All posts by mcirino
Music Video Storyboard Draft
Mouth Moods: The End
(Pre-)Final Game Design Document
Foster Floundering
Introduction: The character is a child and must gather evidence of the atrocities being committed against them by their legal to present to authorities. The people who are supposed to be in charge are oblivious and it is hard to convince them. This game is intended to expose how some, but not all, foster parents can be terrible and exploitative to children. It takes some inspiration from A Series of Unfortunate Events. The player will be able to explore the house they are in and try to avoid harm coming to them. It tires to put their destinies into their own hands. It will be in a retro-futuristic style.
Description: The game will show the players an experience as they move trough their lives. Afterwards they can explore the room they were in to find evidence of what is happening. The will come into a conversation with an authority figure and have to preset the right evidence to clear their name. There is an inventory system that can hold items of relevance, include. As a secondary feature there will be some small puzzles to advance beyond the room they are currently in.
Key features: The function of collecting evidence is fulfilled in the game by picking up objects and presenting them in conversations later. This is done through an inventory system that can be accessed through the HUD at the I icon. It can hold several items. After a character is spoken to, there will also be recordings that appear in the room it happened in and those can be picked up as well. The HUD also allows you to examine past Revelations through the R icon so you can be informed in the next decisions you make.
Like many other similar games, they will have a dialogue screen with the important character as a talksprite. At this point the player will be able to pull items and recordings from their inventories. If it is a conversation with an authority figure, they will be very stubborn and oblivious, as much of the characters tend to be. Besides just gathering evidence, they will have to do things to gain their favors, pandering to their interesting and acting favorable enough to them to be credible. The rest of the game will be a walkaround, where players can click on an collect items.
Some items will be collected for the purpose of creating inventions, which will be used later in puzzles to pass certain points. These Items will be stored in the inventory. The other items will be presented as evidence to authorities, so you can escape the care of your unfit guardians.
Story: There will be a few different story paths programmed into the game. One will be just surviving, but not really being happy. In another mode you can leverage evidence to be more fortunate and get out of the abusive situation. If you are too much more unfortunate in your quest to escape abusive guardianships, you will be very hindered and the children can even die. Once they are all dead it is a game over.
Genre: the game will be an RPG which means you will take control of a character and play as them. You navigate through isometric designed rooms and have interactions with characters. There will be several items and records of incidents to collect. It is also an adventure game with a retro-futuristic aesthetic which is the future as viewed though the past. There will also be a puzzle game aspect to it.
Platform: The Platform will be for PC. It will be made available through services like steam or Battle.net depending on the developer.
Locations:
Clyde’s bunker: Clyde keeps his house in disrepair, as all he cares about his food. There are a lot of dangerous items left around for the children. There are a lot of hazardous chores that the children are made to do here. The kitchen is featured prominently in this location. The stove is very strange and worries the children.
Banesville: This town is in the middle of nowhere. It is isolated and it is hard to find anyone of importance should help be needed. There are small shops along the main street selling items as diverse as flight technology items to jelly beans. The weather is known to be unpredictable. The authorities are in the town connected to it by a long stretch of highway.
Characters:
Blake Lockwood: Blake is a girl who is fifteen years old. Blake is very resourceful and has an interest in engineering. Her mechanical interest allows her to get out of some tough situations. Her experience with authority is to be suspicious. Whenever she tries to tell an adult something important, they never believe her. She has to do a lot of work to get them to trust her, and when they do, it is often too late
Chris Lockwood: Chris is a boy who is 13 years old. Chris is more gullible than his older sister. He is more willing to give authority the benefit of the doubt. This usually ends badly for him. He is very interested in researching various subjects. Once something gets his attention he develops a fixation for it. It has helped him out of tough situations. He is able to memorize many random factoids.
Foreman Clyde: He is put in charge of the Lockwood siblings. He is a man in his late 30s who has a government job. He is careless and likes to drink a lot. He takes pleasure at casual misfortune. He gets irrationally angry at loud chewing noises. This glutton will do anything to the children if it can get him more food and drink. Under his care they are constantly pulling dangerous stunts. He forces them into crazy schemes for him.
Game Outcomes:
In order to advance past the first part of the story the characters must prevent their house from exploding. They must identify the problems with the gas in the house. There is a critical conversation they must pick up from the foreman. They must alert the authorities and bring some evidence to them. If they aren’t convincing there is a game over. This is one example of gameplay.
Props:
There are many tools used by the Lockwood siblings. Some of them are:
Multitool – used for constructing inventions.
Periscope- useful when hiding is necessary.
Lighter
Lockpick
Mousetrap-used in inventions
These items can be used during the walkthrough, in puzzles to escape and such and during conversations as evidence.
Game Screens:
Game Background:
Inventory:
Dialogue Screen:
Town Outskirts:
Screen Designs
Revised Character/Main Features design
Foster Floundering
The character is a child and must gather evidence of the atrocities being committed against them by their legal to present to authorities. The people who are supposed to be in charge are oblivious and it is hard to convince them.
The game will show the players an experience as they move trough their lives. Afterwards they can explore the room they were in to find evidence of what is happening. The will come into a conversation with an authority figure and have to preset the right evidence to clear their name. There is an inventory system that can hold items of relevance, include. As a secondary feature there will be some small puzzles to advance beyond the room they are currently in.
Like many other similar games, they will have a dialogue screen with the important character as a talksprite. At this point the player will be able to pull items and recordings from their inventories. If it is a conversation with an authority figure, they will be very stubborn and oblivious, as much of the characters tend to be. Besides just gathering evidence, they will have to do things to gain their favors, pandering to their interesting and acting favorable enough to them to be credible. The rest of the game will be a walkaround, where players can click on an collect items.
There will be a few different story paths programmed into the game. One will be just surviving, but not really being happy. In another mode you can leverage evidence to be more fortunate and get out of the abusive situation. If you are too much more unfortunate in your quest to escape abusive guardianships, you will be very hindered and the children can even die. Once they are all dead it is a game over.
The game is a point and click walk around adventure game
It will be available on Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC
Game Character Designs
Game Design Document
ASOUE: the game
The character is a child and must gather evidence of the atrocities being committed against them to present to authorities. The people who are supposed to be in charge are oblivious and it is hard to convince them.
The game will show the players an experience as they move trough their lives. Afterwards they can explore the room they were in to find evidence of what is happening. The will come into a conversation with an authority figure and have to preset the right evidence to clear their name. There is an inventory system that can hold items of relevance. As a secondary feature there will be some small puzzles to advance beyond the room they are currently in.
Like many other similar games, they will have a dialogue screen with the important character as a talksprite. At this point the player will be able to pull items and recordings from their inventories. If it is a conversation with an authority figure, they will be very stubborn and oblivious, as much of the characters tend to be. Besides just gathering evidence, they will have to do things to gain their favors, pandering to their interesting and acting favorable enough to them to be credible. The rest of the game will be a walkaround, where players can click on an collect items.
There will be a few different story paths programmed into the game. One will be just surviving and be similar to the original series. In another mode you can leverage evidence to be more fortunate than the original series, unlocking a new unique story. If you are too much more unfortunate in your quest to escape abusive guardianships, you will be very hindered and the children can even die. Once they are all dead it is a game over.
The game is a point and click adventure game
It will be available on Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC
6 Game Concepts
Game concepts
- Vaccine spread
It is an MMO where you are randomly assigned a status of vaccinated or non-vaccinated. You are given randomized spec and must interact with other players without being affected ny any diseases. Its platform is online and you have a menu detailing your daily activities.
- Inventor
You are put into a room with a random selection of items and must create an invention to escape. The game will teach about physics and foster creativity. There will be several exits programmed into each room, with a certain action needed to unlock them so there will be many possibilities. It is a puzzle game that can be downloaded for PC.
- ASOUE: the game
The character is a child and must gather evidence of the atrocities being committed against them to present to authorities. The people who are supposed to be in charge are oblivious and it is hard to convince them. It is an adventure game available for Xbox One Playstation 4 and PC.
- Fight or Flight
The player learns real life self defense moves, my copying the avatar, somewhat like Lets Dance or other games. It teaches them skill that should be useful in real life. It is available for Xbox One Kinect, Wii U and the genre is Exergame.
- Truth
The player must navigate a city on the brink of collapse and find out what is really going on with the city leadership. There are groups with two very different claims and you must sort out the truth. The goal of the game will be to encourage critical thinking with players. It is a point and click adventure/ detective game downloadable for PC.
- Contamination
The player must find out what is wrong with the water supply by investigating the plant. It is a point and click adventure/ detective game downloadable for PC.
Retelling a Known Story
Title: Pinocchio A.I.
Theme of Original Story: a real boy must be moral/ couarage makes a real boy
Theme of New Story: to be human is to make mistakes
Premise or Log-line of Original Story: A marionette is brought to life and must prove himself to be a real boy.
Premise or Log-line of New Story: A robot is created and must discover how to prove its sentience.
New Story:
An inventor Gepetto is working on his newest creation. He is creating a robot to pass the Turing test. In the process, the robot is created to have superior intelligence and personality, but because of the advanced personality granted to him, he has a character defect that makes him want to be untruthful, but at the same time his lying causes him to short circuit, pop his nose plate out, and shut down for a few seconds.
Gepetto is down on his luck, unable to use the investment he made in Pinocchio to make any money. One night he drunkenly gambles away Pinocchio to the unscrupulous Mr. Fox, and he is taken away. The next morning, Gepetto wakes up hung-over and full of regret. He must find Pinocchio.
Pinocchio is under the care of Mr. Fox and is forced to work for him. Pinocchio wonders how it could be legal to treat him so cruelly. He slowly befriends Mr. Fox’s lawyer Jiminy. Jiminy informs him that only humans can have rights.
One day Gepetto sees Pinocchio outside working. He rejoices at the sight of his creation. However, Mr. Fox shows up and informs him that he is his property. That is when Gepetto informs him that he will see Mr. Fox in court.
In court the judge tells Pinnocchio he must pass an advanced form of the Turing test. He is pitted against a real boy and must convince the jurors he is human. When Pinnocchio is asked questions about himself, he feels guilt and lies. The real boy tells the truth. The jurors don’t expect a robot to lie so the unanimously identify him as the human. Pinocchio is able to be recognized as a real human and is issued a birth certificate, no longer Mr. Fox’s property. He goes home happily with Gepetto.
Revised Random Elements Story
Michael Cirino & Amanda Glass
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Geronimo is a green grape, happily living with his family in a grape vineyard. One day, he stumbles across a horrible sight. His family is being slaughtered and turned into champagne by a toothsome but lumpy and deformed grape. She asks, “Are you thirsty?” As Geronimo watches in horror as his innocent parents are crushed in a wine press, while the villainous grape stands on an operating platform to control the wine press. The grape calls on her giant human minion to gather Geronimo and his fellow grapes, ready to create the next batch.
Geronimo and the other grapes are tossed into the wine press, and the minion begins to stir and mash them with the press. Geronimo cowers in a crevice in the press between its wooden slits, safe from the carnage, but seeing it all. The other grapes are mashed to bits and turned into a liquid before his very eyes. Geronimo has to quickly escape before he’s fermented as well. He slams himself against the wine press’ cork, creating a hole for him to escape through.
He falls to the floor, some of his family’s innards spilling out with him. The mysterious grape’s minion calls in more giants, saying, “Now it’s time for the tasting part of the tour.” Geronimo is further disturbed as the giants sniff tall glasses of grape blood, before putting it in their mouths and swishing it around before spitting it back out. Geronimo cannot understand these barbaric actions.
He shouts at the other grape, asking how she could do such a horrible thing. She reveals that she is Geraldine, Geronimo’s third cousin twice removed, a deformed grape who, from her angle on the vine, could see Geronimo, though he could not see her. Due to her disfigurement, she was mocked by their family and, seeking revenge, she created the winery.
Geronimo notices a forklift with crates of champagne bottles and a running furnace, and he forms a plan to stop her. He operates the forklift, positioning the bottles near the furnace. As they heat up, their corks fly off with such speed and with the correct trajectory to hit the support beam of Geraldine’s operating platform. The evil grape falls into the wine press and is mashed along with her relatives.
Geronimo leaves the winery, a changed man after the horrors he’s witnessed. He runs away from his past and retires in California, becoming a crotchety old raisin.
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The random objects that we used were: cork
adjectives were: thirsty, innocent, and toothsome.
Our random conflicts were: loss of loved ones, character vs. environment, escape, character vs. character.
Random Story Elements
Michael Cirino & Amanda Glass
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Geronimo is a green grape, happily living with his family in a grape vineyard. One day, he stumbles across a horrible sight. His family is being slaughtered and turned into champagne by a toothsome, green beast in a blouse. The beast asks, “Are you thirsty?” As Geronimo watches in horror as his innocent parents are crushed in the wine press. The beast calls on its giant minion to gather Geronimo and his fellow grapes, ready to create the next batch.
Geronimo and the other grapes are tossed into the wine press, and the minion begins to stir and mash them with the press. Geronimo cowers in a crevice in the press between its wooden slits, safe from the carnage, but seeing it all. The other grapes are mashed to bits and turned into a liquid before his very eyes. Geronimo has to quickly escape before he’s fermented as well. He slams himself against the wine press’ cork, creating a hole for him to escape through.
He falls to the floor, some of his family’s innards spilling out with him. The minion calls in more giants, saying, “Now it’s time for the tasting part of the tour.” Geronimo is further disturbed as the giants sniff tall glasses of grape blood, before putting it in their mouths and swishing it around before spitting it back out. Geronimo cannot understand these barbaric actions.
As he’s watching in shock, two red grapes patrolling around the wine press shout at him. They are the Green Beast’s guards. They tackle him and bring him to the Green Beast’s inner sanctum, a pool table. The Beast mocks Geronimo, “You may have escaped, but you’ve seen my evil plan, so I may as well tell you it all before you join your family.” The Beast reveals that she is Geraldine, Geronimo’s third cousin twice removed, a deformed grape who, from her angle on the vine, could see Geronimo, though he could not see her. Due to her disfigurement, she was mocked by their family and, seeking revenge, she created the winery.
Geronimo notices a shoelace on the pool table, that has a broken aglet, in the shape of a shiv. Distraught he lunges at her with it, but she is evasive and he misses. She laughs and grabs a gargantuan weapon: a pool stick, challenging him to a game of pool. Geraldine chooses stripes, magnificently knocking all but one into the pockets, leaving the 13 and 8 balls for her second turn. Geronimo runs with all his might at the cue ball, lacking the proper utensil for pool. The ball ricochets off the table before finally hitting its first solid: Geraldine. She is flattened against the cue ball as it rolls into the pocket. Geronimo warily peers into the pocket, and finds only light green mush smeared on the white ball inside. His nightmare is over. He knocks the solids and the 8 ball in easily without an opponent. The guards are impressed and release him. He frees what is left of his family, and retires in California, drying up in his old age, becoming a raisin.
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The random objects that we used were: cork, blouse, shoe lace, and pool stick
Our random adjectives were: evasive, thirsty, magnificent, innocent, and toothsome.
Our random conflicts were: slaying of a kinsman unrecognized, loss of loved ones, character vs. environment, escape, character vs. character.
Group Idea Generation
Michael Cirino’s Story
A Prince set to inherit the throne was socially awkward and did not show emotion very well. He wore a spotted suit, which was the norm for royalty in their futuristic period. The exception to his emotions was when he made pranks. Near his fathers 75th birthday he took him to the barnyard, as he had an appreciation for animals. The visit is actually a prank. A cybernetic cow at the barnyard helps him rig a giant vat of milk on a hoverpad to tip over on his father as he enters the doorway. The act of japery goes afoul and the entire hoverpad and all falls down, crushing his father. He is detained at the barn. The trial is held on the scene of the crime. Too embarrassed to admit his prank had failed, prince could not properly explain what he had been doing with the vat of milk. Half way through the trial he burst into tears. “You’ve been out pranked” his father bellowed, rising out a platform in the ground. The king had been arranging a prank back at his son the whole time. The cow was his accomplice helping to arrange it with a robot copy of himself switched in at the last minute. He finally got his son to display emotion in public.
The Group Story
It is the year 2999 C.E. A man is in a rehab center called “At the End of the Rainbow” to cure his addiction to making hologram posts on the internet through Hologramgram. He is a burly man, hairy and wtih gorilla like arms. He was planned to inherit the family business but his parents had to ground him from using social media. He got angry, freezing them with his freeze-ray and shattering them. He was given a cat to take care of, but he does not know why. He continues to try and get his internet fix, but is often interrupted by the cat. The cat his very possesive, blocking the man’s screen, and getting in the way in general. He slowly starts to fill the responsibilities of taking care of the cat in an effort to get back to his Hologramgram posting habit. Slowly the cat grows on him as they are alike in their laziness. Eventually he was freed of his addiction from having other responsibilities ad released from At the End of the Rainbow. He was finally free but then realized the new millenium was going to occur at the end of the year. The hype about it was inescapable and he felt a desire to participate in it. He created a Hologramgram account for the cat and could not stop posting about it. He was addicted all over again.
Randomly Generated Story
The Prankster Prince
A Prince set to inherit the throne was socially awkward and did not show emotion very well. He wore a spotted suit, which was the norm for royalty in their futuristic period. The exception to his emotions was when he made pranks. Near his fathers 75th birthday he took him to the barnyard, as he had an appreciation for animals. The visit is actually a prank. A cybernetic cow at the barnyard helps him rig a giant vat of milk on a hoverpad to tip over on his father as he enters the doorway. The act of japery goes afoul and the entire hoverpad and all falls down, crushing his father. He is detained at the barn. The trial is held on the scene of the crime. Too embarrassed to admit his prank had failed, prince could not properly explain what he had been doing with the vat of milk. Half way through the trial he burst into tears. “You’ve been out pranked” his father bellowed, rising out a platform in the ground. The king had been arranging a prank back at his son the whole time. The cow was his accomplice helping to arrange it with a robot copy of himself switched in at the last minute. He finally got his son to display emotion in public.
Creative Ideas for Animation
Story 1
Type of Story: Role Reversal
Logline: A robot tries to find his destiny after loss.
Seven Sentence Story: There was a robot created for fastening on tires. There was an explosion at his plant and it was just able to escape. It now had no purpose. It tried to do other things to fulfill its directive. It started unfastening tires on cars in the street, but this was not appreciated. Next it started to do the same to street signs, which fell in the street and made people angry. Finally it was able to find it could open door handles. It found work being appreciated as a doorman.
Character Description: The robot is a yellow-orange car plant assembly robot.
Location and Time Period: Present day in a crowded city.
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Story 2
Type of Story: Quest and Journey
Logline: A vagrant takes an opportunity to bring some excitement into his life with the discovery of a spaceshuttle.
Seven Sentence Story: There is a homeless man living among a junk pile. He discovers a discarded space shuttle hull in it. He has dreams of space exploration and vows to get it working. He looks around for an engine nearby, but there is no fuel source. He trades in his old pocket watch to another vagabond for a fuel tank. He is finally able to get it to fly, but the engine fails once he breaks the atmosphere. He looks out at space, finally fulfilling his wish before he falls to what is presumably his death.
Character Descriptions: A man in a tattered orange t-shirt and cargo pants. An old woman in a stained blue-grey shroud.
Location and Time Period: 22nd century on a trash heap at the edge of a large city
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Story 3
Type of Story: Rags to Riches
Logline: A scuba diver finds a mysterious object that she must know more about.
Seven Sentence Story: There is a scuba diver who looks for rare items. She finds a mysterious black pearl one day at the bottom of the seabed. She is convinced it came from the city of Atlantis. She becomes rich selling it but still wants to know more. She asks a marine biologist for help but he will not listen to her. Finally she goes to a geologist. She leads her to a specific trench. It was the Kraken all along.
Character Descriptions: Woman in bright blue diving suit. Scientists in lab coats.
Location and Time Period: Present day on the edge of the Mediterranean.
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Story 4
Type of Story: Brain vs. Brawn
Logline: A caveman and adventurer from the future fight over control of a time machine.
Seven Sentence Story: There is a seemingly normal caveman. One day he sees a flash of light and a time traveler from the future appears. The caveman is curious and goes inside the time machine. The man from the future hurries in after him. Seven Sentence Story: The future person tries to stop him but the caveman panics and he keeps pressing the buttons. Finally the caveman is trapped, the future person has the controls and they land on a cruise ship in the 23rd century.
Character Description: Hairy caveman in animal skins. Slender man in padded jumpsuit and visor helmet.
Location and Time Period: Starts in Neolithic times on the plains and moves around.
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Story 5
Type of Story: Love Stories
Logline: A worm craves companionship and he finds love in a surprising twist.
Seven Sentence Story: There once was a worm who desired companionship. He found something wriggling into the garden one day, getting his curiosity. It spit water at him almost drowning him. He was about to go deeper into the ground but he felt something go into the ground, so he pursued it. A trowel cut him in half. Later two new worms were created from him. It was not looking for a female worm but a genetic clone of course, because worms are hermaphrodites.
Character Description: A pinkish banded earth worm.
Location and Time Period: Present day in a garden.
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Story 6
Type of Story: Good versus Evil
Logline: A woman sees a suspicious supernatural being and takes matters into her own hands.
Seven Sentence Story: There is a woman who is paranoid of monsters, wearing a tinfoil hat and garlic everywhere. One day she sees a man acting suspiciously. He has glowing eyes and sheds black feathers. She follows him and tries to spy on him. She sees more suspicious behavior and a bladed tongue. She plans a trap and kills him. It was her guardian angel all along.
Character Description: The protagonist wears a pantsuit. The antagonist dresses in dark clothing with lightly glowing eves. Looks like it is hiding something under clothes from the back.
Location and Time Period: Present day in downtown Cleveland.