Storyboarding

Back Story Cinematic:

Game Engine

So over the past few days I have been developing the game engine for Acts of Anger. As coding isn't a strong point of mine, I went to the web to find myself something to build off. I couldn't find anything really suitable and most things that were close were coded in actionscript 2. What I did find though was some basic coding that called a background image from the flash library and had it scroll on the stage. It was coded in AS2 but I was able to update it to AS3 relatively easy. Now I had to get a character loaded also and controllable by the player. This was easy enough from my experience in 2D game design. I added the character script I used back in that course and added the extra necessary coding to what I had already with the scrolling background.

After that I added some boundaries to the stage as previously my character could go off screen, leaving it like this would mean having a pretty big cheat in the game. You could just float of screen until the pickups came along to grab. Once this was done I then had to add pickups and obstacles to the engine. I didn't have much luck but with some help from a class mate I was able to include these things in the game. While they do work, the code for pickups isn't the greatest. Thankfully though I have got in touch with Ben Jack and he's going to help me set these things right in the game. He coded up a platformer engine with pickups/obstacles recently, with him being this years tutor for 2D game design. So while I now have a complete engine, by the end of this next week I hope to have a complete engine, well written/stable, and that I can easily link my levels together.

Without further or do though, here is how the engine is running in its current state:

http://bluespark.fileave.com/angerengine7.swf

What's included:

Background scrolls, you have a controllable character with animations playing with different keys hit, boundaries on the stage, pickups - stars. collect 3 and the 2nd level starts though this has nothing built into it yet, obstacles - red circles. hit these and you return to the start of the level.

Change to Gameplay

- Franklin. Travelling through his mind. Each level is themed around the age he was of the memory he is trying to identify, this being the cause of the negative energy (anger) that fuels the monster that has control over his physical self. Franklin may move in all directions.

- You as the player must control Franklin and successfully navigate him through each level without getting hit by obstacles, and you must also collect each of the 3 puzzle pieces specific to each level. Together these puzzle pieces form the mental picture of the memory (past experience) that Franklin needs to remember so that he can understand where his anger came from. In identifying the cause of his anger, the negative energy (perhaps in the form of a monster) will appear before him to cleanse. Franklin may then move on to the next level. Once all 3 levels are completed, there is no negative energy left within him and so the monster controlling his physical self will lose its power and control over him, returning things to normal.

- The obstacles that Franklin must avoid will be a mix of objects related to the age he was when the memory he is trying to identify occured, and monsters formed from the negative energy within him.

Narrative Update

Back Story Cinematic:

- House. White picket fence. You see Franklin (young), a happy go lucky kid.

- Franklin grows up seeing life through "rose glasses". Only every exposed to the sunny side of life.

- Starts school. His experiences here (his first exposure to the real world) lead him to having feelings he doesn't recognize. Away from home - anxiousness, teasing - sadness, anger.

- Franklin is now 13. Beginning college, he's looking forward to fresh start.

- He is soon repeatedly picked on by a school jock.

- Franklin gets pushed in the corridor and this makes him click. Enough is enough!

- In a rage, Franklin hits the jock back, right to the face.

- Immediately afterward, there is a look of shock on his face, what has he done? Regardless, he has a quick sneer.

- Franklin runs from the scene.

- His emotions stir, his anger boils, RAGE!

- Franklin's inner monster is unleashed, it soon consumes him.

- Franklin is gone, the monster has control.

Fade to black.

Beginning Scene: (Prior to game start)

- Franklin (good) wakes up. He is within his own mind. White all around.

- Confused. Where am I? he thinks.

- A figure appears before him, himself? It is his inner conscious.

- Franklin learns what has happened. His physical self has been taken over by his inner monster created from the negative energy within him. This negative energy was created out of all the anger he felt from certain experiences growing up. He suppressed it rather than dealing with it as he didn't know how to handle it.

- This negative energy fuels his inner monster controlling him. If Franklin can cleanse this negative energy, he can get back control of himself.

- To locate the negative energy, he must identify the reason for his anger that created it.

GAME START

- Players must go through the different levels (acts) and find the 3 puzzle pieces within each level. This will create the mental image Franklin needs to identify his source of anger, and therefore the source of the negative energy within him. Three acts total, each dealing with a different experience in Franklin's life.

Act Titles:

Act One - "Pre-school"

Act Two - "Parents"

Act Three - "Friends"

Experiences that create the negative energy within Franklin:

Beginning of game: Age 13

Status – Franklin has just begun college, looking forward to a fresh start on things. He is soon repeatedly picked on by a school jock. Later he trips Franklin in the corridor, enough is enough! Having been bullied enough at his last school, Franklin goes into a rage. Getting up he then hits the jock and storms out to the playground. Memories of his past bullying flood his mind and his anger builds; his inner monster soon consumes him.

Level One: Age 5

Verbal Conflict – Teased at school for having not seen then popular cartoon “Captain Awesome”, a super-hero TV series. Franklin’s parents didn’t want him exposed to violence as depicted with Captain Awesome fighting the bad guys. Franklin’s anger comes from not liking the other children teasing him and his parents for not letting him watch the show.

Memory Picture: Captain Awesome programme title screen.

Level Two: Age 7

Feud – For his 7^th Birthday, Franklin wanted a skateboard. Franklin liked watching kids skate in the playground. He was amazed at the cool looking tricks they could do and he wanted to learn. He wasn’t allowed though, his parents found skateboarding too dangerous. All Franklin could do was sit on the sidelines and watch in awe, leading him to resent his parents.

Memory Picture: Presents including a skateboard with a ribbon on it.

Level Three: Age 10

Relationship – Franklin wants to try out for the soccer team and asks for support from one of his friends. He gets him to try out with him only the end result is his friend gets picked for the team and he doesn’t. Franklin feels ripped off and some resentment towards his friend. He didn’t even want to try out and yet he’s the one that got picked. “He always gets everything!”...

Memory Picture: Franklin in soccer uniform.

What happens next? Final Cinematic - Draft.

In completing these 3 levels, Franklin’s inner monster controlling him will appear for him to face. Now knowing how to deal with his anger, Franklin wastes no time in sorting it out. Dodging the monsters attacks, Franklin breaks through the monster being filled with only positive energy. Surroundings fade to white, the monsters world falls apart. Franklin wakes up on the school playground. The bell rings and feeling good about himself and life, Franklin walks to class.

Quotes of Relevance

“When you are angry, and you suffer, please go
back and inspect very deeply the content, the nature
of your perceptions. If you are capable of removing
the wrong perception, peace and happiness will
be restored in you, and you will be able to
love the other person again.”

The same can be said about life. Many times we get angry because we are too quick to act/judge and don't see things for what they really are. I found some funny examples of this in a series of ads for a mortgage company, you can catch them all in a compilation video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Keo97K9cs

“Anger has roots in nonanger elements. It
has roots in the way we live our daily life. If we
take good care of everything in us, without
discrimination, we prevent our negative energies
from dominating. We reduce the strength
of our negative seeds so that they
won’t overwhelm us.”

In my game, Franklin hasn't dealt with his anger and therefore his negative energy has escalated to the point where he can no longer keep it suppressed. He's therefore been overwhelmed by it in the form of his inner monster.

Quotes from:

http://www.ineedmotivation.com/blog/2008/07/10-verses-to-tame-anger-by-thich-nhat-hanh/

And from the Bible to:

"Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions." Proverbs 10:12

Feedback from Craig

I sent my refined concept to Craig to try get some feedback on the idea, I figured there is no point moving forward until the foundation of the game is solid. Luckily I did because he came back to me with some important questions that really did expose the holes in the game idea.

This is what he had to say:

- If he needs to 'overcome' his anger, what does that mean? Why does he need to 'overcome' his anger as opposed to embracing it and trying to understand why he has these feelings of anger?

- Suppressing anger is a proven recipe for disaster in reality, and in my opinion, it is definitely not an 'evil life force'.

- If the end comes back to a rosy scene of a perfect family in a perfect home, what kind of statement is that making about your work?

The biggest question he posed to me was, what is it that my game is trying to tell us? It was this one that I began to answer first and it really put things into perspective for me and meant that moving on to answering his other questions was relatively easy.

So without further or do,

What is this game trying to tell us?

We need to deal with our emotions as opposed to shrugging them off and suppressing them. Anger especially, as if left untreated it may result in our own self-destruction. Anger is controlling. It affects our behaviour, our relationships, and our freedom. It makes us suffer. Dealing with anger, it is commonly thought that we must get it out of our system, to vent. But the means in which many of us vent such as screaming or punching a pillow or the like are not beneficial as they lead to the practise of aggression. Instead, anger should be embraced and transformed by being mindful about it. Mindfulness allows us to identify with anger, recognize its presence and take care of it, returning us to a calm, rational state. Anger is not external; it is a part of us. Like a baby it needs to be cared for.

In this case, Franklin has grown up seeing life through rose coloured glasses, having not been exposed to anything unsafe or violent. As a result, growing up he’s beginning to see life for what it really is, and feeling things, anger, that he doesn’t know how to handle. Suppressing his anger has lead to a build up of emotion which he can no longer contain.

“You can either deal with chaos [meaning out of control emotions such as anger] now or greater chaos later.”

Fantasy, violence and physical play all have a central role in the development of children; with parents restricting what they can and can’t do, especially by means of what is safe and what is not, this limits children’s learning, their potential and their growth.

Quote taken from:

http://www.opendoortherapy.com/mfa_series_1to3.pdf

Refined Concept

I've been doing a lot of thinking/planning/writing to refine the concept for my game. After the comments given at the presentation I've now reduced the game to just focus on Anger, and incorporated the aspect of having "anger" represented in a character form. I've done so in a way that I was able to create a narrative and purpose for the game so am hoping this is successful. I've also rewritten the beginning of the game to a more solid and believable story. Previous it wasn't very well detailed. Probably the main change is the protagonist, Franklin, is older than previous. It made sense to relate puberty to his feelings which ultimately leads to his outbreak in which his inner monster is released.

Working Title: “Acts of Anger”

Story: Cut into scenes

Beginning

· House, white picket fence. Solid household. Tranquil setting. You see main character, Franklin. He’s a happy go lucky kid.

· Franklin. Grows up seeing life through rose glasses. Only exposed to the sunny side of life.

· Starts school age 5. Begins to feel things he doesn’t recognize. These feelings are minor though and he suppresses them.

· Franklin is now 13. He begins puberty. His hormones begin to race and he starts to have outbreaks of his emotions. – Chemical imbalance.

· Life changing event. Franklins house burns down. Soon after, Franklin replays the nights event in his head. He pictures standing out on the street watching his house ablaze, frozen in fear. Memories of his life flash before him. Happy memories of living in the house, these are going up in smoke. He looks at it from a materialistic point of view. He’s lost his home, his stability. Why did this happen?! His feelings begin to shoot through the roof. Fear. Panic. Anger. Anger takes control-sending Franklin into a rage. In doing so, his inner "monster" is unleashed.

· The "monster" begins to separate, taking the shape of 4 beings. 3 skive off, 1 approaches Franklin. GAME BEGINS.

These monsters are wreaking havoc; Franklin is the only one who can stop them…

End

· Last scene. Mum/Dad/Franklin are in a new house getting on with a new life, beginning new memories. Balance is restored.

Notes:

· Point/Click adventure game using quick time events for game play.

· Game play involves tracking down the anger monsters and successfully catching them. Clicking the wrong action will result in an eventual game over, having let the monster get away or Franklin knocked out. Players must be quick and decisive, as actions wont appear long. Take too long, game over. Players decide the path of the narrative they wish to take, all paths will lead to same end.

· Game is split up into acts. 1 act per monster.

· Monsters are a result of situations in Franklin’s past where instead of dealing with his feelings, he suppressed them having not known HOW to deal with them. Researching anger, typical causes of anger in a child include: Conflict of possessions/space, physical assault, verbal conflict, rejection, and compliance issues. Using these as a foundation I will come up with 3 experiences in Franklins life that creates the monsters. The 4^th monster is a result of the house fire.

· Fighting doesn’t beat the monsters; it only fuels them making them stronger. Monsters must instead be caught and Franklin must transfer positive energy to them, calming them, thus vanquishing their anger, their evil life force.

- Ape Escape meets Heart of Darkness?

Over the break I plan to write the complete narrative of the game, storyboard it - so I know what needs to be made in terms of artwork and so in compiling it together I will know how things fit together, and then with any other time left over the break I want to do as much character artwork as possible.