Jayson – MMP 270: Introduction to Video Game Design

Interface Sounds

The interface sounds were at the same time, easy but also took some time for me to think. It has to be something that is.. catchy? As long as it’s not annoying and indicates the player that they are moving and selecting something.

This is the sound I went for when moving through options:

Then the sound when you select an option:

Finally, the game over sequence:

I wanted to go for a dreading kind of theme, but also soothing. Well, you died. So you can’t exactly feel anything. Your nerves shut down, you feel nothing; almost peaceful. At the same time, dreading cause you probably left someone you love behind. That kind of feeling. I should improve it though.

Rewards/Items Art

I had a bunch of ideas to what rewards the player would receive in my RPG game, but first I drew out the basics.

A typical chest to start off. Some equipment, items.. the kind of stuff a player would need in an RPG. Hell, if they look deeper, these chests can have some better items.. maybe.

A star.. that I want to rework eventually. To give some context, my characters learn magic/ harness energy through their souls. This star is like an magic/energy boost, which grants the player a new ability to learn that will help them in their quest.

Throughout my game, there could be some health that can help them recover after they survived some combat scenarios. These could be lying around after you defeated an enemy.

Of course when you grab it, it should indicate that its been grabbed or used. So I went with a simple animation for the heart to disappear and recover the character’s HP. Maybe I’ll create something more stylish in the future, but this is pretty fine.

Programming

At one point I knew how to code something. Then it decided to fly out of my head.

Although I’m pretty sure I’ve managed for this intro. Coding was slowly getting back to me.

Slow and steady progress, but I’ll eventually get the hang of it soon.

Scene Manager

Aka, I seriously have no idea what I’m doing. I’m a lost cause for programming/coding things and its something that I REALLY need to relearn again. I think I managed to handle the scene manager..? I tried to follow the video, buut.. I still got lost. I have a feeling I’m missing stuff.

I suck at programming.

Sound Effects

Now, I’m still insanely new to doing this kind of thing, Sound effects are something I love if its done right. I can really improve here with the quick sound effects I created for my RPG game. It’s something I’ll either rework with some of these effects or further improve.

This is the jump sound effect:

Then the land effect:

The hit effect (which will most likely get reworked. I don’t really like it, I want something more flashy sounding for different attacks, but I need to practice more for it):

The item pickup effect, but for small items (a bigger item would have a more grand theme):

And finally, the save/checkpoint effect:

It was sorta weird to learn, since I’m mainly an artist/animator guy, but this was nice to pick up nonetheless and another skill to improve later on.

Checkpoint System

This is something that would fit the aesthetic of my game. A radio checkpoint.

I thought an outdated looking radio would be funny to use as a save point. Maybe I’ll add more flashiness to make it a proper checkpoint.

Scenary

Setting a scene is important for me. Something to fully express the story to the player. But also give plenty of depth in the setting that the player is taking part in. I have a few scenes set for my RPG game to place.

This is for a cutscene in the game. It plays in a crucial moment for one of my characters in a near-death scenario (which sorta leads up to the multiple endings I’ve planned). I even made a mini comic for it right here!

Something to make sure I know what scene plays for this.

I also have this setting for the game.

I know this is set for background, but how it works here in scenery is that it’s both used for a cutscene and then zoomed in for the combat gameplay itself. This is used for the final battle that determines the multiple endings and such.

Then I have my next scenery.

This is one of those scenarios where I want to rework. Thinking about it, looks pretty bland to me. I’m planning to add more stuff and what you can come across in an alleyway. This is where two of my main characters arrive to conversate. For sure, I’ll add more detail to this. Or possibly make it through piskel.

Background Music

Oh boy, either this is my favorite to sort out or animating characters themselves.. Now, I’m not the best at making background music, I couldn’t think of the right theme for my characters or the setting of the game. HOWEVER, I have a friend who does music and was willing to let me borrow his music for my RPG game. He’s not in the class, he’s someone I’ve known for a solid while overseas. We talk online, and I do really like his tracks. This was one of the few tracks that I picked for the background music.

HOLY SH- oh right, I can’t swear. I’m in class. I have to keep up the formal act for now. This track is one of my favorites that he’s created. I want the track to start at around 0:26, and then continue on as a loop. I’ll have to plan it out soon. Obviously I’ll give credit where it’s due when I do publish my game. I’m looking forward to working with him more soon.

Backgrounds

The overall background I want to establish for the game would look something along the lines of this.

I still need to play around with the colors and such to see how it would work with my assets, but this is what the background would look during the combat phase. Well.. the final combat phase. What I plan to do during the semester, one big combat scenario with multiple outcomes. Of course I need to develop the story for a great buildup that’s worth the endings the player achieves.

User Interface Design

I looked around for some fonts online (for commercial use of course) and stumbled upon this font.

However this one, was made from my own handwriting.

It’ll be in a PNG format when I move it over to a game of course, but I wanted to keep the entire color scheme to be similar. I’m still thinking of a title for my RPG but I also want to animate something for it in the future.

Author: Jayson