Unity Game

• Game demo

• Game Tutorial

Gaming Research & Game Element Breakdown

Overall themes & Settings

• Space/Future - (Levetation, portals, sci-fi, robots)
• Jungle - (vines, trees, fruit, wild animals)
• Tomb - (bats, caves, dungeons, bones, spike pits)
• Sea - (sea creatures, waves, sharks, swimming)
• Air - (clouds, flying, balloons, birds, stars)
• Forest - (trees, clearings, bandits)
• Industrial environment - (machinery, moving  parts, molten metal

Iconic Game Characters & Game Concepts/Themes

• Tomb raider – light puzzle solving – multi paths – collect artefacts
• Mario
• Sonic – speed game
• Master Chief (e.g.) – tough military character, fighting in an alien world
• Solid Snake – espionage, hiding in the shadows, conflict avoidance, stealth
• Prince of Persia – agility, aerobatics, pole swing, wall run
• Ico / Shadow of the colossus – made up language, help 2ndary chara (Yordra)
• Monkey (Enslaved) – strong & agile
• Limbo chara – visual style – child chara – use of environ
• Crash bandicoot – 1 hit dead
• Link (Zelda)

Platforming Elements

• Treetops
• Clouds
• Metal scaffolding
• Floating islands

Climbing Elements

• Vines
• Ladders
• Hot air vents
• Trampoline
• Ropes
• Anti-gravity device
• Grapple hook
• Cannon/Launchpad
• Drawn in bridges by player

Floating/moving platforms – up/down –side/side

• Clouds
• Birds
• Teleportation pad - (space)

Bottomless pits  & instant death

• Water (can't swim) – Pirate/jungle
• Empty space, Black Hole – space/future
• Spikes – jungle/tomb
• Get eaten by a giant monster stalking you underneath the platforms – e.g tiger in a jungle/giant space worm
• Crushing gears - Industrial
• Electricity
• Spinning blade traps
• Spike pit
• Piranha infested tank

Enemies

• Wild animals
• Zombies
• Ninjas
• Mummies
• Vampires
• Native tribes people
• Shadow beings
• Aliens
• Monsters
• Elemental enemies

Weapon(s)/combat – which could be upgradable 

• Gun
• Sword
• Ratchet & Clank Weapons – e.g. tornado launcher – crazy weapons
• Jump attack
• Spin attack
• Slide attack
• Punch
• Kick
• Slingshot
• Magic power
• Axe
• Any available objects lying around – starting with wooden stick – Ico style 

The Hero - Playable Character Genres

• Female / male / unidentified
• Robot
• Soldier
• Anthropomorphic Animal
• Vehicle
• Riding a horse (SotC indirect chara control)
• Team of characters (RPG party)
• Anti-hero

Special ability / weakness of hero - balancing gameplay

• Balanced  strengths and weakness
• Acrobatic
• Strong
• Can’t swim
• 1 hit vulnerability
• Time limit element
• Super speed
• Telepathy
• racing

Initial Concept Ideas


Elemental

Earth/Air/Fire/Water – travel through different elements – transition between environments, - simple cartoonish style – gain powers to progress into different areas – use different abilities/techniques for different enemies/environments – enemies have different attacks – fire: explode, set on fire / air: blow you backwards & track you to prevent passing / earth: cause earthquakes, platforms to collapse / water: cause flood on sight, have to pass over higher platforms.  Hero takes on elements to negotiate environ ( water beats fire etc…)

Underwater Escape - Dark & Foreboding

Underwater – pipeline / Mega sunken submarine – trying to get to escape hatch – ocean floor, sea monster outside – gritty environment, possibly set in the future or an extra-terrestrial mission gone wrong.

Tomb raider style – exploration of an ancient abandoned/lost city e.g. Mayan 2012 prophecy / Egyptian tomb – underground element – enemies:  mummies/zombies/native tribes (shoot poison darts from background & can’t attack directly – puzzle solving element)

Cloud Kingdom

You’re an evil minion character tasked with causing havoc in the ultra-cutesy unicorn fluffy cloud kingdom.  – Humorous game – non typical /anti-hero


Refs








http://www.kongregate.com/games/capnbubs/drillboid
http://unity3d.com/kongregate/?utm_source=Kongregate&utm_medium=main%2Blink&utm_campaign=Kongregate%2BContest
http://www.kongregate.com/games/Chronodrax/antimatiere
http://www.kongregate.com/games/SophieHoulden/sarahs-run-preview
http://www.kongregate.com/games/limbo_cow/aurora
http://www.kongregate.com/games/uvmarko/save-toshi
http://www.kongregate.com/games/ZeroPointSoft/bullseye-interstellar-marines

Constructing the brief.

Okay guys so as you know any project needs a brief to structure and keep a project going. I've been looking at a few sites and this one was rather interesting it had a a few design briefs and a general outline so I've included the general brief and requirements but id suggest going and having a look at whats there.

Research

• Project Title, expansion of project Brief and rationale- 500 words 
• Mood boards 
• Project timetable

The section above is what we need to focus on at the moment to build a solid foundation.

Concept

• Concept sketch books- What does it look like, what is the concept? 
• Usability or game play sketch books - how is the product used? 
• Concept boards - 3 colour boards illustrating selected designs (A3 format on foam board, carefully trimmed and mounted)

Development

• Construction sketch books - what are the parts, how is is assembled, what are the functions? 
• Ergonomics- human scale or character scale if within a game. Overlaps with function- user ergonomics, usability. 
• Experimental 3D modeling- form, resolution, space envelopes- proportionate scale. 
• Preparation of branding, image maps and presentation backdrops.

Implementation

• Final Computer Model - producing design communication outcomes such as presentation boards, animations and interactive demos. 

Game Genre - Platform Games

Brainstorm - Game Genres