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By David Harrison, Matt Roberts, Scott ODonoghue, Jonathan Peters and Tom Henwood

Format
As group we decided that we were going to produce our game on multiple gaming platforms, these being: Xbox 360 and PC. This idea originally came from the fact that I and my fellow gamer members all owned an Xbox 360 console, liking the gameplay, online mode and set up. Also, in the past we had all owned a PC game at some point and credited how smoothly PC games ran. To further this point, after conducting our market research we managed to obtain gamers preferred platform types. These results being very positive as out of the nine platforms which could have been selected from, 67% preferred Xbox 360 and 48% PC. So with are results in mind, we thought that it was defiantly the right decision to use these platforms.

Furthermore, to begin with we had been considering whether to extend are target audience and put our gaming idea on an android device. We were positive with this decision due to the fact that it would allow people to play on the game whilst on the move. However, we suddenly changed these thoughts as a very low number of people played games on android devices, as you can see by this piece of market research:

We stated before are original idea had even come together that we wanted a game with online features and a multiplayer option. This was so users could interact with friends, we as gamers ourselves felt that this was important because we really enjoy this feature. After the market research had come in, we discovered that over half of the people who had answered the questions, preferred to play with friends.

In conclusion to this information, it was important to settle for these platforms and features as that we will be able to reach out to more customers, this meaning that more profit will be created through sales.

Genre
In the early stages of our planning process, we drafted a game idea for each genre in the market to vary our choices. This allowed us to narrow down the game ideas that we would work well in the market and be enjoyable to develop and play. After analysing the concepts that we had shortlisted, we came to the conclusion that our game idea for the Adventure genre would be the best concept to go with and develop. Although we predominantly chose the Adventure genre, we have decided that we will implement gameplay mechanics that are common in other genres such as Roleplaying and Action in order to increase the quality of the game as well as the audience appeal. We were pleased with our choice of genre and also our choice to use elements of other genres in our game after we completed our market research and received the results of our survey. In this survey we asked various questions about genres and the types of games that people prefer to play. The results were very positive for us, with 31% of people identifying the Adventure genre as their favourite genre. We also found out that 35% of people identified Action and Roleplaying as their favourite

genres and that 52% of people like to play lots of different genres. This was very positive because we know that our game concept has the possibility of reaching a large portion of the market audience as our game makes use of multiple genres.

After we had finished our market research we began planning the concepts of the game. When doing this we had to make sure that our game utilized the conventions for our chosen genre. Everything from weapons to settings to characters had to fit in with the general patterns of games in the Adventure genre. We found this out when we did our further market research; analysing games in our genre in order to try and spot popular conventions and areas of games where we think there needs to be more innovation. This helped us to understand what similarities to other games we should include in ours in order to appeal to fans of the Adventure genre. Certain areas of the game such as sound, level structure and the storyline had to be planned carefully to make sure that they fit into the Adventure genre. We had to make sure that the sound used in the game was adventurous as well as fitting in with the theme of our game.

Market Research

Market Research Before we got stuck in with the planning process, we did some market research to see whether our game would be marketable and whether there is plausible cause for development. We split our market research into two sections; a survey which was answered by over 200 members of the public and further market research which involved reviewing current market games in our area of genre. After receiving all of the results to our survey we examined them in order to see if any of the results could impact on how we developed our game. There were many positive results that came from the survey, the most positive being that 31% of people identified the Adventure as their favourite genre and as this is the main genre for our game then there is definitely a market for the genre. 35% of people also identified Action and Roleplaying as their favourite genre so by combining elements of these genres in to our game then we will be reaching out to a larger audience. Another result that will influence how we develop our game came from the question "Which parts of computer games do you most enjoy?". We found out that over 50% of people prefer multiplayer game modes and storylines. This works well for us as we are developing an intriguing storyline so that the player feels compelled to finish the game and implementing a multiplayer mode so that people can play with friends. We also found out that 55% of people asked prefer playing with friends so it important that we include a co-op feature to appeal to this portion of the audience.

Audience
We at Gaben Games have aimed M5 at a Teen audience as it includes humorous cartoon characters with a pretty violent and mature world, we settled with the Teen rating as some people may be uncomfortable with seeing cartoon monkeys violently dispatched in the game, however in the options there is a setting where any players can turn off gore from appearing in the game and any enemies killed will simply disappear when they are killed, there will also be no blood when this setting is off. To ensure that the game is not solely for a Teen audience we have included many funny references and humour that are aimed towards a more mature audience Possible target audiences for this game are fans of the Castlevania series as M 5 features very similar game and level design as well as setting, Borderlands because of the large variety of weapons available in the game.

The game Terraria is also a game that inspired M5 as it shares similar graphics as M5 but in a lower resolution and with less 3D elements. During NPC areas, the gameplay style will become similar to that of Tales of Monkey Island which is a popular series with a large fanbase, these areas will appeal greatly to fans of the series.

Language

The language in game will be mature yet fun orientated so it will have times where it is based around the preferences of young people such as mild silly humour and then there will be mild innuendos that are family friendly but will appeal the humour of a vast number of people in a more mature audience, there will be an option to choose the maturity of the language so if you want no mild to bad language then youd choose the 12 option, if you would want Mild Language including gore then the 15 option, if you would want everything on then you would pick the 18+ option which will include all gore, language which will be a mix of mature language to silly childish phrases that will still be funny to older audiences. On the box there will be general language in a mature sense so there will be the likes of things being described as epic or manic, so nothing too serious. As the game outlook for a general impression on the audiences is not meant to be too silly nor too graphic, we have given an overall midway approach to the box art and the wording on the front and back. We have chosen to be wise with the selection of language, as if we include a slur/joke that is very region specific dialect, then we would make sure that it is also widely known even though it might not be used in different parts of the world, so that we do not confuse our audiences with phrases and sayings they may not recognise, more mature puns will be masked in a sense that an older audience could clearly see what the joke was about and find it funny/hilarious whilst a child would just find it funny because of the situation the characters are in and what is going on. The language outside of battles will generally be laid back, non-serious, but with the occasional mature statement to add cultural volume to the relativity between human and virtual communication and how the player understands the content and relates it to real life to make it relevant, yet virtually dynamic in the sense that they can lose themselves in a game but enjoy it via real-world reference. Inside of battles it will be more vicious, where there will be more angrily said words, more mature language if the setting is on, and specific phrases that will be said when attacking/defending or some mid-point in between, this allows people to still enjoy the comedic effect clearly wrapped around the game mechanics but also the severity and fast-paced action of any kind of dangerous warfare.

Territories

The game will predominantly be sold in European countries. This is to keep production costs down as it costs more to produce games for different regions. Since all European countries support the PAL disk type then we would only have to produce one type of disk. If we were to produce the game for sale in America as well we would have to produce NTSC disks as well. Another reason for this is because through our research we have found out that Xbox 360 games in the adventure genre seemed to sell better in European countries so we thought that it would be better to focus all of our marketing efforts on that region. We would like to market and sell the game in Japan due to their love of games with RPG and RTS game elements. For this reason we think that the game would sell particularly well there but we would have to see whether the game sells in Europe before releasing in Japan as the production costs would be much higher as the disk has to be reproduced in NTSC-J.

Content of the Game


-Overview
The game is quite simple, you are a 17 year old teenager who has inherited mansions from his deceased family. However, his properties have been invaded and taken over by an army of evil monkeys. The leader of these monkeys is General Titus, he has planned and plotted these attacks. So in order to regain power, you must battle your way through your mansions and a number of levels. Obviously it will not be as simple as it sounds, General Titus has come prepared with his trained horde of monkeys which will have to be defeated to get one step closer towards succession. Along the way there will also be a series of mini-bosses which will strain your ability of skill, proving to be very though. However, there will be NPC characters along the way which will help you with the quest, these range from Dr. LoveBucket which can heal you and sell potions, along with Mytic Mylo who enchants weapons. We felt that it was very important to have such characters within the storyline to ease the pressure and to make it more enjoyable. After conducting the market research we found that:

As you can see 41% of people who answered are questionnaire said that they play games every day. Therefore it was very important to concentrate on the overview of the game to are maximum abilities due to the fact that gamers would notice bad gameplay with them playing so much. As gamers we felt that the overview of games is very important because it is one of the key ingredients to making a good, establishable game.

-Objective
The game is quite simple, you are a 17 year old teenager who has inherited mansions from his deceased family. However, his properties have been invaded and taken over by an army of evil monkeys. The leader of these monkeys is General Titus, he has planned and plotted these attacks. So in order to regain power, you must battle your way through your mansions and a number of levels. Obviously it will not be as simple as it sounds, General Titus has come prepared with his trained horde of monkeys which will have to be defeated to get one step closer towards succession. Along the way there will also be a series of mini-bosses which will strain your ability of skill, proving to be very though. However, there will be NPC characters along the way which will help you with the quest, these range from Dr. LoveBucket which can heal you and sell potions, along with Mytic Mylo who enchants weapons. We wanted to go this much in depth with are storyline, characters and objective of the game because as gamers we find that this is one of the most important features. Whilst planning we thought it was necessary to have this much detail as we wanted are gameplay to be exciting and not boring. After conducting the market research we thought it was key to concentrate on the objective of our game:

As you can see 56% prefer the storyline, which in hindsight is made upon the objectives that contribute towards it. So therefore we wanted to make this aspect as good as possible.

-theme

The general theme of the game is a monkey invasion of the main characters mansions, Martin. The game is meant to be an action/adventure/RPG (Role-Playing Game) where you can explore, discover and evolve with the character and watch eagerly as the story expands and becomes more clear with surprises around every corner, the game is meant to ensnare you as there is always something to do, make Martin stronger, give him new abilities or upgrades and support mansions being attacked, depending on the maturity setting depends on how hard the game will be themed against, naturally we have the game in mind to be easier depending on the age rating you choose to play at. It could also be partially deemed as an RTS (Real-Time Strategy) as it allows the monkeys to attack at any point and you may even have to pull out mid-level if you are alerted by the mages telepathy that one of your mansions is under attack, but this will be generally orientated towards the higher age rating modes of play, the game is meant to be straightforward, enticing and mysterious in the way you can play a level over and over and still maybe even find something new about it each time that you missed previously. It partially includes evolution in the gameplay, as if you leave the game for too long without attacking then it gives the enemy time to increase its army and power/powers, meaning it will be far harder if you just play it defensively without ever attacking, you will eventually suffer massive losses if you of not retaliate to all of the monkey attacks to your mansions on the harder difficulties, but these scenarios are also present, but less frequent, in the lower age rating modes. It allows for a complete turnover also, as you can try to take over the jungle if you wish for alternate endings depending on how you do so, meaning that the theme of the game could turn from being a defensive, revenge game where you follow the story to get what is rightfully yours back from the ape invasion, or where you complete reverse the roles, and after taking back your mansions, amass an army vicious enough to violently yet strategically take over the jungle and defeat a secret boss, who is the true king of the jungle, this however will strictly be available on the 18+ play through as it will be a massive challenge for the player to defeat it.

-structure

-features

Health: Indicated via a banana which slowly gets eaten with bite marks on it, if poisoned, it turns brown, monkeys and item boxes/breakables may reveal extra health based on a wild card algorithm. The more damaging the attack the more damage will be done to the banana, if poisoned, the banana will turn brown. Health and various other stats can be increased by finding mystic monkey enchantment stones, which can be traded in as stat points to increase the players abilities, and very rarely, you can find the Monkey Kings sacred crystals, Ego Emeralds, Rampant Rubies, Dusted Diamonds and Tainted Topaz, emeralds will allow for a new agility move to be learned, rubies will be a new physical attack/ability/perk, diamonds will be aerobic abilities and topaz will be the ability to interact with certain world elements, the ability to use portals, gateways, hidden passages etc. Enemy Health: Faster enemies will have less health, slower enemies will either have high defence, high health or in some cases, both. There will be elite versions of each monkey that may randomly spawn with the chance of dropping rare items, however monkeys these will have stats that are a danger to the player. Mansion layout: Each mansion will have a different layout and different features each time, the appearance will be randomised in every different mansion each time you play it, so it has near infinite possibilities for replay-ability and will be just as addictive as when the player first started playing, and most likely even more so. Boss enemies: Boss enemies will rule each mansion, and there will usually only be one, with a sub-boss as a henchman, who could be in a different part of the mansion or even with the main boss in rare occasions. The boss enemies will be a massive test of skill for the player and you will have to make use of all the skills and abilities/weapons in your arsenal.

-characters
In Manic Martins Marvellous Monkey Mansions you play as Martin, the protagonist and owner of all of the mansions, you can however change the name of your character and customise what the character looks like for a unique look and experience, this will allow players to show off their characters to friends. Each type of enemy has a unique piece of clothing or armour that they have a rare chance of dropping; this will allow the user to customize their characters to an even further extent than before. Possible downloadable content could include new armour or

clothes for your character. In M5 you will also be able to change the colour of all of your clothing, armour, hair etc. Other characters in the game include Jack Smith the Blacksmith who can repair your weapons and armour for a price and may even sell some weapons of his own, Mystic Mylo who can enchant your weapons or armour and he can sell potions or scrolls that teach the player spells, the Cheap-anzee who is a friendly monkey who doesnt attack the player but sells rare items such as weapons or armour for a very high price so he may con you!, Dr. Lovebucket who is the local insane surgeon who isnt afraid to experiment on living creatures as you can see by his pet monkey assistant, for a price Dr. Lovebucket can heal you or supply you with potions, and finally Closet Clyde who is a friendly but not quite sane Tramp who resides in closets, from here you can quickly give him items to sell to the nearest vendor and for a price he can teleport you to any other closets you have discovered in the mansion.

Dr. Lovebucket and his assistant.

There are a variety of different Monkey enemies that the player will encounter in the mansions these consist of The Assassinape which is an enemy that sneaks up and attacks Martin from behind and may also throw Faeces at Martin, the Orang-utank which has armour and more defence, The Spider Monkey can climb walls and shoot web at the player, The Howler Monkey is usually found asleep but if startled he will

shout which will knock the player back and will alert any other monkeys in the area to the players location, The ManDrill monkey is usually hiding in the ground, they can dig around the player and they can pop up from beneath the player using their drill to damage the player, they are easy to see when they are above ground as they have a mining helmet with a light on, The Baboom monkey which has a large explosive tank on his back, this enemy will explode upon death and may even attempt to take the player with him he may also throw sticks of dynamite at the player, the Prowler monkey that is very similar to the Howler but he patrols hallways and is hard to avoid and finally the Fibbon monkey that tells secrets to the player, but these may be lies.

-Mechanics
How do you earn points/complete levels? What are the rewards? We have discussed the rules of the games, for example how to earn points and better weapons. First of all, if the character shoots the killer monkeys, the monkey may drop more coins so that the player can get better weapons, body armour. Once the mission is completed the points will show how many you monkeys you killed. In the task, there will be loads of things on the floor that you can pick it up, for example get bananas and the bananas will make a player have better health. Also how many points you earn depends on the time you finish the mission. If the player finished the level with a very long time, they will get less points and if they completed it in a very fast time, theyll get extra points but it will be difficult for harder tasks, therefore, you will get extra points for the completed level. We have an idea to have mini games in game, we thought it was good idea to have a fruit machine, so you can gamble to get more bananas, or more armour. If the player decided to not play machine, they can leave it so they dont to lose the credit they have earned. If the player wants, they can save points to spend on strange weapons so they can complete easy and easy to fight the monkeys. In the game, there will be loads of different types of characters. The player can pick their characters. With rewards they can make them better fitness, strength and better armour. In the menu, there will be a shop and they buy and sell the amour and clothes they have picked up and earned. See the picture below, thats the fruit machine on the menu or you can get It while you in game. The fruit machine can make the player better health and power weapons. You have put coins on the machine and the machine will automatically spin to give the player a chance to win prizes. E.g. if you get 3 bananas come up, you will get 20 bananas prize.

Jack Smith the Blacksmith is not to fight with, he is the one who can repair and sell better amour for a price. Also he makes weapons and sells them. Jack Smith the Blacksmith is very tall and huge and his room is full of old weapons and loads of metals and parts of guns, he is a very good designer and experienced in making guns and knives. You find health while in the game. There will be fruits and first aid to improve your health. While in the game, there will be fruits left on the floor and you have to pick them up to survive the fight. In the shop you can buy first aid and its very expensive to buy there is more chance to survive and fight the war. When you dying, you can tell because there is loads of blood all over the screen and you need to take cover from attackers and once your covered, the blood will go away. When youre dying Martin have shouts for help and screams. Also when you are dying the controller vibrates all the time meaning you need to get first aid or fruit. Martin can carry 2 guns and 1 knife around the mission, one is for auto guns and one is manual, if you want to change the weapons you can. Martin has to carry the bullets to reload guns. You can get rewards in the tasks, such as a big coin to get a big amount of money and also you can get rewards for better amour. There are loads of tasks that you will be able to get trophies from. Martin can run very fast, jump and take cover. On controller you can control Martin to take cover from death, also you can run fast to get more chance to kill the monkeys.

-Story
The game itself is set around the locale of the tropical paradise of the Ookahulo Isles, where the chump-chimp chief protagonist General Titus, is no longer satisfied with being king of the jungle, and stumbles across a discarded grubby map, which shows the locations of these massive houses, all of which, fit for a King. Titus sets off with 4 of his finest comrades, and then splits up to take over Martins Mansions single-handedly. The game begins as Martin awakes to find that his castle is under attack by a legion of mad monkeys and now he must defend himself during a brief tutorial which gives the player through the basics of the games gameplay, offering insight to the control system and how martin can be developed as a character over time, this allows the player to play the game better, as they are clued up on how to do everything as it happens, so if you meet the medic, the tutorial will tell you how to interact with him. As the game expands you find yourself facing greater and harder challenges, including puzzles and games that will test the players dexterity and will to win, when Martin reclaims a mansion by defeating the boss or completing the objectives set to reclaim the mansion then you get the deeds to the mansion back and it then reverts to its former glory, and all monkey corruption to the features disappear in a cut scene, such as statues are no longer of monkey generals and there arent any banana trees etc. After a mansion is taken over, it can still be taken back by the monkeys if they attack and you do not choose to defend it, whether this interrupts your story or not, your choice can affect the game greatly, and can make it far harder if they take over one of your mansions, as you will have one less base to work from, heal, level-up etc. and you will be less powerful as the more mansions you own the more powerful martin is as he receives magic support from the magicians and random air drops from the blacksmith. The story evolves as you choose to play it, if you play defensive and attack when you are fully safe then you will be able to complete the game more tactically and with greater force, if you rush in and try take over every mansion straight away then likelihood is you will miss a lot of the secrets in the levels and powers and wont be very powerful, making the final levels nearly impossible as you will not be strong enough or wont have good enough weaponry to take on the high-tier monkey guards and Generals.

-Environment
The environments in Manic Martins Marvellous Monkey Mansions are heavily inspired by the Castlevania series, they will be set in various parts of the Mansions and areas around the Mansions which may include Dungeons, Sewers, gardens, laboratories or even on the roof of each mansion.

A Castlevania level. Because the game is a 2D side scroller, each room will be separated by a door; a typical room will include some sort of enemy, platforms to jump on, ladders to climb, ropes to swing or some sort of trap like Water, Lava or spikes. In NPC areas the rooms are generally the same except there are no enemies or traps and the player cannot use weapons, these rooms will involve the player interacting with the environment or items in the room.

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