One Page Pitch and Target Audience Moodboard

ONE PAGE PITCH

Went over my One Page Pitch and did little fix ups where I think I could write something more clear or improve more.

Title of the Game:

Novas Vos
CONCEPT
Story Summary:

A spaceship lands on a foreign planet, and a human figure steps out. Her main mission is to find life. Nova explores the planet and after no success finally finds the last life form. At the same time a large machine roams the planet at night. Nova has to find a way to destroy the machine and decides to protect the last life form on Genesis. Nova has to travel to 2 temples on Genesis in order to destroy NOX. After completing the 2^nd temple she finds out that she is a robot that has been sent to Genesis from earth to seek out life and to destroy NOX , so that humans can inhabit the planet. Once Nova completes the mission of destroying Nox, earth sends her another task: kill the last life form. Nova defies her order and decides to stay on the planet and restore life.

Logline

A robot lands on a planet to find life, but discovers hidden secrets.

Justification

Novas Vos challenges the idea of what makes us human by showing that Nova has more humanity than mankind even though she is a robot.

GAME PILLARS

Aesthetics:

The characters in the game are simplified with minimum detail, making them contrast with the detail and depth of the environment. This emphasizes the emptiness of life on Genesis which presents an atmosphere of unsettling loneliness.

The animation style is fluid, Nova moves fast (almost robotic-like) while Nox moves very mechanically (minimal amount of movement) which is contrasted by the movement of the Creature that is very organic-like.

Genre (Story):

Sci Fi, Fantasy

Genre (Game):

Adventure, Art game, puzzle

Justification:

The genre Sci Fi and Fantasy are associated with futuristic, creative worlds/planets which fits into my story as the focus of the story is mainly the environment of the planet. The environment plays a big part of the story as it continuous shows the player one of the main themes of the story.

Adventure is the exploration part of the game (the planet). The genre Art Game fits in with the story as the game's message is strong: that mankind is losing touch of what makes us humans.

Puzzle is part of the puzzle-solving aspect of the game (in the temples).

Gameplay style:

3^rd person, exploration, platforming and puzzle solving.

Justification:

The 3^rd person view fits with my story, as the view is intended to make the player feel small on the vast planet, and to give a sense that the environment is almost more important than the characters.

Exploration part of the game gives the player a sense of excitement to explore a new planet but also a sense of loneliness as the planet is lifeless.

Puzzle solving emphasizes the theme of the game.

Platform:

PS4

Justification:

Novas Vos would be for Playstation 4, as I think the Playstation platforms have been more experimental with their games; Journey, Flower and Little Big planet. All of these are very different from the “main-stream” games. I think Sony has a good reputation and would be good for my design of a game.

Player Goals:

The player takes role of Nova. The players are trying to achieve tasks in a linear storyline through exploration and puzzle solving. The gamplay varies from open world exploration (the planet) and puzzle solving (the temples). By completing each temple the player receives new abilities which they can use in order to finish the next temple.

The player is motivated and driven through the game by exploration and solving puzzles which leads to narrative cut-scenes.

Main Character:

Name: Nova

Age: 1

Nova is white with a saturated color highlighting certain aspects of her design. She wears a helmet, but two bright blue eyes shine through the helmet. Her design is slender, and her most distinguishing feature is her helmet.

Background: Nova is the first Robot to be designed with artificial intelligence and is sent to the planet, Genesis to find life. She wakes up as she arrives on the planet.

Nova's main mission is to find life and to find a way to destroy the machine.

Nova discovers the only life form on the planet and befriends it, creating a strong bond between the two characters.

Nova is intelligent, and follows orders until her morality is questioned when she finds out that the planet's inhabitants had been wiped out by the humans she was created by. Nova is curious, strict and stern. She always wants things to go her way and gets angry if they don't, however as the player progresses through the game, Nova becomes more care-free and learns that not everything she is told is true.

The biggest challenge Nova faces is learning to follow her own “orders”, and making her own decisions.

Near the end of the game, Nova finds out that she is a robot, due to her AI she thought she was an organic life form.

Setting:

The Planet “Genesis” is small: there are only two main continents: one is tropical and the other is ice. The days/nights on the planet pass quicker as the planet's circulation is faster than earth's. The colors of both the Ice continent and the tropical one are vibrant/saturated colors. The tropical continent has warm colors (red, pink, green, yellow) while the ice continent has cold colors (white, blue, turquoise, purple) which contrasts the two.

On each continent is a temple. One of them is in the tropical continent, which was created by the engineers and shows off their personality through its environment: rusty, sand, dirt with some of the plants growing within it.

The Temple on the ice continent is frozen. The inside reflect the scientist's personality: neat, white and futuristic.

The puzzles in the Tropical Temple reflect how the engineers think humans work while the puzzles in the Ice Temple reflect how the scientists think humans work.

The Tropical continent's geological features are: waterfalls, beaches, swamps and rain forests. At night, some of the plants lit up.

The ice continent's geological features are: spikes, ice caves and ice mountains. At night, the ice lights up in vibrant colors.

The ice continent wraps around the planet (bottom and top) while the Tropical continent is in the middle of the planet, one side being hotter (rain forest, swamps). The temple is located between the hottest part of the planet and the warm part.

MARKETING

Games for comparison:

Shadow of the Colossus, Journey

Point of Difference:

In Novas Vos the player has control of the character from the start, with no real knowledge of why they are on this planet; except for one goal: find life from, similar to how Journey starts. But as the game progresses more questions are answered and more character development takes place, making the game's story a mix between Shadow of the Colossus and Journey.

Back of the Box Statements:

Experience an unforgettable journey into an abandoned planet, filled with secrets to reveal.... a story about companionship and finding your own path.

Target Demographics:

Aging Gamers, Young Adults, mid-core gamers, Aged between 13-30

Appeal:

Novas Vos is more about what the player experiences through the game, and its theme is more mature, appealing more to young adults and aging gamers. There is only the development of the character and her relationship to the creature but the how and the why of the backstory is up to the player to figure out as micro-narratives are scattered throughput the game, making it both appealing for young adults who just want to play the game and for aging gamers who want to venture deeper into the narrative of the game.

DEVELOPMENT

Possible Areas for Narrative Design:

The Key areas of narrative design which should be focused on for the development of this game are: Character and micro-narrative. The main storyline is about the relationship between the protagonist and their sidekick, and the micro-narrative is the backstory of the planet.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Worked on the Target Audience Moodboard, I had quite a bit of trouble with it but Frans helped me out heaps in terms of what I have to do for it. I recognized that most of the cartoons/movies I like all have a cartoony style but have quite a mature theme behind it.

Tropical Continent, Ice Temple (Inside) and Spaceship Moodbaords

TROPICAL CONTINENT

As I researched images, I found that most of my images that I liked all had water/waterfalls in them. I therefore decided that the "warm continent" of Genesis is going to be a swamp forest with bright colors. Similar colors of No Man's Sky and Avatar (movie). I think it could be a different take on swamps as they are associated with darkness. I think using corals as part of the swamp could be interesting as well.

INSIDE TEMPLE (ICE)

I researched images of temples in Halo and I looked at ice caves. I think the overall Temple would be quite big as the machine was created inside (and so that the creature can accompany the player). There would be areas that are completely covered with ice and some parts that are still functioning. I liked the colors of deep dark purple/blue and a very light turquoise.

SPACESHIP

I particulary like the round shapes of the spaceships (more friendly-looking). But I think combining soft and hard shapes would make it more interesting.

SPACESHIP SKETCH

I tried out applying the research I did for the moodboard to a quick sketch to see if it's working. I think I want to try out more colors and more harder shapes on the spaceship.

Ice Area Moodboard and Brainstorms

Brainstorms

• I started brainstorming a few ideas of the Planet and how it functions as well as getting into some detail for the areas of the Planet and their temples. 
• I think the main area on the planet is tropical/desert-like where one temple is located: the engineer's temple/research lab. Inside the temple is sand and the metal is rusty/machine-like. The puzzles are more based on acts the player has to do to prove they are human.
• In the ice area is another temple which is white/clean but frozen. The scientists created the temple there so the Temple reflects their personality/thinking. The puzzles inside are more to do with choices/decisions the player has to make to prove they are human.
• The machine temple is in full darkness, the player's only light is their wrist. In this there are two switches the player has to find (one in the brain) and one in the stomach. The player has to work together with the creature to reach certain areas. The puzzles inside this temple are more about solving how to get from one area to the other.

Ice Area (Planet) Moodboard

For the Ice area I was thinking it would be quite harsh in terms of shape language, contrasting the other Temple.

Planet, Creature and Machine Moodboard

MACHINE MOODBOARD

CREATURE MOODBOARD

PLANET MOODBOARD

CAMERA POV/GAMEPLAY

I like the animation style of Journey and its Art: the characters are simplified but the environments are rich and full of detail. I like the focus of the world rather than the character.

SIZE COMPARISON

In Shadow of the Colossus, the size between the Colossus and the protagonist are similar to the Sizes for Nova and Nox. I also think Nox's movement would be slow but steady.

ONE PAGE PITCH

Title of the Game:

Novas Vos
CONCEPT
Story Summary:

Earth has become overpopulated and mankind seek out a new planet to inhabit: Genesis, but it's inhabited with wildlife. Scientists and Engineers are sent to Genesis to create a Machine that will wipe out half of the wildlife on the planet: Nox. Nox malfunctions and kills all life form on the planet except for one creature.

Mankind create a robot to be sent to Genesis to seek out life, but it fails. Mankind continues to create more upgraded models, but to no success.

The player controls the first model equipped with artificial intelligence: Nova. Nova has to explore the planet and find the last creature left on Genesis and protect it. On Genesis, are the 3 temples the scientists created to make Nox, Nova travels to each one to solve their puzzles and destroy Nox. Nova then decides to stay on the planet and restore life.

Logline

A robot lands on a planet to find life, but discovers hidden secrets.

Justification

Novas Vos is more about the mood/atmosphere the player experiences while playing it. The sense of mystery keeps the player moving forward. Novas Vos has a strong message behind it and the focus of gameplay makes it interesting to play.

GAME PILLARS

Aesthetics:

The Art style of Novas Vos is similar to “Journey”, it has quite an abstract side to it; the characters are simplified with minimum detail, making them more recognizable while the environment has more detail and depth.

The animation style is fluid

Genre (Story):

Sci Fi, Fantasy

Genre (Game):

Adventure, Art game

Justification:

Novas Vos is more about the mood/atmosphere the player experiences while playing it. The sense of mystery keeps the player moving forward. Novas Vos has a strong message behind it and the focus of gameplay makes it interesting to play.

Gameplay style:

3^rd person exploration and puzzle solving.

Justification:

The 3^rd person view would be slightly further away from the character as the player can take in the environment/planet more and would be easier for the puzzle solving aspect of the game, as the environment plays a big part of the story.

Platform:

PS4

Justification:

Novas Vos would be for Playstation 4, as I think the Playstation platforms have been more experimental with their games; Journey, Flower and Little Big planet. All of these are very different from the “main-stream” games. I think Sony has a good reputation and would be good for my design of a game.

Player Goals:

The player takes role of Nova. The players are trying to achieve tasks in a linear storyline through exploration and puzzle solving. The gamplay varies from open world exploration (the planet) and puzzle solving (the temples). By completing each temple the player receives new abilities which they can use in order to finish the next temple.

Main Character:

Name: Nova

Age: 1

Nova is white with a saturated colour highlighting certain aspects of her design. She wears a helmet, but two bright blue eyes shine through the helmet. Her design is slender, and her most distinguishing feature is her helmet.

Background: Nova is the first Robot to be designed with artifical intelligence and is sent to the planet to find life. She wakes up as she arrives on the planet.

Nova's main mission is to find life and to find a way to destroy the machine.

Nova discovers the only life form on the planet and befriends it, creating a strong bond between the two characters.

Nova is intelligent, and follows orders until her morality is questioned when she finds out that the planet's inhabitants had been wiped out by the humans she was created by. Nova is curious, strict and stern. She always wants things to go her way and gets angry if they don't, however as the player progresses through the game, Nova becomes more care-free and learns that not everything she is told is true.

The biggest challenge Nova faces is learning to follow her own “orders”, and making her own decisions.

Setting:

The Setting of Novas Vos is a Planet, where all of its wildlife has been wiped out.

The colors of the planet “Genesis” is vibrant and saturated. It circulates the moon and sun faster, causing the days to be very short. On the planet, there are 3 main “temples” in which the engineers and scientists lived while they created the machine. The temples have long square-like features and have puzzles inside which the player has to figure out in order to progress in the game. The puzzles were created so that the “Machine” could not enter. All of the puzzles are created so that only “humans” can figure them out.

As the planet is so small it only has 3 different Geological Features: one is a Forest, a Desert and Tropical area. In each of these is one temple, and is designed similar to its Environment.

MARKETING

Games for comparison:

Shadow of the Colossus, Journey

Point of Differenece:

In Novas Vos the player has control of the character from the start, with no real knowledge of why they are on this planet; except for one goal: find life from, similar to how Journey starts. But as the game progresses more questions are answered and moe character development takes place, making the game's story a mix between Shadow of the Colossus and Journey.

Back of the Box Statements:

Experience an unforgettable journey into an abandoned planet, filled with secrets to reveal.... a story about companionship and finding your own path.

Target Demographics:

Aging Gamers, Young Adults, mid-core gamers

Appeal:

Novas Vos is more about what the player experiences through the game, and its theme is more mature, appealing more to young adults and aging gamers. There is only the development of the character and her relationship to the creature but the how and the why of the backstory is up to the player to figure out as micro-narratives are scattered throughout the game, making it both appealing for young adults who just want to play the game and for aging gamers who want to venture deeper into the narrative of the game.

DEVELOPMENT

Possible Areas for Narrative Design:

The Key areas of narrative design which should be focused on for the development of this game are: Character and micro-narrative. The main storyline is about the relationship between the protagonist and their sidekick, and the micro-narrative is the backstory of the planet.

STORY/GAMEPLAY IN DETAIL

START:

A spaceship lands on a vibrant planet, a female figure steps out of the Spaceship and looks at her wrist where her main mission is displayed: Find life. The player then takes control of Nova, and searches the planet to find life. Once the player figures out the controls (jump, walk, run, hover boost) and explores the planet for a bit, strange shadow figures start to appear that run away when the player comes near them. The shadows always run towards a specific/same direction. The player then can choose to follow where the run or to continue to explore the planet. If the player chooses to follow the shadows, they lead them to a cave-like structure where they find the only life-form on the planet. A cut-scene takes place where the creature is aggressive towards Nova, but night strikes and the creature quickly goes back into its cave. The player hears loud stomps and sees two bright spotlights in the distance. Nova looks towards the cave hesitantly but joins the creature inside the cave. Inside, Nova's wrist lights up and shows new words glowing on it: destroy Nox. The cut-scene ends and the player ventures deeper into the cave, with their only light: the wrist light. The creature follows the player hesitantly, keeping their distance. If the player turns and goes towards the creature, it becomes aggressive and hisses. This way the player can't go back out the other way of the cave as the creature blocks it and is forced to go deeper into the darkness. The inside of the cave starts to become more mankind-structured: white clean, with strange scribblings on it: “we are trapped”, “error”, “My name is Henrick, my name is Henrick...”.

When the player reaches the end of the cave, they find a large white door. -insert cool puzzle here-

The player enters a large facility-like structure. There are stairs that lead up to the 2^nd floor, but th eplayer has to figure out how to get up there. The player always has to ensure that nothing happens to the creature. Most of the puzzles invole Nova and the creature working together.

Once the player reaches the 2^nd Floor, the next set of puzzles are more riddles that can only be solved by “humans”.

When the player reaches the 3^rd level, they discover that in order to destroy Nox they have to find the other 2 temples scattered on the planet and complete them. Once they are completed, the temple tumble and the player has to quickly escape them by riding on the creature.

Moodboards and One Page Pitch

NOVA MOODBOARD
Went over the Moodboards I started yesterday and refined them. I put them in the different sections according to the Brief. I feel like this helps me a lot for figuring out Nova's appearance and personality.

Title of the Game:

Novas Vos
CONCEPT
Story Summary:

In the universe of Nova Vos, Earth has become overpopulated and mankind seek out a new planet to inhabit: Genesis. This planet is inhabited with wildlife. Mankind sends scientists and engineers to Genesis to create a machine that will wipe out half of the planet's wildlife, so that humans can inhabit it. The machine: Nox malfunctions and destorys all life on the planet; the scientists and engineers seek out help from earth but receive none. All life is destroyed on the planet, except for one.

Mankind on Earth create a robot that is sent to Genesis to seek out life and to destroy the machine: Nox. The robot fails and mankind continues to create replacements that are more upgraded/advanced than the previous models. The player controlls the first model equipped with artifical intelligence: Nova.

The player has to explore the planet to find life and to find a way to destroy Nox. Throughout the game the player eventually finds the only life form on the planet and has to protect it from Nox. The player has to find all 5 temples in which they find switches to complete the mission and turn the machine off.

Logline

An robot lands on a planet to find life, but discovers hidden secrets.

Justification

Novas Vos is more about the mood/atmosphere the player experiences while playing it. The sense of mystery keeps the player moving forward. Novas Vos has a strong message behind it and the focus of gameplay makes it interesting to play.

GAME PILLARS

Aethetics:

The Art style of Novas Vos is similar to “Journey”, it has quite an abstract side to it; the characters are simplified with minimum detail, making them more recognizable while the environemnt has more detail and depth.

Genre (Story):

Sci Fi, Fantasy

Genre (Game):

Adventure, Art game

Justification:

Novas Vos is more about the mood/atmosphere the player experiences while playing it. The sense of mystery keeps the player moving forward. Novas Vos has a strong message behind it and the focus of gameplay makes it interesting to play.

Gameplay style:

3^rd person exploration and puzzle solving.

Justification:

The 3^rd person view would be slighty further away from the character as the player can take in the environment/planet more and would be easier for the puzzle solving aspect of the game, as the environment plays a big part of the story.

Platform:

PS4

Justification:

Novas Vos would be for Playstation 4, as I think the Playstation platforms have been more experimental with their games; Journey, Flower and Little Big planet. All of these are very different from the “main-stream” games. I think Sony has a good reputation and would be good for my design of a game.

Player Goals:

The player takes role of Nova. The players are trying to achieve tasks in a linear storyline through exploration and puzzle solving. The gamplay varies from open world exploration (the planet) and puzzle solving (the temples). By completing each temple the player receives new abilities which they can use in order to finish each temple.

Main Character:

Name: Nova

Age: 1

Background: Nova is the first Robot to be designed with artifical intelligence and is sent to the planet to find life. She wakes up as she arrives on the planet.

Nova's main mission is to find life and to find a way to destroy the machine.

There is the creaure that Nova has a strong relationship, they become “friends” throughout the story and create a strong bond.

Setting:

The Setting of Novas Vos is a Planet, where all of its wildlife has been wiped out. The planet is colorfull and small. It circulates the moon and sun faster, causing the days to be very short. On the planet are 4 main “temples” in which the engineers and scientists lived while they created the machine. The temples have long square-like features and have puzzles inside which the player has to figure out in order to progress in the game. The puzzles were created so that the “Machine” could not enter. All of the puzzles are created so that only “humans” can figure them out.

MARKETING

Games for comparison:

Shadow of the Colossus, Journey

Point of Differenece:

In Novas Vos it is both story and exploration driven, a mix between Journey and Shadow of the Colossus.

Back of the Box Statements:

Experience an unforgettable journey into an abandoned planet, filled with secrets to reveal.... a story about companionship and finding your own parh.

Target Demographics:

Appeal:

DEVELOPMENT

Possible Areas for Narrative Design:

Mooboards

MOODBOARDS
I looked at Moodboards for the creature design and Robot designs.
I tried to narrow it down and write what I liked about each design and why I want to use it.

Styles

Styles
I tested some styles for some character sketches. I'm not too sure if I want to go for realism or simplistic or something between the two. I like the idea of the simple as the character can be more iconic but I also like the detail in some sci fi games (Mass Effect).
I tried out simplifying the helmet and trying to come up with an interesting shape for the body. I also tried out combing pink and blue to give it a unique look.

Moodboards and Influential Games

GAME INFLUENCES
I looked at all the games I like and identified what I like about them

REASON:

Why create this game? What is special, exciting or fun about it?

Novas Vos is more about the mood/atmosphere the player experiences while playing it. The sense of mystery keeps the player moving forward. Novas Vos has a strong message behind it and the focus of gameplay makes it interesting to play. It has a strong sense of exploration why allows the player a lot of freedom.

 Influential games: Include screenshots of similar games you could use for ideas/reference while designing the game further (5 minimum). Annotate your screenshots with reasons why they are interesting and will be useful (key features, gameplay, look, layout, controls, etc.).

Target audience

Who is your target audience and how will your concept appeal to them?

DEMOGRAPHIC

Provide information on your target market’s age group, gender, income bracket and consumer behaviour.

I looked at the topics of my game and found that in the “Sci-fi” action, adventure, RPG, simulation and strategy are to be expected to be very good within the game. The audience would be between everyone and mature. PS4 seems to suit the same audience as well.

My Target audience is “Mid-core”, my game doesn't have a complicated narrative so the player doesn't need to invest too much into it. There are micro-narratives to be found throughout the world, and little quests the player can do, but the overall gameplay of the game is simple. The story of the game is deep but the gameplay/cutscenes are short, making it accessible for “Mid-core” players.

My target audience's age group is between 13-35, the gameplay itself is simple and suited for young adults but the art/theme behind it is more for the “aging gamers” who enjoy the depth of the story.

The gender of my target audience is male and female, as the gameplay of the game doesn't evolve any “shooting” or much violence. I believe both genders would be suited as the game does have a strong sense of story later on in the game which intrests both genders, although I would think female would be perhabs 40% and male 60%. Male gamers aged between 20-35 like games like: shooters, racing action RPG, card battle and strategy. Female gamers aged between 20-35 like games like: Endless/Runner, Brain/Quiz and Mgmt/Sim.

 Moodboard: Put together a moodboard that illustrates the interests, behaviour, and visual personality of your target market (this will help inform the look and feel of your designs to ensure they remain appealing to your target audience).

4. Game platform(s)

Will your game be built for Wii, Xbox, PlayStation, PC, iOS, mobile device, etc?

Novas Vos would be for Playstation 4, as I think the Playstation platforms have been more experimental with their games; Journey, Flower and Little Big planet. All of these are very different from the “main-stream” games. I think Sony has a good reputation and would be good for my design of a game.

5. Aesthetics & planning

Plan the look and feel of your game using the following subheadings:

AIMS:

What look and feel will appeal to your target audience? (you can update this section as you work on your moodboards and concept designs, but it is best to start with a focussed idea first)

In the Adventure genre AI doesn't seem to be too important which fits with my game as there are only a small amount of characters.

LIMITATIONS:

What are the graphical limitations of the platform you are developing for? What style of art will work best considering the maximum size, resolution and processing speed of your intended platform? You must research and define the pixel dimensions and resolution of your target platform(s).

The graphical limitations of PS4 is semi-custom AMD APU of x86-64 with 8 Jaguar cores and a GPU of 1.84 TFLOPS, it also features 8 GB od GSSR5 memory and built-in hard drive. Most of the games that have come out for PS4 are pushing their graphics to be almost as high as the console. Novas Vos would use 1080p and 60 frames per second.

MOODBOARDS

Mood/Atmosphere

MOOD/ATMOSPHERE
I looked at a a couple of games that share a certain atmosphere and mood in them. I like the mood in Journey and Flower. I like the idea of a game that is peaceful and celebrates life instead of destruction.


SUMMARY OF NOVA VOS
I tried to summarize the gameplay and story of Nova Vos. It's hard...

In Nova Vos, the player takes role of a figure in a spacesuit on an unknown planet. After an introductory cut-scene, the player is shown a beautiful planet where a spaceship suddenly crashes. The player takes control of the figure in a spacesuit called: Nova. Nova jumps out of the spaceship and looks at her wrist revealing the main mission of the game: Find Life. The player's role is then to explore the planet and find life form. As the game progresses, strange shadow figures point the player towards a direction. It leads them towards a cave where the player finds the first life form on the planet. The creature is aggressive and won't let the player near it, but loud stomps in the distance frighten it, making it returns to its cave. The stomps come closer and the player has to quickly run into the cave, giving them a small glimpse at a large figure with spotlights.

Once in the cave, the player teams up with the Creature and have to explore the cave. Inside is a large door which the player has to find a way to open, which leads them into a large temple where more puzzles await. Once the player reaches the end of the temple, they have to find the other 4 Temples in order to destroy the large shadow figure which is a Machine that roams the planet at night. It is up to the player which temple they want to find first and can play them in different order. In each temple there is a body with the same spacesuit as Nova but its head is missing. Once the 3^rd temple is found, the player finds a body with the helmet still on.

STORY

The main character of the story is a female robot, who crashes on a planet with the mission to find life form.

The main focus of the experience is world exploration and narrative, the player is meant to have a lot of freedom at the start of the game and just explore the planet. As the player gets deeper in the game more hints at story are presented which keep the player playing to find out more.

The game starts off with the protagonist (female main character, NOVA) crashing on a planet. The player then takes full control; Nova's main mission is to find life form. Nova has a sensor detect life from, so if the player gets close to one it will 'beep'. However, the sensor sometimes detects life where there is none, shadows appear on the ground and run away and the player has to follow them. The day and nights on the planet draw quickly, as the planet's circulation is faster than on earth. The shadows lead the player to a cave where they find a life form. Nova takes off her helmet in a friendly gesture but the creature gets aggressive and won't let the player near it. Nova quickly puts on her helmet again. (this is all out of view for the player so they don't get to see her face). Night strikes and loud stomps are heard in the distance. The creature whimpers and quickly hides in its cave. A large black machine-like creature with spotlights as eyes circles the planet. The player then has to quickly hide with the creature in the cave. Inide the cave, Nova has to gather wood to make a fire. When the fire is lit, it illuminates markings inside the cave, showing that humans have been on the planet. The player and the creature venture deeper inside the cave until they arrive at a large door where the player has to figure out the puzzle in order to open it. Once it is opened more puzzles await the player inside a large temple. The player has to jump onto things and always make sure that nothing happens to the creature they are travelling with. Once the player reaches the end of the temple, they find a large switch with a note attached to it: find all 5 temples. The player activates the switch which causes the temple to fall apart. The player has to quickly escape the temple with its new sidekick. Once outside, the player has a new task: to find all 5 temples. Nova takes off her helmet and the creature doesn't budge this time, showing that it trusts her now. Nova's fave is revealed to the player: a bald young woman. The player then has to explore the planet and hide away at night when the machine comes and find all 5 temples. Throughout the planet, there are spaceships scattered, which if the player finds them, reveal that they all look the same as Nova's spaceship. As the player progresses through each temple, more things will be revealed; there is the body of the pilot hidden in every temple, they all wear the same outfit as Nova and have a micro-chip, the player has to collect all of them to find out the backstory, but their heads are missing. The player can choose to which temple they want to go first, it doesn't matter in which order they play in. When the player reaches the fourth one, they find another pilot body, but with its head still attached. Nova decides to take off their helmet; it reveals the same face as Nova's. Nova sees that she was looking at something. Nova traces her look and sees a drawing of the machine; the last temple. The player then has to wait till night to search for the Machine and find a way inside it. Once the player is inside, more clever puzzles await and once the player reaches the end of the temple, they are presented with the last pilot body. The player collects the last micro-chip and takes off their helmet. Nova puts the micro-chip at the back of her neck, it reveals the backstory: The Earth had become too overpopulated that mankind seek out a new planet to move to. They found this one. There were too many animals living on it so they send out engineers and scientists to create a machine that would destroy half of the planet's population so that mankind could move there. The machine started to malfunction and destroyed all the life form on the planet, the scientists and engineers quickly realized and send out help to earth, no response came back. They lost all hope and were killed by the machine.

Nova then activates the last switch and the machine dies. Nova comes out of the machine with her sidekick and looks at her wrist; bush button if life found. Nova smiles and turns away from it, towards her friend. The creatures eggs hatch and the flowers start to bloom.

GAME ENTITIES

Who or what populates your game? E.g. player characters, non-player characters, monsters, enemies, etc. Descriptions of a minimum of 3 game entities must be provided unless otherwise agreed upon with your lecturer.

The player character is Nova: a robot with artifical intelligence who is send from earth to destroy the machine and find life on the planet Genesis.

The enemy of the game is Nox: a machine created by mankind, that roams the planet at night, seeking out life to destroy.

The non-player character is a creature that is the only life form left on the planet and the player has to keep it safe.

GAME GOALS

What/who do the players control? What are players trying to achieve? What do they do? What are the major challenges?

The player takes role of Nova. The players are trying to achieve tasks in a linear storyline through exploration and puzzle solving. The gamplay varies from open world exploration (the planet) and puzzle solving (the temples). By completing each temple the player receives new abilities which they can use in order to finish each temple.

The major challenges are finding the temples through exploration, figuring out the puzzles inside the temples and to keep the creature alive.

REASON:

Why create this game? What is special, exciting or fun about it?

Novas Vos is more about the mood/atmosphere the player experiences while playing it. The sense of mystery keeps the player moving forward. Novas Vos has a strong message behind it and the focus of gameplay makes it interesting to play. It has a strong sense of exploration why allows the player a lot of freedom.

 Influential games: Include screenshots of similar games you could use for ideas/reference while designing the game further (5 minimum). Annotate your screenshots with reasons why they are interesting and will be useful (key features, gameplay, look, layout, controls, etc.).

No Man's Sky, Uncharted, Red Dead Redemption, Journey, Zelda