Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Proposal

385 game design


C L O C K W O R K


Rory Rackham
Tom Revill
Magnus Huber
Samuel Kung
Ankit Patel






Philosophy

The aim of most games is to have fun, and the successful ones find the right combination of gameplay mechanics, storytelling, visual effects, humor, and immersion. Clockwork is first and foremost a story, and it uses the medium of a game to immerse the player in the characters world. Through comedy and character interaction we create a emotional connection with the main character, and through the genre of platform adventure game with the unique twist of the machinery we will create a game that is truly fun.


Story
What makes you tick? Zinc came to the island looking for the answer to this very question. He traveled many miles by airship to find it, landing on a clear patch near the outskirts. He made his way to the center of the island, and discovered a massive structure at it's center. A building like nothing built before, this structure had once been his birth place and his home. Expecting an empty abandoned workshop, he found instead many others like him, other constructs that had been living out their lives on the island rather than being sent into the world like him. His brothers welcomed him to the island with open arms, and he felt at last he was where he belonged. But all was not well. His brothers told him how one day, without warning, The Master, their creator, had lowered himself in his chamber into the Clockwork depths of the island. He also lowered large portions of the island, and because of this the machinery was starting to decay and rust, become unstable. The inhabitants of the island had attempted to traverse the depths and find the machinery needed to raise the island, but they were met by Centurions of the Master that had gone mad with his disappearance and now prowled the depths of the island. But Zinc did not come here only to be stopped by a few insane killing machines. In a dangerous and heroic search for answers, Zinc traveled down into the Clockwork.

The story is primarily a mystery, and as you travel through the game you discover the truth of your creation, the events that have taken place on the island, and the dark truth behind where The Master is and why he vanished all those years ago.

Level
The idea for the level layout is to have the main character arrive in the world in a zeppelin. As this character approaches the world with its zeppelin, it will first notice two peninsulas to the left and to the right and a central island coming out in the central distance. This layout from a top view will be something like a rectangle forming three peninsulas and one central body. The level map will at first appear to be a normal looking island with just grass, forestation, buildings, rivers and hills but as you get closer to these objects they will reveal themselves as mechanical items or say we have the tree it will be painted with rivets and bolts and the coloration of the trees can be a copper green rather than a forest green on closer inspection. As far as the population of the island is concerned the outskirts of the island will be barren and rock covered as you get more towards the center there will be more trees which will then get taller and wider and eventually at the center of the island there will be a large building or collection of buildings that are not only extend above the ground but also underground and will open up the gate way to an underground world and this is where the main story will begin. The Level will go through four stages of transition as you begin it will be as described initially a triangle with its 3 peninsulas, this element will at stage 2 rise out of surrounding the ocean to reveal the extension of its three peninsulas, and it will rise some more to reveal a circular element around everything. At stage four it will rise to its final height which will reveal a complete cog wheel. This concludes the primary ideas of the level layout and design, but this will be built upon as a group in the following weeks.
Concept




Gameplay

The gameplay above ground is all about npc interaction. By talking to other npcs, you find their side of what happened on the island. In the center of each building on each island, there is a stairway to the inner clockwork. Traveling into the clockwork will enter the player into the puzzle solving, action-adventure section of the game. The camera is a fixed side view, to best show the working of the machinery without imposing on the player's view. The player uses the mouse to aim and fire his cog-like grappling hook, which he uses to both attack enemies and to traverse the level. The level will be in constant motion, with cogs whirring, so the player is forced to keep moving or they will likely be tipped off the edge or crushed between two large cogs.

The centurions the player encounters are at first damaged, missing arms or legs, but later become fully operational, and the player must crush them in the clockwork, using their grappling hook to pull them into the works. Also rust is prevalent throughout the level, and becomes worse as the player progresses through the island, and this adds more vulnerability to the environment.

Certain bosses have special cogs spinning around them, and when the player defeats them, they can obtain the cog to reinforce their structure. The player looses cogs to these mobs when they take damage, and so it is a perpetual struggle to maintain your shape.

F A Q
What is the game?

It's a 3D steampunk inspired action/adventure game with RPG elements.

Why create this game?

This game will be very story driven. Also the game will reward you with various parts that allow the player to grow and expand to a form of your choosing depending on how many "machine parts" you acquire.

The difference in this game is that there is not a typical level to level structure. The world will have a level that will automatically expand and grow as the play advances in the game.

Where does the game take place?

Our world is on an uncharted a utopian machine island.

How many characters do I control?

Only one character to be controlled simply because

It fits in with our idea and creates a relationship with the player and

the character Zink. The one character who interacts with NPC's

(Non Playable Characters).

What is the main focus?

At first the goal is to discover what the island has to offer and unlock its secrets.



Music
Music will have a distinct 50-60s jazz mood and should have a happy mood. The piece music for the protagonist zinc should be sound well oiled machinery a happy industrial sound of victory.

Sound
Sound will be mechanical in style ticking sounds, scraping metal, squeaking and steam emitions. Which make the island come alive and appear as one big industrial machine.
The sound should be collected from a variety of different sources from web sites to our recorded sounds.


Lighting
Since the mood of clock work is happy the lighting should be rich and full and not dark and should have a utopian look and feel. Also the light should provide hints to the player so with this in mind the lights should be meticulous in there positioning.

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