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Home page: Anneka
About: All The Story: Anneka Player Objectives & Progression: Anneka Game World | Background: Anneka Character Profiles: Anneka New Game Plus | Zoie User Interface: Xavier and Anneka Art & Sound Style: Xavier Game Objects: Anneka Detailed Assets List: Xavier Market Research: Zoie and Anneka |
Minimal Viable Product (MVP) Systems & Features: Zoie and Anneka
Tools: Xavier Technical Document: Xavier and Zoie Production: Anneka Localisation: Zoie and Anneka Prototypes | Playtesting: Zoie Archive: All Ideas | Questions: All Inspirations | Zoie and Anneka Meeting Minutes: All |
Inspirations
Like many other games, The Cure’s mechanics take some inspiration from previously created games but have merged and added unique elements to help create and promote originality in our game. Our time mechanic in our game was inspired by 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim' (Bethesda Game Studios, 2011), where each game day cycle is 1 hour and 12 minutes; the player can only sleep if beside a bed, et cetera. We have taken inspiration from this time system because the day does not seem too short or too long. If the day was too short, the feature of not being able to speak to certain NPCs in certain times of the day could allow players to simply wait for a few minutes to overcome this, in turn making the game unrealistic and too fast-paced, and would lessen the effect of this punishment system.
On the other hand, making one game day any longer than an hour and a half might be bothersome whenever trying to talk to an NPC that is not currently available because it may leave the player with nothing else to do while they wait, which could make the game boring - especially for "challenge" players that only seek to follow the main quest and not to explore the world in depth. Finding a balance between the day being overly short and long was, therefore, an extremely important aspect in developing the game concept, which led to the research of other game’s time systems, such as 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild' (Nintendo, 2017) and 'Grand Theft Auto V' (Rockstar North, 2013). However, we felt that Skyrim’s time system was the most effective. We also wanted to add the same realism of the environment changing throughout the day, for example, during the day, shops and other public places can be visited, during nightfall, they cannot. The environment also changes aesthetically, representing a day’s cycle.
Another inspiration taken when designing the game was an element seen in 'Mass Effect' (BioWare, 2007-2017) where the ending the player receives relies on how well the player did throughout the game, as opposed to being based on 1 main decision. Of course, with such a small team and time frame to complete the game, we would not incorporate such a broad range of outcomes, like Mass Effect's 8 endings, but instead, we decided to have 3 that would rely on the amount of “Good-Will” points the player receives during gameplay. The system that the 'Mass Effect' series use relies on their system of “Effective Military Strength”, along with various other aspects. There would be a range of both good endings and bad endings which would ultimately lead the player to replay the game. With 'The Cure', we also wanted to implement a similar aspect of replay-ability.
Taking inspiration from the 'Assassin’s Creed' series (Ubisoft Entertainment, 2012-2018), our side quests have been divided into two narrative plots. In 'Assassin's Creed', players can complete side quests where they rid the area of enemy generals to give the land back to the people, as well as train/recruit assassins to call on them for aid during missions. From this, we see quests where the player can help rid the world of Malum’s magic to aid the locals, and recruiting and training allies that can assist the player in the final battle against Malum.
There are also several inspirations we looked to whenever developing the overall aesthetics and art style of the game. These, in essence, were very much similar, but there were several elements from each style which we have taken inspiration from, and we intend on combining them to create our own individual art style. Our art style was inspired by ‘Aragami’ (Lince Works, 2016), ‘Ōkami’ (Clover Studio, 2006) and ‘The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker’ (Nintendo, 2002). Originally, we were going to have an aesthetic that resembled 'Okami'. However, we wanted to promote more originality as well as lower the efforts/costs needed to create the graphics. So from this, we took inspiration from 'Zelda' to use cel-shading and 'Aragami’/'Okami' to highlight outlines/details with bold black lines. It would draw in many audiences that are of the artistic type and appreciate the aesthetics of games, rather than the actual overall gameplay aspects. Therefore, it opens up many marketing opportunities.
On the other hand, making one game day any longer than an hour and a half might be bothersome whenever trying to talk to an NPC that is not currently available because it may leave the player with nothing else to do while they wait, which could make the game boring - especially for "challenge" players that only seek to follow the main quest and not to explore the world in depth. Finding a balance between the day being overly short and long was, therefore, an extremely important aspect in developing the game concept, which led to the research of other game’s time systems, such as 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild' (Nintendo, 2017) and 'Grand Theft Auto V' (Rockstar North, 2013). However, we felt that Skyrim’s time system was the most effective. We also wanted to add the same realism of the environment changing throughout the day, for example, during the day, shops and other public places can be visited, during nightfall, they cannot. The environment also changes aesthetically, representing a day’s cycle.
Another inspiration taken when designing the game was an element seen in 'Mass Effect' (BioWare, 2007-2017) where the ending the player receives relies on how well the player did throughout the game, as opposed to being based on 1 main decision. Of course, with such a small team and time frame to complete the game, we would not incorporate such a broad range of outcomes, like Mass Effect's 8 endings, but instead, we decided to have 3 that would rely on the amount of “Good-Will” points the player receives during gameplay. The system that the 'Mass Effect' series use relies on their system of “Effective Military Strength”, along with various other aspects. There would be a range of both good endings and bad endings which would ultimately lead the player to replay the game. With 'The Cure', we also wanted to implement a similar aspect of replay-ability.
Taking inspiration from the 'Assassin’s Creed' series (Ubisoft Entertainment, 2012-2018), our side quests have been divided into two narrative plots. In 'Assassin's Creed', players can complete side quests where they rid the area of enemy generals to give the land back to the people, as well as train/recruit assassins to call on them for aid during missions. From this, we see quests where the player can help rid the world of Malum’s magic to aid the locals, and recruiting and training allies that can assist the player in the final battle against Malum.
There are also several inspirations we looked to whenever developing the overall aesthetics and art style of the game. These, in essence, were very much similar, but there were several elements from each style which we have taken inspiration from, and we intend on combining them to create our own individual art style. Our art style was inspired by ‘Aragami’ (Lince Works, 2016), ‘Ōkami’ (Clover Studio, 2006) and ‘The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker’ (Nintendo, 2002). Originally, we were going to have an aesthetic that resembled 'Okami'. However, we wanted to promote more originality as well as lower the efforts/costs needed to create the graphics. So from this, we took inspiration from 'Zelda' to use cel-shading and 'Aragami’/'Okami' to highlight outlines/details with bold black lines. It would draw in many audiences that are of the artistic type and appreciate the aesthetics of games, rather than the actual overall gameplay aspects. Therefore, it opens up many marketing opportunities.
Bibliography
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