Project 2: Apple Interactive Concept

Initial Ideas and Thoughts
A big catch up here again, I really need to keep up with my blog. 2 weeks ago we were given our second project and although I haven't posted on here about it yet, that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about it constantly. I struggled with an idea at first because many of my ideas were just too ambitious to be created for an Iphone, Ipad or Ipod touch. Having done some research (which I will post soon) I realised the kind of game that I could create and what I wanted to make. 

While trying to come up with ideas, all I could thing about or become influenced by were couple of PS1 games I love. These are Crash Bandicoot 3 (video from YouTube user pokeetoful) & Kula World (video from YouTube user refshal). 2 fantastic games, both of which havent been replicated on the App Store, or anything similar for that matter. Fantastic news for me! This is when I knew I had my idea and market sorted. 

Graphics wise I had been thinking about the kinds of things I could do and what the device could handle. I didn't really want to do a simple side scroller game because these are very "in" at the moment. I had the idea in the back of my mind to create a game with a slightly open world feel which has levels to complete but all with a 3D 3rd person perspective. This is when I came across "Armado" (YouTuber freeiphonegamer) and "Temple Run" (YouTuber theapptrail). 2 very popular games on the App Store which are doing really well with regards to downloads. Graphically not amazing but definitely "different" to most of the games that are popular right now (Angry Birds etc). Armado has a 3D perspective and is controlled in a 3rd person perspective, as is Temple Run. The controlls on Temple run are different too but very clever, utilizing the swipe motion of the touch screen to controll the envrionment and your character.

My Concept Idea 
I will go further into the games mentioned, and others, as part of a research section for this project later. For now I want to go on and talk about my actual idea for the app. As it has been 2 weeks, my idea has been developing in my head and now is the time to post it up on here. I had 4 different ways it could work which I will post next and then for my chosen idea I decided to create a diagram detailing the events that would happen in the singple player part of the app (all will be explained).

Idea 1:

The game is focused around his dreams where he gets to interact with animals. This is represented with different levels where there is a problem with the animal (it is lost, it has lost its friends/parents etc) and the young boy must help the animal get to the objective safely by riding them (in a fun manner similar to Crash Bandicoot or Mario Galaxy).

Idea 2:

The boy is transported to a dream world where he gets to pick his very own animal to take part in fun & wacky races.  He would get to pick the animal at the beginning of every level which would contain 3 different animals (themed to that level/world). The story mode would see the boy dream about 3 different “worlds” (water, grass & space).  

Idea 3:

Absolutely no back story, it’s just a simple game that you turn on, you have a “main character” and every level has a different animal to ride. There might be a story as to why the animal needs to be ridden (similar to idea 1) but ultimately it would just be a simple game that you turn on, play and don’t really think about it.

Idea 4 (Chosen Idea):

Boy loves nature; he is on a walk in the local woods when he finds a mysterious cave. Upon exploring the cave he finds himself in this “other world” where he is face with “themed” portals (grassy portal, watery portal etc), the player would tap touch the portal they want to enter. This then takes the boy to that world where he is met by a friendly animal who needs help doing ‘something’ which involves the boy riding that animal though a few levels in order to help him. ­

I chose idea 4 in the end because from a design perspective it was the one that worked best. I could clearly visualise how it would look (at least, how I wanted it to look), and knew it was slightly cooky and "different" in terms of style and gameplay compared to what is on the market right now. This, paired with the PS1 influences has excited me into thinking I have a clever idea, something that people will like and will work. Here is the link to download my initial concept game map to illustrate how the single player will work from the start. Apple Interactive Concept: Game Map

Colour Key for Concept Map: 
- Purple Box represents video/cut scene/illustration that outlines the story of the game. It might be moving image, it might be a series of images. Who knows. 

- Green Box represents an area of the game that I am unsure as to how it will work/look. It could be a video or illustration to signify an action in the game. This is usally a part where the player isnt physically playing the game. 

- Blue Box represents genuine gameplay, sections that are playable by the user. 

What's Next?

My next move is to start doing some concept work for this project. I want to use a wacom tablet to experiment with colour (as I haven't used one before). I want the style to be simple and cartooney as many of the sucsessful apps are on the store. This will make the learning curve easier with regards to the wacom tablet. I feel really positive about this project, I can't wait to start putting concepts onto paper!