NanoBlur is Born

Posted on December 15, 2012 by imaginationishonesty

-Ben Quinney

The time between concept and prototype presentation was small, so we started developing the functionality of our game as soon as we could.

Why HTML5?

As mentioned before we have chosen HTML5 technology alongside the IMPACTjs game engine. The reason for these choices are because HTML5 allows our game to be cross compatible with all browsers and devices. FLASH technology does not enable this and we don’t really want to program the game so that it runs native on each device. It also makes the game easy to share and publicize.

Early development

Before any creative work was included in the game i felt it was best to build the games functionality, so in the beginning I built a simple version of our game. In this version the character moved right automatically and assigned the basic controls. After I showed this to Lizzie we were both happy to start adding the additional features in.Lizzie started by adding in a score function, and I accidentally worked out how to change level via collision detection whilst trying to create a ‘Click to Start’ screen. Lizzie also managed to work out how to have entity’s randomly spawn based on where the player is, while i worked on the physics for the player weapon adn enemy weapons. Each enemy has different characteristics based on which time zone the player is in.

Character design

Billy Bettridge, the 3D animator of the group used our collective mood boards to come up with a character design. It was clear by this point we were heading down a steam punk avenue so we wanted to incorporate that in the design Here is the current character sprite sheet that has been used in the prototype.

NanonBlurs the name

We also tried to think of a name for it whilst we worked. ILizzie decided to jump back to the brief and look at thisisplymouth for inspiration. She searched ‘back in time’ and this is one of the article that came up: http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Step-time-Nanoblur/story-13789154-detail/story.html

Being as we are drawing as much content as we can from the site we felt the name should come from it too.

Presenting the prototype

Posted on December 14, 2012 by imaginationishonesty

-Ben Quinney

Today we presented our prototype in front of Mutant Labs and the rest of our course. We showed the concept and direction of our game. The feedback we received was very positive, and our it reassured us that the game mechanic we have developed works really well.

The next step

Most of the core programming is complete. There are some bugs to iron out, and we are very close to having our levels procedurally generate, creating an endless game. Next term we will mainly be focussing on creative content, with the vision of creating a 2.5D game. We have also decided agaisnt theme music and are going to make the sound effects strong enough to support the game. The game below shows just how well it can be done.

Personal reflection

Overall I’m very pleased with he how our game is developing, and while its still a prototype i think its clear the addictive potential of this game is there! Im looking forward to getting really stuck into the art work next term to create a truly polished game.

NanoBlur Prototype

As of yet the game is not online due to its stage of development, however you can view the prototype files here:https://www.dropbox.com/s/yor761i8p10jz76/nanoblur.zip

Please note, to run the game you will require a local server.

Development ideas for Gameplay

Posted on November 29, 2012 by imaginationishonesty

-Ben Quinney

Brief 1 : Street game for animated Exeter.

Utilising the urban space of a city(Plymouth, Exeter) we would recreate the experience of the 1980s arcade game pac man, on a larger real life and real time scale. Players would be able to login from a mobile device and engage in a multiplayer experience.

Technology

Motion tracking or GPS
Live camera feed of an urban space
HTML5 / Processing applet

Brief 2 : “Local Current Affairs” – choose any news story from http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/ and make a game about it.

We took four stories from thisisplymouth.co.uk that we thought certain elements could be taken from and implemented into games.

Custard factory leak leads to evacuation. – http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Factory-s-gas-leak-leads-evacuation/story-17361656-detail/story.html
Empty vehicles as bus wars continue. – http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/vehicles-bus-wars-continue-Plymouth/story-17379343-detail/story.html
Road blocks because of flooding in Plymouth – http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Roads-blocked-heavy-rain-brings-flooding-Plymouth/story-17379687-detail/story.html
Fungus eating trees – http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Fungus-wipe-Plymouth-s-trees/story-17186389-detail/story.html

From these stories its clear we wanted to include the key game mechanic of avoiding enemies. In addition to this we wanted a fast paced game thats easy to pick up and play with little instructions on how to play.

Our idea

The playable character is situated in a fast paced side scrolling game with a twist; the direction of the game constantly changes. The reason for this is that the time zone of the game is constantly changing providing a historical and conceptual trip through Plymouth. The enemies will be different based on which time zone you are currently in and their graphical nature will arise from news articles from thisisplymouth.co.uk

Conceptual ideology for the time zones.

Past : Black and White graphics, retro sounds, side scrolling Right to Left.
Present : Modern day graphics and sounds, scrolling normally left to right.
Future : Future graphics (neon, robots?) Scrolling left to right very fast.

Technology

HTML5 impact.js game engine
2D Side scrolling environments
3D graphical elements
Playable across mobile and desktop devices

Game design moodboard

Posted on November 25, 2012 by imaginationishonesty

-Ben Quinney

A selection of elements from various media forms. Combining my moodboard with my team members boards, we will begin to form some basic game design and art direction.