My game in construct

https://googledrive.com/host/0By1FWjD-XR7uaUhJVktVVkNFNlE/index.html

Is not complete as my game is actually supposed to be a first person puzzle, point and click style game, so the game i have made in construct is just an example of what it would be like.

Software experiment

https://googledrive.com/host/0By1FWjD-XR7uVnc5VDBIcFdiR2M/index.html

Secondary drawings.

 

Observational drawings from my own photos.

Early ideas developed

These are the early ideas that were slightly developed and have the appropriate colour scheme.

Evaluation

The theme of our project was to make an educational game that was fun but also taught people something, we also had to choose a specific audience on which our game would be aimed at for example 16+, 18+ etc. teens at 16 are going out with friends and if they play video games its always games like Call of duty or Gta. My chosen audience was 16+ in school. I have developed my idea by researching further into my chosen theme which was ancient Egypt and getting ideas that are somewhat accurate to history, i did not really make my game relevant to the characteristics of a normal 16 year old as it was quite hard with it being Egyptian and all but in my game there will be blood so that should keep them satisfied. The reference material i found was quite useful as it helped me understand things about ancient Egypt a lot better and helped me implement thing into my game, like hieroglyphics and the colour scheme which i looked at online, this helped make my concept pieces look somewhat authentic. The research i conducted helped me develop my skills as i looked at many different Egyptian concept pieces online and this helped me better understand colour schemes and perspectives which i then implemented into my work. There were no particular artists that inspired me but Egyptian culture in general inspired me, this was also relevant to my project. The Egyptians mainly used dried, flattened and stuck together papyrus reeds to write hieroglyphics on, they also used to carve and paint them onto tombs and walls.

The materials I used were pen, pencil, Photoshop and a little bit of construct 2, I used Photoshop the most as that is what I’m most comfortable with. My game was in a first person style so when i made the quick short level in construct 2 i had to make it top down and slightly less detailed, this is the only difference i had to make when using construct. The techniques/elements i used were shading, toning, line, light, shape and colour. If Photoshop was not around my work would look a lot different and probably not as good because Photoshop makes everything easier. My work did not change that much throughout the project except i started to use the texturizer tool a little more in Photoshop and i also got a better understanding of shadows and lighting. The research i wish i had done more of is on Egyptian tombs because my concept pieces are just made up from my head and i didn't properly look up what an authentic one looked like. The visual language i deliberately tried to convey whilst creating my concept art is that within my game you are going to rely heavy on torches in the game as your only light source and this makes you feel scared, also when looking at my concepts you can tell that one of the main elements of the game is based on light. The overall meaning is to make you feel uneasy/scared and i think i was successful in conveying this as you can clearly tell by my concept art that it has some elements of horror. I am happy with my final piece and i particularly enjoyed doing the concept art. If i could change anything i would probably just create a lot more concept pieces and i would have made a more detailed game in construct 2.

The things i learned in this assignment were mainly revolving around construct 2 as i did not really know how to do anything on there but once we had the guide to help us from Chris i gained a better understanding. I think the work we did for this assignment was important for the overall course as it helped us understand more about demographics and certain types of audiences and i think this knowledge will help us down the line. For this project i did try to make my visual work look nice and really took my time with it, as for the written i did try but not as much as i did for the art. The things i think i did well were mainly in Photoshop/drawing as this is what i enjoy most and i am happy with the way my art turned out. The mistakes i made were mainly in Photoshop as i had a little bit of trouble wrapping my head around angles/perspectives and shadows within the art and i had a friend and tutor help me with these. If I had to do the project differently I would have done all the written stuff first before the art as i take the longest on art. The classroom activities helped me as well during this project like the group critique, it did not benefit me that much but it was interesting to see other people’s ideas and the brainstorming activity near the start of the project where we all had to draw things from the ideas that other people gave us. There were no materials or techniques that i hadn’t used before but i hadn't used construct barley at all so i guess that was the newest thing to me and i guess i could implement construct into future projects. Overall i am happy with my project.

My game from a different persepective

 

This is what my game would look like from a top down perspective, obviously it is much more simplified, as my game is in first person alot of detail is lost in a top down version. This is also the background i will use for my game mock up.

Group critique feedback and notes to improve my work

In the group critique session we had i recived a good amount of feedback from my peers and my tutor but it was not really feedback that i could improvise on as it was mainly me answering questions and i didn't recivie that many suggestions, whether thats a good or bad thing i dont know but i guess it means my idea does not really need improving. The main thing i was told by people was to do was to make sure i have the work to back up my idea and to make sure i get the point across of educating people clearley without forgetting the fun parts, i also need to make sure that it is easy to understand the puzzles as people said this could be a problem as i have the flashback system so i will make sure to make them clear.

Game art styles

Lighting and camera angle plan

The lighting in my game is based around torches and they are the only light source in the game, as for the camera angle everything will be in first person so their will be no overhead shots, third person or anything like that.

Game plan

 

Game Design Document (GDD)

 

Pharaoh’s Tomb

(Working Title)

Version (1.0)

Created (the date)

Last Updated

Table of contents:

1: Project Overview

1.1               Summary:

You play as a treasure hunter who enters an ancient tomb looking for treasure but in order to reach it, you must traverse through many puzzle doors, which require you to answer a question about ancient Egypt in order to open each door, whilst simultaneously being chased by a mummy.

1.2               Basic Concept:

 Play as treasure hunter, scavenging in an ancient tomb, solving puzzles to get to the treasure, whilst learning about ancient Egypt.

1.3               Core Gameplay:

 Point and click interactive

1.4               Genre:

Puzzle/Horror

1.5               Target Audience:

 16+, teens in education

2: Game Overview

2.1   Overview:

 Point and click puzzle game inside a tomb/crypt, playing as a male treasure hunter.

2.2   Story:

 Play as a treasure hunter named Hubert Digsworth, in search of fame and fortune, he discovers a tomb while in Egypt, but he ends up getting more than he bargained for.

2.3   Character:

Male treasure hunter (Hubert Digsworth)

2.4   Environment:

 Tomb/crypt underneath a pyramid.

2.5   Level Overview:

Multiple rooms with puzzles, there’s a different puzzle for each room and also has some trap rooms.

 

3         : Gameplay

 

3.1   Puzzle:

Spelling, Patterns and move based.

3.2   Abilities:

The player will have no abilities.

3.3   Score:

 Decided by how fast you solve each puzzle

3.4   Power-ups:

You can find a bonus room that will give you a power up to use during a puzzle to make it easier, but most puzzles are easy so I am only giving one power up.

 

4         : Menu Layout

 

4.1   Colour Scheme:

 Yellow, orange, beige, gold, brown

4.2   Title Screens:

Main menu, will have a simple logo pharaohs tomb – vertical down from the top of the screen with pharaoh’s tomb in hieroglyphics next to it, it will then have the other options underneath.

4.3   Tutorial screen:

There will be a small step by step guide at the beginning of the game that tells you what you have to do and how.

4.4   Credits Screen:

This will only appear at the end of the game and will just have text scrolling down with the relevant information.

4.5   Game Win Screen:

The final scene of the game will be the main character obtaining the treasure but it not what he expects and throws it away. There will then be a cut scene of The main character watching TV and sees that someone found the treasure he threw away, it turns out the treasure was actually worth millions.

4.6   Game Over Screen:

Whenever the player dies the top of the screen will drip with blood and it will say game over in bold black text.

4.7   High Score Table:

This will appear at the end of the game with your overall time and score and will also be accessible on the Main menu.

4.8   Level Select Screen:

There will be no level select screen.

 

5         : Game Layout

 

5.1   Camera Set up:

 Point and click/First person.

5.2   Game Controls:

Arrow keys to turn left/right, Click where to go, and move things

5.3   Game Mode(s):

 Hard-core mode (has harder puzzles)

5.4   Player Count:

 One

5.5   Hours of Gameplay:

2-3hrs

 

 

 

Storyboard

This is a storyboard for certain parts of the game, I have chosen these parts in particular because they are scenes in the game that are repeated, they are in the order they would appear in game also. It is a good example of what will be happening quite frequently in the game. In scene 1 the character has just entered the tomb and is exploring the first hallway that appears in the game, in scene 2 the character comes across the first puzzle door that he must open with the question above the door saying 'what were organs stored in?', in scene 3 in the same room the character has a flashback type of thing, in scene 4 the character is concious during this flash back type thing and sees four jars with the words 'canopic jars' above them. Next in scene 5 the player is out of the flashback and is now looking at the walls (that have the hieroglyphic alphabet, with English translation next to them) searching for the correct hieroglyphics to spell out 'canopic jars' to open the door. In scene 6 the character has opened the puzzle door and is advancing through the tomb, in scene 7 the player must choose the correct path either left or right (there will be clues as to which one is right in hieroglyphics from the previous flashback), in the last scene the player has unfortunately met their demise as they have chosen the wrong path and have fallen into a pit of spikes.

colour palette

These are the main colours used in all of my concept drawings.

My chosen audience

I would like to make a game concept that revolves around history, to be specific the history of Egypt and I would like my audience to preferably be in education as I think it would benefit everyone if you had fun whilst learning and that’s what I intend to do with my game as history is a dying subject in the gaming industry and there are not really any history games besides world war themed games. I will be aiming my game mainly at teenagers in education whether it is at school or college. As for the age rating, I'm  going with 16+ as my game has mild violence and some aspects of horror and these would be unsuitable for an under 16, although saying that kids today never play accordingly to the age rating on games as kids are always playing violent game like call of duty, grand theft auto etc.Other popular games that teens play are like fifa, assassins creed, halo and many more.

 

All genres of games sold in 2013:

Strategy 3.4%

Sports games 12.7%

Shooter 20%

Role playing 7%

Racing 4.6%

Action 31.9%

Adventure 6.9%

Arcade 0.2%

Casual 2.3%

Children’s entertainment 0.3%

Family entertainment 5.5%

Fighting 3.9%   

Flight 0.1%

Mindmap for my game

Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire

Egyptian Moodboard

My game menu

This will be the main menu for my game and will be a fairly standard and straight forward menu, the hieroglyphics next to the text also spells out Pharaohs Tomb in Egyptian.

Game puzzle scene

This is what a scene from the game would look like during a puzzle, the background will be blurred out so you can focus on the puzzle and there will be a timer before you are captured by a mummy.

My game idea

My game idea is based around puzzles and a mild element of horror while also learning a bit about ancient Egypt. My game will take place in Egypt in a tomb/crypt underground or inside a pyramid, the game will be single player only, in a first person or point and click style and you will play as an explorer/treasure hunter searching for a long lost artefact. The game will start off with a cut scene of the main character (not yet named) entering the pyramid or tomb, as soon as he enters there is a trap door that shuts behind him trapping him inside. As soon  as the door shuts a mummy will pop out of the wall and begin to chase the player at a slow pace. You will then come up to the first room with the first puzzle, in this room will will have to solve the puzzle to open the door to get to the next room, however there is a time in which you must complete the puzzle otherwise the mummy will get you. To help you solve the puzzle there are clues within the room (mainly on the walls), for example; the puzzle on the door will have English text above it and will ask a question, you must then answer the question using the buttons given, the only problem is they are all in hieroglyphics. So to complete this puzzle you will have to look on the walls and select the correct symbols and find their meanings so you can spell out the answer (The symbols will have a small English translation next to them.) Occasionally you will come across special rooms in the game which will make the character have a flashback like scene where you will learn a little bit about the history of the Egyptians, for example; there will be a flashback of a dead Pharaoh on a table and it will show the method they used to remove organs and the brain etc. ( it will not be too graphic as it will fade to black just before they do anything graphic, it will mainly be focusing on the tools they used and there will be a lot of puzzles that require you to answer a question related to the previous flashback) There will also be some rooms that are traps and require you to choose the correct path with some hints, if you go the wrong way you will die to one of the few traps. As the player progresses through the games puzzles it will get increasingly harder, adding more hieroglyphics at one time and pattern based puzzles. Once the player reaches the end they will obtain the treasure the character has been searching for and the mummy in pursuit will turn to dust, hopefully the player will have learned something about ancient Egypt and they will be given an overall completion time at the end of the game where they can compare with friends and the world.