Out at Sea - UPDATE!

Over the past few weeks, during my free time, I started developing the look and feel for this game. Here is a small part of a level of a cruise ship that has been left out at sea, after it crashed, and half of it has broken off.

Here is a quick fly through. (best viewed when clicking on the "vimeo" link in the lower right of the movie)

All elements are original, from design to finish.
Including:

• Material Interior water
• Material Ocean water
• Original Skybox
• Dynamic Cloth Carpet
• Dynamic Swinging Light
• Flickering Light
• UDK Lighting
• Maya Modular Modeling
• UDK Materials, Photoshop texture painting
• Design

 Here are a few still cameras in the environment.

For the World - Quick Pitch

Create a superhero and go to different counties and complete missions, level up your character, and change the places you go for the better! As you complete missions, spend in game money, REAL money actually goes TO the charity in the area you did the work in (or several based on the player's choice).  The players “world” they are saving (think large scale Farmville, where one farm = one country/zone in the game) would be able to be customized after they help it out so that they feel that they can help it up, and shape the world in the way they'd like. Everything in the game is public for friends to check out and see how awesome you are changing your world in comparison to theirs. Missions range from saving a cats in a tree to defending the local high school from an alien invasion you know, things super heros do all the time. I want the player to be a super hero, because playing this game literally makes them one.

So, whatever profit my Studio accumulated through advertisements/microTransactions while the player was playing at a given location in the game would be go to a real world location in real life. At certain milestones the player hits in each zone, the player would pick where she wanted the money to go. This would happen after missions, timed or if the player just wanted to give at that moment. It would also show the player how much they have given from all zones they have cleaned up.

more details:


This game is all about giving, to everyone.  People who give and people who need.  At least that's my hidden agenda in this game.  My goal for the game is to generate money that I can give to charities all around the world based on the money the player raises [for my studio] while playing.  ALSO to give players all around the world the joy you get from giving and helping.  Everyone WANTS to give, but not everyone can, this is a way to allow that to happen without asking more than to play my game.  

The game the player will actually be playing is one where you chose a super hero, get powers, fight crime, upgrade towns clean up cities and get status build in your honor.  There will be friendly competition in comparing countries between friends, challenges and updates with new missions and objectives.  Sorta like a mini-mmo.  If you have spent the most time saving a country (and by extension given the most real money to the charities in that area)  YOUR players statue will be the one displayed in all your friends games zones.  Friends can team up and fight through missions together, all themed to moving from country to country fixing up the game world.  The amount of time the player will need to spend playing the game will equate to an amount of money made by the ads etc.  This is how I'll balance the game and determine how much content each zone needs.  It would work out in a way that once the player has completed every zone in the world, they would have given money to charities around the world as well.  And if i get enough people to play the game, even a little bit from everyone will go a LONG way.  And that just feels good :D


I played Farmville like crazy for a short time, and when I stopped, someone said to me, jokingly, "So where's all that fruit you keep harvesting?" I laughed at first at their humorous way to poke fun of my game playing. All good for a chuckle or two, but there's a great idea in there. To go along with my theory that everything in life will eventually "be" a game in the future, I figured it'd be great to give people a way to have fun "wasting their time", AND do something good at the same time!  

Sure it's easy to just give to a charity when you think about it, but sadly we don't think about it that often. So, I plan on taking advantage of people enjoying a game and generating money for me so that i can give lots of money to charities, through them, and make the player feel good about the time they have spent. It's a win, win, WIN, really. (me, player, people in need) :D I mean, can you imagine if everyone who played Farmville actually got to choose where all the money Zynga made from adds, went...?

boom. change the world ;)

Forbidden - Update

I've been having fun flushing this out in UDK, and I really like the way the mood is going for this.  Super stark and high in contrast, which will be very different than the day time portion of the game. (Calm and warm) However, the most important part of this portion of the games environment is that the light in the center acts as a landmark. This serves as a focal point, and obvious goal for the player.

Another cool part is that if/when you get to the glowing figure, you'll have to use the clues from your missions earlier that day to determine if you have to shoot, or talk to it.  If you answer correctly, she will help you fight off the incoming swarms of enemies trying to take you out after you transform into one of the bosses.  If you do the wrong thing, she'll fight against you, and your life will most likely end...

Here are some screen grabs from the IP UDK development:  They are a little "lens flarey" at the moment, but there is a reason for that. I want to make the player actually squint and blink while playing the game.  It forces concentration and as they try to focus on the form, it will build tension.  It will also force their peripheral vision to lessen. If they look away from the light to other sections of the screen, they will see ghosting as their eyes try to adjust, making it almost seem like they're seeing ghosts in the shadows.  Most times it will be just that, but it might also be the ghosted characters trying to attack the player so they can come back from the dead...

Part of the challenge is getting through the maze without getting attacked by any of the players waiting in the mist to seek their revenge.  The player is actually about 75% into the made in the images above... yeah, makes for a pretty big maze.

[spoiler]

One clue as to how to get through the maze, is in the stars.  If the player looks up, he will see the path to take in the stars.   If a player waiting to attack sees your character's head looking to the stars, that will most likely be a great time for them to attack ;)

[/spoiler]

Here is a character model I made in Maya and Mudbox.  This isn't the only type of look for a character, just one possible that could be created by the player, like most MMORPGs.

Low Poly Model

Normal Maps on Low Poly

Textures, unlit

see the previous "Forbidden" post here.

Baker's Dozen! - Update

Here's a quick update on some of the progress and showing a little more about the game.  Below is a screen capture video from my mac when playing the game.  There's lots of numbers on the screen that won't be there later, just visible for debugging.   If there is a circle around the mouse pointer, it means im dragging my finger.   Sadly, it's not as smooth since i have to play with a mouse rather than my "nimble" fingers, but it show the ideas.  The playback is choppy due to the capture :/  At the end, I give the player more than 12 donuts, if you do this, it triggers a "Sugar Rush" where all the donuts on the screen change to the type the customer is asking for.  Huge money and tip bonus's here, and if you're fast enough you might uncover a special item under one of the donuts you clear during this mode....

Here's a quick vid closer to the pacing and flow of information to the player based on what's going on in the game.  This video only show the actions that take place at the start of each day.  The customers jump in, the one at the counter opens his mouth and shows the donut type he would like, and then the donuts start to fill in the screen.  After this the game officially starts.....

Here's a few cool art pics of some of the customers.  The guy with his mouth open is a normal customer, the others are special customers.  Every once and a while a special customer will get to the counter and the player needs to do something different to please them. And below that is a sample of the screen if you make it through an entire days worth of customers :D

check out the other "Baker's Dozen!" post here.

Fortune and Glory: the Pharaoh's Scepter - board game

2-4 player, Pyramid themed adventure game.  approx 60 minutes.

Players assemble their teams and explore the pyramid as they compete to raise a mummy from the dead to gain access to his scepter and escape with it!  Explorers will search, fight, steal, get cursed, trip booby traps, fall into eternal abyss’, and combine relics as they try to escape the deadly mummy with the priceless artifact they’re all after, his scepter!

Main Mechanic:
Players roll 2 dice and divide the amount amongst their 3 explorers as they try to reach any of the 4 tombs.  Players each have special abilities that allow them to do different things in the game.  At certain points in the game, players need at least 4 explorers to work together in order for the game to continue.  Players may also choose to help other teams, and make trades.  They can also fight and bluff during trades and create enemies.



Game Bits:
Explorer Cards
Artifact cards
5 player pieces, in 4 colors (and ID cards)
mummy piece
4 completed artifact pieces pyramid game board with foldable wings

Here's a quick taste of some of the things that happen in the game as you are playing it.

Each player chooses 3 team member types to form his team.  They then roll the dice and make their way up the sides of the folded game board, into the top of the pyramid.  On their way up, if they land on one of the special spaces, they will win some extra equipment to help them in the game.

Once all players are inside the walls unfold to reveal pathways to 4 tombs in each of the boards corners.  On each of the players turns they will move which ever team member they wish as they attempt to orchestrate the best plan to get to the tombs, and avoid booby traps and encounters with other players.  Some characters have super speed so they move twice the dice roll, some hit extra hard if you get into a fight when sharing the same square on the board, and the dog team member is invulnerable to traps since he can sniff them out, to name a few.  

The players are in search of pieces of canopic jars.  there are 4 jars, each broken into 3 parts and scattered around the pyramid (they are found on "Artifact cards" along with mummy guts! ) But exploring a tomb lets you pick up 5 artifact cards, however it also releases one of 4 curses in the game,  that certain players must resolve in order to continue without losing too many life points.

As the game continues players will be collecting canopic jar parts and will eventually either trade them, or team up (like Monopoly) to get matching sets.  They players then need to stand on all 4 of the special spots on the board, and it will release the mummy.  At this time the mummy ID card comes out and his skills and health are adjusted by the players who get into fights with him.  Now's the time in the game where everyone strategizes again... do i try to fight the mummy, and take him out, get his scepter and make a run for it? If i do, i get full health, but then I'll be a target to everyone...  do i see if someone else will try, THEN take it from him, and then escape?  Should I form an alliance with another player so that we can both try to win? what if he double crosses me? 

...

After playing this game a bunch it was a ton of fun each time, the play time went a little long, but people didn't mind, we really just ran out of time before we had to go back to work ;)  people really liked using the skills and equipment cards they found, and thought all the co-op moments in the game were set up well. (like needing 4 players to do something in order for the curse to be resolved, when one team only ever has a max of 3 players).  

Crowd Work

Here are some sample shots I worked on in the films I made at Blue Sky, from Robots to Rio!  I also designed the system used to complete the shots.  The idea was born back on Robots and I have been improving it every day since then with the R & D department.  

Shots from "Epic" coming soon after its release on May 24th.

Cops and Robbers - Concepts

pick a role...
Choose robber?  Tap a button to commit a crime, it will use your location and send out a signal with a radius based on the severity of the crime.  Flee the area, and make it outside the radius of your signal, or make sure you don't get caught by the time your radius shrinks to zero, and you'll score points for getting away with it...  when the ability to commit another crime is available, you will be notified.
Choose cop? you’ll receive an alert when you are within the radius of any robber's committed crime.  Get physically close enough to a robbers location to enable the “catch” button, tap it in time, and get points based on how sever their crime was, and how fast you caught them.  There is no time limit to how many crimes you can stop.  
Earn higher ranks as a Cop as you catch more and more robbers. 
Earn bigger reputation by committing increasingly larger crimes. 
Check the leader board to see how your rank compares to everyone (this would actually NOT show friends, as you'd probably want to keep your (cops or robber) identity a secret as long as you could) ;)


--- careful not to create REAL fights.... so, radius to signal cop/robber they are in range, cop needs to get closer to be able to “hit catch button” and robber needs to stay OUT of this closer range for a given amount of time based on the crime type, to be able to hit the “escape” button
 --- essentially i don’t want a game about fake crime/violence to create ACTUAL crime and violence, or to scare pedestrians who have no idea what is going on, OR to desensitize people to thinking that maybe an actual crime is taking place, or maybe it’s just my game.... 

-- variation High Five Me! (aka, only positive thoughts)
W\hen you are close enough to another player, your phone buzzes you have to go up to them and hi 5, (not really) but somehow scan an image on the phone to get it to count.  (like one of those square scan things) You can only high five the same person once per day.  Leaderboard of the most high fives?  
---- no risk or challenge or options for player... which makes this a weak “game” idea at the moment, but a fun thing to collect...
------- maybe for advertising, a “deal of the day” to local winners? or “deals “ of the day? 
Where a person would want a coupon, so they would hit the "high five me" button in the app, and it would send out a signal to all other people running the game, if they tap it (high five back) you both get the coupon (let's say for a free donut).  This could also work based on location, and through advertising in the area. 

I’m not sure about this one... I originally thought of it when I thought the situation would be fun when.... people were just going about their daily life, and then their phone buzzed... oh man, there’s a robbery that just took place... the "cop/player" looks around to see who might be trying to "play it cool", or trying to sneak away from his current location.  meanwhile, you tell your friends you need to be right back, as you run down the street to apprehend the person you suspect just committed the crime... you got close enough, so you phone enabled you to “catch” them... you can now confidently stroll back to your group of friends who are waiting for you to sit down at dinner :D  unfortunately, the whole experience i want to create could be troublesome if people take it too far.   

Either way, it's an idea/concept of an idea i had floating around that i wanted to jot down.  about people interacting with people in the form of a game. Might make people get along with each other a little better if we all could help each other out JUST a little bit... and I just think it would be fun to interject some childhood (cowboys and Indians) type fun into our daily life as busy "adults" ;)

Get There - Quick Pitch

In this mobile game, you need to physically "get" your body (and your phone) to a location in the real world, in order to complete the challenge.

The player will see a game world in/through his phone.  It is essentially a viewfinder "into" the game world.  The player needs to walk around, climb, jump, in the real world, in order to get past the obstacles he sees in the phone.  

Level one is completed by walking forward about 5 steps until the player walks "through" the goal area seen only in the phone.  To anyone watching him, he would have just walked 5 steps forward.  Later levels will have the goal in harder to reach places in the game world, where a person might have to use real elevators, step stools, hills etc. to get their body through this virtual goal zone. 

Players will need to test out different start positions to achieve the maneuvers needed to get through the puzzles.  A reset button will be available for this.

Imagine seeing a stream in the phone that doesn't exist in the real world... Run up to it and leap across in the real world, and you've passed it! Or a set of floating platforms...

There would be levels and star ratings based on how quickly you finished it.

Players would be able to build and submit levels for other people to play as well.  And they'll be a disclaimer that we don't want you to get hurt ;)

Up Top - Quick Pitch

This landscape iPhone-ish game is a fast paced tapping puzzler about people from all around the world who are trapped underground after a cataclysmic event has taken place.   You need to boost moral and no better way to do that than high-fiving! Line up the moving characters so that they high five, and when they do, their sonic waves destroy the rubble above.  High five enough times, and they all go free! 

There will be a single player mode, and a 2 player wifi mode for this.

Main game play:
Rows of people in different colored shirts slowly walk from left to right, this does not stop.  On the right side of the screen are 3 columns of people (also in colored shirts) ready to be high fived.  If nothing is done, the left side will eventually collide with the right and if the characters colliding are NOT wearing the same colored shirt, they will not high five, and moral will get even lower!  if moral drops out completely, that level is failed.
The player will need to tap an individual, this will cause him to jump to the front of his row.  if he get's all of his rows matched up before they meet the right hand side, he can swipe to the right, and it will send all the first column running to the right and high fiving that side.  if he can set it up so that he can swipe in a row without tapping more people to the front of the line, he can get more bonuses.  the Sound waves from the high fives destroy the collapsed rubble above you.  Easier levels will only have a few rows, (1 or 2) and max out at 7.  Both this, and time difficulties will increase, like your "remaining air meter" will act as a count down timer etc.

The 2 player wifi mode is very similar, with the exception that the columns on the Right are blacked out so that the player can not see what color shirt the people waiting to high five are wearing.  AND player two has his screen reversed, so, his people walk in from the Right and move to the left.  It is up to the two players to coordinate where their characters are, who should jump to the front of what row, and so one, and then swipe their front rows toward the other player to high five :D  should be chaotic, and fun.. just like real high fives.

The Gui will show levels of row along the top, the more you high five, the more this breaks down, eventually opening up, and everyone escapes to safety.  This will be rated using stars, and there will be a world map with all the different levels you can go to to complete, and save the entire planet!

Balance the Bunny King - Quick Pitch

This side scrolling, mobile phone "runner" game is a mix between temple runner and tiny wings, to the extreme. In Balance the Bunny King, you have two servants you control to balance a pompous king you carry on a board between you two.  The Goal is to get the king to the far off castle, and avoid obstacles heading your way, from jumping over and under set pieces, jumping gaps and avoiding adoring fans throwing themselves at the king.  

The player will use his two thumbs on either side of the screen to control each of the bunny servants carrying the king.  The screen will move by itself, and so will the bunnies, but (as an example) you can slide your right thumb down and you'll speed up, and the reverse will slow you down.  both thumbs down, then up, will toss the Bunny King into the air... There will be a variety of thumb motion combination that the player will use to get himself and the bunny king to the destination.
You'll be able to jump with the king, toss him, speed up, slow down, and balance him so he doesn't roll off the board! There are power-ups you can grab along the way that will help you out.  along with mini achievements, like, carry for 500, 1,000 5,000 yards, etc.

The king will react based on the movement of the two servants, so too much motion could result in him being dropped, if he falls off too many times his adoring fans will overtake him, and the game is over.

(pardon my quick post-it doodle, but the top is a screen sample, mainly for thumb stuff, and the bottom is the most amazing 10 second zoom-in detail of all time... ENHANCE!) :D