P5, M2, D1 - A - Proposal

Proposal

Format

Video Game

Working title

The title for my game is going to be Apple Run as this is a name I found to be most descriptive of what

Genre

My game would come under the genre category of puzzle and adventure  

Synopsis

The game that I am going to create is going to be a puzzle game which has multiple levels/maps. The gameplay will be set out like an open world game were by the player has to search the landscape collecting apples. There will a safe zone which the player has to be in at the start of the game and before the timer runs out at the end. Once 10 apples have been found and collected within level one’s allotted time of 5 minutes, the player can then level up. Each level gets harder by reducing the amount of apples that are available to be found, making them harder to find, reducing the time they have to be found in and increasing the amount that have to be collected.

Levels 
For example, level 1 starts with 100 apples making it easier to collect the 5 needed to level up. The time given is 5 minutes and the world used will be fairly simplistic, with minimal objects to abstract the view of the apples.

Level 2 will have 95 apples and players must collect 10 apples in 4 minutes, it will be slightly harder to find them as they will be more spaced out and some may be hidden.

Majority the levels don’t get to challenging until level 10 which will see the introduction of the golden apple, this has to be found within the first minute of gameplay, along with then levels allotted amount of normal apples which is 50 but the time given from this point of increases due to the depth of gamely increasing.

 Level fifteen sees the introduction of enemies that have to be avoided, while the player still has a set mission to complete. If they fail to avoid these characters they will die causing them to start the level again.
         

Style or approach

My plan of action has five steps which are; Research, Planning and Design, Test and Launch. I am planning my game by writing the purpose, description, audience, genre and platform, which is on this document now. This will help me to plan out my game and suit it to the descriptions that I have made. I will design my game by creating storyboards, and visuals appropriate to my game. The storyboard will allow me to draw pictures of the game whilst writing underneath the pictures what the description of the picture is and what is happening in the picture. I will create my game on Kodu, which will help me keep up with the theme of Kodu. I will test my game using both Alpha and Beta testing methods at the end of the planning and design stage.

Audience

The target audience for my game would be for children and young teens. I am going to make the game fun and friendly ensuring there is no violence. This is because that kind of competent and material is not appropriate for such a young audience. Therefore, my main aim is to ensure all content within my game is appropriate for a young audience.

Length

Each level is going to last for different times and reference to these times can be seen below in the table.

Platform

The platform my game is going to be played on is a PC. I have chosen this platform as younger children aged 5 – 11 are more likely to PC access in school or at home then an Xbox or PS4. Therefore, the PC is the most accessible platform to choose for the type of audience I have playing my game. However, the game will be released on Xbox and PlayStation later in the year as I can reach a more diverse section of my target audience by doing this.

D1 – Justifying my ideas in relation to current trend in the UK computer game market.

Extension packs are used to enhance, change or add to an already existing game. It can add things to a games gameplay like weapons, objects, characters and/or an extended storyline to complete an already released game.

An example of a game that is famous for its extension packs is the Sims, they use their extension packs as an add on to their original game. For example, the Sims have 4 generations of their game, yet each game has around 10 additional extension versions of the game. One example would be 2012’ssupernaturel extension to the Sims 3.  The Supernatural Expansion Pack brings several characters to the game like Fairies, Witches, and Werewolves. Zombies are a new state for Sims to become as well which is what gives the extension pack its name.

The target audience for my game would be Year 6 pupils based off the brief that I have been given. I am going to make the game fun and friendly ensuring there is no violence. This is because that kind of competent and material is not appropriate for such a young audience. Therefore, my main aim is to ensure all content within my game is appropriate for a young audience and this is why is have researched DLC (downloadable content) for children’s games.

One trend that I have found to occur in the children’s gaming world is the alteration of DLC to fit in the interests of both child and parents. Research done proves that parents are more open to buying physical toys rather than virtual toys and therefore, Toys-to-life was born. This is a genre of video game that uses physical toys to interact within the game. These toys tend to use near field communication (NFC) which communicates with an accompanying portal device that is used to 'transport' the physical toy's character and related player data into the game. It is considered one of the most worthwhile rewarding offshoots of the video game industry for younger children, with the Skylanders franchise alone selling more than US$3 billion in the last four years.

Source of information; https://united-kingdom.taylorwessing.com/download/article-future-of-gaming-2016.html

For my game there will be a range of different characters that children can choose to play the game using but only one will be available to use on first download. Each character is different and therefore can be used in different ways, for example some characters can only collect 1 apple at a time, others can carry 3. The other characters that are available on the game have to be collected in real life form and then plugged into the PC using a USB lead. To keep this concept alive with the children each character will be worth a certain amount of apples themselves. The rarer the character the more apples it will be worth and the more game points the child will collect from using the character which is an incentive for them o buy the extension pack.  Some of the collectable characters will be limited addition and therefore will be worth gold apples which are a premium type of apple. These extension toys will be around 2 inches tall and 2-3inches wide in size. They will retail at £3.99 each and will be packaged individually in silver foil packets.

Another trend I have found to occur in games that I have researched is where you need to unlock Player vs Player also known as multiplayer gameplay. Destiny is an example of a game were you have to do this, and it occurs within the first mission, it is suggested by ING that it should take you around a couple of hours to complete. Once you've done this with one character, it is then available to all of your other ones too. In doing this Destiny state to ING that they were ensuring the gameplay; first mission had a purpose to the player and was not just skimpily another level.  

Source of information: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/05/01/destiny-competitive-multiplayer-needs-to-be-unlocked  

For my game would be to unlock/add a multiplayer mode. This mode will become available to a player once they have reached a certain level. This level for my game will be 20 were they have to build and develop a structure to house the apples that have collected in. This extension is of no extra cost to the player and therefore has its draw backs and limitations with the manufactures because it will bring no further money in for the company. Yet this extension pack offers chance for the children to use the cognitive functions more then the previous one I had talked about. This is deemed productive for students aged 10-11 as they are still developing in many different cognitive ways which can further be helped by the creative nature of this extension pack.