Projection Mapping Project: Research 1

After receiving the brief for the projection mapping me and Kakey knew the best place to start was research. After looking at recommended videos and a few related to projecting onto walls we decided to try and find some interactive versions of this method.

I came across this video which is most probably not a real example of real interaction with the projection, but it gives the illusion that touch is triggering the effects. This adds a fun and lively feature to an otherwise linear experience. The idea to not only break up the sequence of the projection but to totally control it seemed a very exciting concept.

With this in mind the next logical area to look into would be games, as they engage and can be interacted with by the audience. Looking into more interactive videos I came across a video demonstrating a method of how to include audience participation, even being a crucial component.

We decided to choose a location which had interesting and bold architecture to be the backdrop for the projection. Here are the best locations we found, with a good combination of ancient and modern styles which I felt represented the uni fairly well.

Location 1

Location 2

In the end we decided to go for location 2 due to its interesting features such as the triangle roof, as well as more room for the projector and people to watch and interact with the display.

Apple Interactive Concept: Game Development 3

 This is the start screen and logo for the game.

Corruption Title Screen

This is an in-game screenshot of the game. It is of the knight, Sir Ivaneth leaving the starting town. A corrupted rat is also featured in the picture, just outside the town.

This is the final design of the game, with a cartoon-like style.

Apple Interactive Concept: Game Development 2

Here are the more finalized designs for the monsters.

Rat

Water Wizard

Fire Wizard

Earth Wizard

Void Creature

Apple Interactive Concept: Game Development 1

Here are the basic concept ideas for the monsters. Testing what shape and form is best for each.

Concepts for the rat posture.

Basic concept poses for the elemental wizards.

Simple Void creature designs.

Apple Interactive Concept: Game Ideas 3

Map

 The map would be used to travel around the world, and let the player choose which level they want to play through. This is in case the player wishes to replay previous areas, or wants to travel to the starting town to buy or repair goods and items. Level names would appear next to the area indicator, to show where the player is traveling to.

This is a basic concept for the map design.

The map design is going to be simple, to show clearly where the player is and where they can travel to. Once they gain the option to travel to the location a marker will appear on the map.

Monsters

 Starting Town:
The first monsters the player will encounter are rats, these would be basically normal looking, except for minor distortion such as a missing tail with a dark vapour around it. These would be located just outside the starting town, and part of the tutorial the player would be sent to kill them.

 Forgotten Forest
Another type of monster the player would meet early on is wolves. These would be slightly more corrupted with distorted legs and teeth. Bears would also be found within the forest and would be similarly distorted to the wolves.

Wizard's Tower
This level would feature toads which would spit toxic virus balls at the player. Their appearance would be similar to normal toads apart from black slime all over them. Rats similar to the starting town would also be here. Snakes which would bite the player causing a slight poison and screen corruption effect would be found around the tower as well.

The Crumbling Ruins

Here would feature ghosts of past warriors and knights, with black vapour flowing after them everywhere they go. Their ability to fade in and out of visibility would cause the player some difficulty to kill them. Other wildlife mentioned above would also be found here.

The Evil Shrine
The monsters here would be evil wizards who have been warped to become shadows of their former selves. They would be void-like with parts of their bodies missing, and give the impression of moving dark shadows. Wizard related animals would also feature in this level.

The Port
As this is a town it would be mostly safe, for the player to prepare for the big boss fight ahead. However outside the town would have more dangerous monsters than found in any other previous level. They would hardly be recognizable as any monster commonly found within medieval games, being so distorted and corrupt.

The Unknown
This is the last level in the game, with the corruption totally having taken over. The enemies are so distorted that it cannot be recognized as anything any medieval game would feature. They would closely resemble bits of computer code, or some otherworldly nightmare creatures. All drops would be in the form of corrupted items, rather than normal swords and armour to keep with the theme that the game is messing up.

Apple Interactive Concept: Game Ideas 2

Main Character

My current design for the main character is a basic knight called Sir Ivaneth, simple in design due to being within an average medieval style game, before it becomes corrupted.

At first he would not understand what is going on with the world around him and becomes confused easily, until he learns more about the true nature of who he is. (A computer character who depends on the game to live, and by the previous player using him to cheat on the last level, causing the game to become corrupted and destroyed in the process.) His attitude would start to be questioning about the current players motives, and for a period of time start to rebel against the players commands. This would force the player to repeat certain commands till he followed them. After a while he would see that the player is trying to help and become friendly again. His personality would hopefully directly involve the player and make them feel that they are required to influence the game in a positive way.

The items he uses would be customizable, with new weapons and armour available from shops and monster drops. This would affect his combat capabilities, with better swords dealing more damage, or having a special effect on certain monsters. This would be important as there is no leveling mechanisms within the game, so the player would be item dependent.



The Shops

The first shop would be an weapons and armour shop which would sell basic armour such as iron chainmail and steel swords. This would be used to buy items for the first level, with a small amount of starting coins to purchase everything you need. More advanced items would be available for later when the player decides to return to the town.

The second shop would be an apothecary with potions available to restore health, boost damage or health of the player. The player would start with one of each of the basic potions for sale to help them learnt the basics of the game.

A blacksmith would also be available, to repair armour which has been damaged (Caused by being near corruption and corrupted monsters.) There would also be an option to customize your armour, changing colours and icon designs.

Apple Interactive Concept: Game Research 5

Eversion

Eversion is a simple platform game for PC created by Zaratustra Productions. The player must jump over obstacles and on top of monsters to complete the levels. At the start everything is bright and friendly, but as the game progresses it starts to take on a much more sinister approach. The player must use an "evert" option in certain locations to change the appearance of the monsters, and map, as well as passing certain scenery which will disappear during the certain eversion modes. These start to introduce bizarre and spooky features into the game and show what the landscape is really like, and to show that not everything is as it seems.

 

The start of Eversion is nice and friendly, but it soon changes.

After progressing through the game it starts to become sinister.

The further into the eversion modes you experience the more corrupted the game becomes, the obstacles are not as they seem, the score starts to randomly fluctuate in quick succession and monsters start becoming more dangerous. One stage of Eversion includes a void cloud which chases you through an obstacle course. This is reminiscent of my idea of corrupted game data, and could be an interesting aspect to include within my game.

The player is chased by a black cloud.

It is a similar idea to what I wish to create in my game, however there will not be an option to change what mode you are in, due to the game becoming corrupted due to a virus, which would not give the player any choice as to how they see the game.

iPad Specs

As I am making my game for the iPad I needed to find the screen size and features this platform has. All specifications are quoted from http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/.

Screen Size: 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)

Display: 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology

Sensors: Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer and Ambient light sensor

Wireless: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

Input: 30-pin dock connector port, Microphone

Output: 3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack, Built-in speaker

Power: Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music

Size and Weight:
Height: 9.50 inches (241.2 mm)
Width: 7.31 inches (185.7 mm)
Depth: 0.34 inch (8.8 mm)
Weight: 1.33 pounds (601 g)

Storage: 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB

Apple Interactive Concept: Game Ideas 1

For my game idea I am going to create a fantasy medieval game. This will be a side scroller platform game with players moving through the level fighting monsters and getting past obstacles. At the end of each level there will be a save feature to help split up the game play for people who are playing it for a limited time on the bus or during a work break. It will be based on iPad 2 so more detail can be added to the game, as well as easier controls, however it can easily be transferred over to the iPhone if required, or is desirable.

The title of the game is Corruption.

The game is going to be based within another fictional game, which is being corrupted due to a previous player cheating on a boss monster. The aim is to stop the virus-like data corruption spreading throughout the game and destroying it. The further you progress into levels the more corrupt it will become.

The player's character is a knight, who was partly to blame for creating this corruption to spread, due to the previous player cheating using this character. He has a cute persona which should give the player the incentive to like playing him, but not too child-like which has the potential of annoying the player after a period of time.

The game will feature monsters from any medieval game such as giant rats and wolves within the first few levels. They will slowly start to become more distorted as the levels increase. This will also happen to the landscape around the player, graphical and physical glitches would start to occur later on in the game. Though these would of course all be only fictional and would not affect the user's device in any way, as according with the Apple app store guidelines for developers.

 As the player progresses though the game, different locations will be available to access.The level progression would be non linear, with not all levels needing to be finished to complete the game. The levels in the game would include:

• The Starting Area - This will be where the player begins their journey. The landscape will be a medieval style town with little to no corruption. The town will feature friendly NPCs which will help the player on their journey, showing them how to defeat monsters and travel around the world. There will also be useful buildings for the player to use, for example, shops, blacksmith, apothecary, and the castle where the helpful wizard Norton is found.
• The Wizard's Tower - This area would be slightly changed by the virus, with the building starting to become blackened and pixelated. The enemies would be reminiscent of what would a wizard would keep for magic use, such as rats, snakes, lizards and toads.
• The Forgotten Forest - This level features slightly distorted enemies such as wolves and bears. The landscape would start to be physically distorted, forcing the player to climb over fallen trees and rocks to complete the level.
• The Evil Temple - This location would feature evil wizards who have become so corrupt that they become void-like and not totally part of the game world. The player would not complete this area to finish the game, however if they choose to play this level they will be rewarded by receiving a special item which would help them complete the rest of the game.
• The Port -The port would be the last level before the game becomes totally corrupt. The landscape and monsters would reflect this, by becoming so warped that they would hardly be recognized as what they previously were.
• The Crumbling Ruins - Here there would be ghosts from the past, even these would be affected by the virus. The rubble of the old castle which once stood there would get in the way of the player, this would either have to be moved or climbed over to move further on in the level.
• The Void - This would be the last level, where the virus has totally taken hold, so nothing would appear as it was in the game world. There would be floating bits of data, distorted music and a warped physics. Nothing would make sense to the player, apart from what is attacking them, and potentially how to defeat it, as the level would have to be playable like any other. The boss monster would be fully corrupted and would consist of computer code, missing chunks, pixelated with large parts missing or invisible to the player.

Items would be available from the shops within the starting town. These would include weapons and armor to help defeat the monsters, potions to restore health or boost stats and other features to help customize your character. After killing certain monsters there is also a possibility to receive weapons and armor as drops, which can be sold to shops for money. All monsters would drop coins, at least in the earlier levels to enable the player to buy these items. Chests are also a part of this process, with a randomly generated number of chests per level. Further into the levels the items would become more and more obscure and valuable, due to the shop owners never seeing things like it before. Such items include void dust, which can be used in magic, corrupted blade, a powerful sword and distorted boots, which make you run faster. Items like this could replace coins and regular items for money making processes.

Apple Interactive Concept: Game Research 4

Known Game Glitches

I have decided to include game corruption and glitches within my game as a different theme to most other apps on the market. Here I am going to research already existing real glitches within games and how they can create havoc with the player.

Missingno.

Missingno. from the Pokemon games.

The Pokemon games Red and Blue have a glitch which can occur when traveling within a certain part of the game. The player will encounter a Pokemon called Missingno., it appears as a pixelated backwards L. Encountering and capturing this Glitched Pokemon would cause parts of the game to visually and audibly become corrupted. Music would start to change and the "Hall of Fame" would appear pixelated, similar to the Pokemon itself. Certain items in your inventory would become duplicated which proved popular for many players, as certain rare items could become unlimited. There was however a chance the game could totally become unplayable and the publisher of the game, Nintendo, warned not to replicate this glitch or make any contact with it. This proved to hype up the glitch as well as giving it increased fame and infamy to more players making it one of the iconic and popular glitches within a game.

Irregular Physics

A corrupted horse in Sims 3 after downloading custom made content.

Another aspect of glitches which occur commonly in recent games is distorted physics, this mostly affects the limbs of a NPC, causing them to be stretched and twisted. Other features include a character spinning or moving erratically which can have add a creepy aspect to a game without even meaning to. This could be an interesting idea to play upon while designing the corrupted monsters in my game.

Floating Body Parts

Floating body in Fallout 3: New Vegas.

In Fallout New Vegas after killing some characters they will remain as body parts, in an upright position as if they were still standing up. This glitch is sometimes caused by saving and closing the game, then coming back to the location where the person was killed. It is highly creepy, especially if the NPC is still moving around. A fairly disgusting aspect of the game, while being unintentional could be modified and used for my game. For example, when a player thinks they have killed a boss character it will rise once again but in a more corrupted form.

Other Graphics Glitches

This is a graphical glitch from Left For Dead 2.

Other glitches within games include, loading glitches, incorrect textures, flickering imagery, being able to pass through scenery, and many different variants. Many of these features I plan to use within the game, especially in the later stages when the game becomes seemingly more corrupted.

Overall researching many glitches over different game platforms has revealed the potentially unlimited ideas which have been created without the game developers actively creating them. They are often fairly randomly generated due to the nature of their accidental creation which is a highly interesting concept to work on and develop. While changing some of the themes slightly any of the glitches could be incorporated into my game design. The only main change would be these "glitches" would be controlled and not damage any part of the device that the game is running on.

Apple Interactive Concept: Game Research 3

The Great Siege

The title screen for The Great Siege.

This is a castle defence game with a fantasy medieval setting. The game information sets the scene by telling the player that "The Dark Lord" has sent his minions to attack your city, to save humanity you must not let the city fall! This game encourages the player to protect the castle walls using a catapult and troops, against the hordes of evil creatures which come from the right side of the screen. At the end of each level is a boss monster which must be defeated, or hold the walls for a limited time to win the level.

The main menu screen within the campaign mode.

The colours in the game are vibrant and bold, there is limited detail within the designs of the buildings and landscapes making it clear to see. Resources and city information is shown at the top of the screen, as well as the building, battling, settings and market menus. The city can be improved as the player progresses through the game, as well as strengthening defences and troops.

The map design for The Great Siege.

The map is less colourful than the main city menu due to it showing all the different factions which are going to attack the city, however it is still clear and simplistic in design. Many aspects of the landscape's features are repeated in different areas, for example the forests and cliffs. The locations are written on a scroll to enhance the medieval theme, including the overall map name. The bird design is featured within the title screen, the loading screen and as a statue in the main city. This all adds to the continuity of the game and may be worth incorporating into my game design.

The game runs as a campaign, however has a save feature which helps split the game play up into segments. This is because the whole game takes easily over an hour and a half to complete which is too long for most players to finish in one session.

Apple Interactive Concept: Game Research 2

GemCraft (Chapter 0)

GemCraft is a tower defence game for the computer made by gameInABottle.com. It is based in a fantasy medieval world where the aim is to search for the "Gem of Eternity". The player is given few reasons what is so powerful about the gem, but no other reason as to why to get it. This information is given in atmospheric scenes relating to the storyline.

This is a scene in the first part of the storyline in GemCraft.

The imagery is simple, yet dark and sinister, showing clearly what it is within a potentially small space. The atmosphere is enhanced by the lack of colour in the imagery. The textures on the background is basic yet accompany the overall theme of the game.

Loading bar for GemCraft.

While the game is loading an animation is played with a figure moving from right to left on the screen. This frequently shifts out of focus and when the figure reappears it distorted from it's original form giving a very eery feel to the game before it even starts.

The skills menu within GemCraft.

I like the simple design of the different skills available for the game. Each representing a positive aspect which the player can unlock. All have the same backgrounds, with black used for the icon. To signify that a skill is available the background is a lighter colour.
  

While a tower defence game is not what I wish to design, the theme and atmosphere of this game is possibly how I want my game to feel like. The stark cold and dangerous colours mixed with black also add danger and a potential threat, which can be relevant to part of my design.

Apple Interactive Concept: Game Research 1

Monday 24th October

After receiving the Apple app brief I started my research. As I wanted to create a Medieval game I chose to look at existing app games on the market.

Exitium

Title Screen

This is a hack and slash type of game, with an interesting back story about two kingdoms at war. The overall goal of the game seems to be to save your land from destruction of the other forces.

Game features include:

• Quests and side stories.
• A large number of items, armor and weapons.
• A way of trading with other players.
• 4 classes of charterers you can be.

These features enhance the game by adding a way of customizing your character by buying items in the market, choosing what quests you do as well as what combat you specialize in. Trading with other players helps increase the feeling of being part of the fantasy world, making it feel more life like and real. All these let the player choose what they want to do as well as how they play the game. I like this freedom to choose where you go in the game world as well as the items you can buy to wear and use. Premium items are also available for purchase for real money, a useful feature in any app game to generate more income.

Controls:

The player moves around by touching the arrows on the bottom left of the screen. On the bottom right of the screen is a button used to attack.

A screenshot of the interface used to move around in the game.

 While this is a simple concept it is far more interesting than a flat world with only forward and backwards movement. However it can be difficult to move when relying on pressing these buttons with one finger. A possible way to combat this is to have the character move to where you touch and hold on the screen.

Mage Gauntlet

Another game I researched was Mage Gauntlet. This was another RPG however was inspired by 1990s games for the Super Nintendo. This meant the graphics were much more pixellated and simple. This can appeal to a slightly older generation who were brought up around such games consoles and may buy the game out of nostalgia.

Screenshot of the character interface.

An in game view of the stats and controls.

Game features include:

• Pets which give bonuses when following you.
• 86 Achievements.
• A stats system to customize your character.
• Hats for your character to use.
• A leveling system.

Once again there are customizable options with types of pets, items and what stats you pick. This is a very important part of a game, to help immerse the player in the game, as well as making the player feel more empathy for the character (A dinosaur in a top hat and monocle is much cuter than just a plain old dinosaur). Achievements can be used to great effect within games to make the player collect them all, while being forced to explore all the content. This is feeding on peoples natural obsession of completing a collection of something and can be exploited to great effect (See Pokemon, "Gotta catch 'em all!").

Controls:

This game uses an attack button like Exitium, however the movement is controlled by holding your touch on where you want to go, exactly like the idea I had trying to combat the arrow buttons. After seeing how well this movement method works in the game I have decided that I will probable use this feature in my game. As it is a constant input the character does not stop then move, but smoothly moves around the landscape exactly where the player wants it to go.