Proposal

Project Proposal

Name	Cameron McCarthy
Project Title	Tribal Game

Pathway Choice – Technical

I have chosen the technical pathway because I find that I will do a lot better and this is because I prefer it, I find it easier to get used to and I enjoy it more. I know this because I have tried to do art in the past and it has not came out that well. I find that if I practice enough I will get better at it, I have practiced in the past but it felt like I wasn’t going to ready in time to do well in this pathway.

Project Concept

 OUTLINE

Game Description

This game will be a 2D platformer game and this is because I enjoy making them and I find that they are fun to create and this is because you can experiment quite a bit with your characters movement. This is due to you character is able to walk left and right as well as being able to jump and fall down ledges, with a 2D platformer you are able to change the walk and fall speed to watch you want as well as changing the jump height to what you want.

In this game the character you play as will be able to jump up ledges as well as collecting items such as fruit, this is because you will need to collect all the fruit to unlock the door that is locked. The character that you play will have health and he will take damage from enemies such as snakes and spiders. The reason for this is because it is set in the jungle. Some of the levels will be at night and others will be at day but this will not effect the amount of enemies that are in the level.

Another reason why I have chosen this path is because I find that I could end up on taking it further on in life, for example I could go to university to do coding and this is because I practice quite a bit and I enjoy doing it. The reason for this is because I like to experiment with the many different things that you are able to do with coding.

Gameplay Mechanics

The mechanics that will be involved in my game will be the ability to walk left and right, this will be done by using the ‘A’ and ‘D’ keys, I chose these because I found that they are the easiest to remember and this is because most games that are made now have this layout to move. I will try to add in an animation where the character will be walking and when he jumps there will be a jumping animation. I will also try to give the snakes and spiders an animation so it looks like they’re moving as well. My game will also have a combat mechanic and this is so the character can fight off the enemies, this is because the character will have bananas to throw at them. Another mechanic that will be in the game would be the ability to pick up fruit and this is because the player will need to pick them all up so the door will unlock to they can pass. There will also be the ability to pause the game and will be able to return to the home screen as well as quiting the game. There will be a mechanic where if you died it would show a loss screen or if you complete it then it will show a win screen. The last two mechanics will be a learderboard and a HUD and this is because every platformer needs a HUD so this will show the characters health and the leaderboard will show the highest score that anyone got and this will be done through how many fruit they picked up.

Target Platform

The platform that I target this game for is for PC only and this is because it would not be big enough of a game to go onto any consoles and it does not suit mobile. This is because I am working by myself therefore I will not be able to create the amount of content that console games have, This is also because I am limited on the amount of skill and the amount of time that I have. This also does not suit mobile and this is because 2D platformers do not suit that platform in my opinion, I think this because it’s to hard to figure out a correct button layout to put on the screen.

Controls

The controls of this game will be simple and this is because there is not a tone of functions but there is a fair few, such as ‘A’ will be used to move left and ‘D’ will be used to move right and the space bar will be used to jump. I will have a pause function and that will be accessed by using ‘P’ and this is because I feel like if I have the same key as the first letter of the function then I find that it will be easier to remember. I also try to add in a leaderboards function and this will be able to be hidden or unhidden with the ‘L’ key. There will be a combat ability where the character will throw bananas at the enemies to damage them and this will be done with the left mouse button.

Characters

The characters in my my game are going to be the character you play as and some enemies which are snakes and spiders. The playable characters name is Gulak and hes in his mid-teens who has been living in the forest for years. He knows a lot of the jungle but not enough to be able to leave it to find his family. He is smart and agile therefore he finds it easy to access small areas and to get around the jungle quick, although he is not the strongest of people so he is not able to make weapons from scratch so he finds stuff that he can use against any predators.

Narrative

As a child Olating’s (Gulaks father) tribe was attacked so Shaniqua (Gulaks mother) ran away with him and then pushed him across the river in a bowl made out of straw and wood. Later on he then ended up in the centre of the jungle and he was foundby an elderly Orangutan and was raised by it until he was 10 when the Orangutan had passed away. Gulak then went on to learning how to live life by himself until he was in his mid-teens when he had found the basket from when he was young. He found a drawing of himself inside with him, his mother and father next to him, he then started to think if he should go and find them, after a few days passed he then decided to go out looking for them.

Other Relevant Information

The game that I am going to make will be made in Unity, this is because it is the only program that I have experience in with programming. Another reason for this is because I also enjoy using Unity as I am used to it and I know how to use it. To create some of my assets I will be using Photoshop, this is because I know how to use it, I enjoy using it and I am very used to using it when it comes to creating assets.

 

IDEAS GENERATION

In my ideas generation I created a mood-board for African tribes for the characters style and then I created one for the Jungle and one for the Desert, I done this because I came up with two ideas one for it to be set in the Jungle and the other for it to be set in the desert. I did this because I knew I was going to do it based on African Tribes but I was not sure on what location so I decided to do research on them and then design from there.

After this research I then decided to go along and make it so the game is located in the Jungle, I did this because I know that there is more to do in the Jungle and I could end up doing a lot with the location due to the Jungle known to being unknown. Later on in the project I can extend this theme and create more characters as well as more levels and probably create more enemies. I could also make it so there are a more verity off assets that I can make for the levels so they are more detailed and look a lot more like a jungle. The reason why I decided to not go for the desert location is because I feel like it is too plain and there is not a lot you can do with it and this is because they are mostly empty with barely any life compared to the Jungle.

 

VISUAL ASSETS

• VA 1 – This is a sprite, it will be used for Gulak.
  • This will be the main character and he will be used throughout the whole game and this is because this is who the player controls.
• VA 2 – This is a sprite, it will be used for Spiders.
  • These are black with a red symbol on the back, they will be used for one of the enemies in the game.

• VA 3 – This is a sprite, it will be used for Snakes.
  • The are green with lighter green patches, they will be used for the other enemies in the game.

• VA 4 – This is a sprite, it will be used for the fruit.
  • This will be a bundle of fruit and this will be used for the player to collect.

• VA 5 – This is a  sprite, it will be used for the background.
  • This will be dark with stars, this will the background of the level.

• VA 6 – This is a sprite, it will be used for the floor.
  • They will be muddy with grass over the top and this will be used for the floor on the whole level.

• VA 7 – This is a sprite, it will be used for the floating platforms.
  • These will look similar to the grass floor with the cut edges and this will be used as floating platforms for Gulak to jump onto.

• VA 8 – This is a tile-able texture, it will be used for the vines.
  • These will be wavy and green and they will be used for decorations but the will look a lot like vines.

• VA 9 – This is a sprite, it will be used for the bananas.
  • They will look exactly like bananas and these will be used for Gulak to throw.

• VA 10 – This is a sprite, it will be used for trees.
  • These will be tall with a lot of green on it and these will mainly be used for the background.
• VA 11 – This is a sprite, it will be used for the health hearts.
  • These will look like heats and if a bit of damage is dealt then one heart will disappear, these will be used as the health bar.
• VA 12 – This is a sprite, it will be used for the mushrooms.
  • These will look exactly like red and white mushrooms and these will mainly be used for decorations.
• VA 13 – This is a sprite, it will be used for the tall grass.
  • These will be really tall and green and these will also be mainly used for decoration.
• VA 14 – This is a sprite, it will be used for the spiders web.
  • These will look like a spiders web and these will be used to slow the player down if they are caught in it.
• VA 15 – This is a sprite, it will be used for Gulaks note.
  • This will be placed on the tree right at the start of the level and it will look like the note that Gulak found in his basket.

 

AUDIO ASSETS

• AA 1 – This is a chine sound, it will be used when the fruit is collected.
  • The purpose if this is to notify the player that they have collected some fruit.
• AA 2 – This is a jump sound, it will be used when Gulak is jumping.
  • The purpose of this is to give the effect that Gulak is jumping at the time.
• AA 3 – This is a splat sound, it will be used when a banana is thrown.
  • The purpose of this is to notify the player that they have thrown a banana.
• AA 4 – This is a walking sound, it will be used when Gulak is walking.
  • The purpose of this is to give the effect that Gulak is walking.
• AA 5 – This is a unlocking sound, it will be used when all of the fruit is collected.
  • The purpose of this is to notify the player that they have collected all the fruit so they can pass.
• AA 6 – This is a injured sound, it will be used when Gulak is injured.
  • The purpose of this is to notify the player that Gulak has been injured.
• AA 7 – This is death sound, it will be used when any characters have been killed.
  • The purpose of this is to notify the player that they have killed an enemy or if they have been killed off.

 

INTERACTIVE ASSETS/SCRIPTS

• Leader-Board System
  • This will save the highest score and store it on screen.
• Movement
  • This will control the players movement with ‘A, D, Space’.
• HUD
  • This will show the health and control the health.
• Collectible System
  • This will keep count of the current score of the player.
• Combat
  • This will control the players combat with the left mouse button.
• Win Condition
  • This will load up the win screen once the player has got through the level.
• Lose Condition
  • This will load up the loss screen once the player has died.
• Start Screen
  • This will control the start screen and how it works.
• Pause Screen
  • This will control the pause screen with the ‘P’ key.
• Quit Button
  • This will control the closing of the game once activated.