Contextual statement

Contextual statement

• 1.
  Contextual Statement
• 2.
  For my FMPI am going to create a game concept with an animated trailer, my idea is a platform, 2 player game that bases around the story of a women who realises her reflection is a sentient person trapped in the mirror, they are trapped in a shadow world (this name is in the works) that is dark and distorted. One of you plays the normal women and the other plays the one in the mirror. You are progressing to find an oracle that has the capability to free your reflection/partner. You must help each other progress between levels by putting boxes for example in front of the mirror and then they pick it up and use it to progress. You also must fight enemies, they differ from what side of the mirror you are on, for example you will fight dark sprites if you play the shadow realm and the oracles henchmen (humans) if you play the normal side. There will also be different variations of the enemies, the main ones will be the small ones that take 3 hits to kill, medium ones that take 6 and bigger ones that take 9 to kill, I also want to include mini bosses at the end of each level to mark your progression, these fights will increase your damage and increase your health. Collectables/environmental interactions will also be a part of my game, these will feature items that have sentimental value to the characters like a family photo or a key that opens a secret door. Environmental interactions will include seeing a building through the mirror that has a memory. I want to include talking points as well, like when you finish a boss fight you will have a conversation about it or when you are just walking about one will ask how the other is. By doing this it will take it form a run and gun game to user experience, it will give it more substance and make people connect with the characters. Seeing characters in a vulnerable state can make them relatable causing connection with the characters. At the end of the game, you meet the oracle, you talk with them, and it turns out the only way to free your reflection is to defeat them, the fight has 5 levels all different from the last and you both must fight them from either side of the mirror. At the end of the fight the oracle they turn to dust and get blown away with wind, there will be a cutscene where you both approach the mirror and hesitantly grab each other's hand, you grab their arm and pull them through, they hug and the image fades away to white, the title appears and the credit’s role. When it comes to the art style of the game, I initially wanted to make it cartoony but semi-realistic but at my current level of animation and art skill I do not believe this is possible and have instead opted to use pixel art. I have used this in the past on my adventure project in year 1 and found it quite simple and easy to work with. I have since then bettered my art skills and have a vision of what my characters, layouts and backgrounds look like so I will be able to create them.
• 3.
  I have chosento do this idea as it has real potential, I have not heard anything with the concept I have created before and think it could really be something great. It has the emotional connection to characters that players want, it has combat and a rewards system, easter eggs and secrets. I also love videogames and they are a massive passion of mine; I am always producing concepts and visualising what they could look like in my head, making art for them, writing scripts in my head, and making playlists of music for each concept. I want to create videogames as a career and doing this project is going to get me one step closer to making that dream come true. When it comes to my strengths and weaknesses it varies. For my strengths I would say I am decent at art and have creative eye, I also have knowledge in animation and have created animations in the past that have turned out well. Another strength of mine is my skills with Premiere Pro, over the time I have done this course I have used premiere pro a lot from putting together animation shots to editing a music video. It is one of the programmes I have used most and have gained the most skill in. Procreate is also a programme I have a lot of knowledge on, I use it all the time on my iPad and has been a staple in my work since I got it last year. These strengths will allow me to make a good project, they all have their uses, and will I be using them as much as a I can. I also have weaknesses, Photoshop, time management and organisation. Although I have used Photoshop over the course, I am not that great at it as I have not really had a use for it as I make everything myself on my iPad, due to this I have not had a lot of time to use it, I do not think this is really that detrimental to my project as I know the basics and can always ask if I need help. Time management, I always get things in on time, but I tend to leave it to the last minute, which is not great for stress, and it constantly happens. I think to improve this I need a timetable of sorts so I can keep on track and not let things overwhelm me at the last moment. I try to keep organised, but I lose track of everything after a while which is not ideal for an FMP, to combat this I am going to make designated folders for everything and make sure when I finish anything it goes on my website straight away or if I am writing something I will add the source to the bibliography immediately, so I do not have to do it all in one sitting. My hope for the FMP is to create something that intrigues people and makes them curious, so they want to play it, it is an interesting concept, so I want to play that up as much as possible. I hope to captivate the audience with the mystery of the game, I want them to wonder what is going to happen, who the characters are, what made her reflection come to life.
• 4.
  When it comesmainstream games you see a lot of the same thing, tall, dark and handsome men, women with unrealistic chest, waist and hip size. With my idea I want to change stereotype, the male gaze is a massive issue in all media, but videogames is by far the worst. Although the gaming community is split 50/50 gender wise a lot of AAA games are carted towards men. Being a woman, this doesn’t sit right with me, and I wanted to create something inclusive and doesn’t objectify women. I was inspired by the idea of creating something different, something that represents women well and shows that they're not something to just look at they have other qualities that should be shown. I decided that when I produced the idea that my character would be female as I think there are too many male character taking up space that should be given to female characters, they deserve to be seen as normal and not something to be stared at. For these reasons, my character will also not be wearing anything revealing or promiscuous, she will wear what women generally wear, like jeans and t-shirt for example and have long dark hair as a lot of women do. I also don’t want to make her too unique so that people can see themselves in her. I don’t really remember what initially inspired me to create this concept, but I have always toyed with the idea that your reflection is another you in a different dimension/there a multiverse that’s only seen through mirrors, so it probably stemmed from that. I remember I told my Mum about it, and she thought it was great idea, I told my Dad, and he thought the same. I only knew after telling my friends that it was good enough to make my FMP off of it. I also just generally thought it could be successful as I'd never heard of anything like it before. I normally go towards post-apocalyptic games or shooter games with my ideas as they're what I play most and they're generally where I get my ideas/inspiration, this game is far from that though. Although it does include combat, it's not traditional guns and knives but fist fighting. This idea as a whole is not something I ever thought of really doing, its completely out of my normal ideas but I think that’s what makes it more interesting, it came out of nowhere. I think that maybe by stepping out of my comfort zone I allowed myself to see more ideas/let my creativity go and allowed myself to see what's possible.