Worksheet - Escher

GAME TYPE

1) # of players
1-16

2) Game Type
Single player FP puzzle game; Multiplayer deathmatch/co-op

3)What game is this map for?
This Side Up


STORY

4) Why are the players there? Why is the place/environment there? What is the history of the environment?
The player is a museum curator on the trail of a time-traveling art thief. The player must follow the thief through time portals into the past in order to either a) recover the lost pieces of art, or b) find the original artist and collect the appropriate items (easels, pigments, brushes, etc.) to help them recreate the stolen pieces.

5) What is this map about?
This map is based on Relativity by M.C. Escher. The player is in a room with no clear up or down, where each wall is a floor to another perspective of the same room. Each exit leads back to the same room through another location. There is (seemingly) no way out.

PRE-PRO & GAMEPLAY

6) What is the objective of the map?
Find the exit.

7) Do I have a top-down sketch?
Yes, but since there's no real "top" to the room, it needs a sketch for each dimension.

8) Do I have a top-down player path sketch?
No.

9) How would the player move through the map? Visualize this. What experiences do I want the player to walk away with from the map?
The player will be constantly flipped around by activating switches to change the direction of "gravity" in order to find the exit. The original idea was to place gravity wells (force brushes) throughout the map, which the player would activate by pressing buttons. However, this method is impractical if there is only one static Y-axis. Alternatively, the entire environment may need to be rotated 90 degrees every time a switch is flipped. I want the player to feel disoriented and trapped by the complexity of the room.

10) How big is the map?
5120 units per side. (320 feet cubed)

11) Who is my audience? What is my demographic?
Puzzle gamers. Anyone who enjoys playing games like Portal will like the challenge this map presents. The map will also serve as an unusual deathmatch map for multiplayer purposes.

12) How will I make the map memorable?
By turning every possible surface into a "floor" surface, the room should have a disorienting and lasting psychological effect on the player.

13) Do I have location concept sketches?
Yes.

VISUALS

14) Photo reference:

15) What is the time of day?
That would depend upon which "exterior" section the player enters.

16) What do I want to portray in terms of the feel of the map and atmosphere?
A sense of confinement, confusion and panic.

17) How will I direct the player? What methods will I use? Color? Noise and sound? How will I incorporate smart design to guide the player without telling them where to go?
By using color-coded switches, the player will learn how to manipulate the gravity within certain areas of the room to explore new sections. Each newly-activated switch will lead the player toward the next.

18) What am I going to concentrate on? What do I want to learn when I am finished? What aspect of design, gameplay, fun, crazy, atmosphere?
I want to learn how to make a working 3D model of this optical illusion. The primary focus will either be on the proper balance of independent gravity wells or the correct implementation of environment manipulation effects. I want to avoid a situation where the player gets stuck in midair due to poor object placement.

19) What is the visual trademark of my level? How will the players remember the map?
The map should be memorable based on the complexity and visual effect of the illusion.

11 Day Workflow Plan

Day 1: Pre-pro
Sketch maps for each wall surface based on Escher's Relativity.
Experiment with gravity settings and force brushes in UDK to determine their effect on the player. If this method fails, determine how to rotate the environment effectively.

Day 2: Gameplay & Flow
Find a starting point for the player. Determine which doors to "pair" in order to keep player from leaving the room (one door serves as a direct path from another). Determine switch placement and fine-tune timing of gravitational effects or rotational speeds.

Day 3: Focal Point
Set guiding objects (switches, arrows, lights, etc.) along player path.

Day 4: Exterior
Design perimeter walls and "outdoor" sections located at perimeter of map.

Day 5: Terrain
Add foliage to "outdoor" sections. Set ledges and perimeter stairs.

Day 6: Interior
Set doorways and link ledges with double-sided staircases.

Day 7: Details
Add railings, cracks in walls, textures, and furniture (tables/chairs/benches).

Day 8: Outdoor Lighting
Set lights to imitate time-of-day for each outdoor section. Determine exact "overhead" point for each.

Day 9: Indoor Lighting
Set perimeter lights to lead player toward switches. Set bright light in exact center of room to cause staircases to cast shadows on both sides.

Day 10: Sound & Particle FX
Add hum for active switches, click for switch toggling, bird noise for "outdoor" areas. (Possible need to add particle effects to gravity wells when active if player can't find them easily.)

Day 11: Post-process & Release
(Possible addition of NPCs walking through room, a la Relativity.) Playtest.

Homework Assignment: 2/16

How did Bungie ultimately overcome the problem of 'featurism' that had plagued the Halo2 game?

With Halo2, Bungie took a disjointed development approach. Each department worked separately before amassing their efforts. With Halo3, Bungie was able to refine their approach, having learned from the failures of their previous effort. By focusing less on detailed graphics and more on balancing gameplay, Bungie was able to create a more enjoyable game. Through thousands of hours of player testing during development, they were able to quickly identify problem areas and correct them. This lead to a more balanced weapon system, better map layouts, and a generally better idea of what the player experiences during their time in the game world.

FPS Concept Art:

 

 

Halo2 Questions

1) Jaime Griesemer, game design lead on Halo 2 suggests that if you have 30 seconds of fun, this can translate into stretching the fun out for an entire game.




2) The cinematic script for Halo 15 levels long - 2 protagonists - drive the 20 hours of action. Feature film length.

120 minutes. 160 pp. game script. Too much work for the time allowed, and the story overshadows the gameplay.

3) Marcus Lehto of the art department talks about artwork such as the "sentinal headquarters" - what is the challenge of this interior for the player

Traversing a gamespace designed for creatures that are not constrained by gravity or walls.


4) Why is E3 so important?

It is the biggest event in the video game world. Every publisher, reporter, critic is present. When retailers get promo material and decide which games to (pre-)order.


5) What is a danger with the desire by a team to add graphical richness?

Technically, lowered framerate. Practically, less time put into smoothing gameplay.


6) Nathan Walpole (senior animator) discusses animating the brute character - what new feature has been added to Halo2 in terms of the relationship between characters like the Brute and vehicles such as the warthog?

Boarding vehicles.

7) a) What is 'framerate'?

Framerate = FPS (frames per second), the rate at which the display refreshes.
b) What elements can affect the framerate of the game?

Particle effects, polygon count, shadowing, calling sound files. Anything that uses processor power and system memory.

8) a) The producer cares about the retailers and the fans at E3 why bother about these things so early in the game's development?

Developers need to generate buzz for the game's release. Building discussions about the game encourage players to pre-order copies.

b) How does the team generate enthusiasm among the fans at E3 in the demo booth?

Make the preview exclusive and with limited capacity, use characters within the game to mimic interaction with the presenter and the fans. Highlight the best new features of the game to build buzz.

9) What features of the game were the fans most enthusiastic about at the E3 demo?

Jumping on characters backs, exploding vehicles with characters crawling out alive.

10) How did the decision to go with the more detailed real-time graphics (stencil shadows, real time reflections etc) affect completion deadlines?

It greatly added to the complication of development. The team had to throw out the previous version and restart production.

10b) What did the US marines demonstrations of guns etc in South Carolina do to assist with the game?

Showed how guns look, sound and react in a real-world environment (recoil, flash, smoke, shell ejections. Showed combat communication, formations and stances.

11) What were the main functions of the LAN game sessions held in the private house in Connecticut?

Meeting people from within the community. Attaching a face to an internet personality. Having fun. Learning which parts of Halo were most/least enjoyable for the players, to know what to reproduce/refine in production.

12) Why were (parts of the) game called the 'matrix of doom'?

Hundreds/thousands of sound effects required to adapt to the multitude of textures and shapes. Every texture in the game was used in a high polygon-count environment, stressing the limits of the system.

13) According to the lead producer, how did the Halo2 team ultimately mess up? How was this issue ultimately dealt with?

By returning to the home planet, the missions became too expansive. The options were too plenty. the gameplay wasn't fun. Design kept lagging on. There wasn't nearly enough time to commit to the decisions being made. To solve the problem, the team threw out the old game plan and started anew, focusing on exciting gameplay.

14) Why are the level diagrams called 'commitment' by the level designer?

Because of the time required to create the levels, the missions for traversing them, the script, the texturing, etc. Once a level is decided on, the entire production team must work on material for it. If you leave your options open, new ideas keep coming up without any decision on what to keep.

15) The time line showing the schedule to shipping allows a lot of time near the end for what?

QA, then sleep.

16) How do the two audio directors differ in terms of how they obtain performances from the actors?

Marty: More direct, intuitive, time-conscious
Joe: Talks with the actors, keeps them loose and inspired, explains how their character ties in with the game, performance-minded

17) What do the team members argue is the advantage of a totally fixed deadline?

Some of the best work comes from nearing the tight deadlines. Forcing to finish projects. Raising excitement when the deadline is within sight.

18) What do you think is meant by the phrase "building a cathedral with a hurricane" (in relation to making Halo2)?

The flurry of work from all departments at the end stage of development, everybody using every second of available time to add/refine features and put it all together. All the departments see their work assembled in a small time window. "…all the disparate pieces come together in this glorious game…"


19) Have you played Halo2? What did you think of it in relation to the first Halo?

I quit playing Bungie games after Oni. Microsoft kicked out several programmers I respected (from the Marathon trilogy) when they bought the company.

20) Were any of the problems that faced the Halo2 team enough to affect its enjoyability as a game from the player's point of view?

Not that I know of.

Test Post

This is to test the CSS settings.

Sometimes there will be text above. Sometimes there will be text below.
If I include a link into a paragraph, it should look like this one does. We shall see.
Hopefully, the coloring is bright enough to show up clearly among the textual mass.

http://fake.link.com/