The objective was to create a game design document and a prototype based on the theme of “impulse”.
Design Process
Ideation
As a team of 3, we all came up with our own interpretations of the theme which were interesting. For me, impulse meant a sudden reaction to an action that had occurred just before. For my teammates it meant the scientific aspect of impulse which is creating a force within a small time frame creating the maximum impact.
We brainstormed couple of ideas revolving around these concepts and shared it on Miro board.
The inspiration for our game was based on games like DARQ, Horizon Zero Dawn, Cyberpunk 2077.
I decided to take the narrative part of the design as I wanted to explore more about narratology in games while my teammates handled level design and prototyping parts of the game.
Mood board
The mood board captures the game’s theme along with the world it is set in which is dark, bleak and represents an ancient civilization in ruins.
Initial Narration
The challenges of managing the risks of excessive energy absorption and unwanted attention from people looking to take advantage of their abilities must be balanced by a gifted survivor who has the ability to both absorb and emit energy. This survivor must do this in a world where those who control energy hold power.
"In a society where energy is a scarce resource and is held in high regard, I am a survivor. But I'm not your typical survivor. I have been given the capability to absorb and emit energy at will, a power that has numerous times both saved and endangered my life.
Energy is often scarce in this harsh environment. But thanks to my abilities, I can draw energy from my surroundings and use it to strengthen my own skills. This gives me an advantage in battle and lets me outmanoeuvre my adversaries.
But I also have a sinister side to my abilities. When I take in too much energy at once, I can become exhausted and perhaps get hurt. And if I abuse my abilities, I run the risk of attracting the notice of others who wish to use my gifts against me.
Despite these risks, I am confident that I can fight back against the forces attempting to seize control of and profit from the remaining energy sources by using my abilities. In this hopeless and desperate world, I am a force to be reckoned with thanks to my energy-manipulating skills. And I shall continue to live and prosper in a world where energy is everything as long as I use my abilities correctly."
Reflections
The initial narration helped to create a base of the game which kind of combined the concepts that we had as a team
This however did not give any depth to the story or the character
With respect to the level design, the narration of absorbing too much energy as a weakness of the character did not make sense
In the next blog, I will be explaining more about how I came to the iterations in narration and further improvements.