Game Development Proposal

Game Proposal

Girl with roller blades, that has to defeat demons. (?)

Moodboards
I really liked the colors of the game "Hyper Light Drifter". The game has no real story, but the environment and enemies hint at a backstory.
I also liked the look of Doko Roko, how it is almost a RPG game, where you can roam around and buy different items from NPCs.
I am not sure about the type of Era I want my game to be set it. I was very inspired by the pixel art in "Deer God", "Doko Roko", "Hyper Light Drifter" and "Superbrothers".
They all seem to have a similar atmosphere to them, as you are not sure what is going on. The events take place in a fantasy world where everything just seems to match. I want to create a strange fantastical world with bright colors. Perhaps taking the monster ideas from Doko Roko and the colors of Hyper Light Drifter and creating something different. I still want the main character to remain the same, perhaps changing some of the design to match with the game level.
The atmospheric moods in these games is the central focus and the surroundings tell the player a lot of the story.

Style
The art style of Scott Pilgrim and the short film "Annie" both inspired to me to make a game that is upbeat and fun. However looking at the modern indie games, a lot of them have a more dark atmospheric look to them.(which I also like). It would be interesting to combine the atmospheric backgrounds with the more vibrant main character.

RAY
I sketched up some ideas for the main character of the game. I want it to be a female protagonist. Heavily inspired by a music video called "Sweet lovin" by Sigala, where girls with roller blades skate around wearing a big puffy jacket and bikini underneath. I liked the idea of combining something chunky with a more slim character.
I had ideas for a world where animals live with humans but they have human-attributes. I tried to play around with the idea some more, but decided it wouldn't work.
I tried to come up with some monster designs, looking at how the pixel indie games make them look.
I also thought about Ray having a dragon sidekick who follows her around, and she can use his fire to get rid of enemies.

Backgrounds
I tried to sketch up some backgrounds, by taking elements of the moodboard and putting them together. It worked well, but I realized that the backgrounds do not fit with the protagonist's style at all.
I got feedback that maybe Ray is lost in a forest and has to find her way back. But then why would she be wearing roller blades?

The game "Radio: The Universe" was another game that I liked the look of. The protagonist's design is simple but appealing. Some of the levels are very dark but vibrant colors shine through.

I focused too much on the level design that I liked in the moodbaord, without thinking about the protagonist's design and how she would match with the backgrounds.

Feedback:

I got some really cool feedback regarding the gameplay and main character. I thought that maybe Ray can pick up different shoes that have different abilities that can help her get through the level. (roller blades, flying boots etc). People also suggested having ramps that she can skate down, and speed boosters. 

The problem is that I am conflicted with the ideas and background designs that I see and like in modern indie pixel art games and the style that I originally wanted to make. I could try and find a middle ground between these two, or go with one or the other...

Level Design

I tried...

I liked the colors in this pixel art. The warm and bright colors, make it look interesting. 

I really, really like the look of this game. The colors and art are so beautiful.

I found this monster design close to what I was thinking for the monsters or demons.

Near the end of last year, when I found out that we had to make games for this year, I came across the game called "Doko Roko" and initially i wanted to make something like that. The game looks so pretty and the designs look so interesting.

Game Ideas

Game Idea
My first idea was about a girl on roller skates, skating along a beach. Her sidekick is her phone (with a pixel smiley on display) that tell her what to do. The player has to take selfies while doing stunts and collect "likes" that float. Everyone in the bg (on the beach) is taking selfies of are on their phone. Eventually the roller skater girl transitions into the Virtual World, through her phone. The player then has to find a way back. (?)

Reflection
I want to stick with the idea of a girl on roller skates as the main character. I went to the movies with my boyfriend where they were showing Aladdin. After watching it, I had the idea of rather than tackling the idea of how the virtual world is consuming our lives, to do the opposite: how great the real world is, and how good it is to live your own life. I want to make a game filled with positive vibes.

Ideas
1. Maybe the girl is a traveler, who travels the "wild side of the world". In each level you have to find different souvenirs to take with you. (eg. some flowers from a forest, some shells at a beach etc).
She could wear a backpack.
2. Maybe as she skates along the beach, the phone constantly reminds her or things she should do/should be doing, at the end of the level she throws it away.
3. Maybe the levels could be everyday tasks (meet friend at cinema) with obstacles in the way and things you have to defeat (fantasy merged with present time), rainy day.
4. Roller skater girl with sword, you have to defeat creatures to save friends.
5. Roller skate girl - hero's journey, average girl, one day whale king threatens to take over the beach, she has to defeat his army and save her boyfriend.
6. Humans and animals live together (animals are smart like humans/same qualities), the evil president decides to get rid of the animals, its up to roller skate girl to save the animals. (her friends).
7. Roller skate girl has phone as sidekick, she uses the "power of the internet" to get rid of enemies but she has to collect battery bars to re-charge to be able to use the power of the internet.
8. Starts off in the virtual world, where skater girl has to slash through "hater comments", "dislikes" (enemies) and collect "likes" or "battery". Phone runs out of battery and girl is in real world. (beach). She looks at her phone and decides to throw it and continues to skate along the beach (with no distractions).
9. Skater girl is a hacker. The beach and virtual world keep mixing up between each other, as player travels through level.
10. Skater girl is skating along beach. (alone) Goal is to make friends (talk to them).
12. skater has to collect smiley faces and avoid angry faces.
13. Bad guy has taken boyfriend (gang guy - dear guy), (boyfriend - bunny) away from skater girl. She has to travel to save him. Animals and humans alike as enemies (gang members). Has to get batteries for phone, phone main weapon, it uses its flashlight to blind enemies.

Day 02 Exercise

Horror Environment Concepts

I started out looking up Horror Game environments and then moved onto Movie environments. I wanted to look at interior, and which images make me feel unsettled and why. While I was sketching some of the images I saw, I noticed that the ones that make me uneasy were the ones that has small hallways, and narrow paths. 

I mainly focused on studying the backgrounds from Silent Hills (the trailer game demo), in which the whole house had narrow hallways and the ceiling was visible. 

I found that most horror game concepts were very dark and that not a lot was visible. The unknown in the darkness is quite scary.

I wanted to focus mainly on the mood/lighting for my horror concept. I tried to use Asymmetry, by making the walls a bit wonky to add an almost fish-eye look to it (or pulse). The light is directly above the freaky person, to draw the eye towards the off center of the image. I added the sunflower, and made it look older to give a sense of time. (the house was abandoned. not taking care of).

Day 01 - Exercises

Exercise 01

Exercise 02

Exercise 03