Team Meeting 1

Firstly, we discussed the foci of Eden and decided that it was an art-heavy and narrative-heavy game. Next, we noted down the roles the game would require in order to get an idea of how roles should be distributed. Afterwards, we each stated which roles we would be willing to take on. Shown below are the roles required, with the roles I could fulfil asterisked.

Roles Needed (*ones I can fulfil)

Environment artists/designers*
Character artists/designers*
Concept artists*
Animators*
Story writers*
Sound engineers* (could help/assist)
Programmers

Next, we decided to discuss the details of the game and its GDD so that we could identify the issues and see which areas needed to be changed or improved. Written below are the notes from this discussion.

Game Sections

Art

Have lots of animations – make it more of a cinematic experience than a game – like an interactive story

Look at Ori and the Blind Forest as a reference for the game’s intended aesthetics

The game has a rainforest setting – the animals are mutated – but some animals do not seem very obviously mutated – should their visual designs be altered to showcase a better sense of mutation? – it would be more visually interesting – this would also better help the player understand that animals can mutate in this world.

Have the environment be able to be travelled up and down in as well as right and left – for a more dynamic experience/environment

Think of how the deer mutates – this was not shown or explained in the GDD

Story

Have an opening cut scene to establish game goal and motivation – show the tiger but it is never fully seen

What is the actual backstory? – the deer’s family are killed by the tiger and the deer wants revenge by killing it? – or scaring it away?
What is the tiger’s backstory? – does it need one?

What happens at the end? – are there different endings based on the route chosen or choices in dialogue/actions?
How does the player ‘fight’ the tiger? – do they fight?

How do players enter the different routes? – how do the routes vary in terms of gameplay? – different dialogue? Animals behave differently towards the deer? – they cower away/run from the deer? What is the benefit in killing animals as opposed to not killing them?

What are the dialogues in the game?
What are the characters like? – how do they affect the story/ending?
Have different endings for replayability?

How much depth should be given to each character? – a good amount – quite a bit but have it mainly show through dialogue

Do environmental storytelling, e.g. a broken tree to show signs of deforestation – this also helps achieve the goal of spreading awareness about endangered species

There needs to be a reason for a herbivore to be willing to kill animals

Mechanics

A point-and-click side-scrolling adventure game
Hover over items and see options
More/different options depending on item and mutations acquired, e.g. swim as an additional option if frog mutation is acquired
There are side quests given by each animal – what does one gain from doing them? Items? Friendship?

Having controls for jumping and crouching seem unnecessary for a point-and-click game – get rid of them?
Can still have obstacles

Gaining abilities could help the deer reach more areas, e.g. can climb up tree

Does it need to be point-and-click?