RECORDINGS
I did some planning for the what I want to say in the Trailer.
PROPOSAL TEMPLATE
I continued to work on my Proposal Template, I checked with Eleanor as well to make sure I was on the right track.
GAME
DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL: FEATURES AND DEVELOPMENT
CORE
RESEARCH:
Choose
3 game engines
as candidates for use in your project
and describe each of these options, presenting their features,
advantages and disadvantages. Write one paragraph about each engine.
Unreal
Engine
Unreal
allows releases on many different platforms (PC, Playstaion, Xbox,
Wii U) and also works with platform holders such as PlayStation and
Xbox. This would allow Novas Vos to be released on differnet
platforms. (PC and Playstation).
The
reviews are mostly positive for Unreal Engine, ranging it from 8-10.
Odd one or two bad reviews.
Unreal
Engine features DirectX 11 & 12 Rendering Features, Cascade
Visual Effects, New Material Pipeline, Blueprint Visual Scripting,
Content Browser, Persona Animation, Matinee Cinematics, terrain &
Folliage and Post-Process Effects.
The
advantages of the Unreal Engine is its integration with more than a
dozen industry-leading middleware-technologies.
The
disadvantage is that Unreal Engine is widely used for 3D games,
however 2D games such as Braid were custom made, making the Unreal
engine an overkill as 2D games are much more simple than 3D games. On
the Unreal Engine Website's showcase for Games, all of the games were
3D, not one 2D. Unreal Engine is more for 3D game makers not 2D game
makers. Free to use but the maker has to pay 5% royalty when they
ship their game.
Construct
2
Construct
2 has no coding.
Construct
2 features advanced rendering effects such as skew, motion blur and
bumpmapping, physics behavior to add realistic physics simulations to
objects, bone animation system for ultra smooth animations (beta),
debugger to view
the
game internal state while playing, embedded
Python scripts for faster advanced processing, and 3D features such
as the 3D box object, and 3D mesh distortion on sprites to elevate or
move a grid of points across its image.
The
advantages of Construct 2 is that it allows designers and artists to
produce games without having to learn coding.
However
the disadvantges of Construct 2 is that it might be too simple to
create games, and more advanced games are more diffucult to make with
this engine.
Unity
Unity
features Royalty-free, all platforms (limitations apply) for the
Personal Edition whereas in the Professional Edition, it features
Unity Cloud Build Pro – 12 Months, Unity Analystic Pro, Team
License, Prioritized bug handling, Game Performance Reporting, Beta
access and Unlimited Revenue.
In
the earlier versions of Unity, most 2D games were created for Mobile
games due to its lower graphical capabilities. However due to its
more recent updates there have been many more advanced 2D games such
as “Cuphead”,
“Jotun” and“Elegy
for a Dead World”
(which were both funded by Kickstarter) and “Ori
and the Blind Forest”.
One
of the disadvantages of Unity is that if the game made in personal
Edition exceeds a total of $1000,000 the maker has to buy the Unity 5
Professional Edition. Unity is also heavy, it takes a lot of space on
the HDD.
SELECTED
ENGINE:
What
engine have you selected for your game’s development?
UNITY
JUSTIFICATION
Justify
in 100-200 words your choice of this engine as most appropriate for
your project, discussing your game’s needs in specific detail.
Unity
allows 2D physics, allowing to have different layers for the
backgrounds (which I would need for my game). Objects (sprites)
within a scene are easy to move, allowing the levels to be complex.
Unity not only involves coding but some of it can be done through
Unity itself, which makes moving or scaling an object easier. Novas
Vos would be mostly traditionally animated (No Riggs!), so being
able to import images and Unity allows Automatic Sprite Animation,
allowing the importation of finished png sequences into the engine.
Unity is multi-platform, allowing Novas Vos to be released
both on PC and Playstation.
Unity
has a good reputation of 2D games, most of the more successful and
well-known 2D games were made with Unity. “Elegy for a Dead
World” was one of the inspirations for Novas Vos which
was made in Unity.
ANALYSIS
FEATURES
What
are the most prominent features or strengths of your chosen engine?
One
of the most prominent features of Unity is the 2D physics and
graphical capabilities. Unity has multi-platforms, allowing Novas Vos
to be released on several different platforms.
RISKS/LIMITATIONS
What
could still be a limitation or risk with using this engine? For
example: Is the engine free? If you are planning to use a free
version, does it have any limitations? Is it royalty-free? Does it
support the workflows you might be using in your production?
One
of the risks of Unity is that if Novas Vos were to make more
than $100,000, I would need to purchase the Professional version of
Unity, which would take away from the money funded. The only
limitations of Unity for the Personal Edition are the “unlimited
revenue and funding” and “premium support” which might help out
creating the game.
IMPORTANT
MECHANICS
What
is unique about the game mechanics used in your game? Is it its
puzzles? Is it the way your characters move/fly/teleport? Is it your
dialogue system? Describe in a couple of sentences.
Puzzle-solving
in Novas Vos requires the player to make correct decisions based on
Moral to progress the game. The player is then required to carry out
the decision they committed to. If the player chooses wrong, they are
sent back to the start of the level by a trap.
Throughout
the game the player will have to look after their companion Lux. They
will be required to feed it and protect it from enemy plants while
looking out for themselves as well. The more the player makes sure
Lux is healthier, the stronger the bond between Nova and Lux will be.
This will be shown through cut-scenes in the game, as well as Lux
coming to Nova's rescue if she is in trouble. If the player made sure
that Lux never died throughout the game, they will be rewarded by
given the opportunity to ride Lux. If the player does not look after
Lux properly, the bond will be weak, and Lux will not come to the
player's rescue throughout the game. This would also alter the
cut-scenes in the game, if Lux dies a lot in game and is badly
treated, the cut-scenes will reflect this in game.
PLAYER
GOALS
What
are the main objectives of the player? Are they linear in their
nature? Does your game have any side quests?
The
2 main objectives are to travel to each temple on the Tropical and
Ice Continent, to destroy Nox and protect Lux. The story is linear,
the characters can only travel in one direction (from left to right).
If the player explores the game more, they will be rewarded with
micro-narrative such as stories from the scientists and engineers in
the temples.
MENU
SYSTEMS
Is
there anything specific about the menu(s) of your game? Does the type
of the game you are making have any influence on it?
HUDs
will not be displayed on the screen, the health of the characters
will be shown through them. If Nova's health goes down, the circle on
her helmet will display this. The circle will only be half full is he
takes a lot of damage. If Lux's health goes down, it will be
displayed through its colors; the more red its skin becomes, the more
damage it is taking.
The
pause menus will be displayed by Nova looking at her wrist. This
allows the player to still be immersed in game.
VISUAL:
REFERENCE MATERIALS
OTHER
VIDEO GAMES
What
are some other games using the same engine/same approaches you could
draw some inspiration from? Provide 2 to 3 examples. Annotate
similarities and differences with your game.
Elegy
for a Dead World
Elegy
for a Dead World was funded through Kickstarter and was created
by using the Unity engine. The game is about traveling to distant
planets and creating stories about the people that once lived there.
The game is mainly about writing but it still has a strong sense of
exploration which is something I want in my game. The backgrounds and
the designs of the planets inspired me for my planet designs.
Jotun
Jotun
was also kickstarted and was created using the Unity Engine. The game
is about a norse warrior who died an inglorious death and the player
has to face the challenges of Viking purgatory to prove themselves to
the Gods and enter Valhalla. The game was heavily inspired by Journey
and Shadow of the Colossus, using these games to describe the
mood and gameplay style of the game. These two games also inspired me
with my game, Jotun has a strong sense of exploration and
adventure, something I want to create in my game.
Jotun
has amazing music and stunning animation, something I want to achieve
in Novas Vos.
Ori
and the Blind Forest
This
game was created using the Unity Engine and its reviews are
overwhelmingly positive. The aesthetics inspired my game: the
detailed backgrounds and simple characters inspired the aesthetic of
Novas Vos. Ori and the Blind Forest
Ori
and the Blind forest has beautiful environment designs and a strong
sense of mood atmosphere, something I want to achieve in Novas Vos.
AUDIENCE
TARGET
DEMOGRAPHIC(S)
Who
is your target audience? Why will they play your game? Why not other
demographics? Who is your competition? What edge would you have over
them? What edge would they have over your product?
My
Demographic audience are casual and core non-mainstream gamers.
Geographic
– western-culture
Psycho-graphic
- social class: upper middle class
Behavioral:
casual user
Technical:
PC or Playstation
Novas
Vos is a game easy to pick up, its main story line is not complex –
letting casual gamers pick it up when they want to without losing
track of what is going on, however for gamers that are more
interested in the micro-narrative and finding all the Easter eggs
(core gamers), they can dwell deeper into the game, expanding on the
storyline.
Mots
main stream games involve shooting and are mostly upbeat, whereas
Novas Vos is more subtle and while it still is an adventure game it
is less about violence unlike most popular games nowadays.
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