So I'm back after what was the least relaxing break I think I've ever had. Spent most of it at the new job or working on our Ubisoft prototype for this competition. I guess it was worth it though, ours was picked so we get to compete in Montreal come April.
Anyway, this post is going to be more about ideas than whining about my lack of break. This semester starts off with game pitch ideas. Everyone has to pitch, or at least be involved in a pitch. The top several get selected to be rapidly prototyped, and the top two or three of those become our thesis projects for the rest of our program.
There was a lot of talk about synesthesia, or however you spell it, and how they are potentially good games for a limited number of artists, which we have. That resonated with me, I've always wanted to make a music game kind of like Rez so I got to thinking about potential ideas for that.
Not much came to mind at first, but as always, after giving up and trying to sleep a couple days later I thought of taking the grinding mechanic out of Sonic Adventure 2, and turning the rails into strings. It seemed like a fun idea to jump between strings to dodge obstacles and simultaneously create musical notes. The game would be almost like a forced runner and if played properly would result in a cool song. My partner (Mike) and I liked the idea, but we knew it needed more so we kept thinking about it.
After a bit more thought Mike came up with the idea of replacing the strings with a vinyl record and grinding the ridge like the needle of a record player. This led to a myriad of new ideas and even allowed us to incorporate the old ideas into a sort of "star power" meta game. This solved the problem of being a gimmick, and lends itself nicely to a lot more musical tricks, such as balancing on the rail effecting the stereo sound.
I'll post some exerts from the full design doc once it's ready and comment on the classes reception.
No comments:
Post a Comment