Apple Interactive Concept NUCA

Apple Interactive Media Project

1/11

Personal tutorial with Mark. Showed him my game idea for 'Hand of God'. Basic idea is you make gestures with your hand to create natural disasters to wipe out civilisation. An energy meter could supply you with power to enable different moves. Stronger moves equals higher energy costs.

Proved to be a bit controversial considering the recent news of disasters wreaking havoc in Asia. Need to make the game less offensive.

Add an element of competitiveness by pitting you against another human players army? Could have a resource race, then build up an 'army' of machines to create elemental disasters? Perhaps set in the future, the past or even another time-line or planet.

Add some A.I to prevent the player from becoming too powerful? Firemen to put out the fires etc.

Inspiration from: Beautiful Katamari, Wario Ware, Command and Conquer, Black and White

2/11

Trying to make my game concept unique would require me to look outside the box.

Wario Ware struck me as a great idea to start on, with hundreds of crazy mini-games featuring some very random ways to play. Jumping up and down or blowing into the microphone like crazy would be some of the odd things you have to do to progress in levels. I want my game to feature a quirky gameplay mechanic but I’m not sure if I can come up with something as unique as that.

Beautiful Katamari has the player rolling around picking up objects (and ultimately destroying the scenery) as you go along, gradually getting bigger and bigger. I like the way the player controls one entity in a very dynamic, rolling action. I would like to incorporate this mechanic into my game when the player uses 'elemental disasters' via gestures. So the player initiates the move with their fingers, and moves the iPad/iPhone in the desired direction to move the disaster in that path.

3/11

Visited the Apple store to see what they had on offer. Plants versus Zombies was very enjoyable to play, along with a marble puzzle game. I also played a generic racing game and a futuristic shooter but they felt lacking. Looked up some specifications for the the iPhone:

• Video recording in HD 720p
• 5 Megapixel camera
• VGA quality photos and video up to 30 fps
• Tap to focus video or still images
• LED flash
• Photo and video geotagging

• Three-axis gyro
• Accelerometer
• Proximity sensor
• Ambient light sensor

Very versatile platform, similar to the the Nintendo DS. I think I will go along the RTS route as it can be a more engrossing type of game with varying outcomes each time you play.

5/11

Started visualising certain game assets. Drew some thumbnails of what the player would be using to destroy civilisation. Instead of having the 'Hand of God' I decided to go for a machine based disaster creating device. Abstract mechanical objects with 'orifices' to spew out tornadoes or lightning bolts.

7/11

Changed my ideas yet again, instead of purely machines or 'alien' technologies crippling the earth, I decided to incorporate animals mounted with weapons. One human controller would order his animal minions into battle, whilst the player created facilities to harvest elemental energies.

9/11

Looked at Black and White 2 for PC. A game where you control an animal avatar to do your bidding. You must also appease your citizens and protect them from danger. A strange but effective blend of real time strategy with the Sims?

Also looked at Elements of Destruction for DS and Xbox live Arcade and DS. You control environmental disasters to destroy the landscape, vehicles, installations and practically anything. You rack up money according to the devastation caused. I want to take certain aspects from these games and integrate them into my own system.

10/11

Found an iPad game called Fingerzilla, which features a very simple gaming mechanic in which you tap the screen to cripple and blow up cities. Sometimes cars or planes also get in your way too, but this doesn't increase the difficulty at all. Only a few levels and limited game options makes this an unfortunately short lived game. Low budget, low replay value.

14/11

So what makes an RTS?

''In an RTS, as in other wargames, the participants position and maneuver units and structures under their control to secure areas of the map and/or destroy their opponents' assets. In a typical RTS it is possible to create additional units and structures during the course of a game. This is generally limited by a requirement to expend accumulated resources. These resources are in turn garnered by controlling special points on the map and/or possessing certain types of units and structures devoted to this purpose. More specifically, the typical game of the RTS genre features resource gathering, base building, in-game technological development and indirect control of units.

The tasks a player must perform to succeed at an RTS can be very demanding, and complex user interfaces have evolved to cope with the challenge. Some features have been borrowed from desktop environments, most prominently the technique of "clicking and dragging" to select all units under a given area.

Though some game genres share conceptual and gameplay similarities with the RTS template, recognized genres are generally not subsumed as RTS games. For instance, city-building games, construction and management simulations, and games of the real-time tactics variety are generally not considered to be "real-time strategy".''

So an RTS is generally an over-complicated series of clicks, drags and drops, and mostly feature intense moments of being overwhelmed by an opposing force, or a sense of accomplishment as you finish off an enemies last unit or HQ.

I intend to create a simplified variant of an RTS, designed for people who may not intend to play a strategic game.

15/11

Summary of the core elements required for my game:

• Simple interface
• Fun, addictive touch screen implementation
• Rewarding gameplay progression (new units unlocked, stronger powers)
• Intuitive A.I
• Single player campaign and Multi-player for 2-4 players
• Faster than your average RTS

18/11

Playtested Dawn of War for PC. Based on a franchise, so the characters are recognisable to long term fans of the Games Workshop/Warhammer 40,000 universe. Sleek designed interfaces and heads-up display. Resource racing is the general rule here, but new objectives can be thrown in for additional challenges such as: capturing objectives, building an army made of certain units or defending your base against waves of enemies with limited resources. This can be said about most mainstream RTS games. What makes Dawn of War unique is that resource points must be captured before built upon, units level up in rank and gain statistical bonuses and you customise your leaders powers in the main campaign section.

19/11

Set out to create game assets such as the main user interface, and the heads up display for in game use. A limited HUD will make for a more involving experience. Only a few things will be shown such as the directional movement pad (for the camera) and radial menus when facilities or animal units are selected. I will try to stay away from the typical numerical values found in RTS games.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_strategy