Game Development Proposal

GAME DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL

NARRATIVE DESIGN ELEMENT

NARRATIVE ELEMENT:

Within the overall element you have selected (from linearity, interactivity, character, diegesis,

immersion, intertextuality, emergence), what specific game mechanics or specific interactive

narrative techniques will you use?

Diegesis

CONCEPT

MECHANIC(S) USE:

For some narrative design elements a single mechanic might be enough (i.e. under diegesis, you

might utilise the single technique of world­building and develop an environment that tells story

through its physical and art design). For others, you might have multiple (say for intertextuality, you might use the narrative technique of micronarrative fragments alongside cut­scenes that evoke the conventions of a particular genre). Just remember that you have to develop concept art that illustrates your choices, so keep the scope of your design quite focused.

Physical properties/consequences/what tells me the logic of the world/the micro-narrative, what they interact with and how it tells stuff, describe the levels, jump over stuff

IMAGINATIVE IMMERSION:

The Tropical Continent has 2 different plants: one aggressive plant (enemy) and a healing plant. 
The enemy plant is called: Tutela and is a common plant, it grows more commonly near water but can be found across the Tropical Continent. The plant lives from eating insects and animals (since no animals are alive, Tutela has become smaller but can still harm Nova or Lux). The player has to navigate through the levels, avoiding the Tutela plant. If they get bitten, their health bar will go down. (Nova's health bar looks similar to a battery) Once the health bar is empty, the player will re spawn at their last checkpoint.
The healing plant is called: Sanabit and is found on evaluated land, land that is quite high. (mountains, waterfalls) and can be used for either Nova's health or Lux's. As the player progresses throughout the game, the plant will be harder to reach and will restore less health.
Both plants can be found both in the Tropical Continent and the Ice Continent. Their colors differ but their design looks the same.
As the player progresses through the game, different plants will enable different abilities. The player can collect them and give them to Lux. Some of them can help him gain strength to move certain rocks, or to restore his health. The further the player gets in the game, the more plants they will find which will enable Lux different abilities but will only last for a short amount of time. Some of those plants will come in handy when the player reaches the temples as they will make the puzzles/obstacles easier. If the player decides to not collect any plants, it will be harder for the player to navigate around the puzzles/obstacles.
Lux is a reptile creature which lights up at night (most of the creatures on the planet lit up at night as they have no night vision) and the player has to use the creature to navigate through darkness in the levels.
The temples will be dark, so the player has to tell the creature where to stand in order to navigate through. The creature will listen to Nova's commands: stop, go, come here, stand over there. When the player wants to tell Lux where to go, they can click on the creature and click anywhere on the level and enter a command.
As the player goes through the levels they will have to work together with Lux, making sure that its health bar doesn't go empty, if the health bar of Lux is empty, the player will have to restart from the last checkpoint. In the first temple, Nova will have to prove physical human abilities (tools,strength, speed) by climbing, crouching and making tools by collecting/creating certain parts in the level to create parts that will fit in missing blocks to unlock doors.
In the temple on the ice continent, Nova has to prove human abilities by showing, generosity, power, patience, helpfulness, growth, pride and fairness. There will be choices throughout the level where the player has to decide the "right" thing to do. Depending on which answer the player gives, they will have to prove it by being put in the same situation as the question. Example: You find a valuable item on the floor. A. keep it. B. return it. If the player chooses to return it, a item will appear in the level and the player has to return it to its original place, proving their choice was righteous. If the player chooses to keep it, a trap will be activated, causing the player to run away from it and starting all over again.
The machine NOX becomes active at night, it travels the same direction as the player (left to right). The player has to quickly hide from NOX (behind rocks that are scattered throughout the game) or crouch underneath land. Once the player finds Lux and travels with it, they have to make sure that the creature is out of NOX's sight as well as themselves. If NOX catches either Nova or Lux, the player has to restart from the last checkpoint (before night).

ENVIRONMENT DESIGN– MOOD/ATMOSPHERE (ART DESIGN)

In my game I will use the Environment Designs to help tell the story visually.

The Tropical Continent, is full of vibrant colors which gives the player a feeling of awe and an excitement to explore the colorful world. As night turns, all of the colors disappear, leaving the player the only light of the moon, this gives an atmosphere of unsettling loneliness, as it dawns on the player that they haven't found any life yet. Once the player finds the creature, it lights up during night, giving the player a sense of hope. The player ventures into the first temple which is dark, using the creature as their only light source, giving a mysterious atmosphere. The Creature becomes all the more important in the story as it is the only light source, and this communicated through the environment being dark, highlighting the creature.

Once the player finishes the first temple, they continue walking through the Tropical Continent, as they get closer to the Ice Continent, Ice bergs start to appear in the background. Because the ice bergs are sharp, it created a feeling of danger, setting up for a key plot point/climax.

As the player reaches the Ice Continent, it is full or sharp Ice bergs and caves that are dark. But once night dawns, the ice lights up with bright turquoise colors which are bright and colorful. At first the Ice Continent is harsh and plain but at night it becomes colorful. This foreshadows the experience the interaction with Nox, later in the game.

JUSTIFICATION

Why have you chosen these mechanics? Tell us what about them makes the kind of interactive

storytelling you have planned effective. Why are these best way to translate your linear source

narrative into a video game?

Why is the technique you picked the most important?

I like the idea of “showing but not telling” which works well for my story. The story is simple but I want the player to experience it through its art and physical design. The theme of “looks are deceiving” works the best through the art design. The player sees it more clearly.

Most games nowadays are about shooting/fighting, I want the physical design to show how you can avoid all the fighting/conflicts and still have fun playing a game through its interesting level design.

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER ELEMENTS YET TO DEVELOP:

Give a sense of the big picture and where it all fits in (eg character, is it the most important bit?) the edges of the story, cinematics etc platforming, interface Immersion or Intertextuality – talk about inspired sci fi movies/games
how these element relate to the diegesis

LINEARITY

•   The game starts with an introduction cut-scene: a spaceship crashes, Nova comes out and looks at her wrist which displays her first mission: Find Life. This is shown through Nova's movement and diegesis, when Nova looks at her wrist, a small box will appear, displaying her mission.
•   The player then explores the planet in the 2D side scrolling game, which will eventually lead them to find Lux inside a cave. A interactive cut-scene takes place, where the camera zooms out, revealing NOX traveling towards Nova and Lux. The player has to quickly hide inside the cave with Lux.
•   Inside the cave, the interactive cut-scene continues, the player controls Nova as she walks deeper inside the cave, Lux being the only light source. Lux eventually leads Nova towards a door, which is half open through the plants growing around it. Lux opens it, allowing Nova inside. Inside the cave are scribbles from the engineers that were trapped inside. 
•   The player then takes full control again, figuring out the puzzles inside, which will have small cut-scenes once the player completes a certain part, rewarding the player.
•   Once the player reaches the end of the temple, inside a lab is a switch with a diagram of NOX next to it. The player uses the switch, and the diagram of NOX lights up, one of his arms lights up in red, the player can assume from this that one of its arms has stopped working. A sudden rumble is heard, NOX has started destroying the temple. The player then has to jump and run out of the temple, and avoid NOX.
•   Once outside, another cut-scene which shows that NOX has disappeared and Day time has returned. Nova pats the creature and the player takes control again.
•   There is a short cut-scene every time NOX appears at night, the camera zooms out and the player has to hide from it. Once NOX walks past, the player can come out of hiding and continue travelling, making sure to avoid NOX along the way. (NOX travels faster than Nova)

CHARACTER

• Nova's colors are minimal, a combination of light blue, dark blue and white. This shows that Nova is "clean" and precise. The light blue gives a friendly feeling of the character but the dark blue suggests some rebellious nature to her.
• Nova's colors contrast with the Tropical Continent, which when she first lands displays that she is an "outsider".
• Once Nova reaches the Ice Continent, her colors blend in more, this shows that she has become more connected to the planet.
• Nova's relationship with Lux is shown through the imaginative immersion (their interactions with the environment and each other), Linerarity (the cut-scenes will show their development in friendship), and Diegesis (their different colors display their different personalities)

IMMERSION

• Immersion through character/environments
• The mystery of the Linearity immerses the player as they want to find out what happened, which the player can by paying attention to their surroundings 
• The character's feelings are displayed through the environments, which makes the diegesis immersive, the player can sense exactly what Nova is feeling
• The Micro-narrative immerses the player through showing but not telling  

SOURCE NARRATIVE

STRENGTHS AND ASPECTS OR ASSETS TO RETAIN:

What about the source narrative suits your chosen narrative element and mechanics?

What works – about the story – what is good

I think telling the story/mood of the game through its art design works well. The colors and designs work well within the game world.

When Nova lands on the tropical continent for the first time the background is colorful and vibrant, showing that Nova is new to the world and how she sees it through her eyes. As night turns, the environment becomes darker and more scary showing the player that not everything is as it seems. Once Nova goes inside the cave, the inside has scribbles inside which hint at a back story of the game and what happened to the planet. The temple is rusty and plants have started growing inside, this shows that the temple has been there for a while. The puzzles inside reflect how the engineers through humans work, which gives a feeling that someone has been on the plant before Nova. The Machine has bits falling off and has plants growing on it, this makes it easier to empathize with it later in the game. It's appearance is scary but the things falling off gives it the impression that it is broken.

WEAKNESS AND ASPECTS OR ASSETS TO DEVELOP:

What about the source narrative doesn’t suit your chosen element and mechanics, or will need to be given closer attention as part of your story’s conversion into interactivity?

What doesn't work – what's shit about it

I think the puzzle side of the game needs to be worked on. The idea of Nova proving she is human is difficult to show through puzzles.