The tables below are used to organize the teams production line. they show assets to be produced, what is being textured and what needs to be animated, as well as who will complete these tasks and the planned sprint of production.
For this blog post I will be starting with the anchors. Overall some anchors are still the same as before with a few exceptions. The general anchors would still be our overall motivation lacking due to complete lack of interested in the genre of the game and overall theme as well as multiple absences we experienced
Some of the other major anchors would be me spending too much time on an asset we did not urgently need, this asset being a car which was going to be none interact-able and a prop to just make things look less empty outside.
Another major anchor would be the rig for the first person character not binding properly setting my work/production back by a substantial amount of time. There were also other technical errors that set us back such as maya not working properly and crashing, UVs corrupting after saving, etc.
This is about my first and second ideas during the synoptic project planning stages.
Age, Gender and Cultural Relevance.
I am going to be aiming for people in their teens and above as it will be an easier age group to aim at as the game will contain humor that I am more familiar with and will also contain strong themes and strong language that will fit in with the theme, look and feel of the game. The game will feature names of actual places in Nigeria and will also have lore, which will tell you more about the real locations and provide links to find out more about them, as well as the in game lore for the locations. This will be for people who are interested in finding out more about landmarks and well known locations in Nigeria.
Possible competitor titles that i think this game might have would be games with similar themes. Such as: Dust an Elysian Tale, Overgrowth, etc.
Dust: An Elysian Tale.
Dust is a 2D sidescroller action RPG developed by independent designer Dean Dodrill; with a rich story and beautifully hand drawn environments rather than pixel art or 3D models, which “Hijinx” will be made using. The games story is set in a world with bipedal humanoid animals much like “Hijinx” would be. The games story or setting also features elements such as, magic and demons as well as a power hungry dictator who attempts to unite the world through bloodshed. The game features a protagonist who not only has he lost his memory but he also wakes up with a talking sword who’s voice only he can hear.
Overgrowth.
Overgrowth is an open-world action RPG that is designed to make you feel like the star of an action movie as well as the director and producer, as you choreograph the scenes yourself and even edit the levels and remodel them with the level designer. The game is developed and published by Wolfire Games, the developers of the 2005 game “Lugaro”. Just like “Hijinx” and “Dust”, the game is also set in a world of bipedal animals. The games campaign features a rabbit or bunny ( as they are referred to in the game ) named turner who fights to save the bunny race from slavery as a part of the rebels.
The unique selling points that I believe the game will have at time of release. Would be the unique characters and races as there aren’t that many games that have humanoid animals as characters being released as of recent in the modern game industry. My game will also feature names and facts about real locations from the country i was borne in, which players will have to find across the different environments.
The game will be available for PC to start with. There might be future developments on the topic but for now it only be on PC.
Future developments for the game may include the addition of other platforms including the existing platforms such as the PS4, Xbox 1, and the switch. There might also be the possibility of remastering the game for the PS5 and other future consoles. there is also a possibility of including multiplayer and VR in future updates.
The game revolves around a small town in a jungle world which features a little town next to a waterfall known as “Gurara Falls”, and Bipedal animals known as “critters”. In this world where critters dwell and co-exist with one another. in this world where there is no discrimination, on the outskirts of Gurara Falls dwells a mischievous vixen, “Jinx”.
Having been abandoned at a young age, Jinx had grown up as an outcast in the forest surrounding Gurara Falls. As a result she regained her feral instincts and beast like agility and reflexes, as well as her beast like tendencies. She now spends most of her time terrorising the Critters of Gurara falls.
As a player you will be in control of Jinx the Mischievous fox. As Jinx you will be able to explore the surroundings of Gurara Falls reeking havoc and causing confusion among the critters of Gurara Falls. You will do this by completing several tasks which will involve pulling pranks, stealing and all sorts of other hijinks. You will need to utilize Jinx’s ultra instincts to complete the many tasks you will have.
The main focus of the game will be the theft of key items for various purposes, such as: Survival; there are certain daily necessities that “Jinx” can not get from the wild which she must steal from the town’s critters, She will also need items of monetary value to gain in game currency for upgrading her ultra instinct.
The main activity the game has is to get key items and take them back to your base in the forest.
Richard Lowton's Synoptic Project 