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Karlskrona, SWEDEN 1996.
Groovy
Days
(A funky computer roleplaying game idea by Joseph Fricano)
Hello.
My
name is Joseph Fricano. I am a new media designer living in Sweden
and I would like to present to you an idea for a computer game.
It is my hope that you will find the idea worthy of production,
and decide to endorse it somehow. Hopefully by allowing it to be
produced and released under your label.
The game is called Groovy Days. I takes place in a fictional United
States during the late 1970´s and involves an adventure of
epic proportions featuring great music, fast cars and motorcycles,
lots of action, character interaction and not a little style! Since
the 1970´s are a popular theme at the moment, both in film
and other areas of popular culture, I decided to try and come up
with a game idea set in this era. I have been inspired by films
such as Pulp Fiction and Dirty Harry, and by games such as Activisions´
Interstate ´76, (which is also set in an alternative U.S.A.
during the seventies, but is an auto-combat racing game, and not
an adventure-type game). The story involves the player and his/her
partner uncovering and stopping a dastardly plot to destroy one
of the most culturally important areas in the country! A great adventure
spanning the southwest, through wastelands and cities!
Included with this document is a videocassette, on which there is
a short trailer of the game. It contains some music, animations
and screenshots of concept art representing what the final product
will look like. Please bear in mind that the trailer only represents
a very small portion of what the game will be like, and that it
will both look and sound much, much better when it is finished.
What
is a roleplaying game?
Have
you ever watched a film or read a book and wished that you could
affect the outcome? In a roleplaying game, you create a character,
and take him or her through adventures. When you create your fictional
character, you determine personality, gender and skills. During
the game you play that character, much like you would if the game
were theater. A roleplaying game has two types of participants:
the players and the gamemaster. The gamemaster is the narrator and
rules keeper of the game. He/she tells the players what their characters
see and describes the game world to them. The gamemaster also controls
all other characters within the game. These are called non-player
characters. When something happens within the game, the gamemaster
describes it to the players and they in turn tell him/her how their
characters react. The gamemaster then determines the outcome, based
on the rules and a few dice rolls. A typical situation might sound
like this:
Gamemaster:
“You stand in the filthy alley. It stops in a dead end twenty
feet ahead of you. There is a wooden door and a few overturned trashcans
by the back wall. You can hear your pursuers running down the street
towards you, drawning closer every second. What do you do?”
Player
1: “I run over to the trashcans and look for something to defend
myself with.”
Player
2: “I hurry over to the door and see if it is locked.”
Gamemaster:
“(names player 1 by character) In the rubble you find a rusty
old pipe, about two feet long.”
Player
1: “Ok, I grab it.”
Player
2: “What about the door?”
Gamemaster:
“It´s locked. They´re getting closer...”
Player
1: “I start pounding on the lock with my pipe!”
Gamemaster:
“After a couple of hits, the rusty old lock breaks.”
Player
2: “Good! We open the door, rush inside and close it behind
us!”
Gamemaster:
“As you open the door, your pursuers round the corner and see
you. You jump inside and slam the door just before they reach you,
but the door doesn´t close properly. You broke the lock remember?”
Player
2: “I hold the door shut!”
Player
1: “Can I jam it shut with my pipe?”
Gamemaster:
“Yeah, that´ll work.”
Player
1: “Ok, I do that!”
This
is just a simple demonstration of how it works, but it gives the
general idea. In a computer roleplaying game, the computer acts
as the gamekeeper, informing the player through sound effects, graphics
and on screen text. Of course, more can be done in a traditional
roleplaying game, but they generally require at least three people
to play, whereas you can play by yourself on the computer. To play
a traditional roleplaying game, you need a rulebook, pens, paper,
special dice (usually comes with the rulebook) and some imagination!
In
the early days...
It
all began in the early 1970´s. From the minds of people like
Gary Gygax came a new type of game. A game where the players would
cooperate to reach a common goal, rather than compete towards a
goal in which there could be only one winner. It was a game that
with the help of pencil, paper, dice, and a few simple rules, would
propell the player into a fantastic place, inhabited by trolls,
dragons, and elves. A place where magic was as real as fried eggs.
A place where adventure was on the menu every day. It was a game
built on the imaginations of the players more than on a set of rules
that governed the outcome of each session.
It
was (or course) called a roleplaying game.
The
most famous, (and also the first) roleplaying game to date is Dungeons
and Dragons. It was first released in the 1970´s by TSR Incorporated
and has since gone through numerous changes, revisions, and printings,
resulting in one of the most expanded roll playing games in existance.
As with most new and revolutionary things, a flurry of publicity
began building up around the games, both good and bad. Authorities
with little or no understanding of the games began labelling them
as a menace to society. They have through the years been blamed
for anything from causing suicides to promoting satanism and the
occult! We know, of course, that the above is not true. As men and
women working in the comuter industry we deal with the new and revolutionary
every day, and we ourselves have had to deal with such ignorance
many times in the past. The roleplaying game is, at its worst, a
means to blow off some steam and get away from our everyday lives
for a few hours, much like reading a book. At its best, it promotes
working together as a team, and helping us deal with our inner agression
and frustration through non-violent means, as well as developing
the imagination and ability to solve complex puzzles and situations.
Yes, most roleplaying games contain violence to a greater or lesser
degree, but this violence is expended through the game, and not
in real life.
The
pen and the keyboard...
In
the early 1980´s, the very first computer roleplaying games
began to appear. The graphics were practically nonexistant, as was
sound, but the story was there. It was enough to create a believable
world of play, despite the technological limitations. The Wizardy
series by Sir-Tech and the Ultima series by Origin were the real
pioneers in the beginning. In the mid 1980´s New World Computing
joined the fray and launched the successful Might and Magic series.
All of these games still have new additions being developed and
released, proving the continued popularity of the genre. Another
highly successful line was The Bards´ Tale series, released
by Electronic Arts, and is still regarded as one of the groundbreaking
classics of computer roleplaying games.
When
a genre has been popular for as long as computer roleplaying has,
it inevitably runs into slumps. Stagnation is always a risk in any
entertainment area, and especially in computer games. A new genre
is invented every few years, becomes highly successful, gets plagarised
by just about every company in the business and it becomes harder
and harder to come up with new twists to keep gamers happy and spending
their hard earned money. Surprisingly, despite a few dry periods,
the roleplaying genre has endured in popularity and will probably
never disappear. The genre is currently undergoing a popularity
boom, with most major gaming software companies having just released
or are currently developing roleplaying titles. For example, Might
and Magic VI has just been released after a long time of anticipation
by fans of the series. The next few years will be profitable ones
for those companies with new and original roleplaying ideas in developement.
One
of the big problems of the genre is that to this day, almost every
single roleplaying title has had a story set in either a fantasy
or science fiction. Of course, since the whole idea behind the genre
is to escape from everyday life and roleplay someone elses´,
these setting are ideal. They are about as far away from the real
world as you can get! Post apocaliptic settings are also common,
taking place “in a few years time”, after World War III
or some other great catastrophy. The thing is, just how many times
can you slay a dragon, rescue the princess or stop those pesky mutants
without it all becoming the same old thing? The genre reached this
point a few years ago, but new life was given to it by the great
rise in 3-d technology. The unprecendented success of ID Softwares´
DOOM was felt in just about every part of the computer gaming community.
All of a sudden, computer roleplaying games became more action oriented,
trying to take advantage of the new graphics technologies.
The
current roleplaying boom is somewhat of a retro one. Most of the
games in developement have in many ways gone back to the roots of
the genre. This is in itself not a bad thing, but there is a risk
that we will again be slaying our one-thousanth dragon and begin
to yawn. I personally am still looking forward to those games but
I strongly feel that we need something new. The idea of setting
a computer roleplaying game in the 1970´s with a “gangsteresque”
theme has never been done before, and I believe that such a game
would easily distinguish itself from the rest. The current rise
in popularity of 1970´s culture, clothes and films can only
help to insure the success of a game set in this time. Activisions´
car-combat game Interstate ´76 released last year sold in
huge quantities due to the freshness of the idea. Until then, most
automobile games were centered on either racing or futuristic combat.
The
current situation and what to expect in the near furure...
As
I stated before, computer roleplaying games (which will henceforth
be abbreviated CRPGS) are again coming into a period of high popularity.
Every major publisher of computer games is going to want “a
piece of the action” and our game will have to be something
special indeed to stand out. It will of course take advantage of
all the latest technologies, as well as presenting a fresh new story
idea that has never been done in a CRPG before. While developing
this project, I have extensively researched the genre, and below
follows just some of what we can expect to see on the shelves within
the next two years. Most of the products below will certainly be
of high quality, but many of them fall into the tried and tested
formula of rescuing maidens and slaying dragons. We will break this
mould with our game! One could think that I am being overly positive
with our would-be competitors and am giving them too much praise,
but we must be realistic. We will see many outstanding games, which
we must equal in quality.
Fallout 2 and Baldurs´ Gate
At
the end of last year, Interplay released what was one of the most
enjoyable CRPGS to hit the shelves in a long time. It focused on
our world after a third world war, and involved saving the human
race from extinction by a race of mutants created through experiments.
It had a good, non-linear storyline that adapted itself to the way
it was played and the main character used. If the players´
character lacked in intelligence, then during conversations with
non-player characters fewer dialogue options would be available.
Those that were available would reflect the basic nature of the
players´ character. The graphics engine displayed the world
through a “top down”/isometric 3-d viewpoint, with the
players´ character situated in the middle of the screen. The
game has been well recieved, despite critique by some that it contained
too much graphic violence. The game was supposedly adapted to different
countries to ensure acceptance. A sequal is currently being developed,
and is expected to be out in late 1998.
Interplay
has recently aquired the rights to pen-and-paper roleplaying company
TSRs´ Forgotten Realms fantasy game setting for release as
computer games, a licence held by SSI before them. About to be released
as I write this is Baldurs´ Gate, another “top down”
CRPG. It is set in the Forgotten Realms game world.
Wizardry
8
Due
for release in late 1998, Sir-Techs´ highly successful series
is getting an eighth chapter. It has been a few years since the
last original chapter of the series, and this one is much anticipated.
Ultima
9
Perhaps
the most famous of all CRPG series, the Ultima saga is also about
to be added to. Origin recently release Ultima Online, an internet-only
CRPG that was flawed in as many ways as it was groundbreaking. Ultima
9 will feature some graphical innovations in the genre, like a movable
camera in an isometric 3-d world, and support for 3-d accellerator
cards. It is expected to be complete at the end of 1998.
Might
& Magic 7
With
the recent release of the long awaited Might & Magic 6 behind
them, New World Computing are planning the next installment in the
series.
The
Elder Scrolls: Morrowind
In
1996, Bethesda Softworks released the groundbreaking Daggerfall,
the second game in the Elder Scrolls saga. Though the initial release
was full of bugs, it tried to offer the player total freedom within
the game world. It contained a huge play area and encouraged the
player to do what they felt like. The third installment is on the
drawing board and will presumably try to expand on its predecessors.
Anachronox
One
of the few science fiction CRPGS in the works, Eidos´ Anachronox
is also the only true CRPG to use ID softwares´ Quake graphics
engine. This will automatically give the game a graphical edge over
the competition, since most CRPGS suffer in graphical quality due
to the long development time. This game will probably emerge a bit
before our game does, and so may just become one of the games we
will have to top.
Areas of interest...
The
computer and video gaming industry currently has an annual turnover
surpassing the Hollywood film industry. As a result, almost all
major motion picture companies have taken an interest in it. We
are seeing computer games being turned into motion pictures based
on them, when it used to be the other way around. There is a desperate
search going on in the film industry for good and original stories,
and computer games often reach storytelling levels of a filmable
quality. If our game goes into production, we should look into any
possibilities for transferring it to other media, such as film and
television. Many gaming companies are starting up departments and
subsiduary companies with the sole purpose of looking into and producing
motion pictures or television programs based on their games. It
is somewhat surprising that most computer and video games that have
been transfered to other media have belonged to the action genre.
The action game is often lacking an original and expanded storyline,
and is in many ways not the ideal choice for a good film or television
program. Most filmed computer and video games have due to this ended
up as movies concentrating more on action than on a solid story.
It could be considered strange that no CRPGS have been developed
into films. The reason for this is most likely sales figures. An
“overhyped” action game will often sell more than a roleplaying
game, and thus reach a more widespread fame. This is a shame since
the CRPG is built 80% on the story, and the rest on technological
brilliance. We must create a game broad enough to reach those that
normally would steer clear of the genre. We will accomplish this
by creating a game that radiates style and freshness, and by closely
watching popular trends and the entertainment industry in general.
Another
market that should not be ignored is the area of traditional pen-and-paper
roleplaying games. A lot of the most successful CRPGS are simply
conversions from those games. TSRs´ Dungeons & Dragons
game rules currently have the most CRPGS based on them. Several
of their “worlds”, from the mystic Forgotten Realms to
the eighteenth century gothic setting called Ravenloft have been
successfully translated into CRPGS. There is absolutely no reason
not to branch into this area also, since any roleplaying game, be
it in pen-and-paper or computer game form, begins with the creation
of a background setting around a set of rules, generally based upon
random numbers generated by several die of varying sides for pen-and-paper,
and random number generators on the computer. These die rolls determine
the outcome of combat and dealings with other characters in the
game. Often, companies that produce pen-and paper RPGS will also
release products associated with their roleplaying games, such as
lead miniatures. These miniatures usually represent characters and
scenes from the game, and can also be used as play aids. As you
see, there are good possibilities for expantion for our game beyond
its zeros and ones form. It only depends on how far we want to take
it. I personally believe in taking a project as far as it can go.
Implementation...
Designing
a CRPG with a 1970´s funk-gangster theme presents a few problems,
one of which is the play area. In a fantasy setting, the world partly
creates itself from popular clichés. It is easy to include
dungeons, castles and forests, but urban environments are more difficult.
The play area has to favor exploring. Currently available 3-d technology
cannot in my opinion recreate all the subtle touches that must be
present in our game. To enjoy the game, the player must always feel
the “groovyness”. For example, in a combat situation,
a 3-d/first person viewpoint makes it difficult to show the player
characters´ actions. If the player chooses to hit a thug over
the head with a chair, then he or she should be able to see the
character doing it on screen. Our game focuses on character interaction,
exploration and strategic combat, not on action. The tension and
excitement will come from the story and situation, not from frantic
mouse clicking! If a 3-d engine were to be used, we would likely
have to licence the use of one, for example ID Softwares´
Quake 2 engine, (which is brilliant) and that of course means royalties
to them. Developing a good 3-d engine is a costly venture. Taking
these things into account, I have come up with a solution for the
building of the game.
When
the player characters walk around, the game world will be viewed
from a top-down isometric view, with them in the middle of the screen.
The buildings and streets will be drawn and painted to give a slightly
“comic book” feel, as well as making detailing easier.
The characters themselves will be fully animated and the screen
will scroll smoothly when they move around. The player will simply
mouse-click over the spot which he wishes to move his characters
to, and they will take the shortest clear path there and stop. During
the the course of the game the player will be able to drive automobiles
and ride motorcycles to take the characters around the gaming world.
While driving/riding, the world will zoom out and show a larger
portion of the surrounding area to make navigating easier. This
will most likely require a different graphics engine than when the
characters are on foot. Our aim is to keep it simple but detailed.
Sound
is another technological issue. Sound effects today can easily be
made to superb quality, thus adding greatly to the atmosphere of
the game. Old style FM-Synthesis, in which the sound board in the
computer generates simple tones, is a thing of the past. The music
will most likely be recorded as CD-tracks which can be played without
taking up valuable processor time. One drawback of this is that
the game will require more initial hard drive space upon installation,
but by the time our game is released, eight gigabytes will likely
be the norm on most home computer systems.
The story...
Littlesmoke,
Texas, 1977. A large town in the middle of nowhere. This is where
our adventure begins. It is a place of funky music and classic American
muscle cars. The very place that a Bolt Motors automobile first
caught the rays of the setting desert sun, and birthplace of Harald
Johnson of Harald & Donald Motorcycles. Today is the annual
chicken day, commemorating the day that a certain bearded fellow
on a motorcycle tracked down and captured the kidnappers of the
feathered town mascot, Ralph. It is a celebration of all vehicles
with two wheels and an engine.
The
whole town is gathered on Main street, anxiously awaiting the motorcade
of glittering chrome and rumbling v-twin engines to appear. Mayor
Chease stands proudly at the speakers podium, ready to give his
yearly speech recounting the tale of the bikers´ heroism in
rescuing the towns favorite bird. On the podium next to him is Ralph
himself, clucking away in the morning sun. A hush falls over the
crowd. A distant cloud of dust can be seen rising into the air above
the street. The ground begins to resonate as a low rumbling can
be heard coming closer. The crowd begins to cheer as the motorcade
passes by and the air fills with dust, obscuring the speakers´
podium. A gunshot rings through the air. Someone screams as panic
breaks out. The mayor has been shot! Ralph has disappeared! All
is chaos!
Chicken
day is ruined as a big black car speeds away into the desert and
disappears before anyone can pursue it.
Two days later. Ralph is still missing and Mayor Chease is in the
hospital with a bullet wound in his shoulder. In desperation, a
reward is offered for the recovery of the prize bird and the apprehention
of the Mayors´ would-be assasin.
This
is where the player comes in. Together with his/her partner Bubba
Smiles, they are off to find the chicken!
The
real deal...
Ralph,
the chicken, has been kidnapped by a gang of hoodlums from a nearby
town. Following a trail of rumors and the odd feather, the player
eventually finds the lost bird. But this is only the beginning.
The hoodlums are under the employ of gangster boss Big Bob Smithers,
and he has a sinister plan in the works. While rescuing the chicken,
the player uncovers this plot. Big Bob plans to destroy Groove Valley,
an area of the south western United States. Groove Valley holds
the main offices and construction plants of three of the most important
cultural corporations in the country: Bolt Motors, Harald &
Donald Motorcyles and The Gibley Guitar Corporation. Their destruction
would mean the end of funk music and autoculture as we know it!
It is up to the player and Bubba to foil the evil plan!
Gameplay...
The
game will be structured in a non-linear way, with the player free
to travel in between all locations within it. The player will uncover
sub-plots and clues by speaking with characters he/she meets during
the course of the game. There will be characters in the game that
help the player with his/her quest, and there will naturally be
an abundance of enemies that try to stop our heroes! However the
player wishes to play the game, he/she will inevitably end up confronting
Big Bob and his cronies in Groove Valley for a final showdown. At
various points in the game, the player will be shown animated cutscenes
giving vital clues and information on the mission at hand.
The
player starts the game with an inexperienced character, accompanied
by Bubba Smith, whom the computer controls. The player creates a
character to play, and chooses appearance, personality, profession,
gender and skills. Throughout the game, the player will have numerous
opportunities to earn money, which is needed to purchase supplies
and equipment such as food, guns, ammunition, cars, clothes, bullet
proof armor and so on.
The
player starts out with a broken down old car or motorcycle that
can be used to travel from place to place. Vehicles can be sold
and purchased, and they can be armed with machine guns and other
weapons for shaking off pursuing hoodlums and other riffraff. Vehicle
combat will occur from time to time during the game, but for those
that wish to remove this action element from the game, this portion
of the game can be disabled to ensure an exciting strategy-only
gaming experience.
Detours...
The following are a couple of side quests that can be undertaken:
The
Teddybear Heist. An old friend of Bubbas promises to help with the
players mission if he/she will track down and return a stolen teddybear
stuffed full of money. The bear was stolen by a disco club owner
and given to his girlfriend. To get it back, the player has to nestle
his/her way into the club, find the teddybear and escape into the
night!
Wasteland
Drive. The player and Bubba are hired by an automechanic to drive
a car to a neighboring town, straight through gang country. After
an adrenaline filled auto-combat duel, our heroes check into a desert
motel. The next morning, they awake to find the car is missing!
Following the tire tracks takes them to an underground complex.
A gang hideout! The player must search through it to find the car
and drive it to safety!
Character
creation...
Before
the player can begin the game a character must, of course, be created.
This begins by selecting an occupation and gender. A selection of
character portraits will be offered, and one must be chosen. This
affects how the character will look in the main gameplay window.
Alternatively, the player can opt to import a self-made portrait
and overwrite an existing one. This option will help some players
get into the feel of the game more easily. Based on the choice of
career, the values of the characters main characteristics must be
determined, and a set of skills must be chosen.
Here
are some available occupations:
Musician
Mechanic
Bounty Hunter
Race Car Driver
Biker
Private Eye
The
characters main attributes define his/her physical and mental makeup.
They determine how strong, smart, agile and charismatic the character
is. They affect the overall way in which other characters in the
game act towards him/her, and his/her ability to accomplish certain
tasks.
The
list of main attributes are:
Strength.
This attribute determines how much a character can carry and lift.
It also affects how hard the character hits in close-combat.
Moves.
This is how agile and fast the character is, and affects his/her
ability to aim weapons, pick locks, sneak quietly and dance.
Smarts.
This represents how intelligent the character is.
Butch.
This attribute determines how tough a character is and how many
injuries he/she can endure before collapsing unconcious on the floor.
It also represents the characters ability to withstand poison and
disease.
Cool.
This is basically how lucky the character is. It also affects dealing
with other characters in the game.
Looks.
This attribute represents how physically attractive and charismatic
the character is.
Each
attribute has a maximum value of twenty points, with an average
of ten. During character creation, the game randomly generates the
attribute values. The player will be given a number of “bonus”
points to assign to whichever attribute he/she wishes. The game
will be set up so that it can be played in different ways, and solved
by different types of characters. The characters´ main attributes
will basically stay the same throughout the game, but can change
temporarily from time to time. If, for example, a character finds
a box of makeup and uses it, the his/her looks attribute will increase
for a short period of time. If a character has not had any sleep
for days, then his/her butch attribute will decrease until that
character gets some shuteye!
Each
character must be assigned a fixed number of skills which he/she
possesses at the start of the game. More skills can be learned during
the game. Skills directly determine the characters ability to accomplish
various tasks. All characters have a basic chance to accomplish
any task, but to be fairly certain of success, the character must
be skilled in it. Below are a few examples of skills and their uses.
Gunz.
This skill represents how good the character is at hitting targets
with firearms.
Big gunz. The same as above, but with big firearms.
Drivin´. This skill affects how vehicles handle when
driven during the game.
Smart talkin´. A character with this skill is good at
getting information from others.
Sneakin´. Characters with this skill can easily escape
detection when moving around.
Computerz. A character with this skill is especially proficient
with the workings of computers.
Fixin´ stuff. A good repairman can be hard to find. If
the character has this skill, he/she will not need one.
The
game will automatically execute skill usage during play. The player
only has to click on the appropriate object or character, and choose
which skill to use. The game will then determine the outcome based
on the skill value and current situation. The maximum value a skill
can have is one hundred percent, but as with basic attributes, this
can vary during play. Unlike attributes, skill values increase over
the course of the game. Each time a character uses a skill, solves
a puzzle or situation, he/she gets experience points. These points
can be freely allocated to skills the player possesses. If the player
wishes his/her character to learn a new skill, then he must find
an appropriate teacher within the game world to learn from.
The interface...
As
can be seen in the accompanying video trailer, the main play screen
will be split into two parts. The top one is the action window,
where all interaction with the game world will take place. The bottom
one is the interface window, represented as an eight-track tape
player, and is used for accessing the characters inventory screen,
checking attributes, reloading weapons and so on. The players´
character is situated in the middle of the screen, with sidekick
Bubba next to him/her. To move, the player simply clicks on the
spot he/she wishes to move to, and the character will take the shortest
path to that spot unless the way is blocked. Bubba will automatically
follow close behind. When moving around, the game will progress
in real time, but if the player is attacked, then the game goes
into turned based mode. Combat is divided into rounds, in which
each character gets a turn to act. During a round, each character
in combat is given a number of combat points, that represent how
much he/she can do before it is the next characters turn. Some actions
that can be done in combat are: shooting a gun, punching or kicking,
moving, using an item, moving, and special actions depending on
the situation. For example, during a bar room brawl, a character
may be given the option to smash a chair over someone or some other
action appropriate for the scene! When the combat is over the game
returns to real time mode. As mentioned earlier, the game will include
a driving element also. Some side-quests take place while driving
(or riding a motorcyle).
There
will be three modes to choose from:
Full auto. In this mode, both driving between locations and auto-combat
will be possible during the game.
Cruise mode. Selecting this mode will allow the player to drive
or ride between towns and locations within the game. This option
is included just in case the player wishes to enhance the atmosphere
of the game by cruising and listening to the funky in-game music!
No Vehicles. This mode will bypass all sections of the game where
driving would be necessary. The player will instantly travel between
locations.
Driving
will take place from a top-down perspective, with the players´
vehicle controller either by a joystick or the keyboard. Contrary
to when on foot, auto-combat will take place in real time, thus
adding an exciting action element to the game. Each vehicle will
have slight differences in handling, and they can be customised
to some extent with new tires and engines at auto-shops . Weapons
and armor can also be fitted to them.
Some
additional features of the game will be:
*Variable
weather cycles such as rain, fog, and sandstorms!
*The game world will be affected by the time of day.
*Computer controlled characters will remember the players actions
toward them and act accordingly the next time encountered.
*The players´ character will appear differently on screen
depending on what he/she is wearing and carrying.
Release strategy...
Lately,
the computer gaming scene has been fraught with debate and controversy.
The software piracy issue is still around, and computer games have
come under the same skeptical eyes that seek to stifle the artistic
freedom in filmmaking. The past few years have seen many games produced
with more adult oriented content such as violence and strong language,
but I wish to emphasize that many companies have seen this potential
audience and reaped in large profits just from the controversial
discussions about their games. We all know that controversy both
draws attention and sells! Our game, while containing violence,
possibly some strong language and content of a mild sexual nature,
will fall somewhere in between. We will be aiming for an audience
of fifteen years and older. I feel this is a good group to target
since it will allow us a good deal of freedom within which to design
the game and still guarantee that we reach a large percentage of
the gaming population. The typical buyer of out game will be between
fifteen and thirty years old. The fact that the games´ main
character can be of either gender will hopefully help it cater to
both men and women. For those that wish to tone down the more adult
oriented parts, there will naturally be an option within the game
to do so.
Resources
and budget...
The
following is a preliminary budget, based on the assumtion that the
game will be produced as an in-house project in the United Kingdom,
and that all necessary major equipment is available. If it is not
possible to produce it in-house, or if there is a shortage of hardware
and software, then an additional cost of purchasing equipment must
be taken into account. The game will take an estimated one and a
half years to produce to shipping status.
Estimated
cost of personnel:
Position
Time period Cost in pounds
Lead Designer 1,5 years 30000
Assistant Designer 1,5 years 27000
Lead Programmer 1,5 years 30000
Programmer 1,5 years 27000
Programmer 1,5 years 27000
Programmer 1,5 years 27000
Lead Graphic Designer 1 year 4 months 30000
2-d Graphic Artist 1 year 4 months 24000
3-d Graphic Artist 1 year 4 months 24000
Lead Sound Designer 6 months 12500
Assistant Sound Designer 6 months 9000
WWW designers (2) 2 months 5000
Administrative Personnel (4) 1,5 years/person 96000
Main
Character Voice Actors (8) 1 month/person 24000
Supporting Cast Voice Actors (15) 1 week/person 6000
Music 10000
Insurance, Total Estimate Cost - 118000
Overhead - 20000
Marketing and advertising - 200000
Total estimated budget: 746500
The
game will have to sell an estimated sum of about forty-five thousand
copies to begin showing a profit, and realistically, with the right
advertising strategy, this will not be a problem. Good CRPGS are
few and far in between. Fans of the genre quickly snap up copies
if the game is sufficiently “hyped”. At the same time,
gaming magazines all over the world are on the constant lookout
for new and promising games ideas. Anything with a fresh twist is
guaranteed a healthy sum of free publicity. By issuing a public
beta test, we can get feedback from fans and at the same time recieve
exposure as well as save money by not hiring staff for testing.
Full-page advertisments in the gaming press will be a requisite,
as well as a good web site. Right before the game is released, a
playable demo version will be distributed via the internet and gaming
press. It is also quite probable that in the time before the game
is released, we will see an increase in television spot advertisements
for computer games. Today it is mostly video game consoles that
have related products and games advertised on television. A computer
game usually experiences the largest boom in sales during the second
month of its release and slightly beyond.
Project
timescale...
The
following is an estimated timeline for the games´ production
cycle.
Production months Production activity
1
Planning and expanding the game design is done.
2-4 Scripting, storyline expansion, basic graphic design and graphics
engine programming.
5-8 A first conceptual prototype is shown to the media, and production
continues full steam. Sound design and music recording is begun.
9-13 Dialogue is recorded. Alpha preview is show to the press. Beta
testers are recruited through the internet.
14-15 Beta testing, playtesting and debugging. Game released for
review one month before release.
16 The completed game ships to stores.
In
closing...
At
this time, I would like to thank you for reading this far. I sincerely
hope that you like my idea and are willing to help me get it made.
If it is to happen, it will take a lot of work by many dedicated
people. Just like all successful projects, be they computer games
or not. I have during this proposal referred to this project as
our game, and so it shall be if you choose to endorse its making.
I welcome and appreciate any and all feedback on your part, as it
can only help make the game better.
I
thank you again for you time,
Joe Fricano
Hantverkaregatan
29B
371 35 KARLSKRONA
SWEDEN
+46 455 80761
e-mail: oddman@hyperisland.se
|
The
Five Cities-game design