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GAME DESIGN IV

( NO AI WAS USED IN THE WRITING OF THIS PAPER)




WEEK 1  WEEK 1

What and Why?


For semester 2’s formative and summative, we have been tasked to get into groups of two-three and create a game that combines two genres. One genre is chosen as a group; the other is randomly assigned.

My group was given the genre of fantasy.
I was relieved to hear this because fantasy is incredibly flexible in how it can be expressed. It is not strictly locked to medieval times; it can be set in many time periods, such as ancient civilisations, futuristic societies, and even the modern day!

As long as our game has fantastical elements, it will be abiding by the restrictions of our first genre. And how can it not if we are the ones who are making it!


To back this up, we chose comedy as our second genre.
This is perfect for our vision of the game, which is already forming. We picture making something that follows many of the same codes and conventions as Adventure Time, set in a satirical yet surreal world very different from our own, long after the collapse of mankind. where society have overlapped and many different sentient species live harmoniously.

We begin to construct a narrative that revolves around a wizard destroying the player’s home from a faraway tower immediately upon starting, which provides the player motivation to embark towards the tower to get revenge. As the player explores, they learn that everyone else in this world has also been humorously affected by the wizard.





I have been blessed with a group of creative and willing artists who share my general taste in aesthetics and tone.
Because of this I will be starting the project’s GitHub repo (our chosen version control) with a very simple template that I designed over the holidays.

All it contains is a Unity first-person starter asset with a PSX shader, a procedural skybox that allows for rapid adjustment, and a layer for objects titled “Pickup” which allows the designer to attach rigid bodies to pickup and throw any object in the scene, using a ray cast and two empties for the objects to lerp to.

This is obviously inspired by Source Engine games such as Half-Life 2 and required me to research Valve's techniques and eventually their design philosophies in supplying effective immersion, which I did gladly!


WEEKLY QUESTION #1


Pick a game that you played over the semester break. What made it fun for you?

Over the semester break I played Shenmue 1999, made on the Dreamcast.
The game stands out to me for its unique take on gameplay and pacing. You play as an 18-year-old boy in a small but VERY dense Japanese town, trying to get to the bottom of your father's murder. And as exciting as that concept sounds, players spend most of their days doing mundane yet immersive activities, slowly uncovering a breadcrumb trail of clues. From asking an old man on the bus if he can translate a Chinese text to tracking down a tattoo parlour and setting up an appointment in order to match with a local gang. The narrative guides the player in interacting with the detailed urban simulation and its economy/infrastructure, which have been meticulously set up by the developers. It was the first game to allow players to search every drawer, cupboard, and closet. turns the lights for each room on/off, and even runs on a day/night cycle 24-hour time system, where each NPC has their own routines, homes, jobs, and relationships! This makes Shenmue a hidden gem that encapsulates exactly what I wish to explore later down the line in my creative endeavours.


Shenmue 1999