Full description of the game idea. Part 2: Form
Good Friday, Habr!
Part 1: Concept
We continue to talk about the formalization of ideas in the field of game development. According to the results of the first part, enough questions, recommendations and comments were received. Taking into account this new information, the following section has been compiled.
The second part lingered a bit, although the first one received a very good response. There were two reasons for this: the first is very boring and banal - a lot of work and daily tasks, but the second is more weighty and I’ll dwell on it.
During the work, it became clear to me that my projects are not yet ready for public discussion. They are still too raw, and the perfekionist in me rebels against working with blanks. There were two possible solutions: either continue to use abstract examples and talk at the level of assumptions, or find a more complete project with which to work.
I don’t like the first approach, because the result is “about everything and nothing”, so I started looking for a project that would kindly agree to a public debriefing. I was lucky, I found this. So, the information from the first post for the game, with which we will work until the end of the cycle (I asked the developer to make a presentation on the first post. Below is the text from the presentation slides with my comments):
A few questions that I received from the results of the first post fit into the following form: “How exactly do you imagine running the game in RTS mode?” We will answer this question in this section. By the way, if a similar question arose during your presentation, it means one of two things: either the first part is complete nonsense and the people are shocked by what was said, or you managed to interest the public, which in both cases is excellent! They are ready to listen further.
Here we must understand that the picture is determined by several factors:
The genre determines the setting in any case, and there are genres that severely limit the appearance: children's games, survival, and there are not at all sensitive to appearance: classic shooters, platformers, etc. The main thing to understand here is that the games of each of the genres are aimed at stimulating one or two emotions, and the appearance of the game must support these emotions. An interesting example in this context is MineCraft. Formally, this is also a survival sandbox, but in appearance it is not perceived at all that way. It is almost impossible to say for sure that this is a mistake or a guarantee of success. One thing is unambiguously clear - if the MineCraft setting was from the very beginning closer to the classic gloom in this genre with bloody axes, the game would have developed along a completely different branch of evolution.
Capabilities of the team in terms of design and graphics. The presence or absence of a designer’s team is a factor that determines the appearance of 80 percent. When programmers draw, they get either something completely unsuitable, and only they can understand, or something ingeniously simple, logical and slim. It is important to note that the designer can act both as a tool that has been assigned a task and he solves it, and as fully responsible for the appearance of the game. In the second variant, you should repeatedly make sure that you equally understand the general concept of the game as a whole and the gameplay in particular, in order to save yourself from frustration, and the designer from the bad work "on the table." Design skills determine the artistic style of the game. Here, infinity from ASCII graphics to realistic 3D with OculusRift. What exactly to stop - the personal choice of each.
Target audience preferences. Platform for glamor kiso and platformer for teen-extreme are two big differences. From the point of view of the mechanics of the game and the code, these may be completely identical projects, but the appearance will be 100% excellent. In this field, by the way, the guys from Alawar were brightly noted, stamping the same projects with different pictures and names.
It is necessary to understand this, and this point is one of the reasons for the presence of the section “Target audience” in the first post. Moreover, the more precisely the Central Asian Party is determined, the better we will be able to select the setting for it. As an example, I will cite the common Central Asian marketers: "Office plankton." The first question that arises is: who are these people? Secretary Lyudochka, who opened the toy because she has nothing to do, or the responsible clerk Vladimir, who at lunch break decided to relax and unload her brains? You will not offer them the same thing?
Platform restrictions. This question is purely technical, there’s really nothing to talk about. The only thing to remember is the list of platforms that you named in the “Platforms” section. Do they all support those graphic bells and whistles that you conceived with the designer?
In addition, the presentation should mention the number of measurements in the game: 3D, isometric (bottom or right-bottom camera), 2D-side (side view) or 2D-top (top view), as well as the source of graphics. For the prototype, you can take almost any picture, but you have to understand that in the case of its commercial use, you have to either pay or find another one.
The term “Gameplay” is quite ambiguous, there are many reputable people studying games and game design who generally believe that it is meaningless (you can read it even on Wikipedia . Here we will consider the gameplay in the context of game mechanics, i.e. human interaction with game world:
A short section on sound effects in the game. If the key difference is not based precisely on sound, then there is not much to write out: what is sounded, is there any music in the background, where did the sounds come from?
As promised, I honestly read “Marketing of games” - the book by Sergey Galenkin and I report: the book is incredibly fit. As soon as your game,% habr_user%, is 80% ready, you should study this book from cover to cover, and you can read it now for your reference. Much of what I have already described, or I am going to describe, is also very detailed here.
Part 1: Concept
We continue to talk about the formalization of ideas in the field of game development. According to the results of the first part, enough questions, recommendations and comments were received. Taking into account this new information, the following section has been compiled.
Denial of responsibility
According to the results of the article, it may turn out that your idea is “not very” or not at all an idea. I just propose a packing form, and if your super_g_future_killing_%% game_name% does not fit into this form, then you have two options:
Find the description format that suits you. The main thing is to formalize your thoughts in a clear form.
Resign yourself that in the current state your idea is weak and does not suit anything other than a term paper or personal practice, and begin to think it over.
')
I do not bear responsibility for the spiritual experiences, disappointments and sleepless nights.
Find the description format that suits you. The main thing is to formalize your thoughts in a clear form.
Resign yourself that in the current state your idea is weak and does not suit anything other than a term paper or personal practice, and begin to think it over.
')
I do not bear responsibility for the spiritual experiences, disappointments and sleepless nights.
Content
The second part lingered a bit, although the first one received a very good response. There were two reasons for this: the first is very boring and banal - a lot of work and daily tasks, but the second is more weighty and I’ll dwell on it.
During the work, it became clear to me that my projects are not yet ready for public discussion. They are still too raw, and the perfekionist in me rebels against working with blanks. There were two possible solutions: either continue to use abstract examples and talk at the level of assumptions, or find a more complete project with which to work.
I don’t like the first approach, because the result is “about everything and nothing”, so I started looking for a project that would kindly agree to a public debriefing. I was lucky, I found this. So, the information from the first post for the game, with which we will work until the end of the cycle (I asked the developer to make a presentation on the first post. Below is the text from the presentation slides with my comments):
Mini DayZ concept
From my point of view, the name is excellent! Of course, there is a problem with copyright, but its developer elegantly decided with the owner of this right.
There is a classic confusion. On the one hand, it’s hard to argue with this point, but on the other hand there are some details. For example, to the sandboxes are open world games in which the player has the opportunity to change this world. Here, Mini Day Z seems not to be suitable, but on the other hand there is such a thing as playing in the sandbox mode, when the player has the opportunity to ignore game goals. Thus, the survival-action in the sandbox mode is formally in front of us, which in general does not contradict the developer's statement.
Here, too, all is not well. First of all, to mention the competitors in the key difference is not the best idea. How do you imagine such an advertisement: “Samsung Galaxy S is like an iPhone, only on android!” Certainly, in its essence, this is the purest truth, but it’s impossible to use this information in communications. On the other hand, in contrast, games of different levels are mixed up. Project Zomboid is a direct competitor, there are no questions, but the original DayZ is superfluous in this context. In analogy with phones, it would sound like “Nokia 3100 - like iPhone / HTC One, only cheaper!”
From my point of view, if in contrast the emphasis is placed on the original DayZ, then the wording should be something like: " Access to the favorite game world of DayZ from any point without additional actions ", if we go to a wider range of comparisons, the difference can be formulated like this: " Survival-action in the DayZ universe in your browser ."
On the one hand, this is a browser game, i.e. potentially you can run on any modern device. On the other hand, the control requires a keyboard, so there are no questions here (the Developer clarified that there is a browser for iOS that allows you to emulate a joystick, but the game is not optimized for it). On the other hand, the PC is the holy trinity: Win, Mac, linux. I would clarify that all three platforms are available to us.
I would leave only the Players of the original DayZ game . The check here is simple: where are the most representatives of this Central Asia? For fans of the original game, this answer is obvious: on thematic forums and sites of related projects (wiki, fashion, etc.) But the further down the list, the places of the parties are less obvious.
Title
The name should hint at the original game or the survival and style of the MiniDayZ (Hardcore Survivor, 8bit Survivor, PixelZ, Mini Z alternative names in case of copyright issues). The choice of domain names is.
From my point of view, the name is excellent! Of course, there is a problem with copyright, but its developer elegantly decided with the owner of this right.
Genre
Hardcore opencast sandbox with open world, random generation of objects, multiplayer simulation (other bots surviving)
There is a classic confusion. On the one hand, it’s hard to argue with this point, but on the other hand there are some details. For example, to the sandboxes are open world games in which the player has the opportunity to change this world. Here, Mini Day Z seems not to be suitable, but on the other hand there is such a thing as playing in the sandbox mode, when the player has the opportunity to ignore game goals. Thus, the survival-action in the sandbox mode is formally in front of us, which in general does not contradict the developer's statement.
Key difference
Like DayZ / Project Zomboid, but does not require registration, money, incentive, download. Instant survival, hardcore, unpredictability of each next attempt.
Here, too, all is not well. First of all, to mention the competitors in the key difference is not the best idea. How do you imagine such an advertisement: “Samsung Galaxy S is like an iPhone, only on android!” Certainly, in its essence, this is the purest truth, but it’s impossible to use this information in communications. On the other hand, in contrast, games of different levels are mixed up. Project Zomboid is a direct competitor, there are no questions, but the original DayZ is superfluous in this context. In analogy with phones, it would sound like “Nokia 3100 - like iPhone / HTC One, only cheaper!”
From my point of view, if in contrast the emphasis is placed on the original DayZ, then the wording should be something like: " Access to the favorite game world of DayZ from any point without additional actions ", if we go to a wider range of comparisons, the difference can be formulated like this: " Survival-action in the DayZ universe in your browser ."
Platforms
PC, can be adapted to tablets, mainly iOS.
On the one hand, this is a browser game, i.e. potentially you can run on any modern device. On the other hand, the control requires a keyboard, so there are no questions here (the Developer clarified that there is a browser for iOS that allows you to emulate a joystick, but the game is not optimized for it). On the other hand, the PC is the holy trinity: Win, Mac, linux. I would clarify that all three platforms are available to us.
The target audience
Players of the original game DayZ, lovers of all sorts of survivors. Oldschoolers / hardcore players (thanks to the style and semi-arcade control) You can also hook casuals thanks to an instant game (without installation, etc.)
I would leave only the Players of the original DayZ game . The check here is simple: where are the most representatives of this Central Asia? For fans of the original game, this answer is obvious: on thematic forums and sites of related projects (wiki, fashion, etc.) But the further down the list, the places of the parties are less obvious.
The form
A few questions that I received from the results of the first post fit into the following form: “How exactly do you imagine running the game in RTS mode?” We will answer this question in this section. By the way, if a similar question arose during your presentation, it means one of two things: either the first part is complete nonsense and the people are shocked by what was said, or you managed to interest the public, which in both cases is excellent! They are ready to listen further.
2.1. Picture (setting)
Here we must understand that the picture is determined by several factors:
The genre determines the setting in any case, and there are genres that severely limit the appearance: children's games, survival, and there are not at all sensitive to appearance: classic shooters, platformers, etc. The main thing to understand here is that the games of each of the genres are aimed at stimulating one or two emotions, and the appearance of the game must support these emotions. An interesting example in this context is MineCraft. Formally, this is also a survival sandbox, but in appearance it is not perceived at all that way. It is almost impossible to say for sure that this is a mistake or a guarantee of success. One thing is unambiguously clear - if the MineCraft setting was from the very beginning closer to the classic gloom in this genre with bloody axes, the game would have developed along a completely different branch of evolution.
Capabilities of the team in terms of design and graphics. The presence or absence of a designer’s team is a factor that determines the appearance of 80 percent. When programmers draw, they get either something completely unsuitable, and only they can understand, or something ingeniously simple, logical and slim. It is important to note that the designer can act both as a tool that has been assigned a task and he solves it, and as fully responsible for the appearance of the game. In the second variant, you should repeatedly make sure that you equally understand the general concept of the game as a whole and the gameplay in particular, in order to save yourself from frustration, and the designer from the bad work "on the table." Design skills determine the artistic style of the game. Here, infinity from ASCII graphics to realistic 3D with OculusRift. What exactly to stop - the personal choice of each.
Target audience preferences. Platform for glamor kiso and platformer for teen-extreme are two big differences. From the point of view of the mechanics of the game and the code, these may be completely identical projects, but the appearance will be 100% excellent. In this field, by the way, the guys from Alawar were brightly noted, stamping the same projects with different pictures and names.
It is necessary to understand this, and this point is one of the reasons for the presence of the section “Target audience” in the first post. Moreover, the more precisely the Central Asian Party is determined, the better we will be able to select the setting for it. As an example, I will cite the common Central Asian marketers: "Office plankton." The first question that arises is: who are these people? Secretary Lyudochka, who opened the toy because she has nothing to do, or the responsible clerk Vladimir, who at lunch break decided to relax and unload her brains? You will not offer them the same thing?
Platform restrictions. This question is purely technical, there’s really nothing to talk about. The only thing to remember is the list of platforms that you named in the “Platforms” section. Do they all support those graphic bells and whistles that you conceived with the designer?
In addition, the presentation should mention the number of measurements in the game: 3D, isometric (bottom or right-bottom camera), 2D-side (side view) or 2D-top (top view), as well as the source of graphics. For the prototype, you can take almost any picture, but you have to understand that in the case of its commercial use, you have to either pay or find another one.
Picture (setting) Mini DayZ
The game uses bottom isometry. The graphics are made in the style of pixel art with a color scheme characteristic of RPG and jRPG. All pictures are drawn by the designer of the team especially for the game, unique and belong to the developer.
Pictures are clickable:
2.2. Gameplay
The term “Gameplay” is quite ambiguous, there are many reputable people studying games and game design who generally believe that it is meaningless (you can read it even on Wikipedia . Here we will consider the gameplay in the context of game mechanics, i.e. human interaction with game world:
- Place of appearance of the character in the game world at the beginning of the game . Can the player choose where to appear or the game chooses the point itself? Is the place of appearance always the same or constantly changing? Everything is simple: Terraria is a random point in the game world, Diablo is always the same point in the game world, Battlefield - you choose where to appear.
- Control character / s. Of course, this item is largely determined by the platform. On the one hand, standard control methods (keyboard, mouse, touch screen, touch screen section, etc.) are most often written here, and on the other hand, very exotic methods may appear. For example, voice control: The Howler . In any case, it is necessary to describe the process of managing the game and character / s, because these are the actions that the player will perform most of the time.
- Development and change of character / s . Are there any characteristics of the character / her? Is there a performance enhancement system? Are there any concepts of "experience", are there any game items that affect the characteristics?
- Enemies and "death zones" . Are there characters in the game? What is the condition of death? How does the character / s / interact with enemies?
- Multiplayer game. Is there a multiplayer mode in the game? If so, how do players interact with each other?
- Game levels / locations. Is there a division into levels? How do they differ from each other? What is needed to move from level to level?
- Win / lose conditions. What are the goals of the player? What is the condition of victory or defeat?
- Duration of the game. Preservation. How much playing time is the game? Can a player stop the game and continue later from the same place?
Mini DayZ Gameplay
The player each time appears on the beach at a random point of the game card. Management is carried out using the keyboard and mouse. All mouse buttons are duplicated by the keys on the keyboard. Character characteristics depend on equipment, location and weather / time of day. Basic characteristics: health, thirst, hunger, temperature. The enemies in the game are two types of zombies, as well as surviving bots. Enemies attack a player in accordance with their equipment, as soon as he gets into their zone of visibility, the bots-survivors themselves travel around the map, fighting with each other and zombies. Multiplayer game is not provided (there is a probability of occurrence over time). The game card is selected at the beginning of each game session and can be changed only after the player is killed. The card is not divided into levels and is completely open for research by the player. Winning the game is impossible, the key goal is to stay in the game world for as long as possible. The player loses when the character’s health level becomes zero. There is no saving, after each death the player starts over. A complete study of the game card takes at least 20 hours.
2.3. Sound
A short section on sound effects in the game. If the key difference is not based precisely on sound, then there is not much to write out: what is sounded, is there any music in the background, where did the sounds come from?
Mini DayZ sound
All actions of the character are voiced, excluding walking, as well as interactions with the game world. The sound scheme for bots coincides with the character scheme, the zombies have their own growl sound. At the moment, the sounds are taken from the original game DayZ and all kinds of open sources. Before the release of the game must be checked for legal clarity.
PS
As promised, I honestly read “Marketing of games” - the book by Sergey Galenkin and I report: the book is incredibly fit. As soon as your game,% habr_user%, is 80% ready, you should study this book from cover to cover, and you can read it now for your reference. Much of what I have already described, or I am going to describe, is also very detailed here.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/230325/
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