A Pawn's Journey: Final Draft Project

A Pawn’s Journey

            The main character of the game is a pawn named Cecil, who lives in the Kingdom of Saur; a happy kingdom that has never had a conflict once in its history.  One day, it seemed like any other day until disaster struck and turned the kingdom upside down.  An undercover clan that goes by the name of The Death Triad invades the kingdom and takes the king and most of the people of the kingdom hostage.  Cecil, who has many years of combat training, realizes that his home is in danger of The Death Triad and rises up to the challenge to save the kingdom from the depths of despair.  He must fight through many enemies along the way; solve mysterious puzzles that lead to information about the clan, and many other difficult tasks to restore order. 

            The game will take place in the village inside the forts of the kingdom and sometimes it will take place outside the kingdom as well.  The design of the game will have a different background depending on the area in the game you are located.  If you are in the main part of the castle it will have its own background, as will the village.  There will be various objects in the levels, including walls, ledges, and many other objects the player can interact with.  Many other items will be included throughout the game such as weapons and other materials.

            The arrow keys allow the gamer to move the pawn left, right, jump, or crouch.  The spacebar will be the combat weapon that will allow the character to perform in combat.  The number keys will switch between weapons you will collect in the course of the game.  Pressing the enter button will command the text that pops up in the game. 

Throughout the game, you will encounter different characters and monsters.

·         Cecil – the role you will play in the game, he is a pawn and the hero of the game.

·         King Jeffery II – the king of Saur who is captured by The Death Triad.

·         Constance Malum-Jeffery – the wife of the King Jeffery II.

·         “Daemon” – the leader of The Death Triad, no one knows his real name but he goes by “Daemon.”

·         Number 1 – one of the main assistances to Daemon, real name unknown.

·         Number 2 – the other main assistant to Daemon, real name unknown.

·         The Clan Members – the enemies that Cecil has to face throughout the game including monsters.

Final Draft Proposal: First Draft

A Pawn’s Journey

            The main character of the game is a pawn named Cecil, who lives in the Kingdom of Saur; a happy kingdom that has never had a conflict once in its history.  One day, it seemed like any other day until disaster struck and turned the kingdom upside down.  An undercover clan that goes by the name of The Death Triad invades the kingdom and takes the king and most of the people of the kingdom hostage.  Cecil, who has many years of combat training, realizes that his home is in danger of The Death Triad and rises up to the challenge to save the kingdom from the depths of despair.  He must fight through many enemies along the way; solve mysterious puzzles that lead to information about the clan, and many other difficult tasks to restore order. 

            The game will take place in the village inside the forts of the kingdom and sometimes it will take place outside the kingdom as well.  The design of the game will have a different background depending on the area in the game you are located.  If you are in the main part of the castle it will have its own background, as will the village.  There will be various objects in the levels, including walls, ledges, and many other objects the player can interact with.  Many other items will be included throughout the game such as weapons and other materials.

            The arrow keys allow the gamer to move the pawn left, right, jump, or crouch.  The spacebar will be the combat weapon that will allow the character to perform in combat.  The number keys will switch between weapons you will collect in the course of the game.  Pressing the enter button will command the text that pops up in the game. 

Throughout the game, you will encounter different characters and monsters.

·         Cecil – the role you will play in the game, he is a pawn and the hero of the game.

·         King Jeffery II – the king of Saur who is captured by The Death Triad.

·         Constance Malum-Jeffery – the wife of the King Jeffery II.

·         “Daemon” – the leader of The Death Triad, no one knows his real name but he goes by “Daemon.”

·         Number 1 – one of the main assistances to Daemon, real name unknown.

·         Number 2 – the other main assistant to Daemon, real name unknown.

·         The Clan Members – the enemies that Cecil has to face throughout the game including monsters.

Motivation

A Pawn's Journey is a game where tragedy strikes and an individual steps up to save the day.  The theme of the game is any person has the oppurtunity to do good in there life; whether that be saving a kingdom or helping out their community.  I'm putting together the pieces to making this theme come to life in my game.  Interpreting it into the story line, the character's background, and the other parts of the game to mirror that theme as much as possible.

The Role-Playing genre is unique.  It allows you to play the role of any character that the developer wants in his game.  In most games the developer of the game allows you to make a character of your own preferance, and allows the player to fufill the destiny of that character, good or evil.  I'm excited to make this game because I like the idea of playing the hero during the medieval times.  If there were no limits, I would want my game to be a first or third person (over the shoulder view), whatever the player prefers, and you could interact with other characters throughout the game.  The idea of doing good in the world is whats driving me to make A Pawn's Journey. 

I am excited about making this game because it appeals to my genre preference; however, I am excited to see if other genre lovers will find my game fun.  If my game had not limits and I could make it however I wanted; I would want many different aspects to be included.  I would give the user the choice to play in either first person or third person view. I would allow the user to interact with any other character in the game, and give them the choice to do whatever they want.  My driving instincts is giving the user choices throughout the game, and any decision he makes will have a different consequence in the long run of the story. 

A good example of a game I am getting my ideas from are The Legends of Zelda.  Even though the story is different I really like the mechanics of the game.  Another example is The Elder Scroll genre. One of the aspects this game has that I like is it allows the gamer to interact with the world in any way they would want to.  If you want to talk to civilians in the town you can hold conversations with them; if you want to kill the person after you talk to them, you are free to do so; however, there are consequences in every decision you make.

My game idea is a very ambition one, and that could be a problem that would bring the game down.  I am very limited with the resources of gamemaker to bring out every idea I have of my game. The story could possibly be very long and due to the time restraint, I probably will not have much time to complete every aspect of the game.  Knowing that there is not much time, I am hoping to at least put the important aspects into my game.

A Pawn's Journey Endogenous Value, Problem-Solving, and Holographic Design

The elements of A Pawn's Journey will determine whether it will be a good game or a bad one.  They will have to be completed correctly toward the gamer's best interest.  Feedback is necessary in developing the game, it will help you understand not only what you think needs fixing but it will show you what others (consumers) want in a game.  Three important elements, along with the others, are needed to make this game successful and they are Endogenous Value, Problem Solving, and Holographic.

A Pawn's Journey has many values but the most important value of the game is health.  While the gamer is playing the game, they will start out with a full set of health.  Throughout the game, whenver they battle with the enemies and they are struck by their attacks a portion of the pawn's health will subtract from the starting health.  In the game there will be many health items that will vary in regenerating your health.  If you run out of health, the character dies and you will have to restart the game.  Having this consequence of health will make the gamer play more cautiously and will make him think about his actions. 

Another important element I will address in my game is the element of problem solving.  Many different situations will come up that will make the gamer solve problems.  There will be certain scenarios such as people living in the kingdom taken hostage by the clan, where you would have to think of a way to rescue them without their demise.  A situation that involves a puzzle may arise where the player must perform a unique action that will advance the character in the story.

A holographic design is necessary to attract the player to the images and designs that are created in the game.  The design of the background, characters, and other images in the game will catch the gamers eye when they play.  The animation of the combat gameplay may be a little rough at first but after time it may get better. 

Fun Suprising Curiosity of A Pawn's Journey

Surprise is important in video games, because without surprise the game would become old.  Many successful games have different surprises in them that keep the gamer coming back for more.  It causes more of an addiction for the game, knowing that you will not get the same result twice.  You have to be careful with this technique because it can become ugly quick.  Too much of a surprise in a game can lead to inticipation and you can actually see the surprise coming a mile away.

In my game, A Peasant's Journey, I am going to provide many surprises varied throughout the duration of the game.  Surprises, that I hope, will get the gamer hooked and continue to play my game.  The surprises the gamer will run into will vary depending on the situation occuring in the game.  A surprise mission might come your way, where you have to stop in the story and complete the side mission before continuing.  The game will have many different creatures and villians throughout the game and some difficult bosses you may not be prepared to face.  The story may have a few surprise twists that the user wouldn't see coming.  I am going to use different surprise situations that will entertain the players, and make them enjoy more than just the story and gameplay.

The most important characteristic of a game has to be whether or not its fun to play.  If a game isn't fun, then whats the point of playing it.  It is true that most games can get frustrating and anger the player, but overall its the fun and enjoyment that gets us mad that makes us play those games again.  In my game I'm trying to capture that fun and enjoyment that makes the success of the game.  I think the plot of the story brings some fun into the gameplay.  I think the gamers will get the most fun out of the difficult battles with the bosses and following the story of the game. 

I think the curiosity of A Pawn's Journey will bring the players back for more each time.  Some of the players are going to enjoy playing the hero of a game and all the responsibilities that comes with it.  Playing a peasant in medieval times with an amazing, unknown fighting ability to save his king and the kingdom from terror sounds like a pretty interesting story worth playing.  Many players might ask why the clan is trying to execute the king and take over the kingdom.  As you are fighting the clan throughout the game you will understand why they are fulfilling these actions.  More different scenarios will come up and it will make the gamer think and raise more suspicion.

Three Game Ideas' Essential Experience

A video game's success does not only depend on the work that goes into, but also it depends on the gamer's experience in the game.  The ideas you create may seem magnificent to you, but to someone else it could be just another sixty dollars down the drain.  Video game designers have to stop and think about how their game is going to be for all the gamers and what they would like to see.  The three game ideas seemed pretty cool to me, but I need to think about how to make it cool for other gamers. 

My first game idea, Dungeon Explorer, is about an explorer traveling through different domains collecting treasures and fighting off monsters along the way.  I want the other gamers to experience a challenging and thrilling game, that is not only fun but addicting.  Gamers should be coming back for more every single time they play this game, and each time have a better understanding for the game.  For the game to succeed, a challenge is necessary.  The unique and complicated situations, the task of retrieving treasure that is guarded by many different monsters, and the prizes you receive along the way can fulfill that fun and challenging experience. 

A pawn's journey was the favorite out of the three ideas that I came up with.  I really feel that it could have the potential to be a great game.  The main idea of the game is, a kingdom, that once never battled or had a conflict before, is taking over by a surprise attack from an undercover clan.  The king is captured and sentenced to death and the entire kingdom is taken hostage.  A pawn, who no one knows, rises up against the clan and decides to fight back and rescue his king and the kingdom from destruction.  I want gamers to dive deep into the story and get attached to the pawn, as they fight through the clan and fufill the task of rescuing the king.  The essence of this game is the playing the role of a the hero and following the deep story could cause gamers to spend a good deal of time on this game. 

Three Awesome Game Ideas

My first game idea is called Dungeon Explorer.

The main character is an explorer and the goal is to collect treasure and get to the exit, which is the doors at the end of the level.  There are different treasures like gems, diamond, etc, which are in different places in the level.  The explorer has to collect all of the gems and reach the doors safely to complete the level.  But collecting the treasure is not going to be a walk in the park.  You will encounter many different enemies (ghosts, skeletons, etc.) that will cross your path on your journey.  Every level is going to increase in difficulty.

I think this game is more of a Role-Playing Game, since your playing the role of the explorer trying to collect treasure.  Dungeon Explorer is probably more appealing to gamers who like a story and an objective.  With the increase on difficulty with every level completed, it may also appeal to those gamers who just love a challenge.  There is a wide variety of gamers who would like to play this game. 

My second game idea is called Air Strike Elite.

In Air Strike Elite, you control fighter jet pilots and you go through waves of enemy jets.  You would have different objectives like moving a nuke or important data back to your base without dying.  There would be a points system for eliminating enemies, bosses, completing missions, helping out your allies, etc.  The points you recieve you could use for anything you would want like upgrades to your jet, extra ammunition, more allies, and other accesories you might need. 

This game would be classified under the First-Person Shooter genre.  The point of view would be from the actual pilot in the fighter jet.  It would appeal to many people who like shooters and fast paced action.  You would need to make quick and effective decision in the course of the game.

My third game idea is called A Pawn's Journey

The main objective of this game is to save the kingdom from being taken over.  You start off as a pawn in a kingdom, everything seems to be going well until an undercover clan decides to attack the kingdom.  The clan catches the king off guard with their surprise attack and quickly and successfully takes over the kingdom.  The king is held captive by the clan, and it must be your job to rescue him.  Nobody would think that a pawn would be able to rescue the king from his demise, but this is no ordinary pawn.  This pawn is no ordinary pawn, he has a surprisingly large amount of skills in combat, enough skills to take down the clan and save the king.

The game would go in the Role-Playing Game (RPG) genre.  A great RPG game almost always has a great story behind it.  A Pawn's Journey would have a compelling story of a mere pawn whose kingdom has just been overturned and his king captured, and he's the only one who is willing to save the king and his kingdom.  The story would be very deep and interesting to most gamers.  Gamers who like games with a story and playing a role that has already been defined would most likely try out this game.

- Cody Parks