Friday, 6 June 2014

Game dialogue

Create a Story for a Game

Galactic steel

Backstory
Humans had to go to another planet when earth became inhabitable so they travelled to Boecorn (which is the name of the planet). They have been there for twenty years, a new government was created where all of earths leaders came together who a are now referred to as the high order.

Story
A Soldier has come from a space exploration mission when to find out that the new earth(Boecorn) is under attack from world eating aliens and the high order who are the new government have no answer but the soldier doesn't want to wait for them to kill the human race so he sets out to find away to stop them.

Purpose

The soldier(which you can name) sets out to find a way to defeat the world eating aliens know as the carbonians, by exploring planets for new weapons both biological and firearms where the soldier will encounter different enemies with their own unique style of combat.

Character Types

The soldier will be accompanied by Three other soldiers with their own specialty

Talia, Trained marksman,Trained martial art
Travis, expert pilot , expert Hacker
Snyder, all round specialist, favorite weapon: The knalerker

Reflection on Finished Game story
The game will end with the soldier fighting the Carbonians while they are trying to destroy Boecorn, the soldier will succeed at defeating them, then a cut-scene will show the queen of the Carbonian race where she will have escaped with her elite soldiers and then the credits will roll, this indicates that their could be a sequel.

Game concept

Galactic Steel

Overview

The Title of the game idea is called Galactic Steel which is set on a alien planet where humans had to go to when earth became inhabitable they traveled to Boecorn which is the name of the planet. They have been there for twenty years

Player motivation.The players role is a soldier where he will have come from space exploration when to find out that the new earth is under attack from world eating aliens and the high order who are the new government have no answer but the soldier doesn't want to wait for them to kill the human race so he sets out to find away to stop them.

Genre.
Action-adventure sci-fi

Target customer. a person who is into the sci-fi action adventure genre/games who are over 16 years older and mostly male

Competition. The Halo series would be the competition to this game as that it is also set in space and is about a soldier and this game is different to halo because in this it is open world and can explore undiscovered planets.

Unique selling points. You can fly in space

Target hardware. PC, XBOX ONE, and PS4. The game could make use of the Oculus Rift , Kinect, Project Morpheus or PlayStation Move.

Visual Style. The visual style of the game will be a mixture of bright and dark themes.

Game Play Features. The game will feature a compelling and an immersive story and space combat will be apart of this game.

Market Research.

Ideas.

StoryTelling

Cave Paintings
Definition: A prehistoric picture on the interior of a cave, often depicting animals.

Origins/Timeline: The oldest known cave art comes from the Cave of El Castillo in northern Spain. Hand stencils and disks made by blowing paint onto the wall in El Castillo cave were found to date back to at least 40,800 years, making them the oldest known cave art in Europe, 5-10,000 years older than previous examples from France. This date coincides with the earliest known evidence for Homo sapiens in Europe. Because of their age, some scientists have conjectured that the paintings may have been made by Neanderthals.

Examples in real life

Examples in gameplay

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_painting , http://files.newsnetz.ch/bildlegende/63385/785099_pic_970x641.jpg

Oral Traditions

Definition: The spoken relation and preservation, from one generation to the next, of a people's cultural history and ancestry, often by a storyteller in narrative form.

Origins/Timeline: It can be assumed that Oral tradition has been spoken among man kind since we learned to communicate. It's difficult to say when it was most popular as it's something which continues to this day, however many well known myths and legends originate from the Medieval period, such as "The Tales of Robin Hood" and "The Legend of King Arthur".

Examples in real life

Examples in gameplay

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_tradition, http://www.umuseke.rw/wp-content/uploads/sachem.jpg, http://www.zelda-sanctuary.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Skyrim-Wallpapers-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-27742126-1680-1050.jpg

TV
Definition: A moving/ recorded picture on Television.A system for converting visual images (with sound) into electrical signals, transmitting them by radio other means, and displaying them electronically on a screen.

Origins/Timeline: Commercially available since the late 1920s, the television has since become common place in homes, businesses and institutions, particularly as a vehicle for advertising, a source of entertainment, and news. During the 1950s, television became the primary medium for molding public opinion. Then, in the mid-1960s, color television became more widely available.

In 2009, 78% of the world's households owned at least one television set, an increase of 5% from 2003. The replacement of CRT technology with various flat-panel televisions using LCD, plasma or LED screens was a major change in how television sets operated. In 2013, 87% of televisions sold had color LCD screens.

Examples in real life

Examples in gameplay

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television, Family Guy Pic, Doctor Who Pic,

Text
Definition: A book or other written or printed work, regarded in term of its content rather than its physical form.

Origins/Timeline: It is generally agreed that true writing of language was invented independently in at least two places:Mesopotamia around 3200 BCE and Mesoamerica around 600 BCE. Several Mesoamerican scripts are known, the oldest being from the Olmec or Zapotec of Mexico.

It is debated whether writing systems were developed completely independently in Egypt around 3200 BCE and in Chinaaround 1200 BCE, or whether the appearance of writing in either or both places was due to cultural diffusion (i.e. the concept of representing language using writing, if not the specifics of how such a system worked, was brought by traders from an already-literate civilization).

Examples in real life

Examples in gameplay

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_writing, http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mali/images/amm0003rs.jpg, http://www.jonathanherron.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Open-Book.jpg, http://static-2.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/5398-1-1331095089.jpg

Film

Definition: A form of entertainment, information, etc., composed of such a sequence of images and shown in a cinema.

Origins/Timeline:The origins of film began in the late 1880's with the invention of the very first movie camera, the majority of these films were silent until the 1930's

Examples in real life

Examples in gameplay

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_film, http://www.top10films.co.uk/img/iron-man-3-2013_film.jpg,
http://media.sfx.co.uk/files/2013/01/films-2013-dispicable-me-2.jpg, http://www.dorriolds.com/wp-content/uploads/1342547903_5623_Batman.jpg

Theatre

Definition: a building or outdoor area in which plays and other dramatic performances are given.

Origins/Timeline:The origins of the theatre can be dated back to Ancient Greece, (384-322BC), while theatre has had it's ups and downs through the ages, western theatre became incredibly popular in England during the mid-late 16th century thanks greatly to French influences.

Examples in real life

Examples in gameplay

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre, http://www.sas.upenn.edu/theatrearts/productions/images/generalProduction_urinetown.jpg

My Game Presentation

My Game Visuals (Galactic Steel)

This is the box art for the game on Xbox One and PS4 (as well as PC)

This image is piece of concept art of the character and an enemy and the planet the player can explore.

This image is an in game scene where the character has just landed on a new planet, where they fix their vehicle after a small journey of exploration.

This image is an in-game scene of a battle sequence between the aliens and the soldier.

This image is a piece of concept art of the character and the home planet(Boecorn)

Friday, 25 October 2013

Task 1 - Game On - Game Guide

Visual style-

World: When looking at the visual style of the game world we can look at the terrain(deserts, forests, mountains, etc.) , architecture(landmarks,buildings etc.) and objects(vehicles, weapons, etc.) used in the game world that can enhance the appearance of the game world for the player. A good example of a huge vibrant explorable highly detailed world would be Gta 5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNodUNXHaLc -Trailer

Player characters: They are the people you play as for example in Gta 5 you have Three playable characters. Most player characters can be customized such what they are wearing, weapons that they carry or they appearance (Hair, facial hair, height, ethnic race etc.). Some characters have a skill tree that have unique set of skills specifically for the character you choose or you play as.

Player actions: It is where the player act out their characters actions for example using the characters gun or slashing the enemy with a sword etc. Most noticeable in shooters or RPG's.

Non-player characters: The characters you have no control over but you can interact with them or kill them if you wanted some will be the main characters friends.

Feedback Interface: Where the player knows how well there doing in the form of onscreen narrative messages or by displaying information on the scoring of the game.many games will show the current score, player health or number of lives onscreen during gameplay.

Perspectives: Where the player get different views on the game for example 2D games would have a over head or aerial view, Pokemon uses this view. Another view would be 3D which is where the gameplay can be seen from an overhead view that allows the player to look down on the main character or vehicle and see how they are moving through the game world, Gta 5 uses this view. 3D games have two different views, which are First-person where you see through the eyes of the character which is mostly used in shooters or third-person where you see the character which is mostly used in open worlds or adventure games.

Gameplay Models & Gameplay Features-

Interaction Model: Is where the player controls the in game character. The interaction with the Omnipresence is where you have god-like view where you see above the character for example World Of Warcraft. The interaction with the single player is where you play in first or third person to play the story. The interaction with multi-player is where you play in the perspectives mentioned above but in a online competitive match.

Narrative: Narrative is where the game will have a cut scene where someone talks over what is happening in the cut-scene to make it clearer for the player to understand what the characters are talking about an where the story is at.

Game Setting: Is where the game has been set to fit the type of game for example Assassin Creed is about historical events so it will be set in the past in famous historical locations where the historical events happened.

Goals: Is where the player has a senses of what to do, where to go and why they have to for example in games you will get told what you must do in a cut-scene, an onscreen notification or most of the time it will be in the in-game menu.

Rewards: Its where you get a valuable/rare item when you complete a task/quest which could help you with the next task/quest such as a weapon or money so that you can buy something you need.

Rules: Rules are in games to give the player a sense of the main character for example Batman In the Arkham games would not kill as he is represented as hero not a killer.

Difficulty: Most games often allow players to influence their balance by offering a choice of difficulty levels. These affect how challenging the game is to play. In addition to altering the game's rules, difficulty levels can be used to alter what content is presented to the player. This usually takes the form of adding or removing challenging location or events, but some games also change their narrative to reward players who play them on higher difficulty levels (Max Payne 2) or end early as punishment for playing on easy (Castlevania). Some games don't use difficulty levels mainly because the game gets more difficult when leveling or progressing in the story as enemy's will be harder to defeat as they will be higher levels. An example of this would be World of Warcraft.

Game Mechanics: Game mechanics are an important segment of gameplay because they directly affect the control complexity and in turn the learning curve. For a simple game with limited mechanics ( an arcade racer with only steer, throttle and brake) a designer need not layer in the mechanics. But, for a more complex game (Splinter Cell, Halo, call of duty, Ratchet & Clank, Assassins Creed), mechanics progression is essential so as not to overwhelm the player with the complexity of the controls.

Addition: Is where a game will get extra content to create new story's for the character or adds to the gameplay such as new locations, weapons, vehicles. You can get these from the console marketplace section for example Xbox live's game marketplace.

Game Genre-

Action: Action games are one of the most successful genres of video games. These games usually emphasize on player hand-eye coordination. Shooter games, while they retain their own genre category, almost always are action games as well. Action games almost always involve some kind of combat, even if it’s indirect.

FPS: First-person shooter is a video game genre centered on guns and projectile weapon-based combat through a first-person perspective; that is, the player experience the action through the eyes of the protagonist. The first-person shooter shares common traits with other shooter games, which in turn fall under the heading action game.

TPS: First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre centered on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through a first-person perspective; that is, the player experiences the action through the eyes of the protagonist. The first-person shooter shares common traits with other shooter games, which in turn fall under the heading action game.

Racing: A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings.

RTS: A Real Time Strategy game is usually from a third-person perspective, and in these games you control vast numbers of soldiers (called units) in a tactical game scenario.

TBS: A turn-based strategy (TBS) game is a strategy game (usually some type of war game, especially a strategic-level war game) where players take turns when playing. This is distinguished from real time strategy where all players play simultaneously.

Adventure: An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film, encompassing a wide variety of literary genres. Nearly all adventure games (text and graphic) are designed for a single player, since this emphasis on story and character makes multi-player design difficult.

Roleplay: A role-playing game (RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making or character development.

Simulation: A simulation game attempts to copy various activities in real life in the form of a game for various purposes: training, analysis, or prediction. Usually there are no strictly defined goals in the game, with players instead allowed to freely control a character. Well-known examples are war games, business games, and role play simulation.

Puzzle: Puzzle video games are a genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles to be solved can test many problem solving skills including logic, strategy, pattern recognition, sequence solving, and word completion.

Interactive Storytelling Techniques-

Cinematics: Cinematics are like cut-scenes but mostly shows the story where you see the main does something that you cant do in the game such as you see the character holding two guns and will kill two guys that are separated from one another. The reason you cant do it in-game is because the game controls would be too complicated although some games may implemented somewhere in a game but not in most games as it would be to harder to learn.

Cut-scenes: A cut-scene is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control over, breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot, to strengthen the main character's development, introduce new characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and new clues. Cut-scenes often feature on the go rendering, using the gameplay graphics to create scripted events.

Examples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBz66y-HFGM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XACf1nwZAXU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3FVty9aiYE

Triggered Events: Scripted events are any events programmed into a scenario, map, or level by the creator to make any number of things happen. They can be as simple as a player reaching a certain point, generally they are used to move a story forward, often because the story would make no sense if the player completed the action in a different manner. They are also often used to frighten the player with a surprise action which will be in horror games or games that involve the player to survive.

Full Motion Video: A full motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMV's as a way to present information during cut-scenes, games that are primarily presented through FMV's are referred to as full-motion video games or interactive movies.

Forms of Storytelling-

Cave Painting: A prehistoric picture on the interior of a cave, often depicting animals. This would be found in Tomb raider.

Oral traditions: The spoken relation and preservation, from one generation to the next, of a people's cultural history and ancestry, often by a storyteller in narrative form.

Theatre: A building or outdoor area in which plays and other dramatic performances are given.

Text: A book or other written or printed work, regarded in term of its content rather than its physical form.

Film: A story or event recorded by a camera as set of moving images and shown in a cinema. This feature can be found in gta 5 as one of the characters activity's they can do.

Television: A system for converting visual images (with sound) into electrical signals, transmitting them by radio other means, and displaying them electronically on a screen. Gta 5 uses this and can be found in the characters house will show clips that suit the game .

Approaches to Storytelling-

Three-act Structure:

The first act is usually used to establish the main characters, their relationships and the world they live in. Later on in the first act, a dynamic, on-screen incident occurs that confronts the main character, whose attempts to deal with this incident lead to a second and more dramatic situation, known as the first turning point, which (a) signals the end of the first act, (b) ensures life will never be the same again for the protagonist and (c) raises a dramatic question that will be answered in the climax of the film. The dramatic question will the protagonist call to action.

The second act, typically depicts the protagonist's attempt to resolve the problem initiated by the first turning point, only to find him- or herself in a worser situation than before. Part of the reason protagonists seem unable to resolve their problems is because they do not yet have the skills to deal with the forces of the enemy's that confront them. They must not only learn new skills but arrive at a higher sense of awareness of who they are and what they are capable of, in order to deal with their predicament, which in turn changes who they are. This cannot be achieved alone and they are usually aided and abetted by mentors and co-protagonists.

The third act features the resolution of the story and its subplots. The climax is the scene or sequence in which the main tensions of the story are brought to their most intense point and the dramatic question answered, leaving the protagonist and other characters with a new sense of who they really are.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-act_structure

Hero's Journey: The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative structure that every game and film use. It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization.

The Hero's Journey Steps: http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero's_journey.htm

Episodic: This is when the story is set into sections, these sections are called episodes

Setting: The setting would be when and where the story is placed for example Red Dead Redemption is set in the western times.

Conditions: This is what would happen in the story that makes it more interesting to watch.

Representation and Emotional Themes in Story Design-

Characterization: This would be the character's personalization where they have short hair or have different skin tone. Every character has there own characterization, if they all looked like the same person in the story it would make the game less fun.

Stereotypes: where a character can be represented as a group for example if a character speaks french he is from France or a soldier that has a soldier background.

Symbolism: is when they try to represent information that really happened or ongoing.

Emotional Themes: is when a game will try and make the player feel the same as the character, if they are sad happy, angry or scared the emotions can have a powerful effect on the player as they see how the character has become in the way they feel.

Writing Strategies-

Pre-writing: Is where you plan for your story. People can do this by making brainstorms, researching, storyboards, and sketches. They would do this to make sure their story is mostly entertaining as they want it to be. The brainstorming would help them for ideas that they have in their head and then over look at all the ideas they have made. Researching would help if they want to base their ideas on a real life event or be inspired by something. Story boards would help produce the timeline and what will come next in the story. Sketches are good for making a plan of the location or character they want to make.

Drafting: People who are drafting for stories will work on the game title that is suitable for the ideas they have made. They would also come up with more then one idea when drafting it when they feel they have enough information that they can look back and decide what suits them.

Revision: Revision is when the story has been altered, this can happen if anything new has been added, rearrange, removed, replaced, evaluated. This would happen to make the story make more sense for whoever is going to play it.