Ice Continent Finished, Proposal Template and New Background!

I forgot to blog yesterday, so I'll do that today...

ICE CONTINENT

I finished the background for the Ice Continent, I put it in after effects and added Nova. I'm pretty happy with it. I also looked up some sound effects for the waterfall in the Tropical Continent and some insects in the background. I found some more music I will use.

PLANNING

I started planning for what I will say throughout the trailer, I decided to re-do the mock up I did for the past Pitch pack (Find Lux) for the trailer to help vision the start more. (Also the interface design).

I will have to do two interface designs as well, so this ticks one off, I will do another one for the start of the game.

FIND LUX

I started another background for this part, I was tempted to animate Nova again, but I don't think I have time :( 

PROPOSAL 

I started working on the Proposal template, it's hard...

Unreal Engine

Unreal allows releases on many different (platforms PC, Playstaion, Xbox, Wii U) and also works with platforms 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, Post-Process Effects, Full Source Code Access, Professional Source Control. C++ Code View, Hot Reload Function, Simulate & Immersive Views, Instant Game Preview, Possess & Eject Features, Artificual Intelligence, Audio and Leading Middleware Integrations. 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.

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. Construct 2 allows designers and artists to produce games without having to learn coding. The reviews for Construct 2 mention 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, Unlimited Revenue and Funding, Future platforms included, Professional editor skin, Asset Store Level 11, Professional Community Features, Source code access and Permium Support. If the game made in personal Edition exceeds a total of $1000,000 the maker has to buy the Unity 5 Professional Edition. Games such as “Cuphead”, “Jotun” and“Elegy for a Dead World” (which were both funded by Kickstarter) and “Ori and the Blind Forest”.

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 (sprints) 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 rotating 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. I want Novas Vos to be both available on PC and Playstation, Unity is multi-platform allowing this.

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 to destory Nox and protect Lux. The story is linear, the characters can only travel in one direction (from left to right), but if the player explores the temple more (hidden passageways) they can find out more about the back story of Mortem and why Nox malfunctioned.

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.

??

COMPETITION

Are there any similar projects on the market? Give 2 examples.

Elegy for a Dead World and No Man's Sky

ADVANTAGE

What advantage does your game have against these competitors? (1-2 examples)

Novas Vos is almost a mix between the two games, it involves exploration (No man's Sky) and puzzle solving (Elegy for a Dead World). Novas Vos is story driven and more about character development. (unlike No man's sky and Elegy for a Dead World)

DISADVANTAGE

And in what ways do your competitors have the edge over your project (1-2 examples)

No Man's Sky allows open world exploration (3D), whereas Novas Vos is limited to 2D side-scrolling. Elegy for a Dead World is more unique as it evolves completely around making your own story, whereas Novas Vos has a set story.