Game Jam [WEEK 3]

This is the link to our Miro board that contains all of our conversations and ideas revolving around the project. What is written below is the base notes of what we discussed in the game jam.

 https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVLWvi-aQ=/

Task 1 : High level narrative summary

Who is the target audience of this game and why?

The game will be made for the target audience of teens, in the brief it states our game should be made to be suitable for +14 year olds. This means we cannot have any sexual or overly violent scenes. We also need to consider the art style of the game and whether or not it will be appealing to teens.

What is the subject of the narrative?

The subject of the narrative is going to be a young adult going to university and learning to become independent, they will also have to make friends and learn how to be more sociable. There is a lot of change, and this can be a massive source of anxiety.

How does the narrative address the brief?

The narrative surrounds a character who struggles with anxiety, the aim of the game is to help them navigate through life with their anxieties and make new friends. The game is mostly a narrative but could offer some advice on what to do if you find yourself in these kinds of situations.

What mechanics will be utilised to progress the narrative through gameplay?

We are going to make a multiple choice/choose your own adventure game with a few different endings, this means that the players decisions will directly influence what happens to the character. We also talked about having some overlays to put emphasis on certain emotions as well as maybe having a few timed decisions that will also put emphasis on the themes of anxiety which also directly puts the player in the main characters shoes.

Can the game be won?

As there are multiple endings to the game, it is up to the player to decide if the ending they got is the definitive "good ending", perhaps they start out with the idea that the main character doesn't go to the party, in which case if they got that ending that would be their good ending, however one persons good ending might be another persons bad ending.

Task 2: List environment assets

Locations to support/progress the story:

Primary locations:

- Classroom

- Bedroom

- The Party

Secondary locations:

- Uni Campus

- House

- Street

- Path

Content that is relevant to game-play:

Table, chair, computers, whiteboard, stationary

Bed, Lamp, Plants, Posters, Desk, Laptop

Party Lights, Drinks, Party games, Snacks

Task 3: List character assets

Who are these people, what role do they play in the narrative and gameplay? which are simple, which are complex?

MC - Non binary 18-20 yrs old? From their perspective to help with immersive. Has inner monologue but also speaks to characters.

Character 2 - Maybe a childhood friend who is living far away? They don't communicate as much anymore?

Character 3 - One of the first characters the player could meet on their first day of uni is a very confident "popular girl" - flashbacks to popular girls in school who would be mean - gives the MC anxiety

Side character - "Popular Girl's" friend group.

Character 4 - One of the teachers that the MC meets in class. Realistic as a person, gives life lessons, harsh but fair with the students. His/her face is not visible in the MC view.

Character 5 - Roommate/Flatmate

Task 4: Refine plot overview

How will the story be told?

The story will be told day by day, taking place over the course of a week with the main event on either the Saturday or the Sunday. Some things that happens over the week will inform what happens to the player when it comes to them making the final decision on whether to go to the party or not. There will also be some things that happen during the week that don't exactly inform what happen over the week but could indirectly persuade the player to choose one thing or another.

Who is the narrator?

The game would be told from the perspective from the main character, you wouldn't see them, at least not directly. This makes the player be able to put themselves in the perspective of the main character much better.

How much choice is afforded to the player?

The whole game is surrounded around the players choices, although those choices are restricted, they don't have full freedom to do as they want but the choices they do have are important to what the end result will be. 

Task 5: File sharing and meetings

What is our pipeline, what tasks do I personally need to do as well as what tasks do my team need to do?

We could potentially use Twine to plan out how our game will play. Twine is a free text based program that you can use to create multiple choice narrative games. I think this software could be useful in the storyboarding process before we move over and finalize everything in Ren.Py.

Environment artist [Myself] :

- Sketch out some designs for the environments?

- Consider what the environments would look like and how the characters would influence how they look

Character and UI artist [Niamh] :

Script Writer [Nathan] :

Concept Artist [Pantelis] :

Director [Sebastian] :