Contract:
My project is a video game. It is a side-scrolling action game, with a focus on the story. There is a solid start, beginning and end, which will be solidly represented through the pixel style. The game will not be especially long, but I am aiming to make it have an effective message and theme to it. I believe it fits squarely both in interactive media and in animation. I am however, not doing most of the coding myself, it may fit better into the animation category.
The main concepts that drive this project are the concepts of friendship and of mental illness. The story follows two soldiers in an invading army occupying a snow-covered country. A mistake leads from occupation to an all out war, a concept which the player’s character does not handle well. The player’s character starts uneasy about the occupation and steadily declines as the war rages on. To cope with the nightmares of war, the player character’s mind visualizes actual nightmares. Where soldiers once were, they now fight demons. The farther down this rabbit hole he goes, the more savage, until he meets a demon as savage as he is. The player fights and is ultimately defeated by this demon. As he dies, the player character’s mind snaps back to reality, to find the demon that kills him is his friend who has been traveling along with him the whole time. As the player character lays dying, their friend holds them, staying with them at the end.
The aesthetic is first and foremost a pixel based game, something rather unexpected accompanying a story so emotional. For the color scheme, I was going to make more of a muted scheme, as it is set in a winter scheme. The environment will be mostly whites and light blues, there will be breaks of dark brown and dark green for the houses and trees. The main character and their army has a red uniform to stand out against the stark white. As the main character’s mind slowly delves into madness, the environment also changes. Instead of a white purgatory, the character moves more into a red hellscape. This change will accompany the change of tone and music.
The final format will be a program on a computer. I’m looking to display a computer and monitor on a pedestal in a gallery. Hopefully there will be a spot with an outlet to allow me this computer.
Diagram:
Materials: For hardware I will need a computer and monitor to play the game on, I will also bring in a controller for the player to use instead of a mouse and keyboard. Software I will need photoshop and unity.
Calendar:
December 7th – finished/polished
November 20th – Base finish/levels done, enemies done, sprites done
November 8th – Levels designed
October 20th – base sprites finished
October 11th – Tech demo done
October 4th – base mechanics done
