Research Project: Updated Design Brief and Timeline

Having refined my Research Project scope and clarified my objectives, I have updated my Design Brief and Timeline.

Design Brief – Refined Final

RobTimelineFinal

 

Research Project: Scope and Objectives

I reflected on my 222.453 VCD Research design brief (see page 16 of my Working Paper http://brobeee.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/working-paper-final-revised.pdf) and further refined the scope and clarified the objectives of my Research Project. My conclusions follow:

Audience
My target audience:

– Is between the age of 25 to 45, predominantly male, middle to upper class, reasonably well educated
– already enjoys playing “video” or console games and interested in technology (computers, social networking, cellphones, tech toys), entertainment and traditional media (movies, music, television, science fiction, fantasy, comics and anime)
– is not overly interested in current affairs but open to learning about social or political issues if the information is presented in a way which they don’t have to go out of their way to access it

Game Genre
My game genre:

– is a “serious” game which fills a niche in the broader fighting game market by having an embedded soft-sell message about endangered species
– will be semi-realistic, with character anatomy modeled with “hero” proportions
– will have a stylized anime aesthetic
– will have a global focus – each character will represent a country or group’s political views on the issue of endangered species

Game Play
My game play will:

– follow fighting game conventions (2D-style linear movement combined with 3D model characters)
– have a tournament-based fighting structure
– have only one operational game mode with two methods of game play (Versus mode – Player Vs Player or Player Vs CPU)
– provide for a team of characters from one side (promoting resource conservation) to fight against an opposing side (promoting resource use) – Note: game play does not allow bouts between characters from the same side
– provide for characters to compete individually – one on one – in a bout where the winner is the first to win three rounds

Narrative
My game narrative will:

– tell a story of two competing sides: one which fights to protect endangered species; and one which fights to use the resources (there will be “goodies” and “baddies” on each side)
– be set in the near future, with some fantastical elements but be reasonably believable
– have embedded messages about endangered species

Characters and Environment
My game characters will:

– showcase a diverse range of stories, personalities, ages, both genders, ethnic groups and body types
– possess unique and distinctive martial arts skills
– be divided into 2 teams of 5
– include 4 to 6 characters completed in detail (with developed back stories) and 2 to 3 fully rendered environments (which aid in narrating selected character profiles)
– the remainder of characters will be 3D modelled head or half-body 3/4 profiles (without supporting environments)

My tournament environments will:

– provide visual support aiding in communicating the game narrative
– show the ‘Player 1’ character (selected by a human player) matched up against the ‘Player 2’ character (selected by a second human player) in a tournament-styled environment
– the tournament-styled environment will be the “home” environment of either player 1’s character or player 2’s character

Game Mechanics

– Not required to fulfill my proposed brief

 

Research Project: Introduction

The aim of 222.454 Research Project is to produce a final design solution to the research initiated in 222.453 VCD Research in the first half of this year (see my blog http://brobeee.wordpress.com/ for my 222.453 research).

My final design solution will be a 3D modelling showreel which will pitch a video game demo, in the fighting game genre, addressing the issue of endangered species. The working title of the video game is “Endangered”.