IDEA
Mortem was inhabited with dinosaur-like creatures. Its conditions were the same as Earth, except that one side of the planet was tropical and one was ice. The creatures were able to adapt both in the cold and the hot. Their skin would change (similar to chameleon) depending on which Continent. The smaller creatures (Lux) had skin that was similar to the environment so they could blend in. Lux will change its skin to be cold on the Tropical Continent, and change its skin to be warm on the Ice Continent.
CREATURE
My favorite color scheme is the "T" one, I think the colors work well and would stand out from the environment. I would probably use "T" for when the creature is on the Ice Continent, "S" for the Tropical Continent and either "R" or "V" for night-time when it lights up.
ONE PAGE PITCH EDIT:
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 surviving life form: a large
crocodile-like creature, Lux . 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 Lux. Nova has to travel to 2 temples on Mortem
in order to destroy NOX. After completing the 2nd temple
she finds out that she is a robot that has been sent to Mortem from
earth to seek out life and to destroy NOX , so that humans can
inhabit the planet. Nova empathizes with NOX, and re-purposes it:
restore life. Nova decides to stay with NOX and Lux on the planet
that Nova gave a new name to: Vita.
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
game's art 2D, stylized. The art style of Novas Vos is cell-shaded
and abstract: Nova has limited amount of colors (cold) while the
Creature and the Environments have vibrant colors with a little more
detail, which makes Nova stand out.
TheTropical
Continent is made of waterfalls, water trees, grass, lakes and has
coral-like features.
The
ice continent is made of spikes, ice caves and ice mountains. At
night, some of the ice lights up with bright blue colors.
This
emphasizes the emptiness of life on Genesis which presents an
atmosphere of unsettling loneliness.
Genre
(Story):
Sci
Fi, Fantasy
Genre
(Game):
Adventure,
Art game, puzzle
Justification:
The
genre Sci Fi and Fantasy are associated with futuristic, alternate
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 continuously shows the player two of the main
themes of the story, loneliness and looks are decieving.
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 story (in the temples),
where what makes us human is questioned.
Gameplay
style:
side-scroller
2D, exploration, platforming and puzzle solving.
Justification:
The
side scroller view is quite far away, which 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: what makes us human, as the
puzzles are about Nova proving she is human through tasks.
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 story-line through exploration and puzzle solving. The
game-play varies from world exploration (the planet) and puzzle
solving (the temples). The player has to look after Lux, giving it
food and making sure its health doens't go down. They have to avoid
enemy plants and find ways to cross certain paths.
The
puzzles involve Nova and Lux to work together. The temples are dark,
so Lux is the only light source, the player has to navigate through
the temple telling Lux where to stand in order to see where to go
next. The puzzles inside the Tropical Continent involve the player
proving they are human through physical tasks such as lifting
objects/pushing, and finding ways to climb up certain areas, while
the puzzles inside the Ice Continent involve Nova proving she is
human through choices she has to make (you find a valuable object on
the floor, you take it for yourself or you return it to its orginal
place), the player then has to prove their choice was rightous by
being given the valuable object and then to return it.
The
player is motivated and driven through the game by exploration and
solving puzzles. There are also micro-objetcs scattered inside the
Temples but it is up to the player to find them (optional) that tell
the backstory of the planet.
Main
Character:
Name:
Nova
Age:
1
Nova
is white with a saturated colour highlighting certain aspects of her
design. She wears a helmet through most of the game, she takes it off
when she finds out she is a robot. Her design is slender, and her
most distinguishing feature is her helmet. She also has large
hand-like gloves where her missions are displayed.
Background:
Nova is the first Robot to be designed with artifical
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 she is a robot. 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
PLANET
The
planet was inhabited with large dinosaur creatures, but its
atmosphere (oxygen, water, plants) was the same as Earth's. In order
for humans to inhabit the planet, they decided to send Cloned humans
to Mortem to create a machine (NOX) that could collect the wild life
and kill off the creatures that were too dangerous for humans. The
harmless creatures were put into tubes (they were experimented on by
the cloned humans) inside NOX's arms so that when all the dangerous
creatures were wiped out, it could release them back into the wild.
One of the creatures (Lux) broke free and destroyed the lab inside
the Temple on the Tropical Continent. NOX malfunctioned and destroyed
all life on the planet. Lux stayed inside the Temple, hiding from
NOX. The cloned humans reached out for help but the humans felt that
they were expandable. The cloned humans life span was 4 years and
eventually died. Once all life was wiped out on the planet, the
humans decided to create Robots to be sent to Mortem to shut down the
machine. After many failed attempts, they created the first robot
with artifical intelligence: Nova.
THE
CONTINENTS
The
planet Mortem is small, it has a Tropical Continent and an Ice
Continent. During the day-time on the Tropical Continent, its colors
are vibrant and saturated, but at night-time its colors fade and
becomes dark. This emphazises that not everything is as it seems, as
Nova can't find any life-form on the planet. The Tropical Continent
has coral-like plants (red,pink,yellow,orange), bright pink grass and
yellow trees. Some of its land is evaluated, where certain plants
grow.
On the Ice Continent, its colors are pale and shades of
blue, but at night its colors become more saturated and vibrant.
There are also coral-like plants that grow on the Ice Continent, they
look smilar to the Tropical Continent's plants but their colors are
more purple and blue. There are sharp spikes and thin-like bridges
the player can corss. There are caves the player can go into as well
and explore (they are optional), the ice lights up in darkness in
turqiuse colors.
THE
TEMPLES
On
each continent is a Temple-like building. Each one is located at the
heart of each Continent. The Tropical Continent Temple was created by
the cloned humans (engineers) so they could make the machine, NOX.
They created a maze inside so that any creatues from the outside
could not come in. It was also enhanced later on, when NOX
malfuncioned, so that who ever enters it, has to prove they are human
by performing taks with human attributes (creating tools, strength
speed) set throughout the maze.
The
Ice Continent's Temple was created by the scientists (cloned humans)
where the wild-life was experimented on and put inside tubes for NOX.
They created a maze inside as well so that the creatures couldn't
escape. They also enhanced it later on, when NOX malfuncioned, so
that who ever enters it, has to prove they are human through choices
(proving human abilities: generosity, power, patience, helpfulness,
growth, pride and fairness) set by holograms inside the maze.
MARKETING
Games
for comparison:
Shadow
of the Colossus, Journey, No Man's Sky, Elegy for a Dead World
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 more character development
takes place, making the game's story a mix between Shadow of the
Colossus and Journey.
Back
of the Box Statements:
An
unsettling loneliness lurks the planet, Mortem.
It
is up to Nova to find life and destory a mysterious machine that
terrorrises Mortem.
Immerse
yourself in a planet full of rich and beautiful enviornments.
Solve
challenging puzzles.
Explore
to find out the truth!
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 the development of the character and her
relationship to the creature and Nova finding out she is a robot. All
of this is shown through the game, there are interactive cut-scenes
as the backstory of the planet is up to the player to find out. The
younger gamers would enjoy playing the game through the mechanics
while the aging gamers are both interested in the game mechanics and
the story aspect of the game. The micro-narrative of the backstory
would make the player play the game again to find all the clues to
find out what happened to the planet.
DEVELOPMENT
Possible
Areas for Narrative Design:
The
Key area of narrative design which should be focused on for the
development of this game is: Diegesis and supporting character. The
diegesis narrative is about the environment showing the theme of the
game: loneliness and hinting at what happened to the planet, while
the character narrative is more about Nova finding out she is a
robot.
