Task 1: Game Design Document

25 September 2024
Simon Ko Jing Liang
0364359
Bachelor of Design in Creative Media

INSTRUCTION

Week 1

For this week, Mr. Razif gave us a short brief about the project of this semester and showed some examples of the past students. Then, we had a short lecture that Mr. Razif introduce us about what is game development with an amazing lecture slides. During the lecture session, Mr. Razif gave a link that included games which are made by the past students and wants us to play the games. Then Mr. Razif wants us to do a critical reviews of the game.

Critical reviews of existing games

Fig 1
Game: Conjure

Conjure, developed by Kezia Lynn, a past student at Taylor's University, is an adventure game that offers players an immersive and intuitive experience. The game opens with a short storytelling sequence that sets the tone and provides a brief yet clear tutorial on the controls. With simple mechanics (WASD for movement, Z for attack, Y for interaction, and spacebar for jumping), players can easily familiarize themselves with the gameplay. The control scheme is well-designed, offering a balance between simplicity and functionality, making it accessible to players of all ages.

Fig 2

Short storytelling

Fig 3

Game Control

The game's first stage is set in a peaceful village, where the player, controlling the witch, is tasked with exploring the village and helping a villager find her lost key. This stage introduces the main gameplay elements: interacting with NPCs and eliminating enemies (minions) that appear in the village. The pacing is smooth, and the tasks are straightforward, providing a good introduction to the core mechanics.

Fig 4

Stage 2- Mirkwild Forest

Fig 5

Stage 2- Mirkwild Forest

The second stage, set in the ominous Mirkwild Forest, introduces more complexity. The same task-oriented approach is used, but the environment becomes darker, creating a more threatening atmosphere. However, the stage suffers from a notable issue: the player is unable to see task descriptions clearly, leading to confusion about what needs to be done. Additionally, there is a problem with the game design at the edge of the environment, where players can fall off and are forced to restart from the beginning, as there is no option to continue from the second stage.

Fig 6

Stage 3 - Boss Stage

The boss fight in this stage adds challenge, as players must pay attention not only to the boss but also to minions attacking from behind. While this increases the tension and engagement, there is a bug where the witch cannot perform short jumps, making it difficult to navigate certain areas. Despite this issue, the game maintains a reasonable balance in difficulty, and the combat is satisfying.

Visuals

One of the standout aspects of Conjure is its visual design. The art style is consistent and enhances the thematic shifts between stages. The first stage, set in a village, uses warm colors to evoke a sense of peace, which contrasts effectively with the darker tones of the Mirkwild Forest. The forest feels foreboding, with a greater sense of danger as stronger enemies appear. The final stage, with its desolate setting, emphasizes the high-stakes nature of the boss fight. The design choices are effective in immersing players in the world, and the contrasting colors help distinguish characters from the environment.

Audio & Music

The sound and music design complement the visuals, adding to the atmosphere and guiding the player's emotional responses. The soundtrack shifts with the environment—from calm and peaceful to tense and eerie—creating a cohesive experience that draws players deeper into the game.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The greatest strength of Conjure lies in its ability to immerse players through intuitive gameplay, cohesive visuals, and sound design. The environment design is particularly noteworthy, as it clearly conveys the tone of each stage and matches the actions required of the player. The controls are easy to grasp, making the game approachable for players with varying levels of experience.

However, the game is not without its flaws. The unclear task descriptions in the second stage detract from the flow of the game, causing potential frustration for players. The inability to continue from the second stage after falling off the map is a significant drawback, as it forces players to replay earlier parts of the game unnecessarily. Additionally, the bug with the jumping mechanic in the boss stage disrupts the fluidity of movement and could be improved for a more seamless experience.

Conclusion

Overall, Conjure is a well-designed and enjoyable adventure game with a strong visual and audio presentation. The game is accessible to a broad audience and offers a rewarding experience despite a few technical and design issues. The developer, Kezia Lynn, has created an engaging world that encourages exploration and interaction, allowing players to discover its secrets at their own pace. With some improvements to the clarity of objectives and the elimination of bugs, Conjure has the potential to be even more compelling.

Week 2

For this week is talk about game ideation. There have 4 methods To generate ideas for the game. The first method is brainstorming, it is familiar for everyone and also can used in every fields. The second method is brainwriting 6-3-5. Brainwriting 6-3-5 is a collaborative brainstorming technique where six participants generate 90 ideas by each writing three ideas in five rounds, fostering creativity and minimizing groupthink.

There also have 2 methods that we focused today which is SCAMPER and 3(i).

Below is the meaning for each alphabet.

SUBSTITUTE
COMBINE
ADAPT
MODIFY
PUT TO ANOTHER USE
ELIMINATE
REVERSE

And 3(i) is

INCORPORATE/INCLUDE
IMPROVE
INVERSE/INVERT

After that is the class activity. We need to form into group and create our own game idea with either of the two methods or both.

story
gameplay

This is our group game ideation slides.

Fig 7

Subject 9 Game Ideation

Our game idea uses a 3(i) . Basically our game is based on the existing game, called Resident Evil. Then the name of our game is called "Subject 9". For the existing game, it's perspective is that humans eliminate the monsters created in the laboratory, while our group's game perspective changes to the monster trying to eliminate the scientists who created him and understand their intentions. Of course, during the game, the monster character played by the player will have different endings due to different decisions.

Feedback from Mr. Razif and classmate:

the narrative can be change
maybe can add multiplayer mode which is one as monster and one for humans.

Week 3

This week we gonna to do a simple box smash to more familiar about Unity.

-Every objects should add Box Collider 2D and Rigidbody 2D.

Fig 8

Box Smash

After finished the Box Smash, we gonna to do something in 3D. Mr. Razif provided the resources to us and let us downloaded it then import to Unity. Once most of us had downloaded, Mr. Razif started the tutorial that how to using script to make a game. We followed the steps and created the game I called it "Car sidestep". Creating a game is fun to create, even if it's a bit complex.

Fig 9

Car Sidestep

Once we had done the Car Sidestep, Mr. Razif give us a challenge which is control a plane across the obstacle. Mr. Razif had provided us the material and resource so we just need to download and import to Unity. The technique is as same as Car Sidestep but there's a new thing we need to add which is make the propeller can rotate.

Fig 10

Plane Challenge

Week 4

For this week, we gonna to create game which is a player shooting the passed-by animal.

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Simon Ko Jing Liang (0364359)