MA Game Design: Interim Pitch
Oh, you're back!
So its been a bit longer since I posted, mostly because I was hoping to grab the video recordings of the interim pitch to add to this post. As they haven't yet been made available, I figured I might as well get the post out and just add the footage in another post!
Interim Pitch
This was the bigger pitch that acted as the test run for the real pitch we will give in January. We had a set time of 7 minutes to complete our pitch, although the real one will give us 10 minutes instead. We'd been given a template to help guide us on how to structure our pitch, as well as what could or should be included (if it was relevant to the project you were pitching). I more-or-less followed the suggested structure, adapting it where I felt it made sense to.
Because of how the slides were laid out, not all of them are clear to look at as images. The ones which are clearer are going to be explained below in lieu of having the video!
Since most of the famous detective stories are based in either cities or famous locations around the world, I decided to choose the countryside as the primary setting. Specifically, its going to be set in the country of Surrey in England.
Locations will vary depending on the case being worked through, but the game will always begin at the Surrey Police HQ since this is where both playable characters work and where they will receive info about the case. The locations themselves will appear on the screen as still images but with the same cartoony edits applied to match the characters.
For the NPCs, I currently have 4 lines up that I have created that fit a particular purpose, which are explained below.
Damon Blackwell | An older, experienced detective that works for the Surrey Police. He will be in the tutorial level to teach the player controlling Allan how to play. He has been given a name that evokes a sense of authority and power (Damon), however there is a darker past to this character that goes deep (Blackwell). The players will learn about this in a later, complicated case and see how the more they learn about what happened in his past, the more its like staring into a deep, black well. |
Hunter | An old German Shephard, Hunter will teach the player controlling Ace how to play in the tutorial level. Hunter will also appear again during the case where the players learn about Damon's past. He has been given this name because of how powerful his senses used to be and how good he was at hunting down important clues. |
Muninn | A raven who works as an informant for Hunter after being rescued by him years ago. He is a literal eye in the sky and can help Ace by providing hints on where to go next, as well as other interesting bits of information based on what he has seen. The name was taken from the Norse mythology, where Muninn is one of Odin's closest ravens that travel the world and bring back knowledge for Odin. Muninn translates roughly to "Memory", hence why this character is an informant. |
James Griswold | A somewhat experienced detective working for the Surrey Police, James Griswold acts as a rival to the player controlling Allan. James will appear throughout cases, taunting Allan about how he is lagging behind and how he has found vital evidence or leads. James will also have an animal companion, but this character is not complete yet. The name comes from 2 sources, much like Allan Veritas'. James is from the well-known character James Moriarty, who is Sherlock's nemesis and intellectual rival. Griswold is from the author Rufus Wilmot Griswold, who is noted to be a literary rival to Edgar Allan Poe - one of the sources of inspiration for creating the character Allan Veritas. |
The last slide I'll present is a breakdown of the actions and skills that both players have at their disposal when they begin playing. More skills and ways to socialise can be added later as unlockable features when you reach new cases, but these are the basics. As I've already explained how the skills and clue storages will function in the previous post, I'll only explain the new row: social interaction.
During gameplay, players can draw the attention of their partner to a particular location on the screen if they are at the same location. This would be akin to a ping system, where a marker is placed on the screen for the other player to investigate and to help encourage co-operative play. Depending on who you are playing as, a different sound will be played when you use this ability to add an extra layer of immersion.
Closing Thoughts
So, an interesting development this week has been that I've had an entirely new idea come to mind for this assignment, and in quite a bit of detail as well. The majority of the idea is already well-thought out, its a handful of details that are left to finalise, so I'll present this next week to my professors and see what their thoughts are. Luckily it wouldn't be much work since most of it is already done!
From there, I'll decide which idea will be best to go with. Both are easily workable, although creating unique enough cases for the current idea is going to be the biggest challenge to overcome.
With that, thanks for reading and drive safe!