Friday, 2 November 2012

XB3001 GAMES PROPOSAL #5: Research for Game Concept


Ok, I admit, it's been a while since I updated the the blog on this particular module. there's a good reason for that; I've been busy actually getting the work done on my game concept. It's taken awhile, so I've 
haven't had a chance to update much, but I'm finished now so i have some catching up to do.

My game concept was a battle royale type game set in a cyberspace world where players must hunt each other down in order to gather points and rewards with the option of doing things however they wanted to, even taking their enemies out in a non-lethal manner.I chose this concept as I thought it would be a good way of showing the struggle of doing what is right when it is more rewarding not to. The name I chose for this game was ViRTUE (short for Virtual Reality Tournament Universal Environment). I had several sources of inspiration for this, which include:-

1. Battle Royale
An brutal action novel and film about a group of Japanese schoolchildren who are forced to fight each other to the death for sport. I looked at this and the moral ambiguity behind it as inspiration for ViRTUE.
Takami, K. (1999). Battle Royale. Tokyo, Japan: Ohta Shuppan
Fukasaku, K. (2000). Battle Royale. Tokyo, Japan: Toei Company



2. The Running Man
A dystopian action film about a falsely accused man who is forced to participate in a game show where ‘runners’ are hunted by ‘stalkers’. I looked at the game show setting and rules as inspiration for ViRTUE.
Glaser, P. M., (1987). The Running Man. California, USA: Tristar Pictures Inc.

3. Escape from New York
An action film about a convict who is sent into a dytopian New York City to rescue the president of the United States of America. The city has essentially become an anarchical prison, where it is every man for himself. I looked at the setting and premise as inspiration for ViRTUE.
Carpenter, J., (1981). Escape from New York. US: AVCO Embassy Pictures

4. Gantz
An anime about people who are contracted to hunt down and kill targets in exchange for points, which can in turn be swapped for rewards. This ‘game’ and its rules were a major source of inspiration for ViRTUE.
Oku, H. (2000). Gantz. Japan: Shueisha

5. TRON: Legacy
A film about a man who ventures into a digital world to find his father, the world’s creator, only to find that one of his father’s creations is the world’s tyrannical ruler. In addition to the cyberspace setting, it also features a series of gladiatorial games. These were the aspects I looked as while designing ViRTUE
Kosinski, J. (2010). TRON: Legacy. Burbank, California, US: Walt Disney Pictures

6. No More Heroes
A sandbox action-adventure game about a man who joins a league of professional killers who fight each other to the death for fame and glory. The second game in particular points out how utterly pointless their struggles are. I looked at the game’s main premise (killers hunting each other) as inspiration for ViRTUE
Suda, G. (2007/2008). No More Heroes. Marvelous Entertainment, Ubisoft & Rising Star Games

7. Madworld
A game about a convict who is forced to fight a series of battles to the death as part of a dystopian game show. The death match-style game show was a source of major inspiration when I was designing ViRTUE
Platinum Games (2009). Madworld. Tokyo, Japan: SEGA

8. Dishonored
An open-world action-adventure game where you play as an magic-wielding assassin in a plague-ridden industrial town. The game’s major selling points are that it offers multiple ways of achieving goals and the fact that your actions affect the rest of the story. I looked at these aspects while designing ViRTUE.
Arkane Studios (2012). Dishonored. Maryland, US: Bethesda Softworks

I also have two pieces of  early concept art for the game. They are both ideas of how the player characters would appear



The first image was an early idea of how the characters should appear, but it was discarded for being overly complex. The bottom 3 images went on to become the final designs.
My next post should include the final concept document.

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