Phase Three

Idea Generation

Start:

To start phase 3, I read through Alex's research and went through his sketchbook in order to get a better understanding of the subject. Although his presentation outlined key themes such as portage and the threat of deforestation, his research on its own contained a lot more information and facts which helped me get a better grasp of the subject. Once this was done, collectively as a team, we decided to start generating ideas surrounding potential gameplay, mechanics and art style elements we can take directly from the North American Boreal Forest. In order to mark our own ideas, in order to determine who did what, we all chose a different colour. Mine was Green. Aside from writing our own ideas, we would also underline or tick other peoples ideas if we liked them, or put a cross next to ideas if we thought they might not be the best way forward. Throughout this whole idea generation we often discussed a lot of possibilities before writing them down, in order to help collaboration.

Gameplay:

We began by mood boarding ideas and inspiration for gameplay. Personally I suggested myths and history as a potential idea to go from, as the boreal forest has a history related to trade, tribes and conservation. Aside from this, I thought the experience should be relaxing to mirror the setting of our theme, and I also suggested presenting themes of pollution and deforestation in a different stance through an "Anti Game" or sorts, to put the player is the position of the villain. Furthermore, I also think a story or underlying message could be key with this theme, in order to give some form of value to the player.

Mechanics:

Mechanics are the core features of a game which can determine the overall character and feel of the game. Some mechanics I put forward were fighting / hunting, cause and effect, crafting and AI. Fighting / Hunting developed through other team members contributions to suggest that this should not be limited to human characters, but rather between species, to which I proposed an AI ecosystem as a mechanic to a game. Here the animals would interact, hunt and survive as the player goes around the world. I also liked the idea of cause and effect which would ultimately make the player cautious and wary of every decision they make.

Artstyle/ Visuals:

Here we all collectively agreed that whatever the game we make, we all want a simple to use HUD that is not overbearing for the player. In terms of digital games, I suggested that seasons changing could be a nice visual which could, in turn, affect gameplay, which could be further enhanced with the use of shaders, reflections and lighting, specifically if the game was 3D. Aside from this, I suggested that the game does not have to be limited to a digital game and could be a board game or card game. The other idea I suggested was that the game could look like it was made out of a wood carving the whole time, with objects and characters in the game resembling real-life natural objects, worked in one way or another.

Ideas:

After creating numerous mind maps for different aspects of the game, we began coming up with quick ideas for games which we may take forward later. Similarly to the creation of mind maps, we worked collectively and bounced ideas off of one another, ideas we thought had potential we wrote down, other ideas we scrapped straight away. Below you can find a list of the ideas we came up with. The ideas written in green came from me.

At this stage, I came up with the concept of Loggers and Lawyers, as described in Anti Game 2 on the second sheet. This idea was generated in the hopes of matching the sort of experiences and gameplay we discussed previously, with the message being the biggest take away from this idea, focusing primarily on corruption within industries and workers rights. Aside from this, I suggested a realistic survival game, with limited HUD and UI, in order to make inventory systems realistic, and survival mechanics more difficult. With this idea, I suggested that the player's main inventory could be contained in their canoe as they portage through the wilderness. Jamie underlined this idea to show that he likewise thought it had potential. Additionally, I suggested a game where the goal is to pollute the environment and destroy the ecosystems that the player wanders through. This idea was the starting point of loggers and lawyers, but was different, in that the player would make this impact themselves, and would be up and close to pollution rather than watching it unravel from a management position. Furthermore, I suggested an educational game, where the player moves around the environment of the Boreal forest and could inspect and learn about the species and wildlife that resides in the forest. Although this game could be useful to explain biological life cycles and food chains, it would be lacking in a lot of mechanics and aspects which typically make a game a game. Finally, I suggested some zanier concepts such as Tabletop warfare, which is a PVP game combating wooden tables against steel tables, and I also suggested a more cliche and typical PVP set in the wilderness. Personally I am not a fan of these ideas and I do not think they should be taken further, but I also think it helps to get all ideas, no matter how ridiculous out, as they could be built upon to make something with a greater value.