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Walkabout melodies

Concept

First sketch of Alika and Davu

Narrative

Walkabout Melodies is about an African girl, Alika, who dreams to become a musician. With her Kalimba and her parrot companion, she roams around the village, practicing her skills to get better. Her parrot Davu helps her remember the sequences she comes up with by repeating them after Alika as she plays.

Player Goal

The player has as goal to complete the levels by correctly repeating the melody that is played. In order to proceed to the next level and eventually clear them all.

Gameplay

The player plays Davu, the parrot companion of Alika. In a 2D platform game, they travel around the village streets performing their songs. Alika will play a sequence on her kalimba, after which the player has to repeat the exact melody by guiding Davu to the right branches in the trees. Every tree branch is linked to a tone the parrot will sing.

The player can control Davu with the WASD keys and spacebar.

The gameplay is a trial and error. Once the player touches a platform with a tone that is out of order, they have to start the game over. Other than that, there is no great penalty for making mistakes.

A rough sketch of the gameview

If the player wants to reset his sequence and hear the melody again, he can walk up to Alika. The platfroms the player has already touched will be reset and the melody will sound again, giving the player a chance to start the level over on their own conditions.

There is a total of 3 levels. Every single one made in a seperate scene. Of which the last one will be in the village centre.

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

A level will have Alika standing in the to bottom corner. She has 4 different states and will respond to the player doing well.

Playing Music

(When first melody plays)

Idle

(During rest of level)

Cheer

(When player hits the right platform in the right order)

Celebrate

(Same sprite as Cheer.

When player completes level)

Themes

Walkabout Melodies revolves around Alika's journey towards becoming a music artist. Another thing that is important is the bond between Alika and Davu.

To get to a consistent theme, I brainstormed. Starting with the word 'Journey'. From there on out I continued with other words that peaked my interest. Like; Dream, Destination, Experience. Alika dreams about becoming a music artist and starts to pursue that dream.

For this concept I therefore wanted somewhat of a dreamy vibe. Which is why I ended up picking the Kalimba as her instrument. The intrument sounds calming and has long, echoing notes. A Kalimba is usually responsible for the melody instead of the chords. Which makes it also perfect for creating clear music sequences for the player to copy.

Aesthethics

Because I use music as an important component in my game, the most obvious aesthetic to include is Sensation. The player is constantly listening to the melody that is played and has to process that to be able to copy the sequence.

The other aesthethic that I chose to fit my concept is Expression. Playing the kalimba is Alika's way to express herself. It is her passion.

Brainstorm web with highlighted keywords

Controls

Arrow left - Davu skips left

Arrow Right - Davu Skips Right

Space bar - Davu jumps

Escape - Quit game

Davu

Visuals

Visual Theme

Earlier in the process I picked the Kalimba as my main character's instrument. By that time I made that desicion because of the dreamy, simple sound a Kalimba makes. When I was brainstorming about the visuals for the game, it occured to me that a Kalimba originates from Africa.

The cradle of the kalimba is mainly the central and southern Africa but it is also seen in the south of the continent. (1)

Because the Kalimba and it's sounds play such an important role in the gameplay, I chose an african theme.

First mood board for the overal game

Art

All art assets in Walkabout Melodies are selfmade. Except for the UI element in the win and lose screens. These can be found in the Unity Asset Store;

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/gui/icons/free-ui-pack-170878

For this project I created a bunch of 2D assets in the same style and theme. They are all African themed and fit well together. Using these, I was able to create three different levels, re-using the same assets.

Other Assets

Character sprite Ready for Unity animation

Broken vase sprite, so it can be destroyed

Sources & references

(1) Information about origins of the Kalimba

http://english-kalimba.leskalimbasduventoux.com/origin.html

(2) Recorded Kalimba sounds used

https://www.kalimbamagic.com/images/blogs/tunings/alto_G.mp3

(3) UI package used from Unity Asset Store

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/gui/icons/free-ui-pack-170878

Blog

30 March - 5 April 2020: Concepting

13-19 July 2020: Concepting

20-27 July 2020: First Prototyping (Player can now repeat the first sequence and reset it with a red box collider in the right lower corner)

19 - 25 Oct 2020: Review of concept, First set up Google Sites

26 Oct - 1 Nov 2020: Finalise concept, think of way to implement FSM, First art assets made

2 - 8 Nov 2020: Finalise coding (ask help if needed), Art assets finished, Art assets implemented, Implement Kalimba sounds to replace piano, Player character animated, Project Build, Build pushed to Github, Build uploaded to Itch.io, Gameplay Video recorded, Gameplay Video uploaded to Youtube

8 Nov 2020: Assignment Handed in

Page updated

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