FMP Proposals
Just before the christmas break we had a couple days to get a solid idea down for what we wanted to do for FMP and then pitch them to the tutors in a presentation. As previously said I am working in a group with Hazrat Bilal (http://hazratbilalart.wix.com/gameart) and James Broderick (http://jbroderick94.wix.com/jb-design). Within the couple of days and weeks leading upto this presentation we took sometime to get an idea of what exactly we wanted to do and get out of our FMP. We all wanted to be working in indie development so attempting to make a fully working game showing all of our varied skills was the way forward. We decided on a platformer, puzzle and adventure game; You play as two sprite like characters, fire and water, Burnard and Walter. Both have special abilities that help them through the puzzles and levels. The idea is to be able at any moment to switch between the two characters and guide Olive through her journey.
Initial Ideas
Our roles:
Amber:
Environments
Characters
Animation
2D
Hazrat:
Environments
Engine Blueprinting
Level Design
Game Design
Art direction
James:
Environments
Engine Blueprinting
Engine Materials & FX
Level Design
Game Design
Theme:
Fantasy supernatural adventure tale, with cute elements and emotional gameplay.
Influences:
Studio Ghibli
Legend of Zelda series
Sam Bosma
Emilie Stabell (Sketchfab)
Gastón Pachero
Professor Layton series
Colour:
The main colours that we are planning to use are Blue and Orange. More so a strong selection between the two.
This will include a mixture of low and high key colours, yet have a subtle and minimal palette.
The colours will reflect the characters and the narrative of the story.
The characters:
Mechanics:
- Switchable characters
- AI spirits
Main Mechanics and Puzzle Mechanics :
Fire:
Burn/light Objects
Move up burnable surfaces (curtain, ropes, crates)
Can jump
Transport through pipes (Gas pipes)
Water:
Can move across water
Can crouch (move under small spaces)
Drop through drains (go down)
Transport through pipes (Water pipes)
Additional Stretch Goals:
Hot air balloons/lanterns
Blow up TNT
Conduct electricity
Light refraction
Move water wheels
Can go in rain
Narrative: (SPOILERS)
The game begins with Olive waking up in bed and finding out everyone has turned into spirit like beings. Due to her sadness and fear a fire and water sprite appear to help her. They remind her of her grandparents Burnard and Walter so she names them as such. You play as Burnard and Walter helping Olive get through puzzles and help her get to her desired destinations. She follows a story book that her mother read to her which feature similar sprites; following the story they help Olive do what she needs to do to get to the places in the book. After completing some of the objectives she realises that her mother never finished her story so Burnard and Walter guide her through the rest of the journey. They get to their final destination a temple where she sees a gathering of spirits around a grave. Olive then turns into a steam sprite and fades away with Burnard and Walter. The story ends with her mother reading the rest of the story revealing that Olive was actually on a journey to the afterlife.
Basic time plan:
1st Month - Core gameplay established, visual benchmark (concepting) and Blockout, technical process, character
2nd Month - Level design and Puzzles
3rd Month - Gameplay refinement, narrative player progression
4th Month - All assets modelled and in engine
5th Month - PolishSHIT
Everything here will be contributed to the design document in order to keep progress of the overall development.
Presentation feedback
This is just a basic outline of what the game will be about and there will be plenty more blogs to come on how our FMP is going.