Gameplay Journal 10
Idea 1 : The idea of creating a game to me has always centered on what its narrative is. For me it is important that the story being told and the way it’s told has depth and complexity. As such this first idea would tackle the morality of the player and how they weigh situations that are neither black nor white. Issues such as the bystander effect, discrimination, and other social justice aspects. The way the game would be presented is in chapters, each involving a different environment, protagonist, and miniature story that all still share the same world. In this sense they would all be self contained, but by the end of the game there maybe lingering effects that one story cause another to have. The art style would be grounded and true to reality. My goal is to make sure the decisions being made matter and can be clearly deduced by the player and the world being presented to them.
The gameplay flow of the game would have the player control the protagonist in a third person style game where they explore small set pieces and events. Through this exploration there will be different people and things the player may interact with. This would allow the player to learn more about the story and characters in the individual chapter. The chapters themselves would be small in scope. The player will than go through interactions that would lead them to being given options to answer how they see fit. The answers chosen would then influence the story line. I see these mechanics reflecting on my goal with the game by putting the player in a spot where they have to bring in their own experiences and perspectives as they get challenged by the narrative of the story.
Idea 2 : Going through the topics spoken about in class and the different ways in which a videogame can tackle real world issues I found myself gravitating towards one in particular. Growing up I felt and still do as a part of a generation where environmentalism is an increasingly important topic to be discussed and made aware of. The value I want to present in this game is healing nature and combatting the corrupt system that enables the continuing degradation of the planet. The concept would take form as a first person shooter game. Narrative wise the story would be easy to understand and follow. It would revolve around the player cleaning different environments and striking down pollutant monsters that have been created by one of the world’s leading oil tycoons.
The gameplay flow will be similar to games of its genre. The player will run and gun their way through levels. The levels themselves will be natural environments that have mutated and changed due to pollution. The art style will balance the highly contrasted mood and tone of natural scenes versus man made ones. One mechanic will be the use of cleaning levels up, such as in Super Mario Sunshine when cleaning up the paint. Likewise the arsenals at the players disposal will be water based to wash up the pollution as well as to fight off the monsters. The tools used will be everything from automatic water gun, to a firefighter type hose, and a water balloon ‘’grenade’’. Overall my vision here is to see the effects firsthand how pollution and nonrenewable resources hurt the world around us. Often times its easy to overlook this as people are far from where the effects are being felt the most, i.e. the world’s ocean life, the north/south pole, and third world nations.
Idea 3 : My final concept revolves around the human mind and the various states it goes through in the course of life. Everything from an everyday fear, growing up, depression, to serious disabilities, and debilitating conditions such as Alzheimer's. The game would take the shape of a puzzle game where the player is tasked to solve specific obstacles through the mind of individuals suffering through these certain ailments. The narrative in the game would be muted to hyper focus on the reality of how the mind affects and alters how the world is viewed. The art style here would be highly stylized and parallel the state of mind being shown. As such each level would mimic the look, feel, and sensation of each condition. The levels would themselves be puzzle based with various degrees of mechanics and difficulty.
The gameplay flow would have the player in a first person perspective with the ability to move, jump, and interact with certain objects. One mechanic I had in mind was having the player memorize certain patterns that change every time the character jumps. In this puzzle jumping is required in order to progress through. My idea here is tying progression of the level to one’s memory and having it be a constant obstacle the player must take into account to complete the level. Overall there would be a lot of research required in making sure that there is upmost respect and accurate depictions of the human mind in an effort to remain respectful. My goal is for the player to take away from this game the value of the human mind and psychology, and the way in which it affects an individuals perception.
