BIG-5 Productions Rain, LEE Wing Yee(13045803D) Hanna, NGAI Wun Yan(13107455D) Trina, SIU Sin Na(13045863D) Leuko, TANG Ching Sum(13045635D) Kei, WONG Oi Kei(12014343D)
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Project Manager, Game Artist Script Writer, Game Artist Game Artist, Animator Game Artist, Animator Script Writer, Programmer
SD3766_20132_A: Design for Interactive Entertainment
Interactive Media(BA) | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Contents Game Overview ● ●
High concept statement Synopsis
The Game World ●
Game Position
Character Design ● ●
player characters Non-player characters
Rough Plot ●
Backstory(Describe how the plot will unfold with game play)
Gameplay ● ● ● ●
Game structure Game interfaces/wireframes Game Control Game Mission
Assets ●
Art assets
Suggested Game Flow Chart Technical Spec ● ●
Programming language Challenges
Play Test ● ● ●
Introduction of play test Findings of play test Adjustment
Future Work(Vision of complete design)
Game Overview
High concept statement "I’m not afraid of you, zookeeper! Turn me back into human!” A poor man turn into a duck in an accident then he had be catch into zoo and fighting with zookeeper. He needs to get help from other animals break the curse, thereby learning the difficulties of animals!
Synopsis I. Story setting a) Initial Synopsis Uncle Dodgy, a fat dodgy bugger who was so fond of smoking, drinking and playing computer games. All money he earned was spent on these bad interests, this is why his family left him long time ago. One day, he was drinking at home as usual. He received a package containing a can of coke. He thought it was a beer and drank it. He shivered after drinking and suddenly transformed into a huge yellow duck like a monster. No sooner has he realised the change then a number of zookeepers caught him to the zoo. Secretly, the deteriorated coke was sent by the zookeepers to those who has no values towards the society, to transform them to monsters and display in the zoo for more money…He never feels desperate like this, in this impasse, he starts to find ways to break the curse.missing his family. He wants to meet his family again, for seeking family he needs to turn back into human and get out the zoo. So he starts to find ways to break the curse.
b) Adjustment of story synopses i. Why Uncle Dodgy becomes a duck: Uncle Dodgy released the duck and it was the most famous animal in zoo. Zookeeper was very angry! So that he took revenge to him by sending him cursing medicine mimicked as a can of beer which turned him into a big yellow duck, in order to replace the one he released before. ii. Why Uncle Dodgy need to help these animal: Dodgy Duck made the staff in his zone drunk and got the secret about where he can find the solution to break his curse. He knew that these medicines was separated to different zones and caught by an animal. He needed to solve the problem for the animal and the animal would give the medicine to him.
c) Final Synopsis Uncle Dodgy, a fat dodgy bugger who was so fond of smoking, drinking and playing computer games. One day, he was drunk and released the most popular duck at zoo. Zookeeper took revenge to him by sending him a can of beer, which is a cursing medicine mimicked. Uncle Dodgy turned into a big yellow duck to replace the one he released before. Dodgy Duck wanted to escape but there had a staff was guarding him in the duck’s zone. He made the staff drunk and got the secret that he needed to get medicine from three types of animals, Polar bear, Sloth and Giraffe, in order to broke his curse. During different zone, he needed to settle those animals’ problems towards taking medicine.
II. Look & feeling The game is using light color scheme and funny drawing style, in order to make a fresh feeling for players and the tone of all game interface can be match. Also we can match our graphic style by using the same color panel.
Here is our graphic reference. As you see they are trend to be humor and funny. We reference the style of character design and main feature is humorous facial expression. So that players can use a relaxed feeling to play our game.
Uniqueness Dodgy Duckie is a game about imagination and discovery. Through the game play, players can help and solve the problems for the animals by doing some unusual missions, which is the players need to find useful tools, deduce the way to get suitable tools and receive mission items. Also players can understand what problems that animals are facing, such as the problem of animals’ fur(zone of pole).
Besides, the other uniqueness about this game is story line. The main goal for players is to solve the magic on Uncle Dodgy, players need to follow the hints of story for achieve the main goal. When players unlock some submission or finish main task, they can receive some hints from hidden story plot.
The Game World
Game Position Game genre: Fantasy Adventure Camera model: Third-person 2D Target players: Achiever(reference: Tiny Thief fans) – goal oriented and motivated by long-term achievements. players need to break the duck curse part by part, after achieving all the task, players can finally break the curse completely. Master plot: Adventure Gameplay elements: Fantasy, Narrative, Submission
Features: Character - Funny, unique, personalize character. Background - Special setting of the character challenge as he became a duck and caught by zookeeper. unique background of zoo with various animal. Way of expression - Perseverance, brave and unexpected story. Compactness - High, need to break the duck curse and fulfil other animals’ need, avoiding zoo keeper find out his plan Deep meaning - Helping other is important and not hesitate before helping others
Character Design
players characters 1) Uncle Dodgy (Human) He is a obese dodgy uncle, who has many bad habits, always smoking, drinking beer and playing computer games. One day he drunk a can of strange beer from zookeeper, then he turned into a duck!
2) Uncle Dodgy (Duck) The outlook was same as a duck and acted like other animals but it keeped some human feature that it could think, had legs and able to speak. It had an important mission, which is turning back into human! It needed to solve problems for animal to collect all those medicine.
Non-players characters 1) Zookeeper He is a zookeeper to keep zoo running normal. But one day, he discovered the famous duck was released by Uncle Dodgy! He felt very angry! So he sent a cursing medicine mimicked as a can of beer to Uncle Dodgy. When he confirmed Uncle Dodgy successfully turned into a big duck, he caught Uncle Dodgy into the zoo in order to replace the duck. He kept the last medicine which is a key for Uncle Dodgy turn back to human.
2) Polar Bear (Theme Boss) It was an animal who kept the medicine in North Pole. But it feels very hungry, if somebody can give some food to it, maybe it can return other thing back to he/she...
3) Sloth(Theme Boss) It was an animal who kept the medicine in Tropical Rainforest. But someone says that rainforest area run out of trees! Sloth needs somebody to help for collect seeds to plant , maybe it can return other thing back to he/she...
4) Giraffe(Theme Boss) It was an animal who kept the medicine in Africa Grassland. There is some rumors about Giraffe, someone says that animal in Africa Grassland is run out of clean water. If somebody can help Giraffe collect clean water, maybe it can return other thing back to he/she...
5) Other Animal Other normal animal in the zoo for example Alpaca and Panda.
Rough Plot
Backstory Storyline: In the zoo life, Uncle Dodgy had to act like all other normal animals and expose to many audiences in daytime. At night, he looked for ways to break the imprecation. In his surprise, all animals could speak at night. They were all hypocritical and not willing to give others a helping hand. However, each area of animals grasped part of hints to break the imprecation. Therefore, he needed to collect all the hints and change back to be a human. When he gained a hint, part of his body could be recovered. During the collecting process, he developed friendship with the animals and all the animals helped him to break the imprecation. After collecting all the hints, all parts changed back except his head. When they were all very distressed, they discovered that the zookeepers kept the last medicine. All animals compelled the zookeepers to hand over the medicine and escaped from the zoo. Uncle Dodgy drank the medicine and recovered his human appearance. Yet, he could not forsake his animal friends. At the end, he took over the zoo and lived together with pleasure and play computer games everyday.
Gameplay
Game structure 1) Start (Main page) players started at the main page. 2) Game map (3 Theme) players went into the game map and started at theme one. players need to help the animal to collect items in order to go to next level. Level 1: North Pole Level 2: Africa grassland and Level 3: Tropical Rain forest 3) Ending: Fight the zookeeper(Animation) After finished 3 level , every parts changed back except his head. All animals compelled the zookeepers to hand over the last medicine and escaped from the zoo. Uncle Dodgy drank the medicine and recovered his human appearance. Yet, he could not forsake his animal friends. At the end, Uncle Dodgy took over the zoo and lived together with pleasure and play computer games everyday.
Game interfaces/wireframes
Mission Panel: 1.) Mission items
In the beginning, mission items icons are gray to represent the status - uncollected.
Also, the star is representing the request of the task. If it is in gray, it means that players have not fulfill the requests on those task. Three stars mean that there have three tasks in that level.
After the hint pop-up, the icon of item on the top will also turn into color to represent their status - collected.
When players collect all items of those task, the star on the side will turn into yellow color. 2.) Tools
When players click on the bag on the left of mission panel, they can check out tools status, those are shadow cut are tools that they need to collect, those are colored are they have already collected.
3.) Control buttons
Restart icon, players can restart the whole level. Home page icon, players can return to map page.
Game Control Key
Action
W key
Jump,go up
S key
In land,go down/ Swimming in water
A key
Move to left
D key
Move to right
Left mouse
Click action bubble to take action and base game controls
Game Mission 1)Game rules To collect items from different positions to fulfill the requestment of the mission.
2)Winning conditions Finished these three levels and came back to a human.
3)Levels This game were total had three levels, players needed to finish the main task, collect at least one star to finish a level. Subtask was optional to players. When players finished the main task, he could get part of the medicine and turn part of the body back. I) Main Tasks If you collect five items, you could get one star. a) North Pole Boss: Polar Bear Collect item-food: 1.) Sausage 2.) Meat 3.) Fish 4.) Can 5.) Egg Result: Get the hand and butt back b) Africa Grassland Boss: Giraffe Collect item-clean water: 1.) Water bottle 2.) Water 3.) Fruit 4.) Water 5.) Cloud Result: get belly and breast back C)Tropical Rainforest Boss: Sloth Collect item-seeds: 1.) Mango 2.) Bag of seeds 3.) Starbuck coffee 4.) Chocolate 5.) BT seeds Result: body back with duck head II) Sub Tasks Players could play mini game under the main tasks. If they finish a task, they could get one star. a) Key Find the key from the key pattern to release hidden plot of each level. b) Beer Find the one which is Uncle Dodgy’s favourite from the cabinet.
Assets
World mapv
Game Scene Main Task
Subtask(find key and find beer)
Tutorial Panel
Mission Panel Remind players the items and tools collected, no need to remember every time.
Action Bubble Simple graphic show to players to click on it and do the action
Thinking caption Show at the bottom of the scene
Hint Panel
Unlock hidden Plot Panel
Suggested Game Flow Chart(s)
Technical Spec
Programming Language: GML For programming, we used Game Maker 8 as the platform of game development. Game Maker allows users to add functions by dragging icons after adding events to objects. Game Maker also has a built-in programming language called GML (the Game Maker Language). By dragging the “execution code” icon to an event, users can input codes to have a more flexible control than the standard functions.
Adding event to an object Existing source codes I used for controlling the character movement from http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Platform-Game-in-Game-Maker : “Step” event: if place_free(x,y+1) { gravity = 0.7 gravity_direction = 270 } else { gravity=0 gravity_direction = 270 } //the arrow keys<,>,^ if place_free(x-4,y)and keyboard_check(vk_left){x-=4} if place_free(x+4,y)and keyboard_check(vk_right){x+=4} if !place_free(x,y+1) and keyboard_check(vk_up){vspeed=-10} For stopping the character from falling through the ground by checking collision with solid: “Collision” event: move_contact_solid(direction,12); vspeed=0;
Other than searching for existing source code on the Internet, we also looked at the menu bar for functions and variables of GML, then Goggled the values to be put in the brackets. Software toolkits we used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Flash, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Photoshop
Challenges In using Game Maker 8, the major tasks we did were creating objects from sprites, editing collision masks and adding events to the objects. Since our character has different statuses and abilities towards objects unlocked after getting some tools, the most frequently used functions were swapping objects and collision. Also, we spent so much time on exporting every objectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s graphics separately from Adobe Illustrator, importing and resizing GIFs in Game Maker 8, because the dimensions of GIFs were larger than we wanted when we export them. Collision Detection We had many problems to deal with throughout the development process. In the exploration stage, we used the mountain blocks as solids for the duck to walk on, but we found out the
mountain blocks became one solid but not layers of objects, which the duck could not walk in front of the mountain blocks. So we created an invisible solid object called "edgeâ&#x20AC;? which was a small block of 16 x 8 pixels, and placed many on the edges of the non-solid mountain blocks graphics. Then we edited all collision masks of every version of the ducks to become a thin rectangle so that the duck could pass through gaps between lower and upper grounds.
Edges - All activated and deactivated(non-solid when outside caves) edges placed in the room
When players click to enter a cave, edges of cave would be changed from non-solid instances to solid instances.
There were many other collision problems: - Duck fall through solids when jumping/ clicking action+jumping (Not solved, just avoid disappearing of duck by “jump to start position” function when the duck intersect with boundaries) - Couldn’t jump to position between main task and subtasks (Trapped by solid > solved by delaying the solidification of edges by adding alarm) - Continuous collision with objects produces many action bubbles causing heavy load(Solved heavy load by destroying bubbles around 2 seconds after appearing)
Sliding Mission Panel and Items Icons We wanted to create a sliding mission panel in the first digital prototype, But the icons of items didn’t follow the mission panel even the checkboxes of “parent” were checked, they only inherited the event of panel but not sticking with it. So we decided to set paths to every icon whenever the mouse enter or leave panel or the duck got items. Fortunately, we changed the mission panel into a fixed one which lessen the loading time of game.
1st digital prototype - Long list of “Set path” functions for all possible created icons
Checking the Collection of Five Items In the first digital prototype, there were not enough time for us to try typing code to check if players got all 5 items. We set the creation of star in the event of clicking the “get egg” action bubble. But in this case, players might get the star without getting all five items. So, in the second digital prototype, we spent time to find out how to achieve checking. There were methods on the internet of using instance number to check the number of items in the inventory, which also requires the use of arrays, too complicated, and also the naming of each of our items were unique, which means they could not be counted as the same instance. However, the idea of arrays did help us to develop the solution, we decided to create arrays by drawing five more objects. First, we created five transparent circles on top of the icon places, named “icon1”, “icon2”...”icon5”. Then, we added object swapping functions when players get items, e.g. players got egg > swap icon5 to icon_egg, so that no more “icon5” in the scene. We also defined a global variable called “icons” in the “Room Creation Code”: globalvar icons; icons=5; The following was the code added to the creation event of icon_egg: if instance_number(icon5)==0{ icons-=1;} if icons==0{ instance_create(453,55,star);} if instance_number(star)==3{ room_goto_next() } Or just delete the first line, no additional objects will be required, the variable “icon” will be minused by 1 on the creation of icon_egg. But if there are multiple “get egg” action bubbles and the players click more than one, variable “icon” would be minused by 2, and this might affect the checking. So, the solution of preloading objects icon1-5 was adopted to prevent this situation. For checking of the star, we can use counting instance number in this case, since three stars were instances of the same object. Subtasks Execution Method
The subtasks were changed to be happened inside caves, which the duck would go into another space. At first, we thought we could use the method of going to another room. However, after trying, we found that the icons of the mission panel have to be checked persistent to keep in place when the duck go back to the main room, but they would be still there when going back to the homepage. Therefore, we decided to make the subtasks in the same room by covering the main task area creating subtasks backgrounds on top and destroying some objects of main task area such as the fishes. Other Problems
- High frame rate full frame animation causing “Out of memory”(Solved by reducing frame rates) - Sound effects needed time to load after some time, even they were preloaded when the game starts - The game lags after coming out of the “Beer cave” (Unknown reason)
Play Test
I
Introduction of play test Play Session (15-20 mins) At first, we explain the goal of this session.Then brief about the game storyline (Using graphic to describe the story),tell players about the mission. Then, players start to play the game and we take notes during the game test process and ask question during and after the test.
Findings of play test 1.What players do at the first step At first, most of the players will freely explore in the game and click the seem-clickable items and the mission panel (see the goal) of the game. 2. The objective of the game All players understand that they need to collect item on scene and they can understand the storyline. 3.Confusing Elements towards players The elements confusing the players is key hole and key mission, they don’t know how to collect the key and key hole. Also the animals (NPC),similarity of action bubbles and thinking bubble because two kind of bubble look similar and players can’t classify them. In addition, the weak contrast of background color, can’t show the path clearly to players. 4. The elements could be improved The hint bubble can be bigger (thinking and action bubble) because the players can’t see it clearly in screen.Also, the outlook of thinking and action bubble are too similar. At the same time, players can’t understand the graphic of sausage bubble.The control panel can change into WASD control, more easy to control by the players.In addition,the display screen can be bigger that players can see clearly the transformance of the character and the scene.And players can’t classify tool and food(same sound effect) and don’t know what tools he’ve got. It can be show more clearly to them. At the same time, they don’t know where and why need to find the key and keyhole because of the difference of game play pattern.
First play test- Paper phototype
Second play test - Digital phototype
Adjustment After the play test, we have make some adjustment toward our game.
Enlarge the scale of screen & change increase the color contrast During the play test, players suggest weak contrast of background color can’t show the path clearly of the screen. Therefore, we increase the color contrast of the background and let’s the walkable path more outstand. Also, players suggest the screen can be bigger to show the changes of the main character more clearly,so we change the screen size from 1170x610 to 1024 x 768.
Add tutorial pages in the beginning of the game Tutorial is not clearly show to players as we use a bubble to show in screen only. Therefore, we add tutorials pages in order to help players to understand the game purpose, mission and control system clearly before game play.
Use mini game to do submission In the play test, players said they don’t know where and why need to find the key and keyhole because of the difference of game play pattern. Therefore, we use mini game to do the submission to release some game element in main game page.
Change the position and interface of mission panel In play test, players said they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what tools heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got and the item he had collected. Therefore,we change the position and interface of mission panel which can remind players the items and tools collected, no need to remember every time
Change into WASD control In play test, players suggest it is uncomfortable to use direction key and mouse together so we change into WASD control in order to makes players control more easily.
Change Pop Up graphic In play test, players canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t understand the graphic of pop up window.Therefore, we change pop up graphic and more easy to understand the sausage bubble.
Level down the difficulty of tasks, only need to find one item In play test, players suggest it is difficult for players find the keyhole and key.Therefore, we level down the difficulty of tasks, only need to find one item. Simplify the graphic of action bubble players suggest the graphic of action bubble is too complicated. Therefore we Simplify the graphic of action bubble to let players more easy to understand.
Thinking bubble become the caption at the bottom players can see the difference between action and thinking bubble because the outlook of thinking and action bubble are too similar. Therefore, thinking bubble become the caption at the bottom.
Future work (Vision of complete design)
Continue to do the game Lv2, 3 and Boss Since we have not enough time to do remaining game levels, we just had thought about the content of game play. Fortunately, we have do many times of game test for the Lv1, we think that we can make the remaining game levels easily and will not do the same mistakes such as many random elements.
Increase fun of discovery We would like to increase the fun of discovery. In the future, some items can able to change player characterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to receive more skill for discover the zoo. For example, player can learn how to fly by their wings and able to fly to the higher place to get mission items. That can increase the possibilities of us to design more different kind of maps and missions.
Extend the story We hope that we can able to extend the story. We would like to talk more about what happen next on Uncle Dodgy and his zoo. We consider to keep update website or blog to extend the story, by extending the story we can get more playerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attraction on our game. If there is enough audience pay attraction on our game, we will able to keep update our game to release more game levels and story line.