The Javelin Game JokerHigh Studios B00231759 B00220895 B00221116 B00219002 B00241604 1
Table of Contents Game Overview Character Design Basic Characters Human Athlete Alien Barbarian Mermaid/Merman Tribal Hunter Character Customisation Power ups Recolours Particle Effects Sound Effects Javelins Hats Level Design Levels Basic Stadium Moon Surface Underwater Jungle User Interface Technical Implementation 2
Game Overview For the overall style of the game we are using themed base levels to bring some jokey randomness to the game also, we have chosen a cartoon/manga for the player look that our audience will be enable to enjoy and hopefully relate to it will also attempt to bring a sense of humour to the animation of the game to go with the mechanics of the game. By doing this we can bring unique looking characters for the player to play as or against also it lets us bring in fun customisation. For example, you can be a javelin thrower who loves cheese so, you wear a cheese hat and when you through you javelin or it make a cheese effect or sound and play against an alien with his glowing space javelin that look like something from The Jetsons. With this in mind, it gives us a wide creative palette to work with and near infinite possibilities for expansion of themes. We have a few sketches that we will attach to this document but many are still under work. 3
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Character Design Basic Characters The game will begin with the player having access to only one character, a basic human athlete. As the game progresses and the player completes a string of challenges such as, getting certain scores on certain levels, more players may be unlocked. Human Athlete Basic beginning character with no special traits, available from the beginning of the game. Alien character Unlocked after reaching the moon stage by hitting a certain score on the basic stadium. Mermaid/merman Unlocked after reaching the underwater level If we use this character/level the player s javelin would be replaced with a trident. Tribal hunter Unlocked after reaching the jungle level Character Customisation Within the game the player will have the ability to customise their character through unlockables, rewards and an in game shop. Power up items There are many generic power up items that could be used in the game. If we are to include them they could be, increased strength, lower gravity, boosts etc. Power up items are an idea that may or may not be included in the game. At this point, it will come down to how much time is left at the end to add these in. 5
Recolours Character skin and clothing recolours Particle effects There are a few different particle effects that have been discussed and we would use a variety of trails for the javelin using different colours and possibly patterns. We will also look at having the ground react to the javelin hitting it. Sound effects For the game it will be basic sound effects like: running on the ground, grunts of the player, audience and music. Sound effects at this point have not been discussed in great detail as we felt that they were the least important part of the game making process. This isn t to say it is being ignored entirely just shelved until it comes closer to the games completion. Javelins So far we have the basic javelin which will be given an original brand name (still undecided). If we use the multiple levels then we will involve the other types of javelins and possibly more. The space javelin has already been designed and will have a lower gravity than the original javelin. More to come. Hats The reason hats have been chosen is to give each player a chance to make things a bit sillier, it gives us a bit of creative freedom and is something that can be added to regularly with relative ease. The first few hat concepts (cheese, dragon, jester, william tell, sword in the stone and cake) have been drawn in concept and can be added to with almost anything. Level Design Levels The game will have a selection of levels for the user to play on. At first, only the basic stadium level will be available to play, however as the user progresses in the game more will be unlocked. Each level will bring something new to the game such as the moon level having lowered gravity. Basic Stadium The basic stadium level will be based on a normal javelin stadium, with a long run up of tartan track followed by the distance markers for the throw. The background will be of the crowd watching the game. 6
Moon The moon level will be based on the surface of the moon with space as the background. This level will have lowered gravity which will make the javelin float further. Jungle The jungle level will be based on the jungle floor with trees as the background. The level will have reduced vision for the player with vines and leaves in the way of the javelin throw. Under water The underwater level will be based on the bottom of the ocean with fish and other sea creatures in the background. The force of the throw will be drastically reduced for this level. User Interface We are aiming for an organic look for our game so it does not appear too flat, with a curved look, we should be able to bring perception of 3D to the game. Features To give the game some simple but fun variation we will have a selection of hats that will be either unlockable or buyable using the clay.io (see technical implementation) plugin s inbuilt purchasing system We will include a selection of buyable/unlockable javelins with different colours and/or sound effects associated with them. Technical Implementation There are many game design environments available that output directly to HTML5 including Gamemaker and Construct 2. It has been decided that the latter will be used to implement the javelin game. Construct 2 is better suited to the group s needs as it provides great APIs for social networking websites such as Facebook. It also can host the plugin Clay.io which will be used throughout the project to create leaderboards that can be displayed online and posted to many social networking websites. This is one of the main USPs of the game. No other Javelin game on the mobile or desktop market uses social networking to their advantage to the extent that the group plans to do. 7
The game will be primarily aimed at the mobile market mainly on the iphone and Android operating systems. As the game is not expected to require a large amount of processing power or memory and the only hardware requirement is a touch screen it is expected to run on most older phones including ones with older operating systems. It will be tested on all target phones using Android and iphone Emulators. As of time of writing it is unclear whether the group will be able to use the premium version of Construct 2 which includes exporting to a file format that can be run natively by the aforementioned devices. This will be used if possible. If not the game will run as a web app accessible through the phone s browser. 8