This is the post regarding the creation of a simple platformer.
Let's get some ideas going about what it will be, where we'll draw inspirations from, and also what program we'll use to make this.
Most important thing I feel is to have a nice feeling movement. One of my favorite sidescrolling games is Ghosts n' Goblins because its movements force you to commit to jumps and be decisive because there is no leeway in your jump arcs.
The thematic idea I had for this game is that it takes place in victorian england. You play as jack-the-ripper. Feel free to contribute gameplay ideas, narrative ideas, and more thematic propositions as this was just my proposition. We'll come to a decision on what we'll make together.
Alright so we know that we want to make a platformer. Going off the jack-the-ripper theme should we make it so that he is escaping a crime scene after killing someone? Running away from cops?
ReplyDeleteI feel that we should go about this really simple, in order to complete it. (Running from point A to point B)
How I imagine it is that Jack is running across rooftops jumping between buildings/dodging obstructions.
To make it easier for us, let's stick to a 2D perspective similar to Ghosts n' Goblins. We can use tile sets/sfx from other games for background/characters/and such. We aren't selling it for money so it should be fine.
Once we got the general idea for the game and the objective, we can start to move onto deciding the game engine and such.
Game can start by showing a small cutscene/text that basically explain the premise; you are Spring-Heeled Jackie, a young boy (idea contributed by Daniel Le) who likes to do pranks by jumping off the roof and landing near people to scare them (making it not about killing people).
ReplyDeleteThere would be two distinct levels. The roofs and the streets. The gameplay would consist of navigating the rooftops and herding the people on the streets into one area to scare the biggest group.
Hmm. I'll just leave my thought process here but this would require lots of animation because of crowd and such. I think running away from the cops would be the best option. Giving the game really awesome vertically would make it pretty cool as well as making the player pick up sort of upgrades to make the jumps more potent.
Art-wise this is the style I plan to use.
http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/8823/10030517_1.jpg?v=8CE70FE0A695D20
Using monochromatic colors with accented colors for obstacles and game-play elements will make communications clear.
Lots of things to say here. In regards to gameplay the "feel" of the game makes a big difference and I think the reference to Ghosts & Goblins was a good start. The big breakthrough feature of Mario was being able to direct your jump mid-flight making for a more exciting, chaotic, and fast paced game. I agree though some of the fun of old Castlevania is committing to jumps and not being able to jump while walking up stairs. Anyways, deciding on how this mechanic will work will be one of the most important parts of this project I would think. A suggestion (though this may be impossible for programming reasons I don't know) would be a 2D version of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. I know it's not a platformer, but the platforming aspect where you need to "climb" on edges. The 2D zombie platformer Deadlight does this and I enjoy it as a change of pace. I just think it fits your monochromatic color scheme, more difficult decisive jump mechanic, and darker theme (about a Victorian mass murderer).
ReplyDeleteNarrative-wise we can do a lot. We could go light humor, comical even, with the child-like pranks as suggested above. We could do dark and do real murders, running from police. Jack the Ripper is also a very romantic anti-hero character wreathed in mystery so there is a lot of narrative detail. He was never discovered, he has no known motive, he seemed to have surgical/medical knowledge, he only targeted women & prostitutes at that, and was incredibly brutal in his methods. So there's a lot of plot to spin on that. In general.
As far as platform narrative goes to me Braid is easily the best in recent memory. It got me thinking that for platformers the narrative can be more subtle. They don't need any explanations or dialogue and things can sort of be "unveiled before your very eyes". You don't need to know ANYTHING about your character to play. My basic starter idea is to start out as a young prankster boy. Level 1 is to do a prank. Then your prank goes horribly wrong and somebody DOES die, but you see a dark cloaked figure at the corner of the screen laugh and walk off screen. You chase after him. Then every Level is like a crime scene you watch unfold.
Here's an example: You watch the cloaked man go into a hotel. Then you go in after him and lose sight of him. It's a platformer so the level is linear and you won't see the cloaked man until the end. As you go through you will witness his elaborate murder unfold in the background of the stage itself. Like a fire breaks in the hotel somehow (though you see how as you go through the hotel). This will happen maybe 1/4 through the stage and it becomes the obstacle/challenge as you try to escape the hotel and clear the stage. In the end you escape to once again, repetition because this is a platformer, see the dark cloaked figure laugh and leave screen. You chase after him to the next level.
The basis of this is using the platformer gameplay to TELL a story. The fact that the dark cloaked figure causes anything to happen at all is merely implied. The dark cloaked figure may or may not even exist. The game could be set up to show that YOU cause all the murders (in a now cliche Braid-like twist) through your actions in escaping these situations. Using the fire in the hotel example above maybe the only way to go through the level is to start the fire. Then you get through the stage and clear it. Once you think about it you're the only one to escape the arson and everyone you pass by on the stage (in a fixed background pose/animation of course) never gets out. Just you and the mysterious cloaked man. Now that I've written this I think it's really good. Not to praise myself too much, but this is a good narrative look at the above ideas.
That's a very interesting angle. I can imagine the type of gameplay it will have based on your description. This might be something we want to visit on future projects.
DeleteI liked my idea so much I wrote a full analysis of the narrative and basic gameplay elements to match it. If you/we ever want to return to the idea I can post it. It's somewhat lengthy. I think it's a good idea for a somewhat edgy, but basic platformer with murder mystery elements. It's also open-ended in the way you want the narrative to be interpreted (nice-nice or super dark), as well as open-ended as far as what sort of gameplay elements to add (fighting elements like castlevania, or straight up puzzle platformer like original Prince of Persia or Pitfall). I wrote it up in my google drive so I have it for posterity.
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