Major Project – Design Work

Major Project Design

3D Platformer

Name: 

• The Fruitable
• Fruity Escape

Concept:

A 3D platformer where the player plays as a fruit imprisoned by the vegetables (opposing side) on a small island where the fruit is trapped. To escape the island the player needs to ascend each floor up the mountain and get to the top to escape or kill the king. One of the main mechanics to exhibit frustration will be a permadeath system, if the player dies then they will have to restart from the bottom which the player will use repetition to learn how to get to the end (levels of immersion). The storytelling will be told through objects or things that are happening on each floor leading up to the conclusion of the decision that the player will make. The decision will decide if the player massacres the veg (killing the king) or escape showing mercy to the king which leads to peace and harmony between fruit and veg. 

Other game looked at:

• Super Mario 64
  • 3D style platform level design 
• Super Meat Boy
  • Level design and level mapping, potentially learning of how they implemented hazardous areas into the game (eg spikes, blades)
• Getting over it
  • Kind of like a permadeath system where the player loses progression and one wrong move can drop you to the bottom of the map
• Trap adventure
  • Making features in the game which is not expected and be a way of causing harsh frustration
• Little nightmares
  • Style of escaping and getting through without combat
  • Story telling through the level design and environment

The games which are focused round this idea to build the game come from this 5 games which some are purposely built to frustrate the player and others that highlight how the mechanics could work with the style of storyline that will be displayed

Dissertation research areas focused on:

• Frustration Levels and how that affects wanting to complete the game
  • Harsh frustration (Makes the player not want to play anymore)
  • Light frustration (Player gets slight frustration and feels rewarded after)
• Levels of immersion
  • Getting use to mechanics
  • Understanding mechanics (repetition)
  • Mastering mechanics
• Favourite activity/accomplishment in single player games
  • Activity: Playing the story
  • Accomplishment: finishing the game
• Balanced challenge
  • The game gradually gets harder
  • Where its not to hard to beat the game
• Mechanics and bugs
  • If the game has too many bugs it can break the immersion
  • If the player is immersed they will continue to keep playing to progress

My dissertation was focused at player behaviour cross-referenced with achievement data to see patterns if the player is or is not more likely to complete a game. Immersion and engagement were interpreted through these patterns that I found in my research with some key elements that I want to implement into my major project (Activity and accomplishment goals). It was clear that a sense of immersion needed to be built first to engage the player to keep playing through balanced gameplay and mechanics. Frustration was closely linked to frustration levels and how it could impact the game when the player quits or feels rewarded from small challenges they are faced with. These are the five key areas that I want to focus with what I am doing for my game and see if in the testing phase, I can get a difference in harsh and light frustration through a permadeath system on one playthrough and checkpoints at the start of levels. 

User Description

The target audience for this game is players who enjoy 3D platformer games and have a preference for challenge and interpretive storytelling. The game is designed to gradually increase in difficulty, but not to the point where it becomes too hard to beat. The permadeath system will provide a sense of urgency for the player to progress and not make a mistake, but the repetition of learning the mechanics will theoretically increase their level of immersion in the game. The area will have some graphic themes but because of the themes of fruit and vegetables will take off the edge of some of the darker themes of revenge.

Gameplay/Mechanics:

The main mechanics of the game include wall bouncing, permadeath, and areas of danger. The player will have to navigate through spikes and enemies to reach each floor of the mountain. The final boss floor will require the player to defeat waves of enemies before reaching the king, who they can choose to kill or spare.

Mechanics Ideas

Player

Wall bounceMovement/ jump

Enemies

Ground Enemy/Flying enemyPatrol system Kills the player if they touch the player

Enemy Spawner

Spawns 20 enemies

Areas of danger

MoldPlayer/Enemy dies if they collides with the mold SpikesPlayer/Enemy dies if they collides with the moldTimer for the spikes to up and down

Achievement

Awarded an achievement for each floor that they progress through and if they get through the game

Mode selection

Normal modePermadeath: offCheckpoints: on each levelHard ModePermadeath: onCheckpoints: off, starts player at the first level

Mechanics Ideas

Floor mechanics
floor	Mechanics
Prison Floor (Floor 1)	Simple learning of the mechanics, a few wall bounces and enemies patrolling around chasing the player. The player needs to evade the ground enemies and get to the next floor.
Execution Floor (Floor 2)	Will start to implement more features like spike traps and flying enemies. Implementation of mold to make the game harder
Veg entertainment/living quarters (Floor 3)	Will make the game a little bit harder with more difficult jumps and more areas of danger
King Floor or Room (Floor 4)	Will include an enemy spawn system where the player has to use what they have learned and lead the enemies through mold and spikes to kill them. They have a choice of killing the king or showing mercy. Roll end scene and credits

Storyline:

The story of the game will be told through objects and events that occur on each floor of the mountain. The player’s final decision of whether to kill the king or spare him will determine the outcome of the story. If the player chooses to spare the king, a treaty is signed and fruit and vegetables will live in harmony. If the player chooses to kill the king, the fruit will take over the tower and massacre the vegetables.

In the first level, the player is escaping the prison block and trying to get to freedom, the next floor shows that the fruit is being executed by the veg and this is supposed to give the player a sense of revenge. The third floor shows the vegetables that have been living in luxury that is too adds to the feeling of rage the player gets. Walking into a room where one of the fruit has killed a family of veg is supposed to give the player a sense of remorse. The last level is to act on revenge or give mercy to the king which should make the player conflicted 

This tale of revenge is highlighted in my dissertation as being a way to make the story more immersive and engaging to give the player a motive to complete the game. 

Floor storytelling
Floor	Storytelling
Prison Floor (Floor 1)	It will have the fruit running away trying to get to the next floor and at minimum bodies of other pieces of fruit that have died trying to escape will litter the floor
Execution Floor (Floor 2)	The execution floor shows the player that the vegetables are massacring them and the injustice of the situation. This is an attempt to make the player feel revengeful jumping over the bodies fruit that’s gone moldy
Veg entertainment/living quarters (Floor 3)	The player will see on the third floor how the vegetables are eating good (potentially could have bowls of fruit, eating the fruit etc) have an entertainment area and nicer living space. An attempt to make the player feel jealous or angry. Some of the fruit has killed innocent vegetables to show that some of the vegs are not evil. Maybe posters of protest in the halls
King Floor or Room (Floor 4)	This floor is then the decider where you exact your revenge on the veg king or you leave him and flee. Do you take an eye for an eye and kill him or do you spare him and change his opinion on what he’s been doing in turn creating peace.

UI Design:

The Ui is going to have a super minimalistic approach

Main Menu Screen

– Start button

– Exit Button:

– Controls Button:

Controls screen:

– Return Button

Game UI:

Win screen:

– Story decision result text

– Retry/Exit button 

Lose Screen:
– Retry Button

– Exit Button

Level Design:

Level 1:

Level 2:

Level 3:

Level 4: 

Art Style:

The art style for “The Fruitable” or “Fruity Escape” will be whimsical and colorful with some darker undertones, befitting the theme of the game. The character design for the fruit and vegetables will be exaggerated to make them more distinct and appealing through low poly models. I’ve picked low poly because I feel like this art style aids the style of the game because realistic graphics are not needed for fruit and wouldn’t fit the theme I am going for. With the included time constraints, the models are going to be based on one fruit and vegetable which will be used for all the NPCs.

Player model = Strawberry

Enemy model = Broccoli 

Sound Design:

The sound design for the game will emphasize the game’s whimsical dark-themed atmosphere. The sound effects for the bouncing, enemies, and hazards will provide appropriate feedback to the player. The background music will be cheerful and gradually increase in intensity as the player progresses through the levels.

Player movement footsteps

Player Jump/wall bounce

Player Death Sound

Player Spike death sound (fruit squish sound)

Enemy movement footsteps

Enemy death sound

Flying enemy sound

Enemy King death sound (squish)

Background music

Lofi music for the background that gets faster in tempo as the levels progress

Method of implementation:

Sprint method

Weekly blog posts that list the development that is being done throughout the project and the elements of the game that I am implementing.

Gant chart:

Constraints/ Limitations 

Four floors:

The four floors is a lot to make in terms of building a well-constructed level design with the time I have so it will be hard to get the balance of making the game not have too much of a dramatic jump in difficulty. One of the reasons I picked a platformer is because it is a genre that is a basis for what a lot of players started with like Mario, Sonic and other platformers like Little Big Planet. 

StoryLine:

Implementing the storyline through the environment may be hard to do with the limited time we have to implement and will focus on have core models added in through the level design that will add to he game. In example, the level design in the second level where the character reaslises the mold is from the fruit being killed and dumped into mass burials. Some things that I need to be aware of aswell is the dark themes that the game will include in terms of death and mass death at that and how this could potentially be too dark. In addition I have tried to combat that with the lighthearted element that the characters in the game are all after fruit.

Mechanics:

The permadeath system means that the general movement of the player character means it needs to be polished because of otherwise this can instantly lead to harsh frustration which is what I want to show through the harsh permadeath system.

Level Design:

Making sure that the game mechanics for the player are fluid in the game and this needs to be one of the core mechanics that work well alongside the enemies being able to kill the player. The level design needs to not be too easy so the stakes of dying and completing the games are heightened.

Minimum criteria wanted for game:

• Core Mechanics
  • Player mechanics movement and jump/wall bounce work
  • Enemies can kill the player
  • Areas of danger can kill the player
• Level Design
  • The levels are completable
  • Each level can load and the can be completed
• Achievements
  • An achievement is rewarded at the end of each level
• Difficulty/Challange
  • At least the permadeath system works and loads from first level instead of two game modes where one has checkpoints
• Sound design
  • Sound design doesn’t need to be implemented as the priority is that the game mechanics work
• Storyline
  • The storyline can be interpreted through some of the level design of each floor at a base level where the player understands the motive of the character
• Models and design
  • The models of the player and enemy do not need to be explained
  • At least some of the environment models will be implemented 

All the things that need to be included into the assignment:

• Initial ideas development
• Ability to manage project and deadlines
• Development
• Method Used
• Clarity of the scope and final outcomes
• Quality of the final outcomes
• Testing 
• Reflection

Conclusion:

“The Fruitable” or “Fruity Escape” is a 3D platformer game that provides a balanced challenge to the player. The focus on frustration levels, immersion, and mechanics will provide an engaging experience for the player. The dark themes and colorful art style, conflicting sound design, and intriguing storyline will make “The Fruitable” or “Fruity Escape” a memorable and enjoyable game to play. Overall the project if completed within the time of the Gant chart with no issues will exhibit areas of my dissertation discussion and can be used as evidence. The main issues with the project will correctly getting all the level design of each floor implemented and working in time for the hand-in of the project. Another thing that will be hard to get right will be the sound audio in the game to project the actions of the player correctly. The animations will be another thing that will be another things to try get working correctly. However, this should support my dissertation that if the game is enjoyable the player will look past the bugs. In addition, the mechanics are fairly simple and once completed will give more time to fix all the other sections by the time it needs to be created. In conclusion, the project is achievable and hopefully come the end of the project the result will match the design work intended.