GAME IDEA NO. 5
Thursday, November 28th [Version 1.0]
Today we came up with a new idea, starting from the initial thing we wanted the player to do: write their own story, in music. Rylan has come up with a mechanic involving a character who could change the length of its legs to avoid obstacles and jump on platforms (and more parkour movements). We then thought the platforms and the music could appear according to the jump, kind of like in Sound Shapes. At that point, I thought the game could be a multiplayer, have two players try to jump on platforms and compose music. Rylan suggested the game would be more fun if they were competing against each other, and he showed me this video where two strangers are 'arguing' in music. I find this very interesting and I agreed it would be fun to play if we did this. Sometimes, I wish I knew how to play and do what these two are doing.
If the players are arguing, they are chasing each other's music, trying to be the one leading, then we would need to be able to interchange the one who is chasing and the one who is being chased. I saw this as an endless cycle, so I suggested they are running in a circle, eventually ending up seeing the previous obstacles they created. After a certain time, this will make the game universe look like a sound wave circle, which is pretty cool.
So, this is what we have so far and what we will be presenting tomorrow: this is a 2D side-scrolling game. The game is about creating your own story/music. It's a multiplayer game, two people competing against each other to be the one who is leading the melodic line. Each parkour movement the leading player makes will generate a sound and an obstacle, that the second player will have to dodge it in his mission to catch the first player and lead the melodic line. It's like a Tom and Jerry mechanic.
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The obstacles appear from the ground, and the ground is a circle. When you finish the game, the camera will distance itself from the world, and the players will be able to see the world - the sound wave circle, and listen to what they have composed together, while they were competing against each other.
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The fact that the players are competing against each other is fun. All they have to do is play, and this will make music; they are creating by playing. I like to think of this game as a new instrument to create music.
[Version 1.1] Wednesday, January 8th
The purpose of the game is to allow the players to create music in a fun and engaging way. The game is tailored towards everyone, people with or without musical experience. Everyone should be able to equally enjoy this experience. The outcome of the game does not have to be 'good', a piece of art. It can be anything the players want, as peaceful or as strange as they desire.
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By using a wide variety of sounds and objects, the outcome of the game will be personal, unique, every time you play it. The simple mechanics will provide a fun and engaging time: a new type of game.
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Mechanics
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There are two players in this game:
Player 1: whose goal it to not be caught by player 2
Player 2: whose goal is to catch player 1.
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The first player will generate an obstacle and a sound every time they perform a parkour-inspired movement. The object will pop up on the spot where the player has done the action. They will do this by using different key combinations. Each key combination will generate another object/sound. At the moment, we are thinking about 64 objects/sounds, because that's how many combinations you can get from 4 buttons.
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The second player has to overcome the obstacles that player 1 has created. He will be able to do this by using parkour movements as well. If player 1 listens to the sounds, they will be able to predict what the next obstacle is. For example, if the pitch is higher, the second player will know the obstacle coming is tall, and will be able to prepare a strategy.
