Blog #8
This week’s blog will be a bit short. I was out of town in Chicago. RPP isn’t happening right now, and I haven’t had an opportunity to finish the metrics gym for level design yet. Simply put, not a lot got done. But this week is going to be a huge catch-up week. A lot will be getting done so expect Blog #9 to be a juicer.
Capstone Project
This week in Capstone we decided which game we’re going to be making. Our game is about an Armadillo who will be building up and defending a fortress in the woods. During the daytime cycle will involve the player gathering supplies and building up his fort defenses. During the nighttime cycle he will defend his camp from attacking enemies.
Potential Storylines:
Armadillo's have very cool natural predators: Coyote's and Wolves. Both of which are primarily nocturnal hunters (which correlates perfectly with the day and night cycle). We can take one of these natural predators and embellish them heavily to be a cartoony villain and give them a reason to fight:
Competing for Resources: Arlo the Armadillo has set up his fort near a prime source of food that he’s diligently gathered—berries, nuts, and tasty insects. Rex the Coyote, finding his usual hunting grounds scarce, sees Arlo’s stash as easy pickings.
A Stolen Artifact: Arlo stumbles upon a mysterious old relic buried in the forest, which he believes could protect his fort. However, Rex wants the shiny object and will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
A Disrupted Ecosystem: Arlo’s digging and fort-building is loud and disturbs the balance of the forest, affecting the prey Rex relies on. Rex sees prey he is stalking run away due to the noise from Arlo's construction and decides to end the noise.
Reputation and Rivalry: Rex is known as the forest’s “king of the night,” feared by all smaller creatures. But when Arlo builds his fort and stands up to Rex’s attacks, the other animals start admiring Arlo’s bravery. This challenges Rex’s authority, and he grows more determined to bring Arlo down to reclaim his fearsome reputation. Arlo defends himself, determined not to be bullied out of his home.
Level Design
This week I will be working on a metrics gym to get a scale for my First Person Shooter game. This gym measures wall sizes, floor sizes, how far a player can jump, the scale of different objects, how high the player can climb, what distance enemies should spawn from, and many other metrics.
