UNIT 4

GAME DESIGN

SPECIFICS

I initially wanted to make a game that's inspired off of Stardew Valley and similar games that value character scripting and cozy environments. It'll be PEGI 12, as it does mostly harbor light themes, however the characters themselves may have complex and sensitive backstories or motives that aren't appropriate for younger audiences.

My characters will be anthropomorphic animals with different careers or personalities depending on their species. For example, a seal may work at the docks with a shy and placid attitude. It'll be in another universe that is dominated by animals rather than people and is orchestrated in the present.

It's a slice-of-life role-playing game with aspects of adventure and fantasy. The narrative is as depicted;

Laps of wind surge past the delicate fabrics of your outfit as you stir awake in an unfamiliar setting. Warmth radiates from rays above, filtered by rustling leaves and bark. You focus on the sight before you, although all that catches your eye is the flora surrounding your limp body.

Telltale signs of the countryside's ambience ring past your ears, bleary figures standing just beyond your reach. You hear muffles of concern, however, none of the words reach you. A force tenderly cradles your frame and whisks you away.

You're brought to the village's heart, a pharmacy curled within flourishing branches. Most would find the height nauseating, yet you're too exhausted to register your physical state. Strangers tend to your unexplained wounds with meticulous care, curious small-talk exchanged between a pair. You cannot help but slumber once more.

14/11/2024

The narrative begins with the protagonist awakening in a new environment with a strange, unidentified illness. It's brought about that magic encircles the village and creatures of intense, corrupted magic lurk the darker corners of Kitsbell. This unnatural force may be the antidote to the protagonist's festering disease, meeting village-folk and outsiders both kind and strange.

In my earlier rendition of the game, I considered this a slice-of-life, but I might make it more of an adventure.

REPRESENTATION IN GAMES

There has been challenges in designing games that are vastly representative of several minorities, and it's even more rare to find this representation conveyed accurately and respectfully.

There's a growing diversity of leaders, directors, and artists within the industry that calls for more representation.

The lack of this diversity boils the typical audience of gaming to an internationally well-known stereotype -- male, white, single, and typically between the ages of 16-35.

Games are a medium that caters to the player experience and their inclusion is not limited to a single person. This can empower children and teenagers with a glimpse of cultures, accessibility options, and gender equality.

Oftentimes, a video game's ideology reflects onto the player and can influence their way of thinking.

ADDRESSING REPRESENTATION IN MY OWN GAME

My game doesn't have humans that roam a planet, so race and real-life cultures are irrelevant. I plan to have both genders do all jobs without stereotypes-- such as a lady doctor and a househusband.

I'll represent the LGBTQ+ by making the protagonist canonically non-binary, with characters using neutral pronouns and compliments towards them. They're not customizable and more so an already existing character that the player guides instead of a hollow protagonist that strictly follows the player's personality.

I want to make concept artwork of characters the protagonist meets and make them diverse-- some with physical disabilities, such as an inability to walk or requiring a blind cane, and others with invisible disabilities, such as ADHD, hearing problems, and mental health issues.

As it's a village I'm creating, none of the characters will don an exploiting outfit, especially the women. They'll wear farm clothes, frilly dress shirts, and overalls as they are more accurate and practical to the setting than a skimpy crop top.

GAMES I'VE CHOSEN

Project SEKAI COLORFUL STAGE!

Mizuki, depicted on the left, has been struggling with gender identity throughout the game's story. They have gone through a few rough translations-- in which the Japanese version of the game uses "boku" when referring to Mizuki as there isn't a neutral alternative in the language, which has been incorrectly translated into the English version as "they/them" when the entire point of their internal conflict was to avoid telling people they were not cisgender.

However, many fans believe that Mizuki's narrative is a very realistic and sensitive journey towards the discovery of being transgender--where they thrive in feminity. Before their transition socially and cosmetically, they're percieved to be miserable in middle school, and would be referred to with -kun, a male honorific, before this is eventually dropped in present day.

In one event, they attempt to tell their best friend about their gender identity, before old classmates tell this friend that they're a boy and calling their friend a "normal girl". This severely impacts Mizuki's mental health where their sprite even disappears from the real world and they lose the shine from their eyes.

There are many conflicts and challenges the characters face that are deeply relatable as they're all teenagers with real problems and insecurities.

Saki Tenma, the one in the bathtub, was hospitalized and severely affected by her physical health as it is stated she underwent surgery, several injections, and had prolonged hospital admissions. In the illustration, it shows all the things she missed out on due to her health, like vacations, hobbies, and the entirety of middle school. Her illness comes back in an event in-game, depicting her depression and worry because of it.

Mafuyu Asahina also struggles with mental health as she has no sense of self and severe pressure of being perfect for her parents. She has an abusive, emotionally neglecting mother that dismisses Mafuyu's desire for music, calling it useless, throwing away her equipment, and forcing her to focus on exam preparations and studies.

Her mother wants her to become a doctor, which is reflected in a negative light her illustrations as presented in the second to last card, whilst her strained relationship with her mother is depicted in the very last.

Mafuyu had struggled with suicidal thoughts and wanted to "disappear", however is attempting to recover with her new friends. She's trying to unveil her feelings and become her own person.

Hades

Hades depicts the most well-acclaimed and respected polyamory and kink aspects of all game history. As most games that include romance are programmed to lead you to one interest without the ability to woo another, Hades allows you to court two if you so wish.

There's also a nuanced way that each relationship is depicted. There are several gender-queer, non-binary, and bisexual characters that slot into the story naturally.

Within the narrative, these notions were treated as unquestionably valid and brought in a strong LGBTQ+ following across the world.

The creator states that Ancient Greece's values are not the same as the UK or USA in 2021-- in which they could develop a story that was refreshing and free from prejudice that exist in our world today.

The result of characters are vibrant, filled with depth and personality, and brimmed with mythological history. They exist in the world without revolving only around the players with their own conflicts and interests.

Arcane

There are various minorities that are relevant within the story-- classism, gender equality, same-sex relationships, and characters with visible disabilities.

Salo is shown to be in a wheelchair with the inability to walk, and Victor is shown with a walking cane who is the same. Corrupt politicians and counselors are shown with the threat of war looming over Season 1.

Zaun is underground with poor conditions and a higher crime-rate whilst Piltover, known as Topside, is thriving and rich. Throughout the series, Piltover's leaders dismiss Zaun's polluted air and rundown architecture. Piltover residents consider those from the Underside to be dangerous and untrustworthy, which is often compared to classism, poverty, and the corruption of those in power in real-life.

There's also a lesbian couple that is prominent in the show between Caitlyn and Vi, who are shown to kiss in the second season. Maddie is shown to be Caitlyn's fling when they break up.

There are diverse character designs, with larger women and smaller, thinner men. There are various designs with muscled and toned women, namely Sevika and Ambessa. They do not differentiate both genders and usually both do all jobs and duties.

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE OF GAMES

Project SEKAI COLORFUL STAGE!

PJSK, for short, is unafraid of making teenager characters that feel very raw and real emotions whilst dealing with relatable issues tied to depression, anxiety, guilt, and insecurity.

Oftentimes, teenagers are made to be rebellious and almost snobby in media, especially games. There's a variety of personalities in the game, such as the reclused hermit Kanade Yoisake, to the ball of sunshine Emu Otori. It shows that teenagers do not adhere to one single stereotype, regardless of gender.

Oftentimes, transgender women are not often represented in media. Mizuki faces an ugly side of insecurity and an identity crisis that game industries try to avoid in hopes to cater to their major audiences instead.

However, this game gets into the grittiness of adolescence and the secondary reasons (bullying, rough home life, lack of friends) that influence that.

Hades

Hades breaks free from societal norms by providing characters that are naturally poly-amorous, gender-queer, and unashamed of kink culture. There's bold chemistry between the main character and both genders without the judgement that encircles the world today.

There are many powerful women in the game that are not only designed to be conventionally beautiful and have revealing ensembles. The world and game prioritizes their development, conflicts, and raw personality first and foremost.

The narrative and game-play are both solid, however, the story definitely grips players more than the mechanics.

Arcane

Arcane does a fantastic job of depicting classism and a dictator-lead society that decides to bring war to the Underside, a poorer, crime-ridden sewer town. They deal with the very real corruption that crowds politics and national leaders today, slotting them into a magical, scientific action-adventure.

It also provides representation for lesbianism and this does not garner any prejudice within the show's world, giving it a positive and natural light. Women are also seen fighting at war and 'getting their hands dirty', completely disregarding most stereotypes of women staying home and taking care of the place.

There's no particular stereotype evident in the show and also represents disabled people with a man in a wheelchair and another with a walking cane.

Ensemble Stars

Project Sekai

Bandori

CONTEXTUAL TRENDS

One of the growing trends in recent history is the visual and lore-wise character design within gacha games and the gacha mechanic as a whole.

Project SEKAI COLORFUL STAGE! has influenced several other rhythm and gacha games such as Ensemble Stars and BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! (known as Bandori). These both follow microtransactions ranging from holiday sales to starter packs, similarly to the aforementioned.

Bandori in particular have also paid more attention to their card art as it's what people are working or paying for. Project Sekai brought something new to the table by illustrating gorgeous pieces that resemble different types of mediums, such as paints or watercolor. They have a wide variety that stems further from a 'standard gacha card' and instead creates something heartfelt and meaningful.

Previously, Bandori had different mechanics in the open world where you interact with chibi versions of the characters, but one of their updates made it incredibly similar to Project Sekai's layout. This is a clear example of Bandori following the trend of character interactions and lore being presented to the viewer in a domestic, mundane manner.

Ensemble Stars is clearly different from the two, however, follows the same trend of microtransactions, limited gachas, a pity system, and several other attributes that are commonly found in these types of games.

Bandori's conversations versus Project Sekai's conversations.

Now, we'll expand the gacha game circle a little and dive into miHoYo's influence on the industry. They came out with a game called Genshin Impact, a 2020 role-playing open-world game that incorporates gacha elements into it when pulling for characters. This surged to the top of mobile games with its popularity as it was different from most games by demonstrating an almost 'anime'-like style with its characters and environments, earning several awards.

Wuthering Waves is one of the most prominent examples, as it allows you to choose from a male or female protagonist (named the Traveller in Genshin and the Rover in Wuthering Waves) and features an open-world RPG just like Genshin Impact does. It similarly subsumes a pity system with higher-rated characters depending on each limited banner. Tower of Fantasy, released in 2021, also follows this trend by having you pick a 'Wanderer' to explore an open world. The two former games also made it so that the game was accessible on mobile, which was one of the leading reasons of what made Genshin so popular in the first place.

Even before all of these games, the real inspiration for Genshin Impact was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which was released in 2017, a game that started a whole new generation of trends within open-world games. Genshin snatches the open-world aspect and unique art style, warping it into something new yet with the same baseline.

The trend here is open-world RPGs/adventure games that are accessible on mobile, implement gacha systems, and feature a selectable female or male protagonist.

Genshin Impact

Wuthering Waves

ADDRESSING CONTEXTUAL TRENDS IN MY OWN GAME

My game will follow the trend of a sweet, homely visual novel, famously depicted in Stardew Valley and in Harvest Moon. You'll collect materials and craft items, a standard baseline for many, many games that even date back to the classics such as Minecraft. It's a strong attribute, as consumers enjoy the "gather, build" feature of these games and grind intensely for bigger structures.

PRODUCTION

I used Pixilart on my phone to create all the assets present in the animatic. I began with the background, which was initially following a warm, mossy green palette (depicted below).

However I soon changed this to contrast the platforms, which would instead harbor that lush green I had in the beginning.

I made a mountainside and created the second background to be a dense forest for a layered canvas.

I then began to place it all together and use a motion effect to move them from one side to the other. I had to use a black border as an overlay to create the illusion of movement with a square screen.

I used Premiere Rush to make the background and platform move, then used CapCut to move the character and potion bottles.

The pictures on the right depicts some more of my progress throughout the night. I made several assets, such as flowers, rocks, and shrubs to scatter around the small environment. I also gave it more life with water in places that lack a tile block.

I used branches to decorate the empty space of the taller tiles, whilst also using vines trickling from the floating bathrooms to further instill that overgrown look.

I placed chopped trees around the map and a fallen trunk to be used as a bridge by the protagonist. I initially wanted to make a man-made bridge, but I think the naturalistic approach of a path was more fitting.

Detailed PNGs of the background and assets I made can be found below.

Both renditions with just the background and the other depicting the protagonist collecting the potion!

I created another version on Animate following the tutorial on the Google Site.

I took inspiration from Terraria and Stardew Valley, delving into their aesthetics whilst researching. I like the indie, RPG-maker look, and tried to incorporate it into my own animation.

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