Second Project: Make a multiplayer game with cooperative and/or persistent elements.
- Each team can decide to continue working together if there is a consensus (or if at least 3 of the members want to continue working together).
- Each team that decides to work together can also opt to continue developing or building upon the first project if it’s worth.
- The students from all the disbanded teams will form new teams through a brainstorming process similar to project one. As for the first project, the brainstorm is just meant to identify general affinities, you’ll be able to change your project significantly.
December 4
Two activities scheduled for today:
External consulting
20m – Your team identifies the 3 most crucial questions at this stage of development. They can be related to design, visual, or programming. They are questions in the sense you don’t have a clear solution yet, and they are not just about putting the work in.
Write down all the question in your channel so I can see them.
40m – Another team is matched with yours as a consulting group. Briefly present your WIP and illustrate the questions you want feedback on. The consulting team discusses possible solutions.
40m – Same with the the roles inverted.
Minimum viable product
Uh-oh the publisher (me) wants to ship a game by next Friday!
Each team meets with me and establishes what your “skateboard” exactly is.
Break it down in small tasks and assign them to the team members through codeck or similar.
This will be the next milestone/assignment.
Due Friday November 20
Design/programming: Implement a networked prototype with the core mechanics. I may post team-specific recommendations over the weekend but don’t wait for them.
If you are planning to use Unity, try out the templates I provided (I’ll post an updated client package asap) and write down all the questions and problems you encounter. You can also do that in discord.
Art: your game’s visual style has to be distinctive and intentional. You can’t make a default-looking game in 2020, and you can’t let your graphic or 3D tools determine your style.
In addition to whatever tasks defined by your team, each teams art “department” has to:
– Look at the last 6 months of “notable” independent game releases and find the ones that can be references for your visual style. Analyze them: what are the 2D or 3D techniques they use?
– What are the iconic, immediately recognizable elements of your game?
What’s the key art?
What would you put on a tiny app icon?
What would you put on a t-shirt?
Can you make toys of your characters or game elements?
What’s the game title and logo?
– Make a mock screenshot that shows a representative moment, including interface, characters, effects, background. The production quality has to be final: it shows your target in terms of polish.
On the student area post:
Your visual statement explaining your aesthetic
The mock screenshot
The key art
The game logo
See also:
Thread about Blocking (or greyboxing) to final art in Hades
An example of key art
Monument Valley’s level inspirations
Due Friday November 13
If you can program, prototype some key features of the game (networking is not necessary for now). It can be the control system, the AI, the interaction between players implemented locally. Etc.
If you are more on the art side, create some concept art, or some key assets that will define the visual style of the game.
If certain mechanics can be prototyped on paper, absolutely do it. You can use playingcards.io to try them with remote players.
Each team member works individually and brings their finding to class next Friday.
As team, discuss who gets to do what so there are no overlaps.
If you are still undecided, the prototypes (look at the “prototype” paragraph here) and art can be related to two (but no more than two) different proposals, ideally their success will inform your decision of which one to pursue.
I may post team-specific recommendations over the weekend but don’t wait for them.
Due Friday November 6
Come up with at least 2 proposals for a multiplayer game, either co-operative or with crucial cooperative elements.
Post on the discord at least a paragraph of text description and a “mock screenshoot” and/or a sketch that describes the layout and visualizes the gameplay (examples).
Brainstorming Suggestions
1. Check the underrated verbs list and design a game (multiplayer coop) around the least used verbs:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q07o8zyjWqMBVgTeYO5uP53vAx3_EibSngQizMTgYhQ/edit?usp=sharing
2. Check the skill vs chance, and perfect information brainstorm and see if there is something interesting there:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z3t2dGgx1PXZMOTo2oI9gWFR-eJBGs_SsoSewkbPMRo/edit?usp=sharing
3. Do the Competition/Cooperation exercise:
1. in groups of 3, pick a classic arcade game among these ones
2. conceptualize a massively multiplayer variant (more than 5 players), discuss what can and cannot be scaled
3. conceptualize a cooperative multiplayer variant.
4. do the same for a non-AAA game