Re-purposed College Thread

[Philote]

My game lab project for this semester had its Alpha showcase today. Everything went great. I'll try to post up the final executable once the semester finishes for you all.

In some other news:
Some friends I know actually have a game studio up and starting. PolyKnight Games. They have a game they are working on called Inner Space that I believe will be hitting kickstarter soon. It would be great if you guys could check out their site / work.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

We'll I've put my name in for Game Production Lab. Here's hoping...

[Philote]

As a creative director?

Good luck

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Thanks, I need all the luck I can muster. I desperately need this to work for me. I'm two or three semesters away from graduation and I need as much experience as I can get before I leap blindly into the job market.

I'm quite honestly terrified.

[Philote]

Game lab isn't as bad as people make it out to be. I've pitched twice already and this is my third semester working in it. I might actually do an independent study and work on a fourth project next semester if I can convince people.

Jainan Sankalia, Timothy Christopher, and Scott Swearingen are all good references if you want people to look at your pitch before you present it.

Do you have any visuals or a prototype to go along with your pitch?

Tell me if I can help in any way.

Do we get to know which game it is that you're pitching?

[Marvelous Miscreant]

I have visuals, a lot of stuff just highlighting mechanics and style. I'm still refining those though and adding more so I have a cohesive presentation. I wish I had some sort of prototype, but I don't quite have the skills or time to make that.

If its all the same, I'd rather keep my idea to myself for now. I'm a little superstitious and I don't want to jinx it. Knock on Wood.

As nervous about this as I am. Its less a fear of the program itself and more just a general fear that I'm awful at the profession I want to dedicate my life to....

[Philote]

Are you wanting to go fully into game design?

Don't worry, I'm in the same boat. I only have this and next semester left and I feel so unprepared for anything after.

Just let me know if I can help in any way.

Some things I've learned: They don't care about story but make sure you include setting/tone. You want to talk about the experience the player is supposed to have. Also, make sure you don't go overboard on complexity so that you shoot yourself in the foot later on, the game will be constantly updating over the semester.

[Philote]

This is my pitch that got accepted:

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

[Marvelous Miscreant]

I was just notified that I was chosen to present my Game Pitch on Friday. Phi, can I ask you about what sort of questions I should have answers for. Anything I should have on hand or what sort of information I should cover. Anything is helpful.

[Philote]

They changed pitches up last semester compared to what I did when I presented but I can tell you some of what I know.

Some common questions are: What makes your game fun? (The most specific thing / selling point that you want to focus on). What makes your game different than X game? What is the main experience of your game? (What should the player be feeling when they play the game. Ex: The experience of an orc tribesman using mystic powers to evade mystical threats while fleeing down a mountain). What can you live without for your game? (If you have a big idea and they feel it is too big for one semester they might start trying to cut it down to something they think is manageable so have a hierarchy of important things).

They will most always ask if you will be joining game lab even if your game isn't picked and you should enthusiastically say that you are looking forward to helping.

I've found that ending your pitch by saying Thank You or something is nice to let them know you're done so you don't have a moment of awkward silence.

Expect them to jump in and ask questions at any point and interrupt you.

It is nice to have visuals to show. Pictures < Slideshow < Video < Demo. I say this, but I got away with using an image only, though I have heard they are more interested in seeing actually demos than in the past.

Don't cover story. (Cover the experience the player should feel, not the extra info about the game world. Ex: Don't cover about how the orc tribesman is climbing up the mountain to reach enlightenment like other tribesman have but that he doesn't know that the other tribesman haven't returned because there is actually an angry mountain spirit at the top who is guardian a sacred treasure that the orcs thought was giving them enlightenment).

Scope of project is nice to mention. How many levels if you have levels. How big of zones. Expected game length. Have it as something variable, a minimum you want to reach to make the game fun and then more you want to accomplish if there is time.

Have something prepared for art and sound. The game lab people need to look at what the game is going to offer art and sound students who join your project, but it doesn't need to be a large or main part of your speech. I mentioned them only briefly.

Game team, but they probably don't expect you to know exactly what you need and they are going to make their own decisions anyways. Producer x1, programmer x2, game / level designer x2 - 3, sound designer x1, art people x2 - 3

If you know much about past game lab games, something they really like to hear is how your game might be something new for game lab to try and create. If you don't know for sure, just skip this.

That is as much as I can think of for the moment. Good luck and make sure to say your pitch out loud before you go in.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Thanks, you have no idea how much this helps me. I can get pretty nervous and knowing something before going into a presentation, no matter how small, really helps ease my mind. You're a good person to help me out like this. Thanks.

[Philote]

No problem

I really hope you get in.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Phi, did you mention you found out something more about Game Lab?

[Philote]

Yeah they explained more of their decision process for choosing the game for next semester.

The way the new game lab works is that the Fall semester is going to be used to create a group of vertical slice games as it usually has been and then the Spring semester is going to be used to take a game to a release worthy state.

So if you want to try to get in as a Creative Director, the Fall semester is going to be the best time for you to do it since you need a game already in the works basically for the Spring semester.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Ah, that makes me feel a lot better about not making it in. At very optimistic about my chances for becoming a creative director for the fall.

[Philote]

Yeah they explained it to us at Game Lab. First that I heard that they were doing that.

New guy was in charge this year. I think he might be staying in charge for next year.