CŌpe n’ Ain’t Easy: Privilege of Access
C. 2003 Jai Echols
privileged non-privileged
In this game there are those who are privileged and
those who are not. The privileged have
numerous advantages; money, power, and corporate connections. The non-privileged have self-determination,
pride, and good work ethic. To solve the
puzzles in this game, you must find the best way to accomplish your goals using
the resources of your desired character.
Find out why CŌpe n’ Ain’t Easy.
i.
Artist Statement/Philosophy The WHY factor Why
play my game? There are thousands,
millions of gamers out there who are always looking for something new and
exciting. It has always been my hope and
ambition to bring something creative to the field of video games. For those gamers who like mind games and
puzzles and trying to solve problems, CŌpe n’ would be perfect for
them. For the gamer who does not like
sports, fighting, or role-playing games- this would be perfect for them. This game will more-than likely intrigue those
who would otherwise, not play a video game.
Due to this strong fact, I believe that my game will be a success.
ii.
Predecessor or previous games Distinctive factors from previous games include:
Grand
Theft Auto:
iii.
Target Audience Teens (13) on up to adulthood.
iv.
Introduction and Story You join some society or a league, you have nothing and yet you’re
thrown into a society where every member has been brought up in this
society. Their whole family is
accustomed to this league; their father, their mother, their grandparents,
aunts, uncles, and siblings. Now you
have to find a way to survive it. You do
this by using your imagination, determination, and your will!
You have always had to fight or struggle your way through
life. You have had to come from behind
many of times. Now you have to do just
that. However, because of what you have
gone through in your past, what you have seen, and what you are accustomed to
from always having to come from behind, YOU whined up conquering those from
that society. This is only possible if
you use your survival of the fittest mentality!
v.
Immediate and long term projected socio/cultural
project impact The
long-term socio/cultural impact from this project would be that games will be
designed more towards reaching to those who normally don’t play games. There are many persons out there who will not
play video or computer games because they do not appeal to the person. They feel as though they are a waste of time
and have no meaning or stimulate them intellectually. There have been studies that women tend to
give up on trying to figure out how to play a game more than men. For that reason, creating a game that is universal
as well as stimulating would be ideal for these persons who are not usually
stimulated by the sports games, role playing games, or the gory shooter
games. This will set the standard for
how designers go about making puzzle games- either video/computer/ or board. They will begin to realize that people are
very much interested in how they could solve problems that are very much close
to what they have or will encounter in real life. Another impact of this project will be the
awareness and impact that the “Privilege of Access” has on society individually
as well as a whole.
vi.
Delivery System and Requirements The computer for
presentation. Hopefully, in the long
run, on a video game system.
Requirements include a computer, an outlet for power and an Ethernet
outlet for online play.
vii.
Interface A third-person view. Similar
to that of Grand Theft Auto where the character is displayed on the screen with
a tool/taskbar located at the top of the screen. There will be a health/status indicator, an
items indicator, as well as a project/s completed indicator- this indicating
how experience or level of play has grown.
The interface will be user-friendly and will allow for the user to set
things up the way they want it designed.
viii.
User Interaction One
of the most important features of this game will be the user interaction. This is what will set it from most of the
other games produced from this course. The
OPENING SCREEN will have the options of game-play, MUSIC- the player will be
able to select their choice (from a list), VISUAL- the player will be able to
select not only the character they are, but also what he/she looks like
(dress/style), computer characters will evoke/initiate dialogue; as well as
give advice on the choices the player will have to make. The interface will look and feel as real as
possible to complete this! (GRAPH ROUGH DESIGN OF USER INTERFACE. on p. 148)
ix.
The World Layout Two
boards: an inner city board, a suburb board.
A neutral board/turf. With the
inner city, a porch in the hood of the city- the sound effects would include
sirens/people talking/cars speeding off, stopping/hip-hop or reggae music
(gunshots). On the porch will be the
place where the group or individual can come up with a strategy or plan for the
chosen task. With
the suburb, in a lab or some big room- the sound effects would include the air
vents/a professor or some professional, an assistant, keys from a computer
being punched. This too is where the
group or individual can come up with a strategy or plan for the chosen
task. The idea of these layouts is to create as
real of an atmosphere as possible for the user.
For example if it is a run-down area, I will make the board look and
feel run-down, poor, and unwelcoming giving the player only what would be
available to them in their respective environment.
x.
Level Design The
idea is to come up with fairly easy tasks at first. However, as you go on, depending on the
choices the user makes, the tasks get relatively challenging. One challenge/task in particular, will be almost
impossible to figure out- it will require lots of thinking and decisive
decision making what could it be though?
xi.
Visualization- characters, flow charts The
visualizations for this game include character models of at least three
characters, a ‘chart of success’- where all the projects you’ve taken are
tallied up and displayed on this graph.
A general flow chart of the game; from the opening screen, to the
playing modes, to the ending. A title
screen, pause menu, and an end of game screen are also included.
xii.
Music/Sound Design Well,
maybe not the most innovative of technology but it is original and dynamic. The genres of music in this game range from
country to rap to techno. I wanted to
touch on a variety of styles because that’s what we encounter in real life and
that is what makes us a unique society.
I would like the user to feel comfortable to change to another style of
music if he/she chooses and know that their preferred style of music is
represented. Sound effects include
sounds from the environment that the character is in. Detailed sounds will be added to give a more
hands-on feel of the particular environment.
The theme title for the game is “CŌpe n’ Ain’t Easy,” which is a
hip-hop song. Also on the soundtrack
“Stay Away (from me)” which is a country/southern song.
xiii.
Rules and Game play A. Setup, B. Game play, C.
Scoring A.
Setup B. Game play C. Scoring (what exactly do these mean??)
xiv.
Program Structure Program structure. Guess what,
I know nothing about any program structure.
Coming soon! For the beginning
stages, the programming will be done in director.
xv.
Technical Specs- Physics, Rendering System,
Lighting Models By using Poser, I created a few
simple models to give an idea of the characters that will be rendered in Maya
3D. I hope to have some motion capturing
in my game. How I would perform this has
not yet been determine, nor if it can be done at all. As for rendering, using Maya 3d for most of
the rendering is expected. Lighting
models (?).
xvi.
Implementation Advertising on the web, posters, and word of mouth is how I
implemented this game. Getting word or
knowledge of this game is the best way to get people to play my game. Once enough people who like it play this
game, then they will begin to pass the word on and more will want to play. By doing this, I can generate more ideas for
improvement and potentially get grants to further build upon my game and
ultimately get it reproduced in the gaming world as a licensed Video and
Computer game.
xvii.
Production Timeframe The timeframe to be completely finished is
unknown. Satisfactory completion- most
of models rendered, audio finished, visuals completed and most of the game play
tested and implemented to be finished by the Capstone show. The delivery of the game was done by the
mid-term (Oct 14). LEVELS will be
designed by (2 week of Dec). CHARACTERS
were designed by Nov 16- conceptual characters/sketches/ideas, ACTUAL 3d models
by (3rd week of Nov). ART
GRAPHICS will be designed by (3rd week of Dec). PROGRAMMING/SCRIPTS will be completed during
Christmas break. ANIMATION of characters
and scenes was completed by (first week of Dec). MUSIC/SOUNDS will be completed by (2nd
week of Nov). TROUBLESHOOTING and fixing
any bugs (done before/during winter break).
xviii.
Research Research includes asking students and other people what types of
games they like. I went out to see what
it is that people are looking for in a game.
What aspects intrigue them in a playing a game. Why they choose to play one genre over
another. Most of the results were action
games. Many liked the turn-based games
such as Quake and Warcraft. A good
percentage of other students on campus preferred the sports games such as
Madden NFL, NBA Live, Tiger Woods, and SSX.
A small percentage like the role playing games like The Sims.
xix. References There
are a variety of sources from which I gathered my information. Students were a big help in understanding
what people are looking for in a game and why they prefer certain games over
others if at all. I spoke with Mei Chung
and asked her what type of games she liked to play. She said games like SSX, Tony Hawk, and
BMX. When I asked why she liked those
games as oppose to others, she said“, I don’t know, I just don’t like other
games. I like flying through the air and
doing crazy s*** in the game.” In these
games, physics have a lot to do with the game play. The characters are 3-d characters that have
to be able to perform stunts that real people would be able to given certain parameters. Those parameters include the velocity that
the character is moving at, the distance between the ground and the character,
and what objects or factors are against them (i.e. wind resistance, trees,
etc.).
GamaNetwork.
Not just Rappers and Athletes: Minorities in Videogames. Ernest Adams.
Turkle,
Sherry. Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the internet. Chapter
7.
Beyond
Productivity. Mitchell, William
J. Inouye, Alan S. Blumenthal, Marjory S. The National Academies Press.
More
Than Just a Game, But How Close to Reality? Harmon, Amy.
xx. Socio Linguistic Twists
The language that is used in the game is not
complete proper English. Some of the
words and terms used are that of slang or street talk. However, these terms and words have
significant meaning to those whom use it.
With this added game play element, the player will get the chance to see,
learn, and even understand the terminology used in the game. The delivery of the socio linguistic twists
is done by using matching. There are a
number of different words in this section.