Stick Ninja'

1
Stick Ninja.

• a game idea and conceptual design
• by Cody Sawatsky.

2
Overview.
Stick Ninja.
Persuasive Purpose
- Remember when you were young and would doodle
inside your notebooks at school? Wouldnt it be
awesome if those drawings came to life??
3
Overview.
Stick Ninja.
Industrial Design
-gt All art is done in sketch fashion
4
User Description.

• Anyone willing to spend a couple minutes playing
  games, not intended as a long-form game
• People who would draw in their books at school,
  so anyone with an active imagination.
• Comfortable with Video Games and Digital Media
• Likely in the 10-35 age range
• Enjoy playing games as entertainment

5
Description of Gameplay Mechanics

• Each Level has one Boss/Enemy/Inhabitant
• Multiple encounters with that enemy (3)
• During fights, the player gets clues as to what
  the Enemys weakness is
• Player searches level for the item, uses it on
  Enemy in next encounter
• After Enemy is defeated, Player advances to next
  level

6
Storyboard.
7
Prototype.

• Would lend itself to paper prototype, as it is
  based on paper anyway
• 2D Side Scrolling Adventure Platformer
• Turn-Based Combat
• Very Simple, maintains whimsical motif

8
Features Functionality.

• One enemy per level (Shadow of the Colossus
  style)
• Each level has a distinct art style (lookfeel)
• As if the main character were traveling through
  the different notebooks in a classroom.
• Weapons, Power ups, and Enemies are consistent
  with the level

9
Justifications for Design.

• Emphasis on Exploration
• Few, but unique enemies
• makes encounters more meaningful, and gives the
  enemies more gravitas
• allows player to interact more with and
  appreciate the environment

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Justifications for Design.

• Each level being visually different
• Differentiates levels, making the game that is
  decidedly plain, more aesthetically interesting
• Gives a feeling of imagination to an environment
  that almost everyone is familiar with, lined
  paper.
• Going for a simple art style allows us to
  concentrate on gameplay and polish, as opposed to
  fighting with graphics

11
User Testing.

• As per the course, we will be paper prototyping
  and testing on no fewer than 3 participants.
• When we advance to the digital prototype phase,
  we will have at least 5 people play test.
• Of course, we will be playtesting and refining
  throughout the development process

12
Shortcomings of Design.

• Some users may find the lack of combat boring.
• Design may not appeal to everyone
• May be too whimsical/imaginative
• could be difficult to get animation right
• Requires a high amount of artistic input

13
Possibilities for expansion.

• Different characters with different abilities
• More Mature elements (Guns, blood, etc...)
• Themes based on school classes (Biology, Chem,
  English, etc...)
• User-designed levels (LittleBigPlanet)
• Character Creation tools???

14
Next Steps.

• Select team, and evaluate artistic talent
• Finalize Character design(s) and paper prototype
  a level
• Decide on Engine (Power Game Factory, Torque,
  XNA)
• Rough playable prototype soon, and commence
  playtesting asap -gt ITERATE
• Would like to develop using XNA framework
• submission to Xbox Live

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Summary.

• 2D Sidescrolling Adventure/Platformer
• Exploring unique, artistically intriguing levels
• Turn based combat with the inhabitant of that
  level
• Simplicity of art allows us freedom
• Not tied to one style
• Will be able to prototype early and focus on
  gameplay

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STICK NINJA!!