passion4games

Hacking Gameplay

The attached files relate to a gameplay system based on some ideas from one of my own IPs. The full game itself would be an ambitious, expensive project. I'm going to keep the plot of this to myself, but I hope you find these gameplay concepts interesting...

Have a look at the design:

Download The Palm Top and Hacking Gameplay PF

Try the prototype:

Download Hacking Prototype

Ships and Choppers

Ok, so the title may be on the boring side. Sorry about that.

I've always been fascinated by deep gameplay. By that I am referring to the less obvious aspects of a game, the core mechanics that make a game fun after all the special effects have impressed. I have noticed that it is these mechanics that can also define the different skill levels of players.

Extreme example: If a racing game engine simply moved a car model at a constant speed, then every player in the world would have equal skill. Just hold down the button. Therefore it is the realistic detail of the car physics which allows differentiation between skills. Players have to react fast and 'measure' corners, etc.

With the gameplay rules for Ships and Choppers, despite the very simple nature of the game, the player is effectively having to think about 2 things at once, shooting the Choppers and the Ships, both requiring different ammunition. An age old Space Invaders concept with a small twist...

Please have a look at the design document:

Download DESIGN DOC - SHIPS AND CHOPPERS

And try the game:

Download Ships and Choppers

Developing an Idea - Stranded on an Island

Believe me, I'll try and gamify anything. So what about the film Castaway as a game? Well you would need to have a structure and a certain motivation for exploration. You'd probably need an antagonist as well. Just one man trapped on an island would not necessarily make a full blown commerical game, but I've attempted to develop a few ideas. I've used photos as inspiration for the environment backgrounds, which were created using Micorsoft Paint. My karate sensei often talks about K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid). Using Paint simplified the environments (nobody likes confusing settings), and covered up any art shortcomings. But keep that quiet...

A very simplistic prototype executable is included. This is purely to bring to life the idea in the most basic way. The player can walk around the world and look at the items, but in no way is this intended as a working game...

Firstly, please have a look at the Design Documentation:

Download STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND - DESIGN DOCUMENT

And here you can walk around the world:

Download Stranded_Island

The value of QA!

For the best part of a year I have been working on an idea for a new action adventure title which I'll informatively call 'Project X' - This is because the real title describes the premise, which I've been told, by an experienced writer, is highly original. I have many documents for this ambitious IP, and continue to work on it during my (little!) free time. It seems to me to have potential as a game or film, even as a novel. Since it's very much a work in progress, every aspect of it is open to change and development. When I first began work as a tester I realised that the general public's idea of Video Games Testing involved choosing your favourite games from the store shelves and playing them at home with a few beers, then writing a paragraph determining whether they 'rock' or 'suck' - and getting paid for it. 'A chocolate tasting job' as somebody said to me!

What is really involved, of course, is hours, days, weeks and months of testing and analysing the same title, working with a team of people, in an office, with a nine o'clock start (and sometimes a nine o'clock finish.) It's demanding and rewarding - but it also teaches you a tremendous amount about the nuts and bolts of video game design, which is why it is always a good first rung on the ladder.

Example Game

I've always loved smaller casual games. Perfect for coffee breaks... Here is an example game (from a tutorial) created using Multimedia Fusion. Hats off though, to the very clever people who wrote the software!!

Download ChocoBreak

The Infinity Killer - Sample Design Document

Here is an early example of a game design document completed as part of The Gameplay 2008 course. I feel that I have moved on from this, although it was a demanding piece of work and involved a steep learning curve. Working in a QA role since this course has taught me far more than I could have imagined about what makes a good game. This IP would arguably form a better novel!

This document is an attempt at a design document, not to be confused with a concept document or proposal, which would be much shorter. 

The Infinity Killer is copyright material.

Download DESIGN DOCUMENT - INFINITY KILLER

Combat Design

I have been training in the martial arts since childhood and consider this to be a major dimension to my game design ambitions. Combat is very important in games and I apply my real life expertise to the virtual counterpart.

Please feel free to download a sample combat system below, along with a short presentation on Martial Arts within video games:

Download MARTIAL_ARTS_IN_VIDEO_GAMES_+_Combat_system

Poetry in Motion

Watched a modern dance performance on Sky Arts a few night ago - not something you would normally associate with video games. Except that this was not only intriguing, but also fascinating in the way it demonstrated the capabilities of the human body to (a) move in impossibly swift and strange ways, but also to (b) express emotions by means of movement, rather than words. Who needs words, when you can produce something so powerful with bodies in motion? There are times when this performance looks as though it has been animated. You find yourself wondering - can human beings really be moving so swiftly, with so many changes of direction, and with limbs at once so fluid and so contorted? The human body shouldn't be able to do this, but it can and it did, and the results are absorbing and beautiful and disturbing. Have a look here.

The company is called La La La Human Steps and the ballet in question is Amelia. The choreography is immaculate - the effects are also gained with the set which is simple, but also disturbingly counter intuitive like an Escher drawing. Add to that the lighting, the use of close-ups, and the juxtaposition of the various bodies, one with another, and you have something extraordinary. The movements are, at times, so fast, that the brain can't follow, but has to relinquish control and just allow the performance to take the watcher where it will. 

But we got to wondering - what would it be like to involve this kind of extreme movement in the world of game - to capture some of this emotion expressed through powerful movement and utilise it in - for example - combat sequences? Would it add to the humanity of the animation? What would be the effect on the increasingly sophisticated gamer? It is, literally, poetry in motion. It is new and young and adventurous. It seems to be out there on the edge of experimentation - and it's the kind of area which we think the games industry should be exploring.

Prototype - Impressions so Far

I can't believe we're already at that late Sunday period of this weekend. It seems to have flown by...But it has actually been fantastic not to have to get up and rush off somewhere, not to mention the fact that it has given me some quality time with my beloved PS3. The chosen title this week is Prototype.

I'm not in a position to write a true review yet: I don't believe in reviewing half finished games, or worse, reviewing unreleased games from the first ten published screenshots. So this is only a short assessment.

From the outset, the first thing that hit home with Prototype was the graphical quality, or lack thereof. Sorry to say, this game has the look of a PS2 title and although the superpowers of Alex Mercer integrate into the gameplay, their animation is disappointing; the frame count for some of Alex's more elaborate moves is appalling.

So far, the most intriguing aspect of Prototype is, unsurprisingly, the Web of Intrigue. The Web of Intrigue can be accessed at any time and features an interface representing a 'network' of genetic material. Sorry if this is scientifically inaccurate, but I haven't had a biology lesson in about twelve years!

The player can add to the Web by consuming specific people in the city and doing so will unlock a short montage of information and backstory relating to the conspiracy at the heart of Prototype. It is rather surprisingly an original idea and works well, due to the nature of the game's story. It relates directly to the notion that conspiracy plots can be viewed as a 'web' of hints and information which ultimately come together at the denouement.

Have a look at the written and video reviews of Prototype  at IGN and judge for yourself.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma

The original (modern) version of Ninja Gaiden was released on the Xbox system in 2004, to 'across the board' positive reception from critics. It rapidly became a fair contender for one of the best action games of all time, despite an extremely unforgiving level of difficulty. Three years on from the original release, and a subsequent remake, Ninja Gaiden Black, a third remake was released, titled Ninja Gaiden Sigma. This was deemed to be the final and most complete edition of the saga.

I played the original title on the Xbox rigorously, admittedly a considerable time after release. News of Ninja Gaiden Sigma was not a surprise to me, and up until now, I had little interest, believing ANOTHER remake to be milking the idea far too much. It is only in the last few days (and after the inevitable price drops) that I have returned to the series.

After throwing around 15 hours at the game, I feel that the changes within this update are not all for the best. The visuals are, of course, tighter but the introduction of Rachel, the fiend hunter, as a second playable character, feels tacked onto the main experience. There are plenty of fine examples of single player games containing multiple player characters which integrate their story paths effectively, namely Tenchu 2 (from days gone by!) and Headhunter, the old Dreamcast classic.

Aside from this minor gripe, the main and instantly noticeable problem is the camera. The developers have seemingly damaged the camera system which was originally flawless. You do not need to have a degree in programming to realise the concept of new bugs surfacing through modification, but this one is especially virulent, so to speak and should have been spotted and dealt with.

On the plus side, the tweeking of enemies, items, save points, etc is now more player friendly.The extreme difficulty of Ninja Gaiden could easily form a topic in itself, and Sigma is essentially no more forgiving, but I believe there to be a difference in creating difficulty through tough enemies, as opposed to creating difficulty through 'sabotaging' the player.

My real life analogy of this comes from the world of sports. You can push a player as hard as you like, but you must not make the practice more difficult by not allowing them to drink enough water! It's commonsense - not rehydrating is dangerous. I know, because I once had an ice hockey coach whose training method this was - until a spectating ex pro goalie objected vociferously!

This relates to games in an interesting way. The player must be able to regenerate health and save before and after a tough boss battle. Some may disagree, but no matter what, continously repeating the same section is not particularly enjoyable.

Charlie C.