Too Verbose

I've been trying to work on a succinct description of this game concept. This is proving to be difficult, it requires a fair amount of explaining if you don't have pictures. (I tried it out)

The game world is full of light and shadow, the player has the ability to walk across pathways created by cast shadows. Each level will involve the player manipulating light and shadow to get to the exit.

I need to condense this into 1-2 sentences that use descriptive adjectives and describes the aesthetic and mood. Okay, a flip through the thesaurus yields us this:

- intriguing
- captivating
- fascinating
- stimulating
- absorbing
- compelling

- curious
- inquisitive
- exploratory

- relaxing
- serene
- calm
- composed

- meditative
- reflective
- contemplative

- ambient
- moody

Is the game concept anything of these? Its aesthetics's still being decided, I know it's going to pixellated but the exact colours? How far can you use "atmospheric" to describe games with limited colour palettes? Or games that have a certain "feel" about them? Take games like Aether, Small Worlds, Redder or Colour my Heart.

Can't think of anything else to write, I'll come back to this later.

Living Shadows

Although it hasn't been confirmed what game concept Button Bash is going to be doing but I'd thought I look at games that have a) similar mechanic or b)similar themes. Prepare yourselves, it may appear that you are suffering double vision. Do not adjust your sets, this is perfectly normal. Sadly, this is not the Twilight Zone, spooky twins and bus shredding gremlins aren't on the menu tonight.

Living Shadows via TvTropes has a long list of pop culture works where shadows come to life. Or try Alternate Universes or Mirror Universes. Evil goatee anyone?

Sean Howard outlines how dual/shadow world works with simple game mechanics in this concept about negative space.

Here's a rundown if you're not going to read it:
- Monochromatic world (Black & White)
- Use of negative space (Will the light worlder go up a shadow ladder or will they just pass by?)
- Actions affect both world (If I nuke the toaster in the shadow world, your kitchen will not be the same in the light world)

I'm pretty sure everyone's had this idea, it almost a trope. The main question is can we design a concept that uses these basics and still surprise people with them?

Poto & Cabenga by Honeyslug


Dual screen action with two strange little characters. The only button you need is [SPACE], but pressing and releasing it does cause each character to react in a different way. Releasing [SPACE] makes the horse jump, while hitting it makes the orange guy jump. Quick reflexes are necessary.

Obviously my original game concept did get some influence from here but I'm not sure how an evolved version is going to pan out.

The Forest Temple by Oslo Albet

The goal of this game is guide Fireboy and Watergirl through the temple and collect what treasures you can. WASD system controls Watergirl while Fireboy's got the arrow keys. This can be confusing unless you're brainy enough to play with a friend.

Trine by Frozenbyte


A thief, wizard and a knight get involved with a magic crystal and now share the same body. You can switch between the three to get around the game world. Each character has special abilities that give the player a variety of solutions to getting around the world.

Monochro Observer by Tatsuya Koyama



Black and white world where two characters share a common goal of getting to a shiny vortex. You swap between the two as you clear or create blocks so they can reach the goal.

Yin Yang by Nitrome

Another one where you flip between the two characters and their worlds to get to a common goal. Of course, these smiling imps need to help each other to get to the flags. In this game, characters can link worlds by moving crates, which can help bridge gaps to make reaching goals possible.


Common themes and mechanics of these games:
- Characters have common goals (reach same place or points)
- Flipping/switching between characters
-Characters have to help each other (if I pull this lever, it will open a door for my partner)
- Both worlds offer similar experience (eg. same number of obstacles that may not have the same placement)
- Characters may have different abilities (not applicable for all games)

Is it design suicide to be looking at these games?

Button Bashers

Pretty excited, since the final project for Critical Games Design is about conceptualising an idea into something tangible.(Tangible in a digital environment for my particular group)

After much heated debating and a intense straw drawing contest, I give you Button Bash, the group I'm working in. (Excuse the name, it's like having two guys in the same room who are called Steve and Steven)

The Team:
Ryan as Sound and Level Designer
Anderson as Programmer
Nick as Artist and Animator
Myself as Lead Designer/Project Manager

The exact details of our project is to be confirmed but I'm hopeful that it will be an evolved version of this. (Don't press B to stop evolution, it's counter-productive)



Changes are starting up on a narrative and mechanics. I'm pretty sure what's coming up will be a different sheep all together. I'm still going to make the original version but consider this to be it's cousin who's parents can afford to feed it hamburgers.

Currently we'll be working on getting the blog started, work flow sorted and nutting out the idea. Forsooth and henceforth! (Yes, I know I've used the words incorrectly but they sound fun and roll off my tongue)

Hard-Boiled: Rebirthed

Here's some mock-ups of how I'd like to re-imagine "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" as an art game. If I'm lucky I can get this to be prototyped either as the next assignment or on my own. We'll see.

Hard-Boiled: Autopsy Report

Taking me way too long to get stuff written for this essay so here's some notes that are supposed to help me write it. Got a long way to go.

Novel Elements [I've probably missed the point on these so feel free to correct me]
- parallel stories which are interlinked
- alternate chapters
- unnamed protagonist (is the reader projected onto this character?)
- Indirect/Atypical approach to hero's journey

Core concepts of novel
- Identity
- Self (mind?)
- Use of conscious & subconscious mind

Story breakdowns:

Hard-Boiled Wonderland
Hero:
Unnamed Protagonist

Job/Special Skills:
Calcutec, human data encryption device

Setting:
Retro-futuristic Tokyo

Common item:
Unicorn skull as prop

Love interest:
Librarian as love interest

Guide/Mentor:
Guidance from old scientist and granddaughter

Enemies:
- Semiotics & Factory
- System
- INKlings
- Thugs (Junior & Big Boy)

Goal:
- Solve mystery surrounding current assignment (?)
- Not get killed (assumed goal)

Are the narratives linked: Unaware of existence of other until revealed to protagonist

The End of the World
Hero:
Unnamed Protagonist

Job/Special Skills:
Dreamreader, reads dreams from unicorn skulls

Setting:
Isolated walled town

Common Item:
- Unicorns, part of town
- Unicorn skulls part of 'dream reading'

Love Interest:
Librarian who main character forms relationship with

Guide/Mentor:
- Shadow (Provides objectives)
- Gatekeeper (Gives character job)

Enemies:
- Shadow (does provide conflict)
- Gatekeeper (enforces Town rules)
- Time (period of time to complete objectives)
- Woods & Woodfolk

Goal:
- Escape from Town(Shadow's goal)
- Find out about Town (Narrator)
- Keep grasp of mind (Narrator)

Linked to other narrative:
- Cannot remember past life (other self)
- At times memories from concious self make protagonist more aware

Game Design
This is just some notes on if I think the game is or isn't resistant to becoming a game.

Pros
- Interesting story & concepts
- Mixture of genres
- Exciting world(s)
- Subtle clues/links between stories
- Locations inspiring
- Potential for themes/concepts be explored in game
- Follows Campbell's hero's journey
- Atypical narrative
- Player/reader free to decide how story is told/read
- Can have replay value (dependant on point above)
- Games with similar themes have been made

Cons
- Story can be confusing
- Alternate stories quite different
- World(s) too unfamiliar to player
- Difficult to tie together graphically
- Links need to be made by reader/player
- Hard to explain
- Reader can't relate to characters (debatable)
- Ending up to reader's interpretation
- Ties to hero's journey not clear (atypical)
- Goals unclear
- Can't "win" game
- Replayable?
- Fun?
- Novel targets particular audience (intellectual)

Hard-Boiled - Witness Statements

It takes me ten minutes to explain the plot of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. It takes this guy about 1 minute to do it.



Via Tv Tropes,we have a list of elements that are in the novel. [Contains spoilers]

• Big Eater: The librarian in Hard Boiled Wonderland is a thin woman who seems to always be hungry.


• Cyberpunk: Hard-Boiled Wonderland


• Downer Ending


• Empty Shell: The citizens of the town at the End of the World are basically this, and it is implied that the narrator will become like this once his shadow dies and he is fully assimilated into the town.


• Epiphanic Prison: The End of the World (To escape the prison set out by the story, the character has to have a moment of realisation(epiphany))


• Fate Worse Than Death: What will happen to the narrator at the end after his mind self-destructs.


• Identity Amnesia: The narrator of The End of the World can't remember anything about himself before coming to the town.


• Living Shadow: The narrator of The End of the World has been seperated from his shadow, which seems to have a mind of its own and which desires to get inside the town so that it can reunite with him.


• Loss Of Identity: A major theme


• Mind Screw (You're going to be thinking Mind Fuck while they mean use of heavy symbolism)


• Nameless Narrative: None of the characters in the book have names.


• Neuro Vault: The protagonist of Hard-Boiled Wonderland has top secret data hidden inside his subconscious to prevent the anti-government Semiotecs from getting at it.


• Ontological Mystery (Here they mean characters in a story who have no idea to their identity, purpose and are in a restricted environment.)


• Those Two Bad Guys: Two thugs show up at the narrator's home in Hard-Boiled Wonderland and trash it, but their purpose is unknown.


• Two Lines No Waiting (Two narrative threads that are interwoven)


• Unicorn: At the End of the World, there are beasts living outside the town that are described as unicorns, although they are quite different than the traditional description. The narrator uses their skulls for "dreamreading". The narrator of Hard-Boiled Wonderland also encounters a unicorn skull at one point.

Type 311 - Fitcher's Bird

Task for this week is to pick:
a) Fairy Tale
b) Genre
c) Artist
With their powers combined, I should have a game concept with just about everything nutted out.

your concept should include:

* core value
* overall goal
* genre and player activities / encounters etc
* aesthetic / mood / emotion

Combining Fitcher's Bird, action adventure games and the art of William Blake, I bring you Type 311-Fitcher's Bird.

Background:
Fitcher's Bird classed as an AT 311 – The giant and the three sisters, if you're into the ATU system of categorising fairy tales. It is also referred to as "The heroine who save her sisters and herself".

Core Values:
AT-311's are tales of keeping promises, loyalty, trickery and breaking cycles. In these stories, the heroine saves herself and her sisters from the supernatural menace. (how's that for empowerment?)

Common Elements:
- Supernatural (powerful) antagonist
- 3 sisters/women
- Punishment for breaking promises
- Outwitting of the villain

Protagonists:
Heroine - Youngest sister who discovers the sorcerer's ghastly secret and manages to avoid getting killed herself. She uses her wit to rescue herself and others from the sorcerer's house.

Sorcerer - Routinely disguises himself and kidnaps young women.

Sisters/Victims - Other girls who were previous victims of the sorcerer. The heroine is able to bring them back to life in the course of the story.

Adaption:
Type 311 is a action adventure game that also touches on suvival horror. The player is given the role of an investigative reporter who becomes involved in the mystery behind a serial killer known as Fitcher. During the course of the investigation, the player is transported to a strange world (killer's psyche) where the killer and his victims are trapped.


Above: Concept of typical game screen

Goal:
The goal of the game is to escape from the strange world and solve the mystery behind the killer's motives. This investigation forms the main quest of the game, sub quests take the form of freeing other victims from the horror of their deaths.

Player Activities:
The player solves the mysteries by exploring and interacting with the world. By finding and using items that will help the player or other characters. The player has to run to avoid encountering dangerous monsters (extensions of the killer's mind) and try to stay sane in an every changing environment.

Solving the killer's motives and freeing the victims involves the player asking characters questions and finding clues which the player will need to string together to form useable information. [Diagram pending]

Aesthetic:
Inspired by William Blake's paintings, the aesthetic is used to convey the dangerous supernatural world that the characters(and player) find themselves in. The game world uses imagery from Blake's paintings to represent the killer, his world and how he sees his victims.


Above: The Gates of Hell

Above: The Ghost of a Flea

Mood:
Using Blake's art as a means of capturing the madness of the killer's mind, the game's asethic is used to illustrate the "demons" that the killer has transformed himself and his victims into.


Above: Encounter with killer(sorcerer) conceptual drawing


Above: Environment concept