My Ideas:
I have been both excited and horrified when considering what we have to do for this project. On the one hand, this is something I've always wanted to do and could be a possible future direction, but on the other hand, I am overtired from the last project and a bit nervous at having only a few weeks to learn and master the action script necessary to pull this off.
Anyways, I started brainstorming ideas immediately. Here are a few of the things I came up with:
1. A shooting game using Murtagh and his awesome laser eye! I thought that maybe he could either shoot away rocks/rubbish hurled at him from people who oppose his political ideas using his eye, perhaps on a walk through the city toward his headquarters. Reaching his headquarters alive would be the player's goal and will be the end of the game.
2. Another shooting game again using Murtagh and his awesome laser vision. I thought that maybe he could be walking towards his headquarters, and the player's objective is to shoot down signs promoting such evil such as bomb-shelters and trans-drugs etc.
The only problem with these ideas - having a game centered around Murtagh shooting with his laser eye - is the fact that he is half crippled and can't move very fast. This means that he won't be able to do much except walk at an incredibly slow pace. He wouldn't be able to jump or dodge well, so the game would be very restrictive and frustrating.
I decided to abandon the first two ideas and keep brainstorming.
3. Make a game with multiple (2) possible outcomes, based around Murtagh's softer side and the location of my walk-cycle: help Murtagh to grow a plant in one of the many 'nature restoration labs.' Maybe this would be a sequence/order game where the player has to choose the right way of using things to make a plant grow, which would be the objective. If they choose the right order, the plant grows and they win. If they choose the wrong order, the plant dies, maybe gives off a bad odor and the player loses.
I like this idea, but Troy said that it might be too difficult to do. I'll think of some more ideas and reconsider this later.
4. Make an informational game where Murtagh is standing in a room in his headquarters, maybe reading something or writing something, and the player can learn more about Murtagh and his cause by clicking on random objects, e.g. a post-it note on the notice board etc.
I don't think that this will work well - it would be too boring and pointless.
5. Make a game incorporating idea number 4, but make it more interactive and interesting. Maybe Murtagh could be sitting on a chair, telling you about different things in the room. Maybe here I could incorporate some of idea 3 aswell - there could be a strange plant on a table in the room and a watering can next to it. If the player clicks on the plant, Murtagh tells you about it and how proud he is of having grown it. If you click on it too much, his split personality comes to life and he shoots and destroys it with his laser eye! Maybe the player can also water the plant using the watering can? Also, I thought that here I could also have a notice board where the user can click and read the different notices to learn more about Murtagh and his cause. I thought that maybe I could also have a windowsill where, after a while, a bad guy comes along with a bag of trans-drugs. Maybe he can say something like "oh, this abandoned warehouse would be a great place to store my stash!" When Murtagh sees this, he gets angry and says something like "those vile things made me into the monster I am today!" then he kills the baddy with his laser eye and sets the bag of drugs on fire.
I was kind-of going along with this idea, but the other animators thought that this idea was stupid and a cop out.
Finally, a little disheartened, I came up with this idea, and I hope that I can stick with it this time!
7. Make a game where you are with Murtagh in one of his labs, maybe the game is in first-person mode? I will try to include aspects from some of the above ideas. The player's objective will be to figure out how to make a grown plant harvest a seed, which they can then put into a new pot where it can start to grow. It will be a puzzle game to make it a tad more difficult and exciting. There would be a few click spots, as is described in the image (a photocopy of my journal) below.
I have been both excited and horrified when considering what we have to do for this project. On the one hand, this is something I've always wanted to do and could be a possible future direction, but on the other hand, I am overtired from the last project and a bit nervous at having only a few weeks to learn and master the action script necessary to pull this off.
Anyways, I started brainstorming ideas immediately. Here are a few of the things I came up with:
1. A shooting game using Murtagh and his awesome laser eye! I thought that maybe he could either shoot away rocks/rubbish hurled at him from people who oppose his political ideas using his eye, perhaps on a walk through the city toward his headquarters. Reaching his headquarters alive would be the player's goal and will be the end of the game.
2. Another shooting game again using Murtagh and his awesome laser vision. I thought that maybe he could be walking towards his headquarters, and the player's objective is to shoot down signs promoting such evil such as bomb-shelters and trans-drugs etc.
The only problem with these ideas - having a game centered around Murtagh shooting with his laser eye - is the fact that he is half crippled and can't move very fast. This means that he won't be able to do much except walk at an incredibly slow pace. He wouldn't be able to jump or dodge well, so the game would be very restrictive and frustrating.
I decided to abandon the first two ideas and keep brainstorming.
3. Make a game with multiple (2) possible outcomes, based around Murtagh's softer side and the location of my walk-cycle: help Murtagh to grow a plant in one of the many 'nature restoration labs.' Maybe this would be a sequence/order game where the player has to choose the right way of using things to make a plant grow, which would be the objective. If they choose the right order, the plant grows and they win. If they choose the wrong order, the plant dies, maybe gives off a bad odor and the player loses.
I like this idea, but Troy said that it might be too difficult to do. I'll think of some more ideas and reconsider this later.
4. Make an informational game where Murtagh is standing in a room in his headquarters, maybe reading something or writing something, and the player can learn more about Murtagh and his cause by clicking on random objects, e.g. a post-it note on the notice board etc.
I don't think that this will work well - it would be too boring and pointless.
5. Make a game incorporating idea number 4, but make it more interactive and interesting. Maybe Murtagh could be sitting on a chair, telling you about different things in the room. Maybe here I could incorporate some of idea 3 aswell - there could be a strange plant on a table in the room and a watering can next to it. If the player clicks on the plant, Murtagh tells you about it and how proud he is of having grown it. If you click on it too much, his split personality comes to life and he shoots and destroys it with his laser eye! Maybe the player can also water the plant using the watering can? Also, I thought that here I could also have a notice board where the user can click and read the different notices to learn more about Murtagh and his cause. I thought that maybe I could also have a windowsill where, after a while, a bad guy comes along with a bag of trans-drugs. Maybe he can say something like "oh, this abandoned warehouse would be a great place to store my stash!" When Murtagh sees this, he gets angry and says something like "those vile things made me into the monster I am today!" then he kills the baddy with his laser eye and sets the bag of drugs on fire.
I was kind-of going along with this idea, but the other animators thought that this idea was stupid and a cop out.
Finally, a little disheartened, I came up with this idea, and I hope that I can stick with it this time!
7. Make a game where you are with Murtagh in one of his labs, maybe the game is in first-person mode? I will try to include aspects from some of the above ideas. The player's objective will be to figure out how to make a grown plant harvest a seed, which they can then put into a new pot where it can start to grow. It will be a puzzle game to make it a tad more difficult and exciting. There would be a few click spots, as is described in the image (a photocopy of my journal) below.
The player can click on Murtagh! One click will make him become a little annoyed. Two clicks will make him angry and three clicks will make him use his laser eye on you for revenge!I also thought that maybe I can find the right actionscript to make his eyes follow the mouse. We'll have to wait and see about that though.
They player could also click on the leaves of the plant, and I thought that they could then rustle, or maybe the entire plant can start dancing.
The player can click on each of the flower's 7 pale pink petals, and this will make them fall off and re-grow.
The player can also click on the watering can, which will move over the plant and pour water onto it. This is a key to the game, for once the plant has been watered, the petals will change to the 7 colours of the rainbow. I thought that maybe here I could have a little memory game (but this might be much too hard to do) where the player needs to pick off the new petals in the right order (ROY G BIV - order of colours in the rainbow), which will make the seed appear.
The Player can then put this seed into the new pot and the game is done!
Here is the early diagram I did for the "flower game".
And here is the later, clearer version of the 'flower game', where I was considering the placements of the character and the items.My idea for this game has been largely inspired by the games at http://windosill.com/
I thought that these puzzle games were really cleverly done, and really do a lot to engage the player's attention. I got the idea of pulling off the flower petals from the second level, where the player open's the curtains and the letters 'windowsill' stand there in the background. In the foreground, there are a couple of plants, and when you pull at one of it's flowers/leaves, it falls off and regrows. I thought that this was really beautiful and decided to make my game surrounding this idea.
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