AO5 Squidiverse Walkthrough

AO5 ‘Squidiverse’ 10 point Design Document

AO5 Updated MoSCoW

Original Moscow page

We have successfully completed all of our ‘Must Haves’, getting all the basic mechanics up and running to make the game functioning and play-able.

We’ve also done a majority of our ‘Should Haves’, with animation on Squid and the Crabs, sounds for all the actions in the game, and menus. The only thing we didn’t achieve was death animations for the enemies. This might be something to work on putting into the game, as it adds another layer of polish, however isn’t necessary.

The only ‘Could Have’ we got in there is a parallax background. That music could have is quite complicated, from a programming and music perspective, which is why we left it to concentrate of the Must and Should haves. It’s likely that it won’t get in the game.

We’ve completely left the ‘Won’t Haves’ : none of them are present in the game.

AO5 MoSCoW

AO5 Digital Flow Chart

A digital version of the paper flowchart done in Pages.

AO5 Walkthrough Step by Step

AO5 Paper version of our Game

Today the task was to create a paper version of our game, and then make a video of us “playing” it. This real life, tangible prototype will help us start thinking about the logic of the game, and how we might go about programming it in Gamesalad. To make this paper game functional we had many different layers and elements, all made from cut out pieces of paper. Things we wanted to move we stuck down to the background, and moving objects where put on tabs so they could slide around. The main character: Squid, was a cut out blue tacked to a stick, and moved around like a stick puppet.

First we did some planning in Photoshop, making a crude map as to what our paper level would look like. We incorporated all the core ideas present in the game: killing enemies with rocks, activating switches with rocks, collecting clues, and platforming.

I then took some of the pixel art I had created for the game in a frame, as well as some new elements made just for this project, and printed them out.

We printed out to images of Squid, one with him face left, and one of him facing right. What we did was stick them either side of the stick, so that as you moved him you could flip the stick and turn him around.

After we’d assembled all the elements and tested they worked, we went in front of the camera. We filmed a play-through of the prototype, with me controlling Squid and his projectile, and Aaron controlling the background and enemies. We couldn’t figure out how to make the game scroll as an in camera effect, so we filmed the whole strip in one wide shot, and then in premier zoomed in and added position key frames when scrolling was needed.

AO5 Feedback on 1 page Pitch

We’ve had very good feedback on our pitch, with positive comments across all the sheets.

Most of the people giving feedback were casual gamers, and they gave the pitch high marks. The two Core gamers seemed much less eager to play the game, one saying they didn’t understand it but it would be good for kids, and the other saying it sounded great, but it wasn’t a game they would play. From this feedback sessions it seems that our main audience is more towards the casual gamer.

Something thats probably connected to this is the feedback on the complexity of the game. Some worry it’s to deep complex, whilst some want more intricate mechanics. There was good response to the variety of the game, the idea of having different levels and worlds.

There was positive response towards the theme of the game, both in concept and it’s design. Everyone really responded to the “Space but underwater’ idea and thought it was original and inventive. Theres a feeling that the characters and worlds are really unique and could be used as a strong selling point.

I think we can take this feedback and use it to really refine the game concept, and make it even better.

AO5 One Page Pitch

The next stage is to take all the information from the core diagram and the “game in a frame”, and use it to put together a one page pitch.

Next we will receive feedback on this pitch, which we can use to develop and improve the design.

AO5 Game Design Document

1. Title Page (Phoenix)

2. Story/Gameplay (Aaron)

3. Game Flow (Phoenix)

4. Character and Controls (Aaron)

5. Main Game play Concepts and Platform Specific Features (Aaron)

6. Game World (Phoenix)

7. Interface (Aaron)

8. Mechanics and Power-Ups (Aaron)

9. Enemies and Bosses (Phoenix)

10. Cutscenes, Bonus Material, and Comps (Phoenix)