After the Presentation

I will post a response here soon when I have come up with a refined concept based off the comments I received on Thursday by Doug and Andy from Sidhe, as well as a couple of the game gang, namely Keaton whom I had a good chat with afterwards.

Game Storyboard

What of Game design/play?

So the running concept for this is that Franklin needs to overcome his feelings and take back control. There are four feelings. Confusion, Anxiousness, Helplessness, and Anger. These feelings make up the basis for the games levels. So the player enters a fantasy world based off one of four feelings. As the player succeeds in completing each stage (feeling), Franklin gets stronger. This is representative of a child taking ownership over their feelings and learning to control it. Anger will be the final stage because its the most concerning. Due to time constraints I decided I would focus on just Confusion and Anger. These being what I wrote as the first and last stage. By completing these two, technically I can create a full game. Then at a later date, creating the middle two stages, Anxiousness and Helplessness, these can serve as expansions to the game.

Game Style: Point and Click Adventure.

How do you play?

Each stage will require a different method to succeed as the gameplay is specific to each feeling.

Confusion: In order to succeed in this stage, player must be decisive. The correct path may not be what it seems to be.

Example of Confusion in a game:

http://www.kongregate.com/games/FireNox/most-confusing-game-ever

Anger: In order to succeed in this stage, the player must have patience. Going in no holds barred isn’t always so efficient.

Example of a patience test: http://www.addictinggames.com/testyourpatience.html

Level Designs:

The aesthetics of the levels will be associated to the feelings they represent.

1) Confusion

Multiple Colour Style.

2) Anxiousness

Blue and Black Colour Style

3) Helplessness

Black and White Colour Style

4) Anger

Red and Black Colour Style.

Wow, Catch up Time

I was sure I had written this Monday night but seems something went wrong...

So I have decided to go for creating a game for my final project, originally it was going to be a development of what was my third concept but this has since changed due to the fact, I could not work out a suitable way of incorporating "PC" restrictions into a game to create a compelling gaming experience.

So after having a good talk with the game gang and Doug Monday, I decided to go back to my essay to for another means of inspiration for a game. Two quotes from Bruno Bettellheim were of real interest to me.

“Many parents believe that only conscious reality or pleasant and wish-fulfilling images should be presented to the child – that he should be exposed only to the sunny side of things”

and

A child is not concerned by the monsters in these [fairy] tales but the monster “he feels or fears himself to be, and which also sometimes persecutes him.””By keeping this monster within the child unspoken of, hidden in his unconscious, adults prevent the child from spinning fantasies around it in the image of the fairy tales he knows”

So in summary,

Children use fantasy/violence as a means to control the monster within, to learn to control and understand their feelings. To know the difference between right and wrong, and the difference between thinking and doing something.

Using these ideas I was able to create a narrative and an original means of gameplay.

Monday/Tuesday:

Kid Protagonist, always had a life that’s always been on the sunny side. One day his world is turned upside down, his inner monster is unleashed from within taking over him, how can he stop it? He must learn to control himself, his feelings. The good in him exists in his mind but it is weak in comparison. Good kid must complete the 4 stages to gain full power and put a stop to the monsters control.

Wednesday:

Franklin has grown up without ever experiencing fantasy, make-believe or pretend violence. He has only ever been exposed to a complete sense of reality. There were no cartoons or fairy tales like we all have come to learn and love. Problems started to manifest as he grew older. He began to feel things not so on the “sunny side” of life. Anxiousness and Helplessness. Anger became a recurring feeling. This confused Franklin. Where had these feelings come from? He had never experience anything like them before.

Now age 8, these feelings have grown out of control, too great for Franklin to supress. As a result, his inner monster is unleashed taking over his physical self. Within his own mind, Franklin must take back control. In order to do so he must learn to control his feelings.

TED - Gever Tulley

Tulley talks about 5 dangerous things which in his opinion, you should allow kids to do. Very interesting choice of 5 things and somewhat relatable to my own life. Interesting to note the pocket knife, a tool I accepted with great gratitude when I was younger, it was a good lesson in responsibility and using the tool itself lead to a whole range of other life lessons. I can see nowadays though, parents who would allow their kids a knife would be very limited. As Tulley states, Today "...we live in a world that is subjected to ever more stringent child safety regulations". Anything sharper than a golf ball he says is unsafe. Interesting.

http://www.ted.com/talks/gever_tulley_on_5_dangerous_things_for_kids.html

TED - Stuart Brown - Play is more than fun

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/stuart_brown_says_play_is_more_than_fun_it_s_vital.html

TED - Tim Brown on creativity and play

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/tim_brown_on_creativity_and_play.html