GAME
https://karlamon.itch.io/the-winters-tale
The game installation links are at the bottom of the page
TRAILER
Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o7a6iy1yo83nzds/The%20Winter%27s%20Tale%20Trailer.mpg?dl=0
POSTER
Poster (text): https://www.dropbox.com/s/ulug4anbo8jvdx1/winters_tale.png?dl=0
Poster (no text): 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dihbmrgz32w9vlx/Poster_04.5.png?dl=0
With our game development finally coming to a close, I wanted to reflect on aspects such as what went well, the challenges we faced, and my role as game designer.
Goal and Ideas
From day one, our goal was to make a game that was straight and simple fun, providing the player an energetic and exciting experience that would get them excited about one of Shakespeare’s more obscure plays.
We wanted our game to be mechanically simple, so that people of all ages and gaming experience could jump right in and enjoy it. Taking inspiration from timeless platformer games like Crash, Mario and Rayman, we designed the protagonist as someone who could simply run, jump and slide or crawl to reach his goal.
At the same time we wanted to ensure there was a fair level of challenge so that the player would be working for their success and not getting bored. We envisioned several possible mechanics to achieve this: a chasing enemy, time limit, end-less runner style gameplay where the player is constantly moving forward, or a set number of collectibles the player had to collect. There had to be an incentive for the player to want to keep going and reach the end.
We finally settled on having the main focus of being a chasing enemy, as it both fit the narrative and was the most fun and exciting idea we had that held up after prototyping. We also wanted to incorporate a score, calculated on the number of collectibles the player picks up, and a timer based on how long the level took to complete. This would further add to the challenge and introduce an element of replayability, incentivizing multiple playthroughs to achieve the best score and time.
While our game mechanics are not hugely original, the way are presented are a mish-mash of genres and style. There is a clear cut story and goal (Antigonus’ escape from the bear to protect the princess), a twisted yet cute cartoon style, and almost arcade style of gameplay which is short, self-contained, and encouraging of replays.
Narrative wise, we didn’t want to tell the whole story. After a short intro told through narrated cutscene, the game would launch right into the gameplay, and then end on a tease for the rest of the story, as we see the princess find her own way in life. Antigonus is not a major character in the original play but we wanted to turn him into the main character here, something which was achieved by starting with a flash forward to him being chased by the bear, establishing his narrative importance, and then ending with him either dying to the bear or being successful in protecting the princess. We wanted to stick with Shakespeare’s story as much as possible, but chose to focus on this particular character and how his actions have and will affect the other characters and events in the play. Overall, our goal was to give an alternate perspective into the story of The Winter’s Tale, and even encourage players to also go and experience the original.
My Role
My main role in the group was Game Designer. I understood this as being the general director of the project, planning the basic concepts and mechanics of the game and helping tie the various game elements together into one cohesive project. We kept an active Facebook group chat where we posted our work, ideas and issues to get feedback on, as well as having regular meetings in person. As well as helping move ideas in the right direction, I always made sure there was something being worked on by everyone. I helped by making the bear model and animations for it, the environmental models, trailer and additional art.
I was also Sound Designer for the project. As I have a passion for music and sound design I wanted to ensure that everything in the game sounded and therefore felt authentic. A good piece of media like film or video game always has a good selection of appropriate, varied sounds and pieces of music to help create mood, enforce a style and draw associations to character. Our game is no different. Everything had sound, from the clicking of UI buttons, to the background music, to the sound of footsteps over differing surfaces. I wanted to ensure that the player felt truly immersed – like they were really in a wintery beach and forest setting. The music is tense, calm, or suspenseful wherever it needs to be. Parts of a performance of Vivaldi’s Winter are used as menu and gameplay music, as I felt they fit the cold intensity and introspective mood that we wanted the game to convey. The sound of footsteps over sand and then a grassy surface were used in their respective area to show a dynamic difference between the two areas. Winter winds howl in the background.
What Went Well
From day one our group worked well together, falling seamlessly into their roles and bringing a lot of ideas to the table. We built upon concept art by Janet, with her and myself making models based on her character and environmental designs. Amy was in charge of narrative, going through a couple of iterations that we went through as a team to find the structure we all liked the best. Karl was programming, and even despite a hard drive corruption managed to build a well oiled game that stayed true to our mechanical and artistic vision. It was great seeing our ideas come off the paper and into a playable state.
A comparison between 3 different versions of the game: Alpha, Beta, to Final
Our overall gameplay idea was simple so we really wanted to sell it, making sure the mechanics were polished, worked well and played off each other, and having good production values with our game assets, sound and artwork. I believe we have achieved that, with all of our group working together and independently bringing forward some really great work.
I’m really pleased with how our game turned out – it looks great and feels responsive. Even after playing through it countless times it is still fun, and the feeling of finally shaking off the bear at the end is incredibly cathartic. Hopefully people like it as much as we do!
Challenges
For the most part our development was relatively smooth – the ideas for our game came quickly. There were some features we wanted to add in that we couldn’t do to time constraints, such as voice acting, original music, another ending and a leader board systems. I believe these features would have added a lot more depth to our game, but were not core to the project and were therefore scrapped. Dynamic sound was also tested but was too challenging to implement – this would have been a wooshing sound of the bear and panting from Antigonus the closer the bear got.
This project spilled into the second term, meaning we had an additional 4 big projects to handle at the same time. Our group managed to pull through and finish everything we needed to for this project, but hopefully not at the expense of our other papers.
The trailer was directed and edited by myself. It includes two tracks: ‘The Four Seasons – Winter, Movement 1’ Composed by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by John Harrison with the Wichita State University Chamber Players, and ‘Winter Reflections’ Composed and Performed by Kevin MacLeod
Storyboard
I designed the trailer to show a brief introduction to the story, the main objective (escape from the bear) and a significant amount of gameplay. The names of our group members and their roles, as well as the title and release date are also displayed. I took inspiration from Hideo Kojima’s trailers for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which I feel are an embodiment of what a perfect trailer should be. They draw you in with a tease of the story, then show you gameplay set to a piece of soundtrack that sets the tone you can expect from the game. To finish it off, you have the credits and information about the game to ensure the viewer knows who is involved, what the game is called, and when to expect it to be out.
The first, red band trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
With a deadline looming our group is hard at work on our respective parts of the project. Karl is programming, constantly polishing and adding in new features like speed upgrades and menus. We ran into a hitch where his hard drive corrupted, which resulted in losing most of the game files. However, he was able to rebuild everything from scratch in a couple of days and we’re soldering on. Janet is working on our character rig and models. Amy is completing the story elements and art for our cutscenes. I’m hard at work doing environmental and misc. character modelling, helping the others and giving feedback and ready to start on elements like our poster, trailer, and sounds for the game. Here’s some of my progress.
Environment/Enemy Model
The models are mostly complete. Janet did the base work on the tree stump, which I added onto and textured. More work will be needed on the bear, requiring some animation or particle reflects to emulate the concept art which has a ghostly/ethreal flame body. However, with the first playtest looming, that will be on the backburner to get everything else to a playable state.
Gameplay
A build from a couple of days ago – not everything is reflective of our current work. Mechanics included are movement, jumping, collectibles, powerups, collision, edge detection, chase, menus, and a reachable goal in which the bear falls into the water and a winning screen appears, showing your score, time and option to go back to the menu.
Poster Concepts
Start Menu Concept
My goal with these designs was to make something simple and minimalistic, yet bold and striking. The main elements of the game are displayed; the characters, the setting, and the spirit of what the game will be like.
UPDATE: Our final menu screen with art by Janet
Yakuza 0 (PS4) is a prequel title to Sega’s long running Yakuza series. The player alternately takes the reigns of series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu and recurring antagonist Goro Majima as we explore their beginnings in their respective Yakuza families. The two, get tangled up in a business dispute between their organisations for ‘The Empty Lot’: a piece of land that will allow power over much of the region.
Yakuza’s 0 narrative is an interesting look into the world of Yakuza and daily life in the less glamorous side of 80’s Japan. The game is split into chapters, giving you control of a different character every 2 characters to equally explore their respective stories. Kiryu is exiled from the Yakuza after being framed for the murder of a civilian, and must work with a mysterious real estate company to clear his name. Majima is coerced into managing a hostess club to pay off a constantly accumulating debt that will secure his place back in the Yakuza, after he is similarly exiled for crimes someone else committed. As a whole, it is a story about justice and revenge within a criminal underbelly, showing the warped kind of reality these characters live in and the lengths they have to go to in maintaining a level of independence and power. The story also explores the collateral and involvement the Yakuza and criminal underworld has on the regular people of Japan. The gritty level of violence, coercion, and abuse we see aimed towards civilians ensures that this criminal lifestyle is never fully glamourised. It is a narrative that will constantly surprise, challenge, and move the player.
Much of Yakuza’s gameplay revolves around combat. The player character, whether you’re playing as Kiryu or Majima, is a complete powerhouse, able to take on several enemies at once with your fists and whatever you find lying around to hit or throw at your disposal. Much of my time was spent picking up bicycles or couches to bash street hooligans with. The combat is fluid and satisfying to handle, allowing a fair level of challenge that the player can counteract with a number of skill and health upgrades. You will fight random challengers on the street, take on people picking on civilians, and when the story allows, fight your way through hordes of Yakuza to make your way to stronger opponents. Both Kiryu and Majima gain different kinds of fighting styles that alter the way you move and attack, allowing a variety of playstyles that is constantly mixing up your game experience.
The true crown gem to Yakuza 0 is the scope of the experience. While it feels easy to compare Yakuza to similar open world titles like the Grand Theft Auto series and Sleeping Dogs, at core the game is much different, providing a more on the rails experience with a glamorous sideshow of entertainment that encourages constant detours. When you get a break from the more linear story elements, you can fight in the town square, explore the backstreets, do some shopping, or grab a bite to eat at one of the many fine restaurants Japan has to offer. The world is littered with side quests, random battles, collectibles and a huge array of mini games. The Yakuza series is world famous for these mini games, in which the player can rack up hundreds of hours alone trying for high scores and exclusive rewards. These include an assortment of arcade games, karaoke and disco rhythm games, pub games like pool, and of course a game where you chat up working girls to score dates with them. Many of these mini games also allow online and couch co-op play, again adding another layer of replayability to the game itself. While these kind of in-game experiences are often a throw away element to pad out the length, Yakuza goes all in and provides a huge level of depth with these games within a game, to a level of fun and polish that they could exist as titles on their own. This kind of depth in a mechanically simple, almost throwaway kind of minigame game is something that inspired me as our game director. I wanted to incorporate these arcade elements like high scores and replayability into our game as they added another layer of pure fun to an already fun premise.
Overall, Yakuza 0 is an incredibly fun and exciting game that has me constantly coming back for more. It excels in gameplay, mechanics, narrative, soundtrack, and of course the sheer scope of the things you can do. It is my first dip into the world of the Yakuza series, and without a doubt, it won’t be my last.
After taking some time away to power through our animation and theory assignments, our group is back on track with the game. Karl is getting the game mechanics working in Unity and progressing on our build, while the rest of us are putting together the models, finalised designs, and story elements.
My main focus now is the level design and environmental models. Having little experience with 3D modelling, I’m trying to creative simple yet striking models that will suit our art style.
Level Design (Forest)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
(Nintendo, Switch, 2017)
Nintendo’s latest iteration of the renown Legend of Zelda series, Breath of the Wild tackles the problematic open world approach and manages to tame it. The game offers the player unparalleled freedom, offering a bare bones tutorial and general objective before throwing you right into the wild. You learn what works through trial and error, seeing what approaches to combat and exploration works and what will get you killed and sent back to your last save. The game takes an approach of poking at the player’s sense of curiosity; seeing what real life logic they can incorporate into this virtual landscape. For example, swinging a lit torch into a field of grass will start a quickly spreading fire, or pushing a boulder onto a group of unsuspecting enemies will result in a quickly won battle.
Breath of the Wild is an incredibly rewarding and fun experience because of this level of freedom it grants the player. It trusts them to make their own way, taking things at their own pace and prioritizing their own goals, whether it be rushing through the story to save the princess, or taking their time to seek out the little detours of the world. Rather than feeding the player experiences through cinematic cutscenes or drawn out battles, it gives you the ability to create your own experiences through your travels. No two players will have the same sort of journey. Elements like dynamic weather and day/night cycles also ensure the player has a progressive experience that sees the player have to control their own pacing, choosing when to stop and rest up or change tactics depending on what world dynamics or enemies the game decides to throw at you.
Mechanics
– Loot system
– Inventory with limited space
– Game Over and Checkpoints
– Health Bar, affected by player items and the amount of damage an attack on the player character is
– Armour
– Physics engine
– Collectible items
– Too many to list…
Persona 5
(Atlus, PS4, 2017)
Persona 5 is the long awaited followup to Atlus’ Persona 4, a 2008 Japanese roleplaying game that won over audiences all across the world. Taking place in modern Japan, it follows a group of high school students who come across a power of summoning ‘Personas’, spirits that act as an extension of the user’s inner will and can fight on their behalf. With this power, the group takes it upon themselves to fight against criminals in their society, ranging from their abusive gym teacher to the next Prime Minister of the country.
The game itself is a mix between a role playing game and visual novel, telling its story through an extensive use of text in which the player can choose responses which can immediately impact the story.
The player character experiences story elements at predetermined intervals, but in between can spend each day as they please. The game revolves around a day to day cycle, in which the player can choose their day’s activities. These activities will be dependent on factors like the weather, other non-player character’s availability, and the player character’s social status. They are encouraged to spend time with friends with allies in order to build a bond with them which further strengthens their strength of will and their personas in turn, giving an advantage in combat. The player is then required to advance through dungeons before a certain time period, though this can and is encouraged to be done at their own pace. The player’s choice of whether to spend time on certain activities or furthering their progress in gameplay can also be influenced by other npcs contacting them, offering advice or requesting time be spent a certain way. A new feature to the series is an online mechanic that allows the player to see how other players around the world spend their time, as shown by a percentage. While the game offers a guise of complete freedom, it constantly tries to direct the player down a certain ‘correct’ path that will ensure their success both in narrative and gameplay. This is not inherently a bad thing, as it allows the room for player choice while also focusing the experience and making sure it stays on track. The director wants to make sure the player is there to experience all the best moments and beats of the game, while still making sure they can choose how to get there.
Mechanics
– Turn based combat, influenced by elements like attack and defense points
– Fast travel
– Experience points and leveling up
– Affinity system with other characters
– Multi-choice dialogue
Resident Evil: Revelations 2
(Capcom, PC, 2015)
A spinoff of Capcom’s iconic horror series Resident Evil, we follow series veteran characters Claire Redfield and Barry Burton as they take on a new evil. The game was split into 4 episodes that were released throughout February and March of 2015, each coming out with 2 split campaigns in which the player is given the reigns to each character respectively. The first story sees Claire and her companion Moira trying to escape an island they were forcibly trapped on, followed up by Barry’s story several months later as he comes to the island looking for answers.
The gameplay itself is fairly standard for both the series and the horror genre itself. You are tasked with taking down zombies with an arrangement of weapons. As the levels progress, you gain new weapons, techniques and of course, stronger enemies to face as you try and escape your predicament. What makes Revelation 2 so unique and fun to play is its buddy system.
The buddy system has been problematic in games past, as they often rely on unreliable AI that can hinder the player’s progress. They will get stuck, block the player’s aim, or constantly die when left behind. Games like Bioshock Infinite, The Last of Us and Resident Evil 5 and 6 try and amend this by making side characters invincible, constantly stay out of the player’s way, or even rely on having 2 players control each character. Revelations 2 has solved this problem a different by giving you full control of both characters at all times, ensuring both characters are used to their full gameplay and narrative potential. Each campaign pairs you with a sidekick you can freely switch to playing at any time, who have a different playstyle and set of abilities. Claire has Moira, who has a strong melee attack and blinding flashlight, while Barry gets Natalie, who can detect monsters and throw bricks. Surviving the night will require you to rely on the strengths of each character, making the most of their respective abilities to progress.
Mechanics
– Shooting and hitboxes
– Puzzle solving, putting the right pieces together allowing progress
– Inventory with limited space
– Item crafting
– Weapon and skill upgrades
Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds
(Bluehole, PC, 2017)
Battlegrounds is a battle royale style multiplayer game that takes place in rounds, requiring you to kill other player characters in order to be the last one standing. All players are put into a lobby of upwards of 100 people and put into a plane above an island, in which they can strategically choose where to drop. Items like weapons, armour and food are randomly spawned in settings like schools, houses and expansive military bases, making an objective to seek out the best equipment and using it to take down other players while they try to do the same. While the numbers of living players drop, the map is constantly getting smaller as the players are guided by the system into a more central area. A wall that gradually damages the player character is constantly closing in around the map, leading to a constant sense of pressure as well as a source of strategy, as players wait for the incoming wall to draw out their enemies. On death, the player character doesn’t respawn and the player can choose to either spectate or leave and join a new match, while other player’s can loot their corpse and take the items they were carrying. The game can be played solo or in teams of up to 4, with each match being balanced to ensure teams are put versus teams of an equal or similar number to ensure a fair round.
The fun comes from the rapid-fire, spontaneous nature of each round. You can be killed seconds after landing by a quicker or more fortunate opponent, or make your way to the top of the food chain as you approach a nail biting climax between the last few players standing. The gameplay is relatively simple; you can run, jump, shoot and ride vehicles. It is solely these interactions with other players that are the driving force behind the lasting appeal of the game, as well as what the game mechanics work together for to achieve. Mistakes are punished harshly, but the thrill of winning is addictive, and both results encourage the player to continue playing – to try their luck in the next round. It’s a game of skill with a healthy amount of RNG thrown in that adds a much welcomed wildcard element.
Mechanics
– Gunplay and melee combat
– Driving
– Loot system
– Player vs player
Our group now has a story, completed concept art and character designs, game mechanics and an overall sense of where our game is going. We also have an early build.
Gameplay and Collectibles
Our game will be from a top facing view with the player character running towards the camera. We are playing around with camera angles and depth of field to ensure the player can sufficiently see what is around them and can react accordingly, while still making sure there are times where quick reflexes are needed to avoid something offscreen. There will be 2 levels; a beach level where the controls and mechanics are explained (essentially an easier tutorial level), and a forest level which is more difficult and has multiple paths the player can take.
While the player’s primary goal is survival, it is encouraged to pickup collectibles of gold and jewels that are scattered around the levels. There will be an indicator in the top right informing the player of how many they need to collect to reach a certain goal. Reaching this goal will unlock the game’s ‘true’ ending when the player reaches the end of the path. This will be Antigonus being able to raise the child on his own, having the wealth to do so. Surviving without sufficient collectibles will still allow for the ‘good’ ending, in which he leaves her to be picked up and raised by another family, while dying to the bear will result in the ‘bad’ ending in which the child’s fate is left uncertain.
Screenshot of our first build, provided by Karl
Level Design
Left: First level (beach). Right: Second (forest).
A birds eye view of what our levels will look like, although this is subject to changes. Rocks, logs and tree stumps are obstacles the player can jump over, or will trip and slow down if he runs into them. Water can be walked on but will slow the player down. The hanging trees need to be slid under, and will hinder progress if not.
Just a brief update on how we’re going…
Our game style will be very Pixar-esque; cute, simple, yet highly stylised and animated character designs in a more realistic setting. Janet has provided some amazing designs for our characters that we’re looking forward to model and put into action.
(by Janet Lu)
Our level design is now underway. The game will start off with a simple tutorial level on the beach of Bohemia, where the player is told the basic controls and is given a few obstacles to deal with. This will last around one minute. Antigonus is then chased into the forest where the difficulty is ramped up and he is truly running for his life. Vision is impaired because of the spread of trees, and there are a lot more obstacles such as tree branches, rocks and rivers. Power ups are placed to balance this; we currently have plans for implementing temporary invincibility and faster run speed.
Our story will be told through image with narrative text over top, told in a sort of picture book style. Amy is currently finishing off the narrative and we’ll meet this Thursday to discuss it.
Our pre-production stage is coming to a close and we’re now looking forward into starting the game itself. Over the next few weeks we will be working on character models, working with Unity to create the levels, making artwork for our story segments and creating the sounds. While we have a lot of work ahead of us I’m confident we can pull through and make something great!
Crash Bandicoot
Crash is the kingpin of the 3D platformer genre, well deserving his spot in every 90s kids memory bank of nostalgia. The first 3 titles series just recieved a complete remake this year for the Playstation 4 console, allowing old players to refamiliarise with the series while also bringing in a horde of new ones. The game is timeless for its simplicity; the player controls a cheeky anthropomorphic bandicoot who is capable of running, jumping and performing a melee attack. The goal is simply to get to the end of each level, defeating enemies and maneuvering around obstacles to progress. One element of what makes these games special is its variety in game and level design, often introducing completely new mechanics in levels to mix up the player experience. One of the most infamous of these is the boulder level, which has been our main inspiration for The Winter’s Tale.
The first variation of the boulder level from the original Crash Bandicoot (Naughty Dog, 1996). Image Credit: Thegamerwalkthroughs
The goal of these kind of levels is the same as every other: make your way to the end without dying. What makes this level design different is the inclusion of the boulder or other object that follows the player at a constant speed. Running into this boulder results in instant death, meaning the player gets revived at the nearest checkpoint or has a game over if their lives reach 0. Normally the camera follows the player character from a 3rd person over the shoulder perspective, allowing the player to see what is front of them and plan accordingly. This variation of level spins the camera around and sees Crash running towards the camera, showing obstacles, enemies and collectibles
It’s a punishing mechanic but also incredibly rewarding for the player. It adds a constant level of challenge that ramps up as more challenging enemies and obstacles are thrown into the mix. It’s a mechanic that almost requires the player’s failure, in that the player is almost required to first familiarise themselves with the level design so they can master when and where to react and make the best progress. There are also collectibles that the player is rewarded for picking up, meaning that missing them, while not a huge loss, may also encourage replays to try and get the best or perfect score.
This level of challenge and element of replayability in Crash Bandicoot is something that has captured the hearts of players everywhere, and one that I personally love. It is also suited to our brief, in which we are required to make a quick and easily digestible level for public viewing.
Temple Run/Subway Surfers
There is a whole subgenre of these kind of mobile games called endless runners. These are based around one endless randomly generated level. The player character is automatically set to run forward, leaving the player to perform actions like jumping, attacking or moving side to side to get collectibles or avoid obstacles. Temple Run and Subway Surfers are some of the most popular of these types of games, if not some of the most popular games, with Temple Run being reported as reaching 1 billion downloads as of June 2014. [1]
A screenshot from Temple Run. The player character runs forward pursued by enemies. Image Credit: iTunes App Store
Similarly to Crash, the player has to be quick to react to the elements that appear on screen, with an instant game over for falling behind. A mechanic that makes these games so popular and addictive is the score mechanic. The main goal of the game is to constantly replay and improve your score, often unlocking awards and upgrades the higher your score is. There is also the social element of comparing scores with your friends either in real life or through social media integration. This is something we also wanted to integrate into our game, adding high scores and leader boards, which would be calculated depending on the amount collectibles you pickup and the time taken to complete the level. This information would be shown on completion of the game, an extra reward for success.
Sources
[1] https://www.theverge.com/2014/6/4/5776232/temple-run-1-billion-downloads
Zach Fields - Stream 50 
