?
• Technical prototyping, set up movement and controls.

JAN 23RD - 30TH

• Begin puzzle design. 
• Further test and possibly decide on an art direction.
• Work on functional in-game prototype.

JAN 30TH - FEB 6TH

• Complete in-game prototype.
• Use prototype to further test mechanics, puzzles and fun.
• Playtesting prototype out-of-class.
• Constant reiteration and tweaking.

FEB 6TH - 13TH

• Begin building in-game art content; background, floor tiles, terrain, walls, blocks, holograms.
• Solidify the 3 level designs.

FEB 13TH - 20TH

• Continue testing with the prototype.
• Begin importing art into game; testing if the art creates the effect that we are going for.
• Gather sound effects.

FEB 20TH - 27TH

• Reiterate on the art, finish importing.
• Build the first level.
• Import and test sounds.

FEB 27TH - MAR 5TH

• Finalize sounds.
• Build the second and third levels.
• Fix unforeseen art and programming bugs.

MAR 5TH - MAR 12TH

• Finishing polish.

For class on Wednesday

Hey, I just wanted to keep all of you informed... 


David, Eric and I were talking with the instructor today after class about our new idea for the gameplay. He liked the idea but he was concerned that there wasn't a specific, simple mechanic at the core of the gameplay. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LL9dB3eRy8

In this game, iBlast Moki, the main gameplay mechanic is  to place explosives to move an object from one area to another. On top of that, it utilizes the timing/chain reaction mechanic to offer a more rich experience. And most importantly, it's not overly complicated. We could definitely take some ideas from it.


Brian did some brainstorming exercises with us to help us get thinking about how to come up with solid, simple mechanics.  Essentially, we came up with a list of verbs that can be used to build off of.  Verbs like: Push, Explode, Converge, etc...  


As an example, we'll make a mechanic out of Converge, then Explode: 


Lets say you have a "toy" (a game without goals), where there is a flat 2d plane. On the plane is a bunch of junk spattered around. You click on the board and all the junk converges to your mouse... Let it go and BOOM! all the junk explodes outwards. Weeee!


I'm not saying we have to do something like this, but we should come up with a more "toy"ish way to use these capsules.


Wednesday is a work day, so we will have all class to meet and discuss. Brian said that he would help us get going on brainstorming. Personally, I would feel much more confident with this if we could solidify the gameplay before moving too far.


Just keep it in mind, and we'll discuss on Wednesday.




Thanks,
Nate

My Schedule

This is my schedule for this quarter. Most of the time I'll be able to get things done at work. 


N8

Official Documentation

This post is confirmation of our team, game and roles

Team: Glorious Victory

Game: Capsule

Roles:
Producer-Nadia
Artists-Todd,Sam,Nate
Programmers-Dave,Nate
Level Designers-Eric,Nate,Todd,Sam,Nadia

Hail Glorious Victory!

"download" effect

So this video is a test of a concept special effect I have in mind. That is, capsules will download into the game rather than fade in. Just a rough proof-of-concept, except it's backwards for some reason. If there's enough time I can probably refine the animation.

Writer's Block pitch

Title: Writer's Block

Genre: Puzzle, Education

Target: Children 7-13 , Teacher's

Writer's Block

A game striving to provide a learning experience for students becoming more involved with mobile technology at a young age.

Gameplay:

• Players rearrange blocks falling onto the screen
• Players can use "specials" to rearrange blocks in given intervals to to get them unstuck when making words
• players drag to connect adjacent letters and form words, longer words get more points, score reduction for reused words
• players move on to the next level once they reach a score cap

Level Design

• Linear, stable viewing plan
• Blocks are dropped into a container horizontally or vertically
• if screen space allows players are able to see words created already
• next letter is shown on a side panel

Downfall

Title: Downfall

Genre: puzzle/platformer

Perspective: 2.5d isometric

Hook: Out run and out think the world you're trapped in as the ground collapses behind you in this blend of exploration, simple puzzles, and fast paced platforming.

-Short burst game play: Each run can be consider a self contained 2-3 minute game play session as the player explores. However each run ties into the player's over arching goal of escaping, inventory, and knowledge of the game world. Each failure is a successful exploration of the environment. Players can try something new with each run and explore a new approach.

-Flow and optimization based game play: As players keep running without stopping, they pick up speed. Learning the game world and optimizing is the key to escaping in time. To reach the edge you'll need to discover and flow through an escape route.

-Simple core mechanics and exploration: The game play is about exploration and optimization, with no complex mechanics. Players are dropped into a world and learn it's rules and about it with little to no instruction, exploring through "death".

One minute of awesome: The tension of the final minute of each run as you try to push out further with the ground collapsing behind you.

Trapped at the center of a strange world, the land starts to collapse away behind you every time you try to escape. When you fall, you find yourself back at the beginning. Explore the environment in this open 360 degree puzzle. You can start running in any direction, encountering puzzles and exploring, attempting to reach the edge. If you do not escape, you start at the beginning with armed with new knowledge and any items you found.

At the core is simple run and jump platforming mechanics, exploration, and a simple tension cycle.

Similar games: Downfall builds on the optimization style gameplay of games like bitrip runner, combined with simple puzzles, a more open world for exploration, and more tense and visible time limit. As draws from drop in and play games and distance games, like Jet Pack Joyride.

Story: The ground is falling, run! (We might be able to reveal more as the player explores, but nothing more would be revealed at the beginning and it's not a narrative heavy sort of game. I haven't really developed this area yet)

Target audience: Puzzle platformer fans, although it does go in artsy directions with it's exploration of exploration and minimal instruction. Not to mention it's asking for a cool minimalist and slightly dark mood in the visual style.

Technical: Note that the world does not need to be very big, especially since a lot of it will be replayed and reused by the player.

Enviroment Concept Art

So I made a quick sketch in Inkscape regarding what I think the game enviroment should look like. So far, there is a consensus that we will have a digital, virtual theme.

Take a look.

So far there's no consensus on what the coloring should be. I like black and green but others want black and cyan.

What I envision is particles rising out in the background with a thin trail of green or cyan behind them. The particles randomly change direction in a 90 degree angle, either going up, left, or right. This will probably have to be programmed. Furthermore, I want the particles to always be going up in a relatively straight pattern, so it will have to be programmed that after going left or right, it HAS to go up. The up direction does not have this constraint, although it may still change direction to the left or right at any time.

Hamsplosion

Title: Hamsplosion
Genre: Third-Person Running
Target: Those who like high-pressure, quick reaction games.

You are a meat delivery man that has unknowingly delivered a ham with a C4 glazing to a meat packing factory. Oh no! Run Forest! Run!

Game Play:

• Sprint through the hallways of the meat packing factory.
• Avoid obtacles by jumping over, dodging by or sliding under them.
• Escape before the Hamsplosion delivers you to Davey Jones' Meat Locker. 

Level Design:

• Linear level design.
• Many Meat-based obstacles that hold you back if you don't avoid them. i.e. meat hooks hanging from the ceiling, piles of meat guts on the floor.

North Pole

This is a simple game that can be completed and polished within the time we have for this class.


Title: North Pole
Genre: 2.5D Platformer
Rating: E for erbody

North Pole is a simple 2.5d platformer set in the north pole, with an emphasis on E-rated content. You play as an elf in this Mario-style game trying to gather the lost Christmas presents. But of course it's not that easy, you have to get past Penguins, Polar Bears and ferocious Yeti-Beasts first.

Game Play:

• Maneuver past obstacles and enemies trying to get to the end of the level.
• Jump on top of enemies to incapacitate them.
• Collect Candy Canes to get points.

Level Design:  

• The levels are constructed as mostly linear, left-to-right.
• There are multiple different platform materials that have different effects on your movement. i.e. ice = slippery, deep snow = slowing.

I figure the levels would take about a minute to play through!

Plexus

Based off of the previous pitches a bit, with elements of Atom Zombie Smasher and the hacking minigames found in many games. Unfortunately I don't have access to Photoshop at the moment, so can't mock it up at the moment.

Title: Plexus
Genre: strategy/puzzle/a little bit of tower defense

Hook: Save as much data as you can before the network is overrun by a malicious virus in this blend of simple fast paced strategy, puzzle, and zombie outbreak mechanics as you fight to delay the inevitable.

The player controls a network of nodes around the centeral processor and creates 2 simple types of units. Their goal is to have saved as much data as possible by getting it through the network of linked nodes to the central processor before the central processor is overrun.

Data is the most basic element, small units that start scattered throughout the nodes that the player has no direct control over. They attempt to travel to the central processor and away from the virus. On the opposing side is corrupted data, much like zombies they will attempt to attack and corrupt the player's data and units, turning it into more corrupted data or units. Nodes are captured when one side has more data on it than the other. Data can move between linked nodes.

The game world consists of a central node, the processor that the player must defend as long as possible against the virus. When data reaches the processor, it can be saved, contributing to the player's score or spent on units/upgrading nodes. Around it are linked nodes branching out, at the ends of these branches can be the virus entry points. A possible idea is to include "key nodes" that give a bonus to adjacent nodes. However, if captured by the virus, they create false units and node states in the adjacent nodes as they hack the player (however, only about 20% will be false). These change periodically, so through patience the player can figure out what's going on or by attacking a node with a unit.

The player can give several simple commands to each node, spending saved data fortify (can be done repeatedly to strengthen the node, slowing down any attempt to take it over), draw nearby data to the node, or use other abilities to recapture or temporarily deny a node to the virus. The player can build two simple units at the processor, the fighter and the transport (the virus has access to the same two unit types). Fighters can attack and destroy corrupted data, enemy transports, and enemy fighters. Transports can be used by the player to get data back to the CPU from nodes or to send data back out from the CPU to recapture an unoccupied node, where as the virus will use them to attack nodes. Units can be moved from node to node via links or travel between two close, but unlinked nodes.

The virus is a dangerous opponent as it turns the player's resources against them. When the player destroys any of the virus, it is gone forever, but data that is corrupted by the virus is used against the player. The more improved a node is when it's captured; the more powerful it is when it falls into the virus's hands.

-Short burst game play: Fast paced and short game play sessions are core to Plexus. As the virus gains resources, the pace of game play steadily picks up. Players must think and act quickly.

-Think in three dimensions: Nodes are arranged and linked in 3 dimensions around the central processor, much like planets. Players must consider all angles as links can be in any direction and units can move to nearby nodes without using links.

-Hack or be hacked: Losing key nodes will hack the player's sensors in the area, mixing in false information in the adjacent nodes.

One minute of incredible game play: The tension as the player begins to lose nodes faster and faster, the final minute as the play rushes to save as much data as they can before being overrun making faster and faster choices, sacrificing some data to save the majority.

Target: mainstream/arcade/casual strategy fans, could be a bit artsy depending on how the visuals would be done (could go pretty abstract)

Firewall pitch

Building off of Todd's idea conceptually I was playing around with a game similar to Sanctum.

That is, a combination of Tower Defense and First Person Shooter. Your purpose is to do what it takes. Either with your extremely pimped out gun, the a devastating gauntlet of attack towers, or prehaps a combination of both.

The storyline is this: You are an antivirus program. The last line of defense between the computer and malicious programs that wish only harm. However, your systems and resources are limited. Your objective is to do everything in your power to make sure the invading malware is not able to reach the central processing unit. Although resources are limited, you are able to gather extra bytes to help you defend against progressively more powerful forms of malware. If you are destroyed or the central processing unit becomes too infected, all hope is lost and you are gone forever.

Gameplay: The players start out with a processor. That is, one harmless tower that they can purchase certain upgrades from. Conversely, enemies have to touch it in order to continue to the central processing unit. This touching is harmless, but strategies on how to arrange your tower can develop from it. The arena is arranged in a grid. Most towers take up four squares on the grid. Malware only need one square of space to move through. If the malware is blocked from the central processing unit (for example their spawn is walled off) they will attack and destroy the offending towers.
As the malware moves to the central processing unit, they will attack the player with certain ranged attacks. However they have limited range. The player can hide behind towers or move a distance away. They are capable of damaging towers though they will only be damaged in crossfire or if they are walling off malware. In which case they are destroyed in one hit.
The player begins with a slow firing pistol, but this can be upgraded at the Processor to a variety of other basic weapons like a machine gun, sniper rifle, shotgun, or more powerful pistol. Health can also be upgraded to make the player more durable. From the processor, unique towers can be built. Like mini towers which take up only one square.
And there are the towers. The player is able to build a gun tower, which as its name suggests, shoots at enemies for damage. This can be upgraded into other kinds of more powerful shooty towers. There is also the block tower. Simple, cheap tower the player can hop on to fire at enemies below. This can be upgraded into tougher bunker the player can fire from in safety or a heightened roost where players can rain death from above in a sniper tower*
*what weapon you use up there is your business.

Pitch for Capsule

Hail Glorious Victory!

I present to you my pitch for the game I think we should make. I call it Capsule. It's an action puzzle game in which you use machines that are housed in capsule pods to solve puzzles. Capsules have a variety of abilites from having a gatling gun, a laser, anti-gravity unit, block mover, mirrors, and we can more with other abilites as well.

The game itself i think is rather unique as i don't know any puzzle game that uses this kind of technique to solve things, but i had classmates refer to Portal as a similarity. I personally got the idea of using capsules from a Yu-Gi-Oh game.

Story: In the future, technology has advanced beyond our wildest dreams. But a focus has become using to technology so that human don't get hurt. Why have a unit in the military that disposes bombs when you can have a robot do it? Seeking to fulfill this need you (as the main character) create C.A.P.S Corp. The Customizable Armament Production Specialists make robots in easy to use containers called Capsules. Able to have a wide range of abilites you believe that this could change the world. But you want to make sure that you have the kinks worked out so you build a simulation system programmed with various terrains and dangers to test out the abilites of your capsules. You personally enter your mind into the simulation to add to the realism and for a while everything goes fine. Until a virus infects your simulation and traps you in there. Now you have to defeat the puzzles you created to get out alive, but the virus keeps changing the rules and the environments to keep you contained. Your life now depends on your ability to use the capsules to their full potential else your mind will be trapped in the simluation. No pressure.

Unique Hook: The hook for my game is the capsules themselves, the variety of them and being able to solve puzzles using them is an experience I don't think gamers have had before. Also building the virtual levels to incorporate different ways of winning the level will be really fun and make the player test their ability to think outside the box.

Proof of Concept: I've actually made most of the parts for this game already. I have some of the capsules done and the basic feel for a level. Here are some links to see what I have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44_tNt6-ihY&list=UUJc-5I7Udr1EM3AYjQC9amw&index=3&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta4k-40R1Qw&feature=related

Who would like this game?: I think people who like puzzle games will like this. Also action people will like this i think. Overall I think people who want a different experience will like this game.

Bonus Sections: why this will work?: Why do I think this will work? Because of the simplicity. The models are mostly done we can improve them add better textures spruce up the level design it's mostly all done. It's a very simple level design, we would just add obstacles to the chess board and figure out how the capsules will complete the level. We wouldn't have to add terrain unless it's really easy then we can but for the most part we can just use the chess board. As for programming we would have to have timed events, placement for the capsules, level set-up, but I think it should be easy to do especially since we can "creative borrow" code. Also I think it'll be fun, I found out we have a green screen that's rarely used, some I think we can go there do some dialogue and then we can tweak the video to look like we're holograms inside the simulation! You know have a blue tint and everything. And it'll be fun to make puzzles and see how challenging we can make it.

1 minute of AwesomeSauce!!!!: So the goal of all of this is to make a game that has 1 minute of awesome, so I say we give that to them literally. We'll set up the game with the hologram dialogue then we'll have the boss for the game (who i have a guy working on) create a bomb that'll explode in.....wait for it.....58 seconds!!!........Ok 1 minute. Anywho so the player will have 1 minute to blast through three levels of defense in order to kill the boss and win the game. So in that one minute we have high stakes, a sense of urgency and a real test of the players skills. I really think this'll work.

So I leave it up to you. I really think with the people we have we can make this work and do it right.

Game Ideas

Hey guys,

So this is our blog apparently, go ahead post your game pitches here and we'll discuss them amongst each other. I've had some great news on my game front so i'll let you know tomorrow what it is!