Brainstorming for Our Game
Taylor Bevens & Patryk Kleczkowski
Game Ideas:
- Action/Adventure Sidescroller; Building and Open World
- Music Based Difficulty Game
- Spaceship Builder and Flier
- Platformer "Rage Game"
This first picture was made together to showcase our very early ideas about what we want to do. We listed 4-6 different game ideas and then brainstormed around them, thinking of limitations, advantages and disadvantages and resources and time necessary to work on each one of them.
We had to decide on a lot of factors, but first we considered what we both like, since working on a game that we can connect with would make the work much more enjoyable and efficient through that enjoyment. Since we're both pretty competitive when it comes to our games and we pretty much like most of the genres we had a lot to choose from, of course we didn't want it to be very casual and have actual skill level involved in it.
We chose to either have some sort of a platforming adventure game, a very difficult platforming game ala. Meat Boy, a music based game that was dependent on it's difficulty or a spaceship game where a player can modify his spacecraft.
Of course then came the consideration of what engine we want to use, 3D was out of the question, the scope was simply too big for a beginner to start out with and we knew that if we went with 3D the project would ultimately fail, so that left 2D, and within 2D that left 2 engines, either GameMaker or Sccira's Construct 2.
We ultimately decided to start out with GameMaker and see how it goes since we had previous experiences with the engine, we also decided on creating a Space game where the player would be able to modify his ship to his liking. Initial name, Cosmic Constructor.
We had to decide on a lot of factors, but first we considered what we both like, since working on a game that we can connect with would make the work much more enjoyable and efficient through that enjoyment. Since we're both pretty competitive when it comes to our games and we pretty much like most of the genres we had a lot to choose from, of course we didn't want it to be very casual and have actual skill level involved in it.
We chose to either have some sort of a platforming adventure game, a very difficult platforming game ala. Meat Boy, a music based game that was dependent on it's difficulty or a spaceship game where a player can modify his spacecraft.
Of course then came the consideration of what engine we want to use, 3D was out of the question, the scope was simply too big for a beginner to start out with and we knew that if we went with 3D the project would ultimately fail, so that left 2D, and within 2D that left 2 engines, either GameMaker or Sccira's Construct 2.
We ultimately decided to start out with GameMaker and see how it goes since we had previous experiences with the engine, we also decided on creating a Space game where the player would be able to modify his ship to his liking. Initial name, Cosmic Constructor.
This is a mind map that I created, it lists all the game ideas we had and then puts together a list of iconic examples from each genre, then I put down all the best things about each game so that then we can have an easier time pick and choosing in what we feel like our game should have and how it should implement those ideas. I also did a list of important game mechanics such as combat, progression and difficulty and made a list of different varieties of how such mechanics can be successfully implemented. We analysed each result and thought over what we want exactly in our project. We thought of many ideas while making this spider diagram, this included things like how we want to implement difficulty into each game and therefore be able to balance it out with other elements.
We also searched around on places like YouTube and online forums to see what our desired target audience likes, which are teenagers and young adults, mostly male. We found out through this simple method that a lot of them like a lot of competitiveness within their video games as well as things like good music and visual style. We therefore decided to definitely set our game on the path of being difficult but also visually pleasing along with some good mechanics such as the modular and smart AI mechanics.
I also looked at individual games that inspired me and tried to analyse them looking for strong points within them and what could be used in our future game, what makes those games really tick and what makes them successful. I knew that combining several elements from some of these games would produce very good results.
We also searched around on places like YouTube and online forums to see what our desired target audience likes, which are teenagers and young adults, mostly male. We found out through this simple method that a lot of them like a lot of competitiveness within their video games as well as things like good music and visual style. We therefore decided to definitely set our game on the path of being difficult but also visually pleasing along with some good mechanics such as the modular and smart AI mechanics.
I also looked at individual games that inspired me and tried to analyse them looking for strong points within them and what could be used in our future game, what makes those games really tick and what makes them successful. I knew that combining several elements from some of these games would produce very good results.
Super Hexagon is a very skillful rhythm game, a player has to go through these stages with his mouse pointer without touching any of the walls, additional difficulty is provided from lack of vision and the occasional level "bounces" which suddenly bring the walls much closer than they were before. The fun part about this game is how hard it is, so obviously it is intended for hardcore gamers rather than casual ones, you will die a lot in super hexagon, but once you pass the level it will feel very satisfying. The music and simplistic yet effective visual style also helps transport the player into this game.
So generally speaking, this game is aimed at competitive gamers, and it relies on it's difficulty for enjoyment as well as fills that in with some good music and effective yet simplistic visual style.
So generally speaking, this game is aimed at competitive gamers, and it relies on it's difficulty for enjoyment as well as fills that in with some good music and effective yet simplistic visual style.
I wanna be the guy is a specific type of a game, it is a rage game, a game that is so unbelievably hard and just simply unfair that it makes the player want to rip their hair out. Again, the "enjoyment" from this game, comes from the difficulty, simply defeating a specific level will mean a lot because you probably struggled with it for several days before finally beating it and progressing onward. The game also has minimalist, retro graphics and in some ways copy games like Mario and Superman. Apart from that, this game serves a very special role of being treated as "YouTube entertainment" where many internet celebrities involved in gaming will play this game and record their reactions for viewers amusement. The game also has very good level design, but that comes from the fact that it is the main tool to slaughter the player, the levels have a lot of hidden traps which sometimes can be very unfair. Like an apple from a tree flying upwards when the player is above it and killing him instantly.
Overall I wanna be the guy fills a very special niche and is a one trick pony, apart from it's difficulty and level design that is related to that difficulty there is nothing special about it.
This game really goes off its unique visual style as well as unique gameplay, the building is really enjoyable, but it is also great to go down and explore the depths of the world as well as fight some bosses or look for some epic loot. There is a lot of content in this game and it all is intertwined with each other, making each thing both important and interesting in player progression.
In this specific mind map, me and my partner, Taylor, focused on brainstorming what we actually want in our game, in detail. We listed each element of the game and what we want within it, things like enemies, types of modules, how the player will progress, what the story will be like, what kind of traps we might create etc. Overall this was supposed to give us a general idea of how the game should look like by the end of development. It gave us an objective to follow, everytime we would be confused in the future as to what to do, we would just look at this and check back against it. Overall, this mind map was very helpful.
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