Message Board...(continued...again)

[Marvelous Miscreant]

UTD...UTD...UTD...WHOOSH!

[Myself]

Thank you.

I actually did my VCE (I do not know the American equivalent; it's the final two years of school) over three years, so my friends left last year.

Oh, for those who are interested, we had a dress up day today, with the theme of our initials. Partially due to my build (slender, 188.7 cm/6'3 build) I used my middle name as my initial and dressed a Abraham Lincoln.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Myself wrote

we had a dress up day today, with the theme of our initials.

Uh...What?

[Myself]

It's what the year 12's do at our school four times a year, including today, the final day. Whatever we came as had to start with the same letter as one of our initials.

[Philote]

@Myself: Gratz

@Marv:

[Philote]

Philote wrote

The pitch went really well. I find out next Tuesday if I'm one of the five selected.

I got selected

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Way to go Phi!

[Philote]

Thanks

[Marvelous Miscreant]

I'm sorry I was not present to see it

[Philote]

I'll definitely tell you when we have the presentation days for the games, for both this year and next, though.

[Myself]

Well done!

[Celadon's Penultimate]

 Woo! Nice!

[Philote]

Thanks everyone

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Any details you can give us about the project?

[Philote]

This is the pitch document that I submitted. I also have a six page system document and am going to be writing a 20-ish page concept document soon.

Philote wrote

Overview: Fissure is a 2D puzzle platform game with 3D assets in which the player gains the power to collapse vertical or horizontal sections of land in order to transverse an area in ways that ordinary characters can not. The player takes on the role of an orc tribesman who has scaled a sacred mountain, obtained the ultimate power at its summit, and who must now escape the awakened mountain spirit as he descends.
        The ultimate power allows the player to temporarily delete vertical or horizontal sections of land, drawing the terrain, on either side of the collapse, inwards to fill the gap. For example, the player may use this power on a chasm to remove a vertical section of space from within it so that the walls on either side of the chasm draw closer to each other and allow the player to cross. This power is drawn from an energy bar visible to the player. The amount of energy used relates to the width of the removed section, which the player can control within a certain range of widths. The sections of terrain remain collapsed until the power is removed by the player. The removal of a collapsed section returns the energy that was used to create it, allowing for the player to place the power onto a new section of the terrain. Multiple sections of space can be removed as well, allowing for the player to manipulate more of the terrain at once.
        Alongside the spatial puzzles that could be created with this power, this ability interacts uniquely with certain features of the levels. Moving objects, such as creatures on the mountain, which are cut by the collapsing ability, become frozen in place until the power is removed by the player. This allows the player to remove certain hazards or create platforms by freezing objects. The player is also able to affect the terrain by joining objects together by collapsing the space between them or completely removing key objects from the terrain by collapsing the space around them. This power is slightly limited though as the player can not use it in the same vertical or horizontal space as their character or shrines located throughout the areas. This prevents the player from solving the puzzles in an area by using their power in a section of space that would end up being too easy and unrewarding.
The journey takes the player through several areas based on the biomes located on the mountain including the frosty peak, rocky sides, dark caves, volcanic interior, and green base of the mountain. Along this path, the player must overcome the hazards controlled by the spirit of the mountain. These hazards include features of the mountain and the weather around it, as well as both natural and mythical animals that live on the mountain that the spirit may control. The player does not possess any fighting capabilities and therefore must use their power to navigate the area safely.
The game’s art style combines elements of tribal, natural, and mythical themes in a visual style similar to Telltale’s recent games. The majority of the mountain features elements relating to the geography of the mountain or the wildlife living there, but the player is also able to find traces of the character’s tribe littered around the mountain. These traces can take the form of old rest sites, carvings along the walls of the mountain, and sacred shines. Similar to the art style, the sound style of the game would feature the same main themes in the ambience and music.

Scope of demo as compared to project: The demo will cover three sections of the rocky area of the mountain so as to best showcase what is possible for a full game without needing excessive work on the terrain creation. The first section of the demo will be tied to teaching the player how to navigate the environment as well as use abilities available within game. The second area will feature moving creatures, including one mythical one, that the player must make past by using their abilities. The third area will feature puzzles based around the unique spatial abilities of the player, such as, the player using their power to bring all the portions of a broken wall carving into contact with each other, resulting in tribal magic that leads to the opening of a passage. The demo will mostly focus on the mechanics and flow of the game, and will not feature things such as the narration of the mountain spirit unless the time and people to do so are available.

Proposed length of project in semesters: 1

Desired team: Creative Director, 2-3 Programmers, 2-3 Animators/Riggers, 3-4 3D artists (Modelers/Textures), 1 Level Designer, 1 Sound Designer.

Engine / resources needed: Maya, UDK or Unreal depending on programming personal available.

Why worth building? This game builds off the uniqueness of the spatial power given to the player and the way it changes how the player naturally moves through an area, similar to how other games with spatial powers, such as Fez, build their worlds. The fact that the power removes entire vertical or horizontal segments of the terrain forces the player to be tactical with their placement of the power so that it only affects portions beneficial to them. The limited size and number of uses of the power, as well as shrines that can block the power, makes the creation of puzzles and obstacles for the players easier as the players will only have the limited set of powers to solve the puzzles they are presented with. The power is also able to affect the environment in different ways, such as freezing a creature caught in the power or combining cave wall carvings, allowing for the player to experiment and explore ways in which they can affect the game.

Will it be tied to a thesis/dissertation? No

Will the student creators of this project be forming a related company? No

[superfool]

Congratulation Philote!

[Marvelous Miscreant]

That's actually a really cool idea. So, do you get to choose the team from like a list of applicants?

[Philote]

@Superfool: Thanks

@Marv: I don't get to pick my team but I can make suggestions if I want a specific person. The head of Atec puts the teams together based on the applications they get.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Anyways, I'm hearing some praise for your game idea from people on campus.

[Philote]

Oh really?

What have you heard?