Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Game Layout [TAKE2]


Here's an updated version of the game layout.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Day 2

On our second day of collaboration, we sought to create a tentative set of general rules. In the process, we outlined our general game very quickly. The structure and layout of the game is fairly simple. The game board consists of a multilayered star. The point of the game is to move towards the center of the star, progressing through the different layers. To jump from one layer of the star to the next layer, one must complete their Star Puzzle. The winner of the game is whoever gets to the center of the star first. More specific details about the rules can be found at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfw87fjf_6dfmx4md7
The idea behind the Star Puzzle is to create a means of strategy. These star pieces are valuable in terms of the gameplay so the players will naturally be involved with deception, alliances, bartering, and luck. This idea went through some design challenges. Our dilemma lies in the fact that we have two ideas for the Star puzzle. One is a design is harder to pull off and the other option is easier. The harder option is to make a puzzle out of hard material like plastic or wood. This puzzle will then be split into equal "puzzle pieces" in which you must collect to create the whole. The easier option is to create a star shaped container that holds 5 gems, one gem for each point of the star. Here are some sketches made during the class period.


Freehand drawing a star is no easy task. Pedro still managed to make a stellar star!


Here were some designs for Star Piece containers. On the left was a design for foldable flaps that extend from the main gameboard. On the right are designs for the gem containers that were described earlier.


Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Game Layout

Hey everyone, I just wanted to post up the layout of our game that we did today in class. Any comments or suggestions, just let me know!

-- Jane

First Day Brainstorm

Overall, the first day proved to be very productive. Each individual within the group proved that he or she has a talent or skill that could be brought forth within this upcoming project. As a group, we realized the positive and negative aspects of our last two games. We agreed to essentially take the positive aspects of our last 2 games and incorporate them into our final project.


Here were the pros and cons of the two games in a brief summary.

BattleBoard
Pros
-Unique utilization of accessory pieces
-Dense and complex gameplay
-Aesthetically pleasing box
Cons
-Too complicated for average player
-Not a "Pick up and Play" game
-Limited playing demographic

In summary, this game has potential in only a specific audience of players. We most probably will not take many of this game's attributes into our next game. However, we are brainstorming a "puzzle piece progression system" in our new prototype that is similar to the use of "Energy Crystals" in BattleBoard. Within this system, each player will have an item of some sort (perhaps a container with the shape of a star), and throughout the game the player will have to collect the puzzle pieces that fit into the shape. This system offers the players a means of tracking who is winning. This "puzzle piece" system provides a more interesting means of tracking progression than the standard point system.

Also, we have brainstormed ways we could incorporate the elements of economy, deception, luck, and strategy within this "puzzle piece" system.

Sibling Rivalry
Pros
-"Pick up and Play"
-Colorful and vibrant
-Very easy and intuitive gameplay
-Gameplay that appeals to a wide variety of people
-Provoked comical and entertaining scenarios
-Provided glimpses of nostalgia for older teens
-Really Fun
Cons
-Although most audiences could play, the overall appearance may appear too childish for some
-The game is limited to the quality and quantity of the cards.
-Limited use of strategy and critical thinking


During our brainstorming session, we decided on a symbol that we are going to base our game on. This symbol is the Star. Naturally, our game will boast an outer space theme. Our goal is to make a game that is similar to Sibling Rivalry, but brought to the next level. We are incorporating more variety in the cards. We also want more "out of your chair" action.

We went through Amazon.com and randomly scrolled through boardgames. Once in a while we would comment on the quality of some of the games that caught our eye. We were even influenced by some of these games.



The pursuit of a name to our game proved to be a fun task. Some ideas were "JabbaWockees" (that is a name of a Dance crew so we couldn't use it), and "Ja-Su-Marii" (the combination of our names, but the group felt it sounded too much like my name). For inspiration, we even clicked the random article button on Wikipedia to find random words. We settled on the name "Supernova". It worked for our theme and 3 out of the 4 people in the group liked the name.

Jane drew out the layout of our boardgame on Photoshop.

We had a lot of fun and made a lot of progress in such a short amount of time (as evidenced in these photos)








Jane working on layout of game.













Pedro gets inspired by his research.









Mike diligently ponders about exciting
game elements.










John holding one of the symbols of Sibling Rivalry that inspired our
new game.









Supernova!

The Game That Makes You Explode Out Of Your Seats!