Reality Check – Trailer

This is the trailer submitted for Reality Check.

Final Thoughts

The prototype cycle for “Reality Check” has now been completed. All assets have been completed and taken care of, and the final wrap kit has been uploaded to the Executive Producers for evalutation.

Overall, the project came out very well, and we’re pleased with the progress that was made. Each of the team members has expressed their experiences within the wrap kit, which is available from the Producer if needed.

Congratulations to the team of Harsh Reality!

Presentation Preparation

The prototype, barring a couple of minor adjustments, is complete. All of the levels are working well, and the interactions between Cheque and the enemy characters is working well. Things are looking good, and we’re excited to be able to show our game tomorrow.

(Sure, this may be a short post, but barring actually putting the entire presentation into the blog, this seems like a clear and succinct way to explain our current status. So there.)

Updates: Friday 9 September 2011

Things are really shaping up well on this game. When I came back this weekend, I was a little worried that we might have a lot of time ahead of us, but it turns out that things are looking pretty smooth for the weekend. We’re right on track, it seems.

Christine is putting the final touches on the “middle” level, which she’s themed as a McDonald’s restaurant. (Personally, I find it quite charming, which is fun.) Derek, meanwhile, has truly proven himself as quite the workhorse throughout this development process, not only figuring out the throwing mechanic, but also setting up the platforms for the two levels, as well as setting up the 8-bit style soundtrack from Pomp and Circumstance.

All in all, though the gameplay is definitely simple, here, the concepts are all coming together quite well for this prototype, and I’m confident that we’ll be well-prepared for the presentations next week.

Level Design – Continued

This second image is the lowest level, based around the visual of an alley. When the player falls too many times, he’ll end up here, where he’ll make his way to the end as he struggles against “hard times.” The whole idea of the game is that the player can choose where he’ll end up, so this final level has no platforms, no gaps, and it’s practically impossible to lose. When the player gets to the end of this one, he’ll decide whether or not to end his game or move on to the next, slightly more difficult stage.

If possible, we’re looking to implement a third “in-between” level to demonstrate varying degrees of difficulty, and to demonstrate the mechanics of “choosing your own ending.”

Level Design

Christine has finished the level design! Awesome. Derek has already placed it into the “Factory” and is now working on the platforms. Kind of a weird quirk to get the platforms to work the way that we intended.

Originally, we had thought we would have to create all of the platforms in art from the beginning, and THEN have to mask behind them all. The problem with that, however, is that we would have to keep Photoshop open and rebuild the background every time that we made an adjustment, otherwise the player wouldn’t be able to see where to jump. Would have been kind of a pain.

Thankfully, Derek was able to figure out how the platforms worked within the system, so that now we can just manipulate them on the fly, and adjust for the jumps much faster. Looks like we’re pretty much on-track, and headed in the right direction.

This first image is the main level background, which represents Cheque’s journey from the university into the “big city” on his way to the “big job.” This background will serve as a base as we add in platforms, gaping holes to fall into, and the “enemies” which will try to stop him.

Putting “Cheque” Into the Game

(Making up for some lost time and “moving hassles” of last week.)

Here are the pixeled frames for “Cheque,” as he’s falling, leaping, stomping, etc. We’re trying to keep the animations simple, here, but I think that he’s come out rather unique. Props to Christine for an awesome base character.

As a side note, we’re looking to use this model as a base for our “enemy” characters, possibly with a color change. Derek has been experimenting with the enemy models and AI to implement the “throwing back” mechanic, and it’s looking like we’re on our way.

Animation, Basic Mechanics, Detailed Game Plan

Monday, 29 August, 2011

Production Notes: 

Game plan has been more fully detailed, encompassing the whole of the project’s scope, down to minor details. (Will include completed Excel Chart in the blog for reference.) As well, writing on game script for cinematics and in-game text cues has begun. Due to the small size of the team, Karratti will take charge of any and all writing work.

As an aside, the main character has been renamed from “Artie” to “Cheque.” This has also reflected in the name of the game, which has been redubbed “Reality Cheque.”

Current task is to create the game script.

Art Notes:

The character of “Cheque,” is in final concept stages, and Christine is currently working her way through the several animations that we’ll need for the game.

Current tasks are to complete the character, “Cheque,” and begin concept design of the level background.

Engineering Notes:

Character movement, including jumping, running, stomping, and the enemy throw-back mechanic are nearly finalized. Derek is in the process of working with Christine (Art) to get the animations that she is creating to flow with the movement algorithms correctly.

Current tasks are to finalize the movement mechanics, and get them working properly with Cheque’s animations.

Art Assets – Character and Logo

Christine provided these two pieces of art for use in our pitch. They consist of the rough digital sketch of “Artie,” decked out in a cap and gown, as well as a logo for our game, Harsh Reality.

Diagram

This Diagram was used as a visual example of our level structure. It was created by Brandon Karratti as a visual example for the team, as well as a simple way to explain our concepts during the pitch on 24 August 2011.