current gdd

7/28/2019 Current GDD

1/43

Princess to the RescueOverview of Research and Game Design

DocumentADGD33


2/43

Contents


3/43

I want to create a game where the girlcan be the hero and save the day. I will bedesigning a role playing game (RPG) to bemade into a tablet application. The gamewill be geared towards a young femaleaudience as I feel this demographic is un-derepresented in the gaming world.

The unique selling points of thegame:

A female led RPG. A game for girls that does not in-

volve hair and make-up. An RPG that nds othermethods,

besideskilling,todefeatenemies. Five individual and uniquely de-

signed worlds A story in which the male character

is saved by the female protagonist The morale of the story is that friend-

shipandkindnessarewhatmaer

Mission Statement


4/43

Why am I doing this?Most popular games are made withmeninmind,mostoftheprotagonistsaremen,theyareafantasyofwhatmenwishtheycouldbelike,andthewomenareoftenan extension of that fantasy.

Games which feature female leads fre-quentlyoversexualisetheircharacters,Juli-et(LollipopChainsaw)andBayoneacomefromsuccessful games,buttheir sexuality

appears to be theirmainweapon.Samus,fromtheMetroidseries,wasonlyrevealedto be a woman at the end of Metroid. She is

believed to be the least sexualised char acterever,butdoeshersuccesscomeataprice?Isshe only popular because her feminity has

been stripped away.

Inalotofgames,suchasElderScrollsIV: Skyrim and Guild Wars 2 the player canchose to be either male or female and cus-tomise their appearance to exagerate cer-tainfeatures,allowingthecharactertobeassexualisedor androgenousas theyplease,although it is interesting that in the mild-ly unpopular MMO Star Wars: Knights ofthe Old Republic it is possible to create an

obeseandunaractivemalecharacter,butnotfemale.Besides,thegendermakesveryliledierenceineithergames,inSkyrimNPCs react more to your race than your sexandIbelieveitmakesnodierenceatallinGuild Wars 2. There are many other gamesthatcontainfemaleprotagonists, but theyalways seem to appear as part of a team ofmen.Itsalmostarequirement,alongwiththewhitebeefcakes,theteammustcontain

a token woman and token ethic minority.

The popular damsel in distress trope isalsoputtofrequentuseingames,likethehighly successful Mario (1985) series. In al-most every game Mario has to rescue Prin-cess Peach, asshe has been captured(yetagain) by Bowser. Link has to rescue Zelda(1986),Dante follows hisbeloved Beatriceinto Hell in Dantes Inferno (2010). Althoughsome women have decided that theyve hadenoughofbeingthehelplessdamsel,shesstill a very popular stock character.

Sowith all thesepopular games, andthetestosteronetheycreate,isitpossibleforagirltosavetheday?Canshebeagirl,em-

bracingherloveforpinkandrainbows,yetstill be badass enough to defeat all evil andsavethedaywithoutamaninsight?Thisisthepurposeofthisgame.Totelllilegirlsthat they can be just as much of a hero asthe boys.


5/43


6/43


7/43

What games currently exist for girls?WhenIwasachildtheonlyspecicallygirly games I owned were basic point andclick adventures. One, based on the lmFairy Tale: A True Story (1997) involved col-lectingfairydustandphotographingfairies,and Detective Barbie: Carnival Caper (1998). Iloved this game; Ken has been kidnappedand Barbie must collect clues and track himdown, Scooby Doo style. It also includedmini games where Barbie had to chase a

shadowygurethroughthefairgroundandon rides.

Inthefteenyearssincethenthevarie-tyofgamesforgirlshasincreased,andbe-comemorediverse,withBarbiestillmakingrepearted appearances.

Ubisofts series of games Imagine (est2007) allows girls to be whatever they wanttobe.Theypromotecareerstoyounggirls,fromfashiondesigner,tozookeeper,tochef.I think these are very positive games; whilethejobsonoeraremostlyfeminine,some-oneatthetopoftheireldswouldhaveto

be very dedicated and driven. The playershavegoalsthattheyhavetoreach,andare

encouraged to push harder to achieve great-nessfor themselves, instead of relying onothers.

A lot of other games are not so positive;while searching for apps on the Apple mar-ket,gearedtowardsyounggirlstherewerean awful lot that just centred on make-upandlookingprey.Themessagethesesendout to girls is that their personal worth is

based on their appearance.

Sorority Life, a Facebook game, wasreleased in 2010 and declares that you willbe the hoestgirl oncampuswhen youplay. Basically you have to invite friends tojoinyournetwork,andhostsocialeventstoraise your status. As you spend more timeplaying you can earn money to spend onitemslike lipstick andhandbags, tomakeyouappearmorecharmingandinuential.You can even buy yourself a boyfriend. Asanaddedbonus,youcancompeteagainstotheravatarstoseewhoisthehoest,andhaveacatghtifyoufeelthreatened.

Inaway,thisisnotdissimilartootherRPGs. Youmake acquaintances, join par-

ties,collect equipment to boostyour statsand face o against enemies. Starting tosound a bit like World of Warcraft (2004) orDungeonsandDragons (1974),doesntit?HoweverinWoWorD&D,theplayerbe -comes physically stronger and they teachcomradeship,whearas Sorority Life, and thelike,encouragesupercialrelationshipsandcomercialism. Imagination and freedom ofexploration are not encouraged.


8/43

What has infuenced the Princess?The standard Princess archetype is of ablondehaired,blueeyedgirlwhowaitsinacastle to be rescued by her Prince Charming.This character appears in books, movies,games,andeveryothermedia.

Many legends centre around a damselindistress,whomustbesaved.Thatistheirreason for existance, just as their knightpurely exists to be the saviour. The damsel

willbenaive,foolish,inept,and,mostlikely,a virgin. The character appears all over theworld,fromGreece,whereAndromedawassacrcedtoappeasetheseagodPoseidon,beforebeingrescuedbytheheroicPerseus,to India where the epic Ramayana tells ofSita who was kidnapped by the evil Ravanaand must be rescued by her husband.

It is no surprise that the damsel becamea recurring character in fairytales of theMiddleAges,particularlyinEurope,wherethe princess locked in a tower is a familiarmotif (and subject to mockery in the 2001lm Shrek). The patron saint of England,St George became famous for saving a girlfrom certain death by dragon.

In stories told to children the physicallyaractivearerewarded,theheroesandher-oinesareshiningexamplesofpurity,virgin -ity,andbeauty.Theyalwayscomeoutontop,whilethewarty,ugly,andthehunch-

backed are shunned and are automaticallythe bad-guys.

Fairytales make up a large part of child-

hood for a girl, they are ontheirtoys, intheirbooksandtheirlms.DominatingthisprincessworldistheDisneyfranchise,whohave beenmaking princesslms for chil-dren since 1937.

Therstprincessesaredamselsindis-tress,notdoubtaboutit.SnowWhite,Cin-derella and Aurora cannot do anything forthemselves apart from take their lot with nocomplaintandsingaboutabeerfuture.Itisuptothosearoundthem,dwarfsorfair-ies,tohelpthemachievethosedreams.

Aliceisadreamer,sheissimilartothenextprincess,Ariel, depsite having aboutforty years between them. They dream of


9/43

otherworlds,andwanttoexplore.Aliceisquite unique in that she has no love inter-estandisayoungchild,butArielsacricesher voice to pursue her prince. This may beseemasanti-feminist,butIthinkitsgoodthat she is actively pursuing someone in-steadofwaitingforthem, and intheendshesaveshislife,insteadoftheotherwayaround.

The ninties brought what is consideredtobetheDisneyRenaisance,andmany-esty females. Belle actively refuses to be adamsel and marries the beast, shunningGastonwhoissupercialandseesherasababy-machine. Jasmine refuses to let mencontrolherdestiny,andmarriesAladdinonher own terms. She is even willing to giveupherlifeasaprincessforanewlife,albeitnaively as she has no idea what is beyondthe walls.

In the late ninties we see princesses whohaveacause,theyarenolongerapreyna-iveface,theyghtforwhattheybelievein.Pocahontas and Kida fear for the distructionof their beautiful lands, Esmereldawants

to protect her fellow gypsies and Mulan iswilling to take on the huns if it stops her fa-ther going to war. They are on a mission andwill not be stopped.

Tiana teaches us that we must workhardto achieve ourdreams,she is savingto buy a restaurant and is determind togetit,evenifitmeanssacricinghersociallife and friends. Once she has married her

prince she still works in her restaurant anditsamazingbecauseshewantedittobe.

TraditionallyRapunzelisTHEdamselindistress,andwhileshedoesrequireade-gree of rescuing in Tangled,shecanalsopro-tect herself with her frying pan and magichair. She is incredibly resourceful and deter-mind.

Tobehonest,noneofthesecharacterswouldwinanyawardswithfeminists,buttheyaregeingbeerandimproving.ThereisalargedierencebetweenSnowWhitespersonalityandTianas,anditcanonlygetbeer.

Away fromthesefairy taleprincesses,are there plenty of more positive female rolemodels within the media. One of the mostpopular and current of which is HermioneGranger,heroineofJKRowlingsHarry Pot-ter Series.AccordingtoLizFeuerbach,whowrote an article entitled The Women of theHarry Poter Universe:

Rowling wrote Hermione toeschew stereotypes. She doesntend up with the hero; she is neverthere to function as Harrys loveinterest. She prefers Arithmancy toDivinationin school.Hermioneisalsoatotalbadass,despiteherprimand proper reputation. () So of-ten,female charactersare allowedtobe aggressiveor rebellious,butin exchange are stripped of any tra-ditionally feminine qualities andinstead are forced to pick up tradi-tionallymasculinetraits.However,

Hermione is never made to do that.Most notably, sheiswriento behighly logical AND emotionallyexpressive,acombinationnotcom -monlyaordedtomostoftodaysleading ladies.


10/43

Hermionemadebeingclevercool,she

was never described as being physically at-tractive,butshewasawesome.

JKRowlinghasevensaid:

Fatisusuallytherstinsultagirl throws at another girl when shewants to hurt her.

Imean,isfatreallytheworstthing a human being can be? Isfat worse than vindictive, jeal-ous, shallow, vain, boring orcruel?Not tome;but then,youmightretort,whatdoIknowaboutthepressuretobeskinny?Imnotin the business of being judged onmylooks,whatwithbeingawriterand earning my living by using mybrain

I went to the British BookAwards that evening. After theaward ceremony I bumped intoa woman I hadnt seen for nearlythreeyears.Therstthingshesaidtome?Youvelostalotofweight

since the last time I saw you!

Well, I said, slightly non-plussed,thelasttimeyousawmeId just had a baby.

What I felt like saying was,Iveproducedmythirdchildandmy sixth novel since I last sawyou. Arent either of those thingsmore important,more interesting,

thanmysize?Butno mywaistlooked smaller! Forget the kid andthebook:nally,somethingtocel-ebrate!

Ive got two daughters whowill have to make their way in thisskinny-obsessedworld,anditwor-riesme,becauseIdontwantthemtobeempty-headed,self-obsessed,emaciated clones; Id rather theywereindependent,interesting,ide-alistic,kind, opinionated,original,funnyathousandthings,beforethin.Andfrankly,Idrathertheydidnt give a gust of stinking chi-huahua atulence whether thewoman standing next to them has

eshierkneesthantheydo.Letmygirls be Hermiones, rather thanPansy Parkinsons.

ASongofIceandFire,wrienbyGeorgeRR Martin and dramatised by HBO also hasawidearayof female characters,CatelynandCersei,ercelyprotectivemotherswhowilldo anythingto protect theirchildren,Brienne who only wants to be a knight anddefendherking,Sansawhobelievesinfairytales and wants a Prince Charming to rescueher,AryaandAshawhoseenoreasonwhywomencannotghtandrule,tonamejusta few. I think thats one of the reasons thebookshavebeen sucha success, therangeofdeepandoriginalfemaleleads,whoallhavetondawaytosurviveinaverymaledominated world (images on the right).

Althoughnot relatingto female leads,The Lord of The Rings (1954-5) has a very sol-

id and lovely theme within them: you do notneedtobeawarrior,orparticularybravetosave theworld. Two lilehobbits,from asleepy village succeed purely because theyhave each other, and the friendship they


11/43

share helps them pull through. This is quitea beautiful and refreshing change from bigstrong men in tough armour who marchintobale.Brutestrengthisnotalwaystheanswer.

I would like my Princess to be a strongrolemodel, brave, clever, and kind. Sheshould be the sort of girl other girls aspireto be like. She should not feel any obliga-

tiontondamantoruleherkingdomforher,desiretondahusbandwillnotruleherlife.ButIlovethehappinessofDisneyprincesses,theneverendingoptimismthateverythingwillbeok,andthattherewillbea happy ending.

She will rule her kingdom fairly andhersubjectswillloveher.Whenthewizardcurses her subjects she is intially cautiousand worried about the journey she has totaketosavethem,butafterPocogivesherencouragement, she leaves on her quest.Onceshehasgoenoverherworriessheisshowntobebraveandcouragous,acquir-ing more desirable traits as she journeys onwards.

I considered making her brave from theo,buttodevelopecientlyasacharacterandgrowup,sheneedsto begin asnaiveand learn these traits.

The player will be able to customise thePrincess,as theywillgivehertheir name,and can choose her skin and hair colour.They will also be able to select a colour for

her armour.

The only issue I worry about with theracialoptionsisthatCausasian,Coloured,and Asian people have dierent featuresaswell asskin tones. WhenMael intro-duced a black Barbie in the 1960s they usedthewhiteBarbiemoldwithbrownplastic,it wasnt until the 2009 So In Style rangethat an accurate black barbie was made,with larger lips, a wider nose and moreprominent cheekbones.


12/43

The mentor is a prominent character isction, particularly fantasy and sci-. Heis theGandalf,theDumbledore, theFairyGodmotherofhisstory,heteachestheherowhat they need to know about the newworld they are entering. He is often welltravelled and will present the hero with anartifactofsorts,sometimesaweapon,some-times just a piece of advice. Sometimes thementorisnotaphysicalmentor,butjusta

sense of justice or code of honor.

Mentors are especially important ingames. When you pick up a game you wontknowhowtodoeverythingautomatically,so most games will provide a mentor foryou to learn the skills required. In PokemonProfessorOakservesasaphysicalmentor,he introduces you to the game and takesyou step by step through starting your

journey. Other characters pick up the men-torrole,toshowtheplayerhowtocatchaPokemon and to give you a tour around thersttown.Alotofgamehaveonscreenin -structions,whichbreakthefourthwallbytalking directly to the player as opposed tothecharacter,thiscanoftenbreakthereal-

ism of the game

Some games, like Guild Wars 2, useevents and quests to teach the player newskills. When entering the Player Vs Playercombatforthersttime,youmustcompletea short tutorial in the form of events to en-sure that you have the skills neccessary.

I feel that physical mentors are the best

ingames,theyimprovetheplayersimmer-sion into the game world and avoid break-ing the fourth wall, as they talk to yourcharacter and not neccessarily you. How-ever,duetothesizeofthescreenrequiredformygame,andthestoryline,Ithinkthiswontbepossible,andthatIshouldhaveamixture of the two.

I initially wanted a character similar inappearancetoNavi,intheZelda series,whowould be a genderless entity and would ex-ist to help the Princess. However after talk-ing to people about my game I decided thatI would instead use a red panda (becausetheyre adorable) called Poco (which meanslileinSpanish).Sheistheguardianspir-

itforthekingdom,andisthesmallestredpanda in all the land. Her powers are onlystrong enough to save the creatures of thekingdom and not to cure the people.

She will tutor the player through thelevels and help them progress with hintsand tips. She provides the Princess with amagic wand to save the creatures.

Poco - The Mentor Archetype


13/43


14/43


15/43

How is The Mentor shown in apps?Its a popular choice on phones and tab-lets to give brief instructions on screen toshow how to play the game. Simple anima-tions demonstrate how to play Cut The Rope(farright),and,like Contre Jour (farleft,top),itevenincludesanillustrationofanger.Heroes vs Monsters (farleft,below)givesaquick tutorial on how to play with new in-structions popping up after you have com-pleted each step.

Gears (right) has a help page to tell theplayer how the game works. While this is agood idea to get a lot of information down inone place I am sure I am not alone in sayingthat I pass over these quite quickly. When Iwant to play a game I dont want to sit downandreadhalfadozenpagesaboutmechan-ics and power-ups that probably wont ap-pearuntilseverallevelsin,bywhichtimeIhaveforgoenwhattheydo.AndifIcanbebothered toread it,aveyearold childcertainly will not.

Nyan Cat, Lost in Space (left, top) onlyhas two controls,tapto jump,doubletaptodouble jump.Easypeasy. This is been

writen on the menu screen because its sosimple,andno-onewillrememberit.Therearemanydierentpowerups,enemiesandbonusesinthegame,whicharelistedinan-other menu. Like with Gears this menu isverylong,butyoudontreallyneedtoreadit. I never did and was able to play the gamequite well by guessing and using commonsense.

TheEarthspeakstoyouinKumo Lumo(left,below)andtellsyouwhattodoineachlevel,usingpopupwindowsandsmalldia-logue boxes to give instrcutions. I really likethis,assmalltipscanbeshownasthegamegoes on and more indepth.

I want the instructions that appear to beneat,concise,andeasytoreadandunder-stand.LikeIsaid,Ihaveashortaentionspan,andImanadult,aveyearolddoesnot want a an essay on how to move. I feelitsalsoneccessarytocoverallbases,uponseeing Cut The Rope,I assumedyouwouldcut usingyour nger, but the developersadded the instructions because it may notbe apparent to everyone, they may think

you need to tilt the device or push the ball.I dont want to assume that my audience isstupid, but just because something is ob-viousto one person, itdoesntmean thateveryone will automatically understand it.


16/43

The EvilWizardplaysthepart ofthecharacter archetype The Shadow.

TheShadowisoftenareectionofthehero,itiscanbetheirfears,desires,orre-jected qualities. Theymay not be all bad,they may have admirable or redeemingqualities. Sometimes the Shadow is insideus,itsaninnerdemonthatmustbeaccept-ed or purged.

Examples of The Shadow in popularmediawouldbeSauron,inThe Lord of theRings(whoisevenreferredtoas,TheShad-owinTheEast),Voldemort,fromHarry Pot-ter,andDarthVader,Star Wars.

TheWizardinmygameexiststocauseterror and trouble. He arrives in the king-dom and puts a curse of vanity on the peo-ple. They stop living their peaceful lives andsuddenly become obsessed by their looksand material items. This greatly upsets thePrincess and she resolves to lift the curse onher people.

Asperevilvillianstandard,theWizard

hasalairhiddenawayinthemountains,itiseveninsideavolcano,allthatismissingisauywhitecattositonhislapashecasually spins round in his chair.

Villainsoftenhaveadicultpast,fourof the best villians in movies would have tobeVoldemort,DarthVader,HannibalLec-tor,andNormanBates(Psycho). What theyallhaveincommonisadicultchildhood,

be in because they have an overbearingmother,theygrewupinanorphanage,theywereaslave,ortheyaccidentallyatetheirsister. There is something dark in all of theirpaststhatmadethemasbierandtwistedas they are in their story. Because my gameis about teaching that looks and materialgoodsdonotmaer,IwilllinktheWizardspast to that.

Whenthewizardwasyoungerhewasteased for his unaractive features, andgrewbierandtwistedbecauseofit.Afteryears of solitude inhis lair the biernessmultiplied and he now enjoys terrorisingneighbouring kingdoms and giving themthe insecurities he once felt about himself.

He arrives at the start of the game to puta curse on the people of the town. Becauseof the Princesss royal blood she escapes thecurse and starts to hunt him down.

He has also cursed the many creaturesand animals inhabiting the land, puingthemintoazombie-likestate,whichPocosmagic can break.

Once he is defeated by the Princess hereturns to her kingdom with her where helifts the curse he placed on her kingdom andlives in peace with her.

The Evil Wizard


17/43


18/43

The Heros JourneyThe Ordinary World: The intro-ductionshowsuswhatthecountryislike,its a happy bountiful land

The Call to Adventure: The localevilwizardishavingaparticularlybadday,hecastsaspellonthepeople,freezingthem.Onlytheprincessisleftuntouched,duetoher royal blood.

Refusal of the Call: Princess feelsinsecureandscared,howcanshepossiblydefeat the evilwizard and save her king-dom?

Meeting the Mentor: Princessseeks out the Mentor to help her and giveher the strength and bravery needed for herquest

Crossing the Threshold: The game

begins!

Tests, Allies, Enemies: Princesstravels across a number of worlds to theWizardscave

The Ordeal: ShemustdefeattheWiz -ard and show him the error of his ways

Return with the Elixir: Princesscan now return to her kingdom with theredeemedwizard,wheresheislovedmorethan ever.

Thestoryissimple,butastheaudience

ischildren,Idontwantittobetoocom-plicated or in depth. The plot of the storycouldbedescribedasVoyageandReturn,as the Princess learns more about herselfandimprovesasapersononherquest,orOvercoming theMonster,as she mustes-sentiallydefeatthewizardwhohasaholdonherkingdom.TheconictinthegameisCharactervsCharacter,asthePrincessissetagainstthewizard.


19/43


20/43


21/43

Side-Scrolling PlatformerThe game will be a side-scoller, for anumber of reasons:I will completing this project by myself. I

amcondentthatIcancreatea2Dplatform-er by myself.

IfIweremakethegamein3DIwouldhave to use Unity or UDK, which quitefrankly scaremea lile becausewhenwewere introduced to them it didnt go terriblywell,especiallyUnity,whichhadatendencytocrashandwipemysaveleeveryhour.Theres something about that which makesme disinclined to use it again.

Making a game in 3D means that Iwould have to make human characters in3DMaxandanimatethem.Idonotpossessanimationskills,andImnotinterestedinac -quiringthem,Iwouldratherreneskillslikedrawing or texture creation which I actuallyenjoyandwishIcoulddobeer.YesIwouldbeabletoworkon texturecreationin a3Dgame, but tablets arent amazing and thegameswiththebeergraphicstendtobethe2Dones.Theycanbeincrediblybeautiful.

Ithinkthekindofgameproducedin2Dwould appeal more to my target audiencethana3Done.

I will be using Construct 2 to create thisgame. I have not used this engine before thisyear,butitappearstobeaneasytouse,welldesigned,anduserfriendlyengine.

I denetlydo notwantto use Flash, IndittoobuggyandIdonotknowwanttolearnActionScript3.C2isalsofree,uptoapoint,andtomakeademoIimagineIwillnot need to purchase the full version.

The mechanics in the game will not beoverlycomplicated,fornowatleast.Inthefuture I may try to work directly with chil-drentomakemorelevelswithdierentob -stacles.

Mydemolevelwilltakealotofinu-encefromMario,andsimilar2Dplatform-ers.Iwillintroduceseveralenemiestolevel,which must be cured of their curse.

As badas it is to say, onceI have sat

downandbeguntoplaywithC2abitmore,I will be able to see what mechanics can eas-ily be added and which will cause too muchtrouble.

I know I can look up tutorials for mostthings,butIdontthinkIlearnasmuchifmy level is bits of other peoples work puttogether; I would much rather work it all outfor myself.


22/43

Controlling the playerOne Tap WonderIn many games the player is constantlymovingthroughtheworld,onaneverend-ing quest. For most of these games there isonlyonebuonused,simplifyingthecon-trols extremely.

In Whale Trail the player taps and holdstojumpupoutoftheclouds,butitmustbe

judged right as a jump too big will result in

a loop the loop which may make you hit adark cloud. Jumping toooftenwill makeyou run out of energy.

This way of moving is suitable for aquickpaced,lineargame,partofmewon-ders if I should simplify my game to makeitworkwithjustonetap,butIdontreallywant to.

Manipulate EnvironmentAn interesting mechanic is changing the

environment,asopposedtocontrollingthecharacter.

Sprits,likeLemmings,requirestheplay-ertochangelilecreaturestohelptherest

of them reach safety. They leave their originonebyoneandwalkasfarastheycan,youmust click one and give it a job to enablethemtowalkfurther,theycanbecomevinesteps,ablowingcloud,ortheycanburrowthrough the ground. You must work quicklyto save as many Spirits as possible.

While this method of movement is cer-tainly interesting and could be used to cre-ateaninterestinggame,Ifeelitwouldbeunsuitable for mine. As you are not con-trolling the player it disconnects you fromthe world and makes you feel like more ofan observer.

On Screen JoystickTotal Recoil is a isometic game in which

you play as a soldier who collects weaponsandtoaackenemies.Ithastwojoysticks,one to control the movement of the char-acter and one to control the weapon. Thejoysticks are constantlyon screen,andarewell placed to be able to hold an iPad andcontrol it. I really like this method of con-trol,foragameofthistype,asitspeedsupaction and makes it easier for the player to

run and shoot.

ConclusionThe main things to consider when de-

ciding on what control system:

Isissuitableforthetargetaudience? Doesitworkona2Dscreen? Willitworkwithmygameidea?

I think that the best way to go is to haveavirtuald-pad,asimpliedversionofwhatappears in Total Recoil. Obvious controls aregood,toavoidanychanceofconfusion.Be-lowisanideaofwhatIwanttomake,uponasking others what they assumed the con-trolsmeant,Iwastoldbackwards/left,for-wards/right,pewpewpew,up/jump.SoIthink they got it.

I would have liked to have had just theonebuontopress,butIcouldntthinkofaway to make it work within my ideas.


23/43


24/43


25/43

Item UpgradesOne of my favourite PC games fromwhenIwaslile,Spooky Castle: The Adven-tures of Kid Mystic,usesavery simplesys-tem to upgrade weapons ect.

When an enemy is killed they dropcoins,whichyoucollectandupgradeyourhatfordefence,staforaackpower,bootsfor speed and other items for other bonuses.Thereisno eects oneach item tounder-stand,itismerelythisoneisbeerthanthatone.

Addedtothis,intheindividuallevelswithin the world the player must collectorbstobeabletoshoot,anddiamondstoim-proveit.Redmakesthemshootfaster,yel-lowreectsthemowallsandblueshootsthem in both directions. Four levels in eachworldcontainspellbooks,withspellslikeHealing,FireballandIceBlast,againself-ex -planatory and easy to understand.

Obviously the idea of collecting mon-eyandbuyingstuis not original, but Iplayed this game a lot as a child and alwaysfoundittobeniceandsimple,andeasyforkids to understand.

EspeciallyifyoucomparethistoElderScrolls V: Skyrim, where the player mustchoose from a variety of skill trees to up-grade,dependingonwhatkindofcharacterthey have. Then they can choose which perkto upgrade within that. A lot of adults andseasonedplayersndthisconfusingsoitismostdenetlynotthewaytogo.

The upgrades will not be as simple asaack,defenceetc.Theywillcontinuetoen-forcepositivefemaleroles,andusedierentwords,forexampleinsteadofupgradingat-tack,youupgradebraveryordeterminationfor defence. To upgrade the player must col-lectowersfromeachlevel,andthenvisitashop to spend it. They will have to have alltheupgradestodefeatthewizard.

UpgradesArmourofDetermination

+25DefenceBoots of Wit

+25 SpeedWand of Bravery

+25AackAmulet of Tenderness

Doubleshealth


26/43

When you start the game you canchoose from a small number of simple cus-tomisationoptions,suchselectinghairandskincolours,andchoosingacolourforthearmour. The image to the left is an exampleofhow thedierent customisations could

be portrayed..

Theplayercanchoosebetweenpale,ol-ive,yellow,ordarkbrownskin.Thisallowsthe player to make their character into dif-ferent ethnicities.

Haircolourcaneitherbeblonde,brown,ginger, black, purple, pink, or blue. Theplayer can have normal hair colours as wellassomeunnatural,becauseitsfuntohaveweirdly coloured hair.

Character Customisation


27/43

Chibi StyleChibi is a Japanese slang word for ashortpersonorchild,buthasbecomeatermused,particularlyinanime,todescribeade -formed character with an overly large headsand short limbs, making them resemblesmall children. This is often used to showexageratedemotion,likeanger,whichcan

be more easily shown on a large face thana small one. Like all anime the faces havelargeeyesandsmallnosesandmouths,alsotobeershowemotion.

This style is used by popular Facebookgame creator Zynga for their human char-acters. Zyngasgames, including Farmvilleand Castleville,arepredominatlyplayedbywomen and children and these graphics ap-peal to this audience more than they wouldto boys and men.

App developer Triniti Interactive havemade numerous games with the characters

withthe same lileface,yet theyall havetheir own personalities and roles. You cantellwhichoneis thewizard,which istheskeleton ect. Theyre kind of like those paperdollsyougetasachild,theyalllookexactly

thesame,buthavedierentoutts.Theim-ages on the left are from an app called He-roes vs Monsters.

Chibi are an appropriate style for mycharacters because they take advantageof the space allowed for them. Faces showmoreemotionthatbodies,somorecanbeexpressed in that small space.


28/43

Uniquely TexturedWhen looking at visual styles I alreadyhad an idea in mind, my research for itstretched from South Park(1997),tokidstvshow Charlie and Lola(2000),totheanima-tions created by Terry Gilliam forMonty Py-thon (1969-83).

Iwanttocreateachildishstyle,usingpaper cut outs and textures taken fromeveryday life. I spent a considerable amountof time last year recreating textures to looklife-like (wood, stone etc) and this year Iwant to try something new.

The style of South Parkiswhatrstmademethinkofdoingthis.TreyParkerandMaStonecreatedthepredesecorsto,andpilotof,theirsucessfulshowwithjustconstruc-tion paper and glue. The pilot took roughlythreemonthstocomplete,butnowanewepisode can be made in just a few days.

The cartoon uses mostly primary col-ours and geometric shapes. The child char-acters are only distinguishable by theirclothingandhats,andanyCanadiansintheshowareevenmoresimpliedandalllook

preymuchthesame.Allofthecharactersmoveinajerkyfashion,withlimitedfacialexpressions,asperthecutoutstyle.

Many non-ctional charactersthat ap-pearintheshow,likeSaddamHussein,havephotographsastheirfaces,whichmoveinasimilar way to the rest of the cast. There arealsoepisodesthatuselivefootage,suchThePandemic 2: The Startling, anepisode inse-riestwelvewhereaguinea-bee,guinea-pi-rate and guinea-saurus-rex wreck havocon the Colarado town in a Cloverfeld spoof(copying the disastor theme and handheldcamera).

Terry Gilliam, part of the legendaryMonty Pythons Flying Circus, created theiconicanimationfortheshow,usingcutouttechniques. In 1974 Gilliam took part in aBBC tv show entitled The Do-It Yourself Film

Animation Show where he gave advice on

creating cut out animation.

Hewoulduseanythinghecouldndtomaketheanimations,includingfamilypho-tos, magazines. He particularly liked old

photos, because of how the faces looked.Anythingcouldbetakenoutof context,apurfumebolecouldbecomepartofafu-turistic metropolis or a city could be placedin a cave of rocks. Photos and airbrushedimages were a preference because theycouldachievealevelofroundnessand3Dthat traditional cartoons of the time couldnot.

What appeals most to me about this styleis how childish and handmade it looks. AndI feel it is quite unique; hundreds of gamesaretryingtogetasrealisticaspossible,the8-bit revival is going strong, and preyghostly indie games pop-up frequently too.

I am positive that this games art stylewill make it stand out from the crowd.

Programs I will use: Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Illustrator


29/43


30/43

Thekingdomiswhereourstorystarts,it is supposed to look like a generic fantasyland,liketheShireinTheLordoftheRings,oraDisneycountry.

ThecastleIfoundisinFrance,andre-minds me very much of the castle in Tan-gled,andDivinitysReachinGuildWars2.Iwanttheretobelotsofowersandbrightcolours,despitethecursethisisstillislove-ly land.

IreallylikethewindmillIfound,andwouldliketoincludethatinthelevel,andmaybe a farm or barn,withhaybales andother things to navigate

It is here that the player learns the ba-sics of playing the game. They must movearound and gain courage by saving thecursedcreaturesyound.

Creatures found here Mole Hedgehog Badger Fox

World One: The Kingdom


31/43


32/43

Evolvedslightlyfromthetropicalbeachidea,partofthisworldinvolvescrossingthesea to another island. I was also thinkingof having an additional enemy in spikeythingsfoundinthesea,orjellysh.Thereare lots of beautiful plants and creatures tobefoundinthesea,allofwhicharesuscep-tible to curses.

A possible mechanic in this world is us-ingaboattooatalong,orjumpingfrom

buoy to buoy to avoid the water.

The Princess learns about as she must travels in her boat from her landto the neighbouring island.

Creatures found here Starsh Clownsh Turtle Jellysh

World Two: Across the Sea


33/43


34/43

This world is calm and serene. It is verybeautiful, and the buildings are quite or-nate. There are owing rivers, lledwithlilies and small pagodas line the banks.

Ithinkthiswillbethepreiestworld,and it is high on my list of worlds to create.I would like there to be a level within it thatisdark.Theboomimageinthelastpicturewouldbeat night, with glowing lanternsandreies,maybeChineselanternsinthe

background as well. I think it could be anincredibly beautiful level.

Here the Princess learns the value of-and calm.

Creatures found here Panda Dragon Mantis White Tiger

World Three: Eastern Lands


35/43


36/43

Here the terrain gets much more dan-gerous,thereareslipperyslopestobeawareof,andeldsoflavender,andotherotherscrub plants. There are also jets of steam andhot water that must be avoided.

This world features a typically scarycreature (a ghost) which must also be curedofitscurse,andwhichlivesinacastle.

There is also danger of snow storms and

maybe even falling trees.

Because of how dangerous and precari-ousthelandishere,thePrincessmustmas-ter her to continue

Creatures found here Bear Ghost Snow Leopard Yak

World Four: Up Into The Mountains


37/43


38/43

Misty islands that you have to jumpacross, avoiding unpredictable weatherandstormclouds,leadingtoadeepcaveinwhichthereisaerymountain,coveredinlava.

Thisisthemostdicultandscarypartof the journey, and the Princessmust becompletely if she is tonishherquest

Creatures found here Bat Lizard Troll Bear

World Five: Cave and Floating Islands


39/43


40/43

As games are constantly becoming pop-ulartoawideraudience,itisimportanttoinclude everyone in your potential audi-ence.This includesthosewhosuer fromdisabilties,andwhomaynotbeabletoplaygames normally like the average person.

Able Gamers have produced a doc-ument, discussing and listing ways thatcompanies can make their games inclusiveand suitable for all kinds of disabilities. Ive

looked at some of the things they suggestthat are relevant to my game.

Mobility - How We MoveRoughly 20% of the UK and USA are

disabled,andthreequartersofthedisabledcommunity have moderate to severe mo-bility issues, inhibiting how they are ableto play games. These mobility impairmentscanrangefromthelossofalimb,toseverespinal injuries that require eye tracking and

voice recognition software.

Level 1Remappable keysThisfeatureishighindemand,fordis -

abled and ablebodied players alike. Onlinegames, like World of Warcraft and StarWars:TheOldRepublic,havedonethisverywell,anditsimportantforthosewhodonthave the same use of their hands as others.

With modern gaming mice being abletohousedozens ofbuons aplayer withonlyonehand,forexample,wouldbeabletomapalltheirskillsontothemouse,whilealso using it to run about.

Level 2Movable/Resizable UIThose with low stamina or dexterity

need to be able to place elements of the UIin easy to reach places. While it may be hardtoimpliment,theabilitytomoveUIincreas -es fun and reduces frustration of the player.

Difficulty SettingsGames often ask use to do complicated

combinationsof actions, andsome peoplejust cant do it. They give up and get a dif-ferent game. Now if there was a easier set-ting,oriftheplayerhadtooptiontoskipareasafterfailingsomanytimes.MassEf-

Catering to Disabilities


41/43

fect 3 also gives the option of being almostinvincible so that the player can enjoy thestory without losing interest in the game.And Gears of Wars 3 even allows players toplayco-opondierentdiculties.

Sensitively SlidersFor players with strength or dexterity

problems,thisisamust.Itcanmeanplay-ersonlyhavetomovethemousealilebittomovealargedistance,andontheother

handplayerscanreducesensitivity,sothattheyhavegreater control overmovement,and broader motions will produce moreprecise actions.

Level 3Input devicesMany people with disabilities have

third party software, with voice recogni-tion, or on-screen keyboards. CivilizationV allows players to use products like this

without it interferring with the game at all.

Speed Settings Everyone works at dierent speeds,

and some people cannot process informa-

tion as quickly as others. Some games allowyou to slow it down and take it step by stepso that you can enjoy the game at your ownpace.

In My GameKey mapping is one of three must have

options,its simple, catersto a verywidegroupofpeople,andgetsthemostrequests.

Formydemo,I wouldnot beabletooerthisoption,howeverIwasoriginallygoingtousethespacebartoshoot,Iwillchange this to control. Although if I havetime,Imaylookintohavinganoptiontoplaywiththemouse,orwiththekeyboard.You could use the mouse to direct the Prin-cessabout,clicktojump,andrightclicktoshoot.

For the iPad version I will do something

similartothemakersofMunKnight.Asyou can see, they letyouresize and dragthebuonsaround,soyoucanhavethemwherever you are comfortable with them.


42/43

Theyalsogivetheoptionofaachingabluetooth controller.

Diculty and speed seings are alsosomething I could look at after I have mademydemo,butworryingaboutitnowwouldcause too much hassle.

As I was writing about this I came acrossthis image comparing how Guild Wars 2and Maple Story (with World of Warcraft

skills...) do key bindings. I would have toagree,MapleStorydoitmuchbeer.

How we seeLevel 1

Changeable Text ColoursOftencoloursassociatedwithdierent

functionsareverysimilar,ortheshadesarehard to distinguish between. Commonlyfound in MMOs are labels and text in chatthat all looks the same. Star Wars: The Old

Republic allows players to choose whichever colour they wish for text. This problemhas come about after certain colours becomeassociated with certain functions.

Changable Font SizesComputers have always had the option

tochangefontsize,butcomputergamesof-tenlackthis.Itsreallysimple,andthelackof option stops a lot of people from enjoyinggames.

Colourblind OptionsThe most frequent colour issue is the in-

abilitytodistinguishredandgreen,orblueand yellow. It is something very frequently

forgoenabout,andcanbeamajorproblemwhen an ally is marked as green and an en-emyisred,forexample.

PopCap,makerofBejeweled,havebeenincluding colour blind options long before itbecamemandatory,andtheir gamesoftenwork regardless. The gems are not only dif-ferentcolours,theyaredierentshapestoo.

Its much easier to make the marker a

dierentshapethanre-dothewholeschemeforthosewhoarecolour-blind,anditmakeseveryone feel automatically included.

Level 2

Customisable FontsPreyfontsareprey,butnoteveryone

canreadthem,anoptiontoswitchthemoutforsomethingmoreplain,likeArialwillal-low some gamers to enjoy the experiencemore as they will not be straining to read

Level 3

Text-to-SpeechIf the game could read out any text to

you,itwouldbeamazingforthosewhondithardtoread.MMOs,andcomplexRPGs,like Skyrim, have anawful lot to read insmall writing. They would do very well to


43/43

implement something like this

In My GameTo be honest I would like to avoid hav-

ingtoaddinmostoftheseoptions,pure -ly because I want to make it simple to readanyway;thegameisforkids,whohavealower reading age than adults anyway anddont neccessarily understand what coloursare associated with what yet.

I am very keen to make my game colourblindfriendly,althoughIhopemytextureswilltakecareofthat,astheywillbeclearlydierentitems.

Asfortext-to-speech,IthinkIwillin -clude an option to have any tutorial textread out aloud to the player. I dont thinkitwillbehardtoimpliment,andwillbein-valuable

I found an incredibly useful tool for col-ourblindness,ColbisColourBlindnesssim-ulator lets you see how someone with dif-ferent kinds of colour blindness sees yourgame

The images on the right show the samecolours,butviewedbypeoplewithdier-ent types of colour blindness.

[http://www.colblindor.com/cob -lis-color-blindness-simulator]

current gdd

Documents