Saturday, 23 March 2013

Final Major Project Design Proposal

Interactive Media and Games Design

14th March 2013
William Grashoff 

City of Bristol College

School Media & Art
College Green Centre,
St Georges Road
Bristol
BS1 5UA

Intro
Working Title: Cure
Within the next 13 weeks I am aiming to help develop a 2.5D game by programming the game itself and designing the user interface. In order to do this I’ll be using frameworks such as Unity 3D to compile the game itself and Photoshop to design the various interface elements that will be used in the final game. Throughout the length of the project I’ll be grouped with two other people who will be focusing on the 3D design of the environment/characters.
The title of this project is “Cure”; the story itself follows the adventures of our main Elfish protagonist, “Rinako”, who is trying to find the remedy that'll heal the illness that has plagued her species.

Influences, Starting Points and Contextual References
Throughout my gaming history I have loved to play games that are both unique in their aesthetic style and unique with the gameplay it portrays to the user. Quite often I find myself glued to games that give endless possibilities to the player either through the various obstacles they encounter (online gameplay with FPS’) or the different themes they touch upon (Non-liner RTS/Sandbox games). It is with this influence of unique, immersive gameplay that I want to help create a game that is both achievable in the time frame given yet challenging at the same time. 
The type of genre I have chosen with my group for this game is 2.5D, basically the gameplay itself will be in a 3 dimensional form yet restricted to the 2 dimensional plane (X and Y). Occasionally the main protagonist and camera will differentiate along the z-axis when going through certain obstacles, but generally the gameplay will be fixed along that co-ordinate. This type of genre and gameplay is heavily influenced from when I’ve played games such as Trine 2. Trine 2 allows the players to take control of three main protagonists who all have various different functions that can aide the player in getting across obstacles. In the effort to not re-create a beloved game, I’m going to attempt a unique experience not with the type of characters the player can toggle through but with the different methods and directions the user can take the main character. For example, getting over a gap can be met with swinging over it, using an object, jumping over it, or any other technique that may be at a player’s advantage with using the environment around them. One of the starting points I can take off with Unity is the 2D tutorial that they offer on their website.
The artistic style I’ll be taking along with the group in this game is a pretty simplistic one made up of basic shapes and pastel like-colors. Similar to the art style of indie games such as Pid, I’m hoping to create a User Interface for the game that isn’t too bold or intrusive to the gameplay itself. In order for me to design the HUD I’ll be trying out various shapes and styles in my sketchbook then eventually transferring them for further editing in Photoshop. From there, I will be able to communicate with the rest of my team on whether or not they approve of the certain assets I’ve made and hopefully they can be implemented. Once implemented I’ll be programming the GUI in Unity so that it will function in the way I need it to. Indie games such as Pid and Trine 2 have heavily influenced the style of Interface that I’ll create; the clean yet majestic style is what has really inspired me to focus on Interface Design for the Final Major Project.
In terms of previous experience, I have had the opportunity of creating a 3D game with Unity in the games-engine unit I did late last year. Even though the time-frame was smaller, the group I was in managed to create a game level with simple obstacles and teleportation. Although we’re not improving the previous game, I’m hoping in this new project I’ll be able to create a level both functioning perfectly and aesthetically pleasing.

Intended Techniques, Media and Processes 
For the Final Major Project I’ll be using a whole range of real life tools (such as sketchbooks and pens) and programs that offer certain frameworks to help make, refine and finalize my idea. After conducting thorough research into the artistic theme of the project and the principles of User Interface within Video games, I’ll be using my sketchbook to draw a variety of shapes and patterns to create the icons needed to interact with the environment. For example, aiming can be quite a difficult task for the player especially if the gameplay is locked to 2 Dimensions, for us as developers to give ease to the experience Interface elements must be introduced. Therefore, in order to create these interface elements I’ll be using my sketchbook to conceptualize what they should look like. In order to refine the elements I’ll be using an image editing software (Photoshop) to manipulate and change what I’ve made so that it’s easily understandable and ready to be imported into the game.
However though the usage of my Sketchbook will be minimal for when I need to put the game together. In order to put the game together I’ll be using a range of scripting tutorials that support the usage of Unity 3D, which is easily available at home and at my college. Unity 3D aides the user in compiling various JavaScript files in order to create the flesh of a game’s functionality. Without it creating the game from scratch would be hard without the resourceful framework that Unity offers. 


Timescale
Pre-Easter (15th – 22nd March)
Design Proposal.
Mapping out level of work for each week.

Easter Holidays (22nd March – 12th April)
Research for Interface Design within Video Games and creating games within Unity 3D

April (12th – 26th April)
Drawing out resources and creating Interface elements for final product.
Researching into Unity and starting a working prototype

Spring (26th April – 10th May)
Compiling the assets together in Unity to create a working game level

Summer (10th May – 6th June)
Final Evaluation and Extra time for refinement

Methods of Evaluation

Usability testing (Messageboard websites, Focus Group with classmates)
Daily diary of progress made and problems handled
Research Blog Posts
Analyzing similar projects
Critiques with Tutor

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