Project "Have Fun" ~ Designs

I started my design process by looking at other games currently on the market to decide what genre of game I will design. I looked at the different colour scheme that each of my chosen games from that genre had:

After much thought I had come to the conclusion that an Online Multiplayer First Person Shooter game for the Xbox 360 would best suit my industrial idea. The concrete works from my photos could serve as either a prop in my level or an actual playable environment. I jotted down a few rough designs to get an idea.

I liked the idea in Design 2, where the concrete building was in the centre and could be accessed as part of the playable area. I also liked how in Design 4, the building was the main focus, and the player was forced to go through the building in order to get to the other team. I couldn't decide between the two so I created a design with both of those ideas:

The concrete works will be just off centre, with rubble and barricades either side, forcing the players to go inside the building in order to fight each other to get points. Each team starts at different ends of the area, surrounded by a fence and some trees to stop players from leaving the playable area. Inside the building itself I was thinking of making it like a maze, so that it actually takes the teams a long time to reach each other. However this may detract from the purpose of the game, which is to kill off as many of the other team as possible in the time limit. 

From this design I then created a clearer design, (so not just me can understand the design) it is still quite basic, but I have a general idea of where I would like things to be in my level.

Hopefully this design should show off my ideas more clearly! Having three playable floors to my level design should be a lot more interesting to play. The team on the left must go up the stairs into the building, find their way through all of the rooms and corridors, go up a set of stairs and then proceed down the concrete chute to the other teams' area. The team on the right have to make their way up the concrete chute, down the stairs, though all of the rooms and down some more stairs to get to the other teams' area. Either way, both teams will probably meet up in the central part of the building, which is why I added so many different rooms to this part, so there are more hiding places and barricades to take cover under.

Project "Have Fun" ~ Characters

The characters for my game should fit a certain stereotype and be really obvious what they are supposed to be without needing a title or description. I have decided that I will choose three completely different types of people for my playable characters: a Soldier, a Nerd, and a Player. I chose these because of being a gamer myself, I know that some days you want to be the trigger-happy person, some days you want to be yourself, and some days you just want to mess around and have fun, I feel that these characters are a good representation of this.

Starting with a set of silhouettes, I came up with some strong clothing ideas, which I feel represent the characters I am trying to portray. Obviously pose and facial expression will also play a big part in these characters, but I'm just focussing on outfits at the moment.

The soldier woman will be very strict looking, she is wearing a black formal buttoned military jacket with army print leggings and knee high boots. The soldier man will be quite laid back and big headed, he is wearing an informal army jacket with German army style trousers and boots.

The nerd girl will be shy and embarrassed but very clever, she is wearing a smart blouse and skirt with diamond patterned jumper, knee-high socks and round-toed buckled shoes. The nerd boy will be brave but quite clumsy, he has no social skills but is very clever. He is wearing an oversized super hero t-shirt, trousers tucked into knee-high socks, and a towel as a cape.

The player woman will be very big headed and selfish, like a proper diva, she is wearing hot pants, a boob-tube, and high heeled shoes with fish-net hold-ups. The player man loves himself and women, he will be very cocky and arrogant, he is wearing a bowler hat, a blazer with an unbuttoned shirt, flared trousers and smart pointed shoes.

Project "Have Fun" ~ Reference Visit

I visited a concrete works on Friday and took some pictures: 

 

I was quite surprised at how small the factory was, from the outside it looked a lot bigger, but it has given me a better understanding on how concrete factories actually work. I think these photos will be a good base for my designs.

Project "Have Fun" ~ Ideas

Environment is the most important aspect of a game, it must be as believable as possible for the player to be mesmerised by the game and want to keep playing. As soon as something unbelievable and unrealistic is presented to the player, they will be brought back to reality and realise they are sat in their room on their own, playing a game, which then loses its appeal.

I was unsure how to start this project as I didn't have an idea hitting me in the face straight away. I took photos of interesting things on the hour and a half train ride between Leicester and Stourbridge (my hometown) to get more ideas, this was the result:

I seem to have mainly took pictures of industrial sites, like cement and concrete works, and building sites. I have always been interested in derelict buildings, so maybe doing a project on current working buildings that have a derelict feel to them may be a good change.

As I was at home for a few days, I went to Kinver to have a look at the rock houses, as this may have been another interesting start to this project:

Unfortunately over the years, these houses have deteriorated and have been ruined by graffiti. However the overall look and feel of the smooth walls and sandy floors is quite inspiring, I don't really know how I would turn these rock houses into a game though, but I may use them for reference.

I decided that the industrial idea was the best one, so collected some imagery from the internet to get started:

I found a website with some interesting photos of the inside of a working concrete factory: 
http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/flickr_api/set_list.php?page=1&uid=72157629230963877&title=Crossrail%20tunnel%20segment%20forming%20factory

A lot of the machinery could be used as hiding places or traps for the players in the game, or even a way of getting to different floors of the building. I think applied to gaming ideas this would be more of a multiplayer shooting game setting.

This website offers photos of an abandoned factory which adds a lot more creepier style into the mix:

http://www.pbase.com/darylf/devils_tower

This style would be used for a survival horror game, because it is dark and creepy and you are just expecting things to jump out!

Project "Have Fun" ~ Rules

From what I understand of the guides I have read, these are the rules of gaming environments:

• The environment must guide the player through the level. There can be piles of rubble, walls and locked doors to prevent the player from leaving the playable area. Stairs, corridors and even the use of lighting can guide the player to the correct path.

• The environment must be interesting to look at and believable, it has to convince the player that they are in New York or outer space for example, not just sat in their room in front of a screen.

• Important information should be shown to the player through the environment, for example something creepy or disgusting might happen or has happened if they walk into a room with blood splattered on the walls.

• If the game isn't worth exploring it is probably because the environment isn't interesting enough, it must be varied to look realistic, yet not over the top enough to look completely random. The colour scheme plays a big part in this.

I will try and apply these rules to my environment design for this project.