How our research has informed our game
Looking back at the benchmark games I researched for this project, there are a few features that were present in these games that as a team we wanted to implement into our own game. Many of these features can be found in other Visual novels, however the way that Monster prom and Life is strange used these mechanics and gameplay styles fit best with the almost autobiographical nature and university setting of our game. The fist way that our research informed our game is the gameplay mechanic of branching storylines based on choices, we liked the interactive quality of this element and how it made the player feel like their decisions matter, it also provides further interest and replayability of our game. Especially in Life is strange this mechanic is the centerpiece of their entire game, there are so many routes you can take and it breaks the restrictive feeling that most visual novels have. Because we are on a shorter time frame to make this game, and are only a team of 6, the way we implement this branching story system will certainly be less detailed as these games, but it expanding the plot is something we could consider if we ever made the game into a larger project.
The next way that our research informed the creation of our game is the focus on how the main character interacts with the NPCs to supplement the plot, Monster prom and Life is strange both use this element throughout their games, it allows you to build your own opinions on the characters and really connect with them, because our game centers around how social and generalized anxiety disorders effect young people, having those characters to help push either stressful or calming scenes reflects well on the way those who suffer with anxiety see those around them.
Some people act as a calming barrier, others are a source of fear, and on top of this the changing dynamics of the life around the main character may alter how these characters effect their mood for better or worse.
Again we are limited with time for how much we can do with the characters, but we wanted to make sure each character had a different and unique personality that helped carry the story along. For example, the roommate anna has a very laid back, supportive and caring personality who always goes out of her way to support sweaters [the main character] no matter what, this is representative of a comfort person and one part of sweaters' support system. The popular girl, Claudia, although never mean to sweaters certainly has a more outgoing and confident demeanour that might seem intimidating to the main character, she tries her best to encourage sweaters however sweaters needs constant reassurance that she is being genuine towards them.
This element is representative of social anxiety and how those who suffer may often always be under the impression they are being judged by others, even if people around them aren't necessarily being nasty to them. Richie, the best friend, represents how relationships change and the anxiety surrounding that. Sweaters is afraid that Richie is going to stop talking to them since he lives so far away, and as such sweaters is constantly needing reassurance that Richie isn't going anywhere and that they are still friends. Finally my research informed some visual elements of the game such as taking inspiration from monster prom's highly saturated art style with interesting character designs that really show off the character's personality.
Our choices for picking a similar art style come both from viewing similar games that appeal to our target audience of teens, and how the bright warm colours help push the overall comforting and nostalgic appearance of our game. There is another inspiration to note, I personally was inspired to have a custom GUI by a game by the name of Class of '09, I chose not to do a case study on this game as our only point of inspiration was the layouts of the end screens and the potential of having a phone function in the game [menu screen], the game itself is not fitting with our target audience of younger teens and so i thought referring to it only when necessary would be a better choice than writing out an entire case study. It has been helpful to see how the team responsible for that game tackled their UI especially as they used Ren'py to make their game, It has helped identify what things can be changed and what things seem to be a permanent feature of Ren'py.
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| Monster Prom's Character designs |
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| One More Week's Character designs |
What makes this original IP? At the moment, our game is pretty standard for the Visual novel genre, it follows a lot of the clichés of a Visual novel especially being set in an educational setting, revolving around the [platonic in our case] relationships with the main character and the NPCS, and having some sort of deadline or driving force that the main character has to overcome. This is something we have discussed as a team but we were limited on time for how creative we could be in terms of the actual mechanics of the game [especially as i am the only one out of our group who has a baseline understanding of Python and coding]. However I have thought of some future considerations for how we could make our IP unique and stand apart from the rest.
At the moment our main selling point is that our game is somewhat Autobiographical, based on experiences we all had as first years and how the anxiety of being in a new environment and with new responsibilities hit us. My idea to make our game unique is to maybe implement different perspectives and character pathways. For example in our game we only get to see how this new year has affected the main character, sweaters, but in my conceptual idea you would be able to pick which of the NPCS to follow throughout the week, it would still be the same story but it would provide a different point of view. Each character would have their own worries and problems to deal with, and would all interact with one another to tie the plot all together.
Not only would this extend the overall playtime of the game, but it would help with our main theme of Anxiety in young people and even maybe help the players gain a better view on anxiety as a whole. You aren't alone in feeling anxious, and no matter how put together or confident someone may look, everyone has their own problems in life to deal with. I think this would also help strengthen the player's relationship and opinion on each of the characters and overall flesh out the world further.
Looking at my idea realistically, This is something i could definitely program, however the only thing holding me back from this is time limitations as i would have to almost quadruple the backgrounds, existing script, UI and character sprites, but i do think that this is logistically something we could do in Ren'py. If i were to look into some benchmark games that tackle this kind of gameplay, i might look into titles such MonsterProm, Arcade Spirits and Stardew Valley, all of which help show different perspectives of characters you meet and flesh out their personalities to the point you as the player build your own personal opinions, likes and dislikes about the NPCs you meet, making the game as a whole feel more realistic.
How do we tackle the subject of anxiety?
In our game, tackle the subject of social and generalized anxiety through a range of techniques. The main was that we cover this topic is through the use of multiple choice pathways and dialogue surrounding difficult decisions the main character will have to make. I have included some screenshots below that demonstrate this.
For example in the first screenshot the player is faced with two options, whether they want to take the food, or leave it, and whilst this might seem like a rather mundane choice to make, its one the main character struggles to make out of fear of being perceived as being rude or ungrateful. The next decision is one of the bigger ones in the game, deciding where to sit. Both options are a source of anxiety for the main character, one involves them talking to someone they perceive as being very different to them in terms of confidence levels and the other they recognise that sitting alone is not helping them overcome their issues.
I have tried to convey this internal struggle with the main character throughout the plot by thought bubbles [this will be more clear when we have finalized the UI] and depending on how many stressful situations the main character has had to overcome during the week may bring down their mental health to a point they become completely overwhelmed and lash out at those they care about, from there they try to reconcile with their friend and try to come up with a solution to their main stress about going to the party.
Taking the food :
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| Sit with the popular girls |
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| Sit alone |
In some cases we have decisions that are a bit more fleshed out and give different reasonings for why the character chooses that option, in this way it sort of gives the player more of a view of how anxiety might influence decisions.
We have also shown the subject of anxiety though character design and sprites, aside from the sprites showing the characters emotions, on a whole the NPCs outwardly look quite confident and outgoing in the way they dress and hold themselves, meanwhile the main character looks very insular and almost uncomfortable. Whilst all the characters have their own struggles, the difference in character designs plays into the fact that people who suffer from anxiety may perceive those around them as being better off or more confident, and therefore feel lesser about themselves.
Our team's environmental impact
As a team we have taken several steps to make sure our impact on the environment is as small as possible, for example we work mostly digitally to create assets for our work meaning that there is minimal paper waste, we do not use anything such as 3D printers so we are not contributing to plastic waste, and we don't have any physical products to manufacture so there is no packaging waste. In regards to using computers however, we make sure not to leave on devices when we are not using them so that we can reduce the amount of wasted electricity. As a studio we work mostly online, reducing the need to travel to meet up in person, though inevitably we do have to travel to get to university though the majority of us either walk to the building, or use public transport to cut down on carbon emissions.
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