MMU ADVANCED
COMPUTING - GAMES DESIGN : ALIENS ON HOLIDAY
Akbar Ali created a temporary blog at http://mmuadvancedcomputergames.blogspot.co.uk/
to begin the process of games design for the Gaming Design Unit. Subsequently a meeting
was held in the MMU Library to discuss the development of the Computer Game as
a group. Present at this meeting were Akbar Ali, Muhammed Amin and Sotiris Charalambous.
After some discussion the group name "Game Addicts" was adopted.
Akbar put himself forward to be the group leader and
Muhammed and Sotiris agreed to this. The group quickly agreed that the UDK
Unreal would be used to develop the game.
There was discussion about the genre of the game. Muhammed had suggested a dance game. Akbar expressed the concern that he was not really keen on developing dance games as a career! They type of genre the group could work on was discussed at length and some research was done on the internet to determine what was possible to be developed using the Unreal UDK. At first the group were concerned that UnReal would only permit a "Shoot 'em up" type game to be developed and a dance game would not be possible anyway. However research showed that a wide variety of game genres could potentially be developed using Unreal.
There was discussion about the genre of the game. Muhammed had suggested a dance game. Akbar expressed the concern that he was not really keen on developing dance games as a career! They type of genre the group could work on was discussed at length and some research was done on the internet to determine what was possible to be developed using the Unreal UDK. At first the group were concerned that UnReal would only permit a "Shoot 'em up" type game to be developed and a dance game would not be possible anyway. However research showed that a wide variety of game genres could potentially be developed using Unreal.
The group also discussed potential plots for any game. Akbar
suggested that they could take a plot from an existing movie eg The Exorcist or
a story eg Goldilocks and develop a game based on that. This was initially
agreed, but then the group decided to develop its own plot. The possibility of
a horror game was mooted. Muhammed was keen on a First person blaster or third
person blaster game, but then it was decided that the group would develop its
own original plot. The group also discussed the possibility of a puzzle game or
a platform game. The idea of a horror game was abandoned. Akbar suggested a
medical diagnosis type of game. Muhammed then suggested that the game should be
a maze game and did a google search on pacman games to illustrate this. It was
decided that the game would be 3D and not 2D like pacman.
Akbar then suggested that the game should have an
alternative format and that the first person could actually be an Alien and
that it was humans who were the enemy!
There was some discussion about who the game was aimed at. It was decided that the game would be designed to appeal to young people aged 13 and over.
There was some discussion about who the game was aimed at. It was decided that the game would be designed to appeal to young people aged 13 and over.
So the basic scenario would be An Alien ship had crash
landed on earth (Platt fields park?). The Alien needs to search for spares to
repair his space craft and also for an energy source to power the spaceship.
It was decided that the alien would derive energy from
plants and that he would seek out cats and dogs as the energy source for his
spacecraft. This we felt would give the game a novel twist. (We hasten to add
that we are all cat and dog lovers!).
The alien would have three lives and hence could regenerate three times before the game ended.
The alien would absorb energy from plants - a general plant for 2 points of energy, A Triffid type plant for 4 points and a golden Triffid for a new life. Additionally there would be plants such as poison ivy that would deplete the alien's energy. It would not be possible to tell the difference between normal plants and poison ivy until the alien got close to the poison ivy when it would then morph to its poisonous type.
The alien would have three lives and hence could regenerate three times before the game ended.
The alien would absorb energy from plants - a general plant for 2 points of energy, A Triffid type plant for 4 points and a golden Triffid for a new life. Additionally there would be plants such as poison ivy that would deplete the alien's energy. It would not be possible to tell the difference between normal plants and poison ivy until the alien got close to the poison ivy when it would then morph to its poisonous type.
All the time the alien would be chased by male and female
humans who would be out to eliminate the alien using a variety of weapons. In
the early levels there would be a few humans but as the alien got to higher
levels the number of humans would increase. Every time a male and female human
came into contact they would multiply and create a baby human who would mature
to an adult human.
The group the split the tasks as follows:
Akbar to develop the blog and plot for the game
Mohammed to develop the platform or maze for the game for each level (3 initially)
Sotiris to work on developing the characters which would include
Aliens, humans male, female and baby Plants (benign, poison ivy, triffid, golden triffid), Cats, Dogs (Sotris then showed the group a photo of his dog which he left behind in Cyprus).
Update 05/10/2010
Unfortunately Mohammed has left the group as he is no longer
on the M.Sc. programme. However the group has adopted a new member Mothiur.
Akbar briefed Mothiur on the current situation with the game development.
Sotiris was not present at the Games lecture and labs on Friday. So Akbar and
Mothiur had a brief meeting to discuss plans and progress. Mothiur was also
keen to put his mark on the project. It was agreed that Mothiur would work on
some of the games characters along with Sotiris and would also develop the
platform on which the games would run.
Mothiur suggested that the game takes place in a greenhouse
where a scientist is working on developing triffids.
He also suggested that a dog warden type of official may be
chasing the Alien to try and capture it. He suggested that the Alien is able to
disguise itself as a human by wearing work out pair of shoes.
Mothiur suggested that we model the alien on Slimer from
Ghost Busters. Akbar suggested that he discusses this with Sotiris as he may
already have developed an Alien.
________________________________________________
Revised plot 07/10/2012.
Two tribes of Aliens the KAKKARs and the DUKKARS are headed to earth for a holiday from the KAKKAKAR star system within the Andromeda Galaxy. KAKKAKAR alien technology has advanced to a stage where it is possible for them to achieve faster than light speed travel by bending space to bring two distant points to close proximity.
The Earth has previously been designated as a forbidden planet which was out of bounds to the Kakkars and Dukkars due to its rich flora and fauna. However, the two sets of Aliens are on a secret mission to find a new source of energy to take to their home planet. They have discovered that humans on Earth have managed to create mini-blackholes at the Hadron Collider and at a scientific institution in Edinburgh.
The mini blackholes would make the perfect energy source for the KAKKAKAR's home planet. However, they must do this without interfering with the life-forms on Earth and without causing any damage. The two sets of Aliens are competing to be the first to capture this energy and take it back to their home planets. Unfortunately as they were travelling through the Oort cloud zone at the outer edge of the solar system their space craft were damaged and they had to crash land on Earth near Lake Geneva in order to carry out repairs. Their food supply is ruined and they must survive with what they find on Earth. At the same time they make their way towards the LHC.
The game is designed to be educational. Its users aged 7+ would be set a series of challenges on their way to the LHC and would need to answer questions (solve puzzles) to compete. The players would be able to set the level of difficulty and subject for the questions and puzzles at the start of the game or change it at any stage of the game.
The Kakkars and Dukkars are able to make use of plants for their energy requirements. They also collect cats and dogs to take back to their home planet as novelty pets.
The aim of the game is for the two competing aliens to be the first to secure the black hole from the LHC and return with it back to their home planet.
Humans detect their presence and feeling threatened attempt to capture and or destroy the aliens.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here for Inital Blogg located at
http://mmuadvancedcomputergames.blogspot.co.uk/
References:
Initial image:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/05/couple-let-baby-starve-to_n_487287.html 15:22 1 October 2012
Pacman - Play Free Online Pacman Game and Ms Pacman (Pac Man). 2012. Pacman - Play Free Online Pacman Game and Ms Pacman (Pac Man). [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.webpacman.com/. [Accessed 2 October 2012].
Revised plot 07/10/2012.
Two tribes of Aliens the KAKKARs and the DUKKARS are headed to earth for a holiday from the KAKKAKAR star system within the Andromeda Galaxy. KAKKAKAR alien technology has advanced to a stage where it is possible for them to achieve faster than light speed travel by bending space to bring two distant points to close proximity.
The Earth has previously been designated as a forbidden planet which was out of bounds to the Kakkars and Dukkars due to its rich flora and fauna. However, the two sets of Aliens are on a secret mission to find a new source of energy to take to their home planet. They have discovered that humans on Earth have managed to create mini-blackholes at the Hadron Collider and at a scientific institution in Edinburgh.
The mini blackholes would make the perfect energy source for the KAKKAKAR's home planet. However, they must do this without interfering with the life-forms on Earth and without causing any damage. The two sets of Aliens are competing to be the first to capture this energy and take it back to their home planets. Unfortunately as they were travelling through the Oort cloud zone at the outer edge of the solar system their space craft were damaged and they had to crash land on Earth near Lake Geneva in order to carry out repairs. Their food supply is ruined and they must survive with what they find on Earth. At the same time they make their way towards the LHC.
The game is designed to be educational. Its users aged 7+ would be set a series of challenges on their way to the LHC and would need to answer questions (solve puzzles) to compete. The players would be able to set the level of difficulty and subject for the questions and puzzles at the start of the game or change it at any stage of the game.
The Kakkars and Dukkars are able to make use of plants for their energy requirements. They also collect cats and dogs to take back to their home planet as novelty pets.
The aim of the game is for the two competing aliens to be the first to secure the black hole from the LHC and return with it back to their home planet.
Humans detect their presence and feeling threatened attempt to capture and or destroy the aliens.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here for Inital Blogg located at
http://mmuadvancedcomputergames.blogspot.co.uk/
References:
Initial image:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/05/couple-let-baby-starve-to_n_487287.html 15:22 1 October 2012
Pacman - Play Free Online Pacman Game and Ms Pacman (Pac Man). 2012. Pacman - Play Free Online Pacman Game and Ms Pacman (Pac Man). [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.webpacman.com/. [Accessed 2 October 2012].
No comments:
Post a Comment