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Showing posts with label Game Ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Game Ideas. Show all posts
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Project Proposal-Dreamscape Cruise Line
Michelle Chih-Hua Tseng
Senior Animation Project Proposal
Dreamscape Cruise Line
Summary
I am creating a side-scrolling adventure game for PC about the protagonist encountering music lovers on a cruise trip. The story will explore themes of friendship, and the dilemma between dream and reality.
Synopsis
The story mainly revolves around the protagonist, Kirsikka and a girl talented in singing, Elize, and their friendship developed during the 14 day cruise trip. Elize and Kirsikka's first encountering is not without obstacles; at early morning, when Kirsikka approaches the front deck of the ship, she hears a singing voice, and is attracted by it. It is the voice of Elize. However, when Elize realizes that Kirsikka is listening to her singing, she runs away in surprise and embarrassment, leaving Kirsikka confused. Later, the two of them meets by chance in the library. It becomes clear that Elize is modest yet lack of confidence, due to her being laughed at for being serious at practicing singing. Knowing that, Kirsikka brings her to the music performance at the cruise theatre and proves to Elize that practicing music isn't something embarrassing. After this event Kirsikka and Elize become closer and meets more often. They may spot a whale together; attend a performance together; Elize also becomes more willing to sing in front of people, although still only in front of Kirsikka and Elize's parents.
One day Elize tells Kirsikka that she has been thinking of becoming a singer on a cruise in the future. Elize is passionate about the ocean, and she can use her singing talent to get a job. But suddenly the ship starts rolling, and Elize immediately feels uncomfortable. After sending Elize back to her room, Elize's parents tell Kirsikka that Elize is troubled by seasickness whenever she goes on a ship. It would be difficult for her to work on a cruise ship in the future if her seasickness continues even after she grows up. Does that mean Elize has to abandon her dream? Kirsikka thinks that is too cruel, and thus starts looking for the cure for seasickness, and also tries to contact the amatuer musicians she has met on the cruise and performers of the musical show for a personal meeting with Elize to encourage her.
One day Elize tells Kirsikka that she has been thinking of becoming a singer on a cruise in the future. Elize is passionate about the ocean, and she can use her singing talent to get a job. But suddenly the ship starts rolling, and Elize immediately feels uncomfortable. After sending Elize back to her room, Elize's parents tell Kirsikka that Elize is troubled by seasickness whenever she goes on a ship. It would be difficult for her to work on a cruise ship in the future if her seasickness continues even after she grows up. Does that mean Elize has to abandon her dream? Kirsikka thinks that is too cruel, and thus starts looking for the cure for seasickness, and also tries to contact the amatuer musicians she has met on the cruise and performers of the musical show for a personal meeting with Elize to encourage her.
Visual treatment & production process
All visuals will be drawn digitally by digital painting programs, mainly Paint Tool SAI and Adobe Photoshop. The characters are designed in Japanese anime style because I have been greatly inspired by Japanese anime facial features since childhood. The background image and the characters in the foreground will use different finishing techniques in order to make the characters stand out against the background. The characters will be coloured using cell-shading. The backgrounds will be more realistic, and will change according to the time in the game. For indoor or night scenes the lighting will be dimmed, depending on the mood. The game allows the player to explore freely. In the beginning of the game, the protagonist wakes up in her room on the cruise. After a brief introduction to the controls, the player is free to explore the cruise. The time span for the game is two weeks. every hour in the game equals to 1 minute in real time. Non-Player Characters will be assigned their appearing time at certain places; for example, Elize will appear on the front deck from 6:00 am to 8:00 am. If the player goes to the front deck during that time, an event about the protagonist and Elize's first encountering will happen.
Sound treatment
The game will be music-driven, while some spoken dialogues may be included. Sound effects will be used in places where I want players to pay attention. Throughout the game, Western ethnic music that are either mysterious or melancholic will be chosen to create an unusual mood. In the more Victorian inspired scenes, traditional classical music works to create familiarity between players and the game. Ambient sound will be used in the quieter scenes in order to make the aural space more real.
Budget
Adobe Master Collection Student Edition: 250 CAD per year
Music: $30 maximum for every original music piece
(Will be using free music as much as possible)
Background: maximum $20 for every commissioned background artwork
(Will be mostly done by me or found on websites that provide background graphics for free)
External hard drive: $99~150
Story Themes
When writing my story focusing on the interactions of characters, the elements of conflict must come into play to make obstacles for the characters. In the meantime, I want the story to include these themes:
Friendship: the protagonist meets other characters on a cruise, and after the cruise trip ends they will all return to their normal life and may never meet again. They will learn to treasure a short time together.
Self confidence: The characters the protagonist meets are all ametuers who enjoy what they do, but are somehow unsure of their abilities. The antagonists would be the people who are ignorant and deny amatuer practices. The protagonist helps the characters to regain their confidence by letting them meet the audiences who support ametuer practices.
The protagonist meets a girl who dreams of being a singer on a cruise trip, and they will discuss issues of self confidence during their cruise trip together.
Important scenes:
1. Protagonist hears the singing girl singing. The girl is embarrassed and runs away.
2. Protagonist and singing girl meets again. The girl introduces herself and apologize for running away. She explains her lack of confidence and thus is uncomfortable being heard singing. The protagonist says that no matter the quality, everyone should have the right to sing.
3. At the same night, when the protagonist comes out of the theatre one of the actresses is outside, and people are taking photographs with her. As she finishes the protagonist compliments her. She thanks the protagonist but says that it's normal because that's her job. She then walks away.
4. The next day the protagonist meets the singing girl by chance again. They begin to promise each other to meet everyday on the deck.
5. When the singing girl talks to the protagonist a few days later, she says that being a singer on the cruise must be great. She likes singing, plus working on a cruise enables her to be closer to the sea creatures she likes. In the end of their meeting suddenly the ship starts rolling, and while the girl says she's okay, the protagonist notices that her steps aren't standing properly. When the protagonist returns to her own room, she notices that the ship rolls the whole day and the whole night.
6. The next day the girl didn't show up on time. The protagonist waited for an hour but she still hasn't appeared. The protagonist thinks it is unusual for the girl to abandon her promise, so she goes to the girl's room. With her parents at her side taking care of her, the girl is suffering from a serious ship dizziness. According to her parents her ship dizziness happens every time she is on a ship. They tried to stop her from coming, but since the girl really loves ocean they were unable to stop her either. She is too tired to speak.
7. The next day she feels better and can talk to the protagonist, but she also thinks that she has no chance of being a singer on a cruise if she continues to have ship dizziness. Plus her ability is no where near a professional singer. She is wavering between what she want to do and what she can't do. The protagonist doesn't want to see her depressed and want to let her regain hope and confidence.
8. During the game the protagonist befriends some ametuer musicians or music lovers. She thought that if these people were to put up a mini performance, the girl may be influenced and sing along with the group.
9. When the cruise enters the part of ocean where there is less rolling, the girl gets much better. Then the protagonist puts up the mini band to show her. She is surprised, first by the fact the the protagonist prepares this for her, also by how the people enjoy their own music so much. She is moved and joins the performance as the vocal. By knowing that there are people who like her songs, she feels that she can have the courage to sing in front of people after this day.
10. Time comes when the cruise has to end, and they wave each other good bye without exchanging any contact numbers. They believe if one another gets famous someday, they'll definitely meet again.
Friendship: the protagonist meets other characters on a cruise, and after the cruise trip ends they will all return to their normal life and may never meet again. They will learn to treasure a short time together.
Self confidence: The characters the protagonist meets are all ametuers who enjoy what they do, but are somehow unsure of their abilities. The antagonists would be the people who are ignorant and deny amatuer practices. The protagonist helps the characters to regain their confidence by letting them meet the audiences who support ametuer practices.
The protagonist meets a girl who dreams of being a singer on a cruise trip, and they will discuss issues of self confidence during their cruise trip together.
Important scenes:
1. Protagonist hears the singing girl singing. The girl is embarrassed and runs away.
2. Protagonist and singing girl meets again. The girl introduces herself and apologize for running away. She explains her lack of confidence and thus is uncomfortable being heard singing. The protagonist says that no matter the quality, everyone should have the right to sing.
3. At the same night, when the protagonist comes out of the theatre one of the actresses is outside, and people are taking photographs with her. As she finishes the protagonist compliments her. She thanks the protagonist but says that it's normal because that's her job. She then walks away.
4. The next day the protagonist meets the singing girl by chance again. They begin to promise each other to meet everyday on the deck.
5. When the singing girl talks to the protagonist a few days later, she says that being a singer on the cruise must be great. She likes singing, plus working on a cruise enables her to be closer to the sea creatures she likes. In the end of their meeting suddenly the ship starts rolling, and while the girl says she's okay, the protagonist notices that her steps aren't standing properly. When the protagonist returns to her own room, she notices that the ship rolls the whole day and the whole night.
6. The next day the girl didn't show up on time. The protagonist waited for an hour but she still hasn't appeared. The protagonist thinks it is unusual for the girl to abandon her promise, so she goes to the girl's room. With her parents at her side taking care of her, the girl is suffering from a serious ship dizziness. According to her parents her ship dizziness happens every time she is on a ship. They tried to stop her from coming, but since the girl really loves ocean they were unable to stop her either. She is too tired to speak.
7. The next day she feels better and can talk to the protagonist, but she also thinks that she has no chance of being a singer on a cruise if she continues to have ship dizziness. Plus her ability is no where near a professional singer. She is wavering between what she want to do and what she can't do. The protagonist doesn't want to see her depressed and want to let her regain hope and confidence.
8. During the game the protagonist befriends some ametuer musicians or music lovers. She thought that if these people were to put up a mini performance, the girl may be influenced and sing along with the group.
9. When the cruise enters the part of ocean where there is less rolling, the girl gets much better. Then the protagonist puts up the mini band to show her. She is surprised, first by the fact the the protagonist prepares this for her, also by how the people enjoy their own music so much. She is moved and joins the performance as the vocal. By knowing that there are people who like her songs, she feels that she can have the courage to sing in front of people after this day.
10. Time comes when the cruise has to end, and they wave each other good bye without exchanging any contact numbers. They believe if one another gets famous someday, they'll definitely meet again.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Background Research
After watching several inspirational game videos (ex: Oboromuramasa) during summer, I've realized that my interest is on the background art of the games. Considering the game genres that enable me to focus on the backgrounds more, I've adjusted the project to be a side-scrolling adventure game. Instead of venturing through different towns, the story will happen on a cruise ship in order to make the art-making more manageable.
Style references:
The protagonist, Kirsikka, wakes up in her room on the cruise in the beginning. It is her first day on the cruise; she went on this seven day trip in order to have one chance to relax before going into her first career.
She goes through the corridor and sees an old and friendly cabin crew.
The next day, when Kirsikka visits the buffet,
she sees a 16-17 years old boy wearing headphones holding spoons and making sound from bowls and cups and glasses filled with water.
"Whoa!" he hides the spoons when he sees Kirsikka, "Don't tell the staffs!" Kirsikka shakes her head meaning she won't say anything. "Me? I'm just practicing my skills as a musician!" "Well...I know this cannot compete with the REAL musicians, but I like the sound of these guys." He hits one of the bowls making a single sound. "If there were a band where they accept this kind of instrument that'll be nice..." He then walks away.
Thinking back of the two people she met who likes music, Kirsikka begins to think that making them meet may be a good idea. Maybe they can even start a little band.
On her way back to her room she sees the old cabin crew again. "Hello," he says. Kirsikka notices a piece of grass on his cleaner cart.
"What is this, you say? It's a musical instrument from my home country. An old tradition." He blows the leaf to show her the sound. "There are less and less people who learns how to blow the leave whistles." He shakes head with a mild smile. "Thankfully there are young people like you who is interested. Only if there are more people joining to gain this ability..." Hearing this makes Kirsikka's idea of making a music team more solid.
(to be continued)
The Division-an online game
Style references:
The protagonist, Kirsikka, wakes up in her room on the cruise in the beginning. It is her first day on the cruise; she went on this seven day trip in order to have one chance to relax before going into her first career.
She goes through the corridor and sees an old and friendly cabin crew.
Uniform reference:
"Welcome to the Dreamscape cruise line. Have you had a good rest last night?" The player answers with yes or no. Yes-"I'm glad to hear that. Hope you have a good time in the following week with our cruise." No-"I'm sorry to hear that...Did the ship roll too much last night? I hope our service will make you forget the unpleasant experience."
The cruise has 12 floors, and the protagonist's room is on the 10th.
When the player walks to the front deck, Kirsikka hears the singing voice of a young girl. She stops and listens quietly till the end of the song (10~30 seconds till the end?)
Kirsikka claps for the girl. The girl turns around and sees Kirsikka; she is surprised and embarrassed at the same time. When Kirsikka tries to approach her, she runs down the stairs on the other side of the deck to avoid Kirsikka.
If the player follows her behind, the player will see the girl running to her room with her parents opening the door for her.
The player will always have the freedom to walk around the ship. When the player walks into the library on the 6th floor, Kirsikka sees the same girl picking up a book.
As she realized Kirsikka is standing beside her, she apologizes for running away. "I...I'm sorry for running away earlier. I...am not used to being heard singing..." It depends on the player to either say nothing or to compliment her. If the player says nothing, the conversation will end. If the player compliments her, she'll reply with "Is- is that so? I-I'm not sure how to say this, but thank you..." and she leaves the scene half embarrassed yet half happy.
she sees a 16-17 years old boy wearing headphones holding spoons and making sound from bowls and cups and glasses filled with water.
"Whoa!" he hides the spoons when he sees Kirsikka, "Don't tell the staffs!" Kirsikka shakes her head meaning she won't say anything. "Me? I'm just practicing my skills as a musician!" "Well...I know this cannot compete with the REAL musicians, but I like the sound of these guys." He hits one of the bowls making a single sound. "If there were a band where they accept this kind of instrument that'll be nice..." He then walks away.
Thinking back of the two people she met who likes music, Kirsikka begins to think that making them meet may be a good idea. Maybe they can even start a little band.
On her way back to her room she sees the old cabin crew again. "Hello," he says. Kirsikka notices a piece of grass on his cleaner cart.
"What is this, you say? It's a musical instrument from my home country. An old tradition." He blows the leaf to show her the sound. "There are less and less people who learns how to blow the leave whistles." He shakes head with a mild smile. "Thankfully there are young people like you who is interested. Only if there are more people joining to gain this ability..." Hearing this makes Kirsikka's idea of making a music team more solid.
(to be continued)
The Division-an online game
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Character Introduction-Elize
Elize
Age:15
Elize is a girl talented in ventriloquism. She is always holding a stuff animal that her parents gave her, because she has a weak body and have limited chance to make friends with other children.
5 years ago, she was famous in her town for she always does performances beside the fountain once in a week.
But since public art performance was banned, people became cold to her. Elize talked to her puppet even more in order to escape loneliness. Eventually the kids started to bully her because they started to think that ventriloquism was creepy. The adults do nothing to stop the kids.
When the whole town began to isolate Elize and her family, her parents hid her in a house in the forest and only went to see her 2-3 times a month. Her well being was taken care by two old maids.
She is easily scared, lonely, and have difficulty in trusting others because of her experiences.
First version
Age:15
Elize is a girl talented in ventriloquism. She is always holding a stuff animal that her parents gave her, because she has a weak body and have limited chance to make friends with other children.
5 years ago, she was famous in her town for she always does performances beside the fountain once in a week.
But since public art performance was banned, people became cold to her. Elize talked to her puppet even more in order to escape loneliness. Eventually the kids started to bully her because they started to think that ventriloquism was creepy. The adults do nothing to stop the kids.
When the whole town began to isolate Elize and her family, her parents hid her in a house in the forest and only went to see her 2-3 times a month. Her well being was taken care by two old maids.
She is easily scared, lonely, and have difficulty in trusting others because of her experiences.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Character Introduction- Kirsikka
Kirsikka
The protagonist of the game.
She was an apprentice of the top juggler at the Dreamscape circus, and she was supposed to have her debut performance, but that was never fulfilled because of the disband of the circus.
She has a more careful personality compared to Stella, her childhood friend who later becomes her partner in circus member recruiting.
She is also quite polite to people she first met, due to her parents being gentle. Her parents are supportive towards what she does, and that allowed her to be an independent person.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Game Design Modulations
To make the game production process more practical, instead of making a fighting game which will require drawing a massive amount of sprites, the alternate plan is to make the game into a collection of mini games- for example, the first stage a quiz game, the second stage a hidden object game, the third a rhythm game...etc. Each new character in the stage challenges the protagonist into mini games, and if the protagonist wins, the character agrees to join the circus directed by the protagonist.
Possible format: Online flash game or stand-alone software on PC or Mac, or iPhone app
If made into computer software, the screen size will be 800x600 or 1024x768
Some ideas for the mini games that can be included:
(NPC- Non-player character, in this case the potential circus member)
quiz game (circus- related trivia)- answer at least 6 questions correctly in the 10 questions posted by NPC
hidden object game-find 6 or 12 objects to win game
rhythm game-memorize the sequence of sounds played by the NPC and click at the sounds in correct sequence
shooting game-NPC throws objects at the protagonist, and the player shoots them. earn enough points to win.
jigsaw puzzle-finish the puzzle in the time limit
Possible format: Online flash game or stand-alone software on PC or Mac, or iPhone app
If made into computer software, the screen size will be 800x600 or 1024x768
Some ideas for the mini games that can be included:
(NPC- Non-player character, in this case the potential circus member)
quiz game (circus- related trivia)- answer at least 6 questions correctly in the 10 questions posted by NPC
hidden object game-find 6 or 12 objects to win game
rhythm game-memorize the sequence of sounds played by the NPC and click at the sounds in correct sequence
shooting game-NPC throws objects at the protagonist, and the player shoots them. earn enough points to win.
jigsaw puzzle-finish the puzzle in the time limit
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