Foxy's Game Design Blog #1 - Concept
Published by Vulpine Script in the blog Blogsytail. Views: 357
I hope to make this a regular thing. So much so that I'm going to force myself to write it and hopefully that'll give me the impetus I need to do it. Celestia knows I need the motivation. So, let's begin!
I am going to make a game. It'll likely be something small and casual to start off with, one of those 'easy to learn, hard to master' type things. So what I really need is a concept that will work like that. There are many things I could take reference from, such as the recently released '10 Second Ninja' from GameDesignDan or titles such as 'The Binding of Isaac' and 'Super Meat Boy' from Edmund McMillan.The thing that really speaks to me is some kind of platformer, fighter or racer.
Platforming speaks to me because it's the kind of game I, like many others, have grew up with. I was playing Mario and Sonic games since their creation and I always preferred Sonic for its speed while still retaining excellent platforming prowess needed. Something I've always wanted, especially in recent sonic games, is an endless level. A level that either loops or is generated as you go, with only one goal; reach the fastest speed you can and maintain it for as long as you can. I've often wondered how one might achieve that and how one might build a game around that concept. I'll admit it is quite tempting for me to go for this one.
Fighting games are often hit and miss with me. I love Soul Calibur but dislike Tekken and Street Fighter. Marvel vs series seem fun to me, but I could never compete at a competitive level. I've recently wanted to get into Skullgirls but the recent laptop troubles has made this difficult. I absolutely love Super Smash Bros in all its iterations. And that's only one broad type of fighting game. There's also beat'em up fighters, such as Anarchy Reigns and Bayonetta (both of which I love). I will be getting Senran Kagura Burst for the 3DS and hopefully I'll enjoy that too. The difficulty in this choice is in both execution and the concept itself; how would I distinguish myself? How would my game be different, either in execution or style? It's quite difficult to think of how I'd do this.
Racer is a game type I don't often delve into mainly due to it rarely being done in a way I enjoy. Racing games I like are Need For Speed Underground 1, Lego Racers and Mario Kart. Need For Speed Underground 1 I enjoy because of the customization of your car and the fact that I didn't feel the AI was BS in winning if I made a mistake. Especially on Hard, you had to earn your win and it really did feel like you earned it, and if you didn't, it was your fault, not some rubberband AI who would always be on your tail. I like Lego Racers because you build your car, you race it, you earn more parts. Build, race, earn, build, race, earn etc... until you can build your car almost however you like with the pieces you've earned when you've beaten the game. It's pretty darn fun and creative. And then there's Mario Kart. Do I really need to explain the expertly designed courses, the whimsical karts and bikes, the myriad of characters to play as? It's just a fun game where you can just have fun and come last with little worries, where being at the back of the pack isn't necessarily a disadvantage. The question I ask myself is 'Can I do equally as good, if not better?' If I were to make a racer of some kind, it wouldn't be as large as Mario Kart. It'd likely start off as some small casual 4 player minute long race of some kind. Or maybe not even a race, but a 'survive as you drive while you and the other players fire various missiles and things at each other until there is only one left racing' kind of race. The prospect is enticing.
And after all of that is said and done, there's the style of the game. At least here, I know exactly what I want.
Heart stopping adorable cuteness everywhere. A proverbial rainbow of colour and sugar on the screen at all times... with humour as dark as GLaDOS' affection. For some reason, that just seems like the perfect kind of style I wish to achieve. I want things to look bright, happy, adorable, yet I want this cuteness to be a ruse, a mask of some kind for some dark secret. How I do this will be an experience I hope I learn a great deal and hope I succeed in doing so.
That's all for this week. I'll ponder over what I've written here, see what anyone has any thoughts on this and next week hopefully I can write about what I've decided on, and perhaps share some research on it.
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