City Description – The Human World

The Human World isn’t that much different from Earth. In fact if you weren’t told this, it would be easy to mistake The Human World for Earth without questioning it at all. The main difference is that The Human World can and is still influenced by magic. Magic wielders hide in plain sight, influencing the world with their healing or destructive powers. Magic wielders or mages as they are also called, are only minor in comparison to the Hybrids, powerful beings that can cross the border between The Human World and Dunkora at will, for they can see the portals that appear and disappear. Minor mages are mainly only able to influence individuals or small groups at a time, if a Hybrid wanted, they could influence whole cities with a simple thought. This of course doesn’t happen because Hybrids didn’t exist until humans fell through the portals into Dunkora and vice versa with the races of Dunkora falling into the Human World and settling there.

The Human World is filled with cities, its landscape mired with sprawling industrial plants and cityscapes, an urban jungle spanning the planet. A person could travel thousands of miles and still they would end up in a city of some kind, the only places they could get away from this “modernization” would be to travel up into the mountains where they would find small villages and communities that generally regard strangers with suspicion and scorn as visitors are rare and those that do appear are rarely up to anything good.

The Dark Elves want to dominate this world and spread their rule throughout The Human World as much as they want to rule in Dunkora. If they gain control of both worlds then there will be no one to stand against them and war would wage eternally, with the Dark Elves standing victorious upon the corpses of their enemies, ruling with an iron fist. The Human World is unaware of Dunkora, but Dunkora is aware of the Human World and the High Elves will do anything and everything they can to defend both realms. Even if it means sending their one Hybrid on a lone mission to form a team to stand against the forces that seek to destroy everything peaceful and bright.

City Description – Dunkora

Dunkora is the mystical realm that can be accessed through the use of portals, or if you are an unfortunate person that falls through one then that works too.

This amazing and magical land is one that has suffered greatly at the hands of darkness and war, it is on the mend, but like with all things it will take time and there are stills regions within the world that no sane person would dare enter. Tales of twisted beings have spread out from survivors of such regions, drooling individuals that have lost their sanity in these dark places and been fortunate enough to escape before they were lost forever.

The High Elves of Thankora have worked tirelessly since the end of the Elven Wars to rebuild their majestic cities and renew the forests with life and calm.

The Elemental clans of the realm have regarded all outsiders as suspicious and will rarely help out those who seek aid.

Humans have settled on the Outskirts, building make shift communities in order to survive the harsh wastelands that they call home until such a time as they can make the journey to better places for settlement.

The Dragon Kin have reclaimed their homes within the Dark Pass Mountains, rendering flesh from the bone of all those that think it is wise to try and infiltrate the sacred halls of the Dragon folk. The Dragon Kin are an ancient race, almost as old as the Elves themselves, keeping to themselves and forsaking all others, keeping to their rigid old ways of discipline and honour.

The nefarious Dark Elves of Draknor toil away in their dark citadels, spurred on by their burning desire to get revenge on their blood cousins the High Elves, who defeated them and drove them from the land into the wasteland that they now inhabit. One day these mighty warriors of old shall rise up once again, storm the land and soak it with blood as they fight to take their place as the leaders of the world once more. Nothing can deter them, nothing will stop them. They are the night.

And in a mysterious region, long abandoned because of the destructive magic that took place there and that which still lingers, the Abandoned Land as it has become known has been silent since the end of the Elven Wars. But now unknown to all there is darkness raising there that could dwarf that of even the Dark Elves. It bides its time; waiting for the perfect moment to strike out at the world and make itself known.

3DS Max Modelling – Pub

 

So we have been working on “The Street” for a while now, models have all been submitted for the project now and I thought I had held off putting my renders up for long enough. So here they are, my building and asset.

I built a pub for the building portion of the project, it doesn’t look overly like a pub in the render underneath unfortunately which I am a little disappointed in, I will need to be more savvy on the look the next time it comes to building something like this. I found it difficult at times creating parts for it as well such as the windows, and then applying the textures because I kept doing the texture map wrong, but I got there in the end, which was good because my patience was wearing a little thin towards the end.

The asset is the pub sign, which was easy to make and simple to render once I had gotten the hang of texturing the building. The sign is nice and simple and looks like a sign. It fits onto the building with no problem and looks fine. It would have been better if I had taken the time to create a hanging sign to hang over the door instead of a wooden sign that sits above the top window of the building and this is something that I shall be doing the next time I have the chance to work on something like this.

3D Victorian House in Sketchup

This is the model of the house I had to create for the group project of Little Red. We each took a building and created a 3D model of it in Sketchup. Then we worked on texturing them as well. This is my model of a basic Victorian House. These along with the buildings done by Scott, Ryan and Mark will all be dispersed throughout the level, duplicating them and placing them beside one another to create our street and back alley level.

3D level map in Sketchup

So this is a rough drawing of my level design map, created in Google Sketch Up. The final model will be created within either UDK or 3Ds Max.

The level map is currently untextured, the textures and security doors and all of the small final details will be added to the final model. This is just a rough draft of the 3D level to see what it would look like, small changes will have to be made to it to make it a good looking level with some challenges for the player, such as a replenishment of security guards every time the player enters a room to search it and security cameras in the hallways that the player can destroy so that the guards aren’t alerted to the players presence within the facility. There will likely be more rooms added as well along with multiple floors for the player to explore and additional items for the player to collect before they can enter the boss room.

Level Map Drawing

This is the drawn draft of my model for a security breach level, the player starts in the bottom center room and has to work their way around the level, taking out guards in any way they like, to the bottom left room of the map to retrieve the security code key for the room where their friend is held hostage by a group that wants to experiment on them because of their magical powers. All of the rooms are explorable and items can be found in the cabinets and storage areas.

Once the key has been acquired the player needs to travel back to the locked security door and fight the boss of the facility. Once he has been defeated, the player can free their friend and flee from the facility, choosing to set off times explosives if they wish to flatten the facility at the end of the level.

There will be a 3D model of this map as well, then there will eventually be a finished version of this level with fully finished textures and lighting.

Level Map

So this is the first level I have designed for my game idea. It is a security breach type level with the player leading the character through many rooms, taking out guards and finding items and key cards in order to progress to the final boss battle and the freeing of their team mate from the container in the back of the boss room. This is just a rough drawing, there is a model in the works at the moment and should be uploaded within the next couple of days.

The player starts in the middle bottom room, the entrance that they enter through locks so that they cannot leave the level without completing it. They have to work their way around the map, taking out guards in any way they wish while they progress through the level, there may be other humans within the containers in the experimental biology lab in the top right of the map that the player can choose to free or leave there as they can choose to go into any and all rooms that they wish to investigate. They eventually need to make their way around the map to the key card room which is guarded by several heavily armoured and armed guards, once they have acquired the key card they will have to progress back to the boss room where they can open the door and step in, taking cover as they come under fire from the super powered boss in the room. Once they have overpowered this supernatural brute, they can free their friend and then break out of the facility to safety.

Group Game Ideas

Ok then so today we broke up into groups of four in order to come up with some level design ideas based upon literary works. In the end we came up with several ideas that all seemed viable, these are the ideas:

Snow White:

In this idea Snow White is a warrior princess, her time staying with the dwarves have taught her some harsh lessons in how to defend herself. Under the tutelage of the little men she lives with, she has learnt how to wield a sword, how to use a bow and arrow and how to hunt creatures. After learning all of her skills, she takes off to confront her wicked step mother and take back her castle and her life. The level was basically going to be Snow White and the Seven Dwarves attacking the castle and overrunning it.

It was going to be done in an action/adventure type game where the player controls the character to storm the castle and effectively take it over and claim what is rightfully theirs.

The second type of game for the Snow White idea was an RPG type game where the player controls the character in the enchanted forest, leveling up and training with new skills before progressing to attack the castle and reclaim what is theirs.

The third game type was a running level in the form of a platform game, with a dwarf running in a crash bandicoot style level in order to get back to the cottage in time to stop Snow White from taking a bite of the poisonous apple.

Sleeping Beauty:

Sleeping Beauty was our second idea. In this one the game begins with Princess Aurora falling into her 100 years sleep caused through her pricking her finger on the spindle. The game subsequently enters her mind into her dreams and the player has to work their way through the levels in order for Aurora to wake up again.

This idea allowed a lot of freedom within the design of the levels, but therein lay a problem, because we had so much freedom of choice with the levels,  we ran the risk of potentially breaking too far away from the story of Sleeping Beauty.

Little Red Riding Hood:

Little Red Riding Hood is the third of our ideas and is the one that we have decided to use. We decided that we wanted to do a horror/survival type game, the kind that created Slender. Our initial thoughts were that we could have Little Red running through the enchanted forest with the Big Bad Wolf chasing after her through the trees. Little Red has to take a set route through the forest and is quick and agile while the Big Bad Wolf is running through the trees, is slower but a lot more muscular and can just run straight through the trees without having to dodge between them.

While the Wolf and Little Red are running through the forest, we thought that the Wolf could be shouting out to Red to taunt her, his voice getting louder the closer he gets to Red. This is intended to put a sense of urgency into the game and pushing the player to work harder to make sure Red makes it through the forest. There are several hiding spots along the route that Red can duck into, allowing her to hide from the wolf so that he loses her trail for a short time. While Red is in the hiding spot, she will here silence for a couple of seconds before the Wolf’s legs appear outside the entrance to the hiding spot before he runs off in search of her again, thereby allowing the player to keep going with Red. This was thought up to place a feeling of suspense in the game as the player is trying to get away from the Big Bad Wolf and they have to hide in silence as he searches for them.

Then we got into the ideas a little bit more and we have now switched from the classic idea of having Red running through the enchanted forest with the Big Bad Wolf after her, switching to a real life scenario in Victorian London. A girl or young woman witnesses Jack the Ripper taking away a corpse and hiding it in the shadows of an alley, the girl stands transfixed as she watches the scene unfold. A finger comes up out of the shadows as Jack the Ripper making a shushing sound, then lights a cigar, illuminating his face in the light coming from the match. The girl runs into another alley and the chase follows a similar pursuit to that of the original Little Red Riding Hood idea, but with the girl/young woman trying to make it to the safety of a police station instead of her grandma’s house.

Games Concept Sheet

So this is a rough idea of the sort of game that I want to create. I’m sure there will be a lot of changes and additions/removals in the coming weeks as this design progresses. But you get the general idea of what I am aiming for at the moment.

Gameplay: The gameplay will consist of challenges, puzzles and battles that the player will have to work their way through by various different means. Some of the puzzles will rely upon the player finding items throughout the game and then finding ways to get back to the puzzle without having to go back through the entire game. These kinds of puzzles will help the player unlock and progress through to other parts of the game that were previously locked off from them. There will also be areas of the game where the player is trapped in an area with enemies to fight and beat before they can progress, some may even have time challenges, if they defeat the enemies within the time limit, they will either get a usable item or if the area is particularly difficult, a key item or piece of special equipment that will help them improve and empower their character in order to deal with tougher enemies. The player will have to rely upon their smarts to overcome the puzzles while they will also have to rely upon the skills and abilities of their character in order to get through battles and challenges. Challenges will be dotted throughout the game; these will be optional tasks for the player to take and upon completion will grant the player bonus content that they can access from the extras menu when they start up the game. There will also be a series of boss battles throughout the game, where the character has to battle a big creature or leader of a certain area. Overcoming these bosses will grant the player a new weapon or ability to give their character.

There will be a choice system within the game as well, allowing the player to choose which course of action they should take towards enemies and friendlies alike. These decisions will thus change the outcome of the gameplay and the overall story that they experience, the end battle will always be the same, but the character could either be evil and ultimately side with the end boss, bringing about an age of darkness upon the world, or they can deal the killing blow and end the game with a peaceful ending.

Victory Conditions: The main victory condition of the game is to defeat the final boss. Each battle powers up the character so that the player will have a better chance of combatting this final enemy. Of course through the use of the choice system, if the player decides that they want to have an evil character, choosing to harm innocents instead of protecting them, they can side with the villain in the end and reign over the world during the age of darkness. The final outcome depends entirely on the player and the choices they want to make.

Players Role: The player assumes control of the main character, they make the decisions for the character, from the weapons and abilities they equip and use to the choices they make in each scenario they are thrown into. They also decides which skills and abilities the character can learn, some will be neutral and accessible whether the character is good or bad, but some abilities will only be available to a good character and some will only be available to the evil character. The player also has to make the choice of what kind of character they want to work with as this will affect how the character can handle a situation. If the player chooses a pure fighting type character, they will be more adept at using weapons and armour than they will be at using magic, however if the player chooses a mage type character, the character will be much better at using magic and will have access to more powerful spells in place of using weapons. The character can choose to have a mage warrior character, meaning the character would be able to use both weapons and magic effectively in tandem, this can be a strength because they get the best of both the fighting and mage classes, but there will also be limitations to the class as some weapons will still be out of the characters reach to use and some of the most powerful mage spells will remain unavailable because the player choose to have a character that did not train in magic as much as the mage character.

Game Setting: The game is set within a world alternate to normal Earth, where there are mages and magic along with demons and spirits and other supernatural beings. There is also a realm simply called the Other World as no one knows what it is actually called. The character starts on Earth but can jump through to the Other World at certain points in the game.

Perspective: The player will be able to view the game through a third person perspective, that is to say they will see the game over the shoulder of their character, which is typical of RPG games, however, the player will have the option to change this to a first person view if they prefer to see the game through the eyes of the character.

Structure of the Game:
New Game – This is used by the player to start a new game so that they can play through the main story of the game.

Continue Game – The player can continue the game from their most recent save.

Load Game – The player can load any of their saved games, allowing them to continue that game continuity from the most recent save point.

Multiplayer – The player can access online multiplayer game modes and participate in games against other players over an internet connection.

Settings – This lets the player access the settings of the game, allowing the player to change the controller, audio and gameplay settings to their preferred settings.

Extras – This will allow the character to access all of the bonus content that they unlock during the game.

Downloadable Content – This is where the player will be able to get additional content without having to go through the main marketplace on their console.

Narrative/Story:
Hunter Phoenix becomes the reluctant leader of a band of mages when otherworldly forces threaten all life on Earth. He wanted nothing more than a normal life away from the world of magic and the misery it always seemed to bring with it. However, an encounter with an old friend changes everything and ends his seemingly normal life and now he must bring together three out of action mages and lead them into a battle the likes of which have never been seen before. If they succeed then the war will end and the threat eliminated, if they fail, then humanity falls with them.

Genres:
This game will mostly fall into the category of a platform game, but it does have elements of an RPG as well because of the character customization options.

Target Audience:

The main target audience for the game will be young adults from the age of 16+, there will likely be mild swearing in the game along with blood and gore so it would be unsuitable for people of under the age of 16. Players who enjoy modern fantasy games and RPG games will likely be the biggest target audience for the game.

Platform for the Game:
This game will be designed for both PS3 and Xbox 360 along with a PC version because not everybody likes to play with a controller and prefer to play with a mouse and keyboard.