The first step after designing my game character and story was to start putting together ideas about how my game would shape.
The main idea behind my game is to teach children aged between 5 and 10 about biodiversity and sustainability. The main mechanics of Brother Monkey World Warrior (BMWW) is for Brother Monkey to initially score points by collecting recycling. It’s not as simple as just picking up the rubbish, the children have to actually do something with it. So they will have to collect 5 pieces of rubbish and take it to the recycling bin to collect their points.
To start off with, in the easy levels Brother Monkey will loose health points if he bumps into toxic waste, however as the game progresses there is an opportunity for health points to be subtracted via other means. During the early levels, Brother Monkey has to deal with his home being destroyed by men on diggers who are knocking down trees to make way for their own greedy needs. Brother Monkey will need to figure out a way to stop the digger from progressing so he can go on a mission to save his home, and inevitably save the world.
Character Features
In game time Brother Monkey will be able to double jump and walk left and right. He is able to hold on to 5 pieces of recycling on his travels.
Brother Monkey will be able to interact with other characters to find out information that will help him on his quest.
Game Mechanics
I use my notebooks a lot to work stuff out so thought I’d include this here. The first page lays out the logic for the Start page. On this page, I’ll have a static image of Brother Monkey in his forest home. There will be a button to toggle the sound on and off, a how to play button and a start button.
I made a comprehensive list of all the assets I will ned to create the game. Making sure that I spend the time to ensure I have all the components I need will save time during development.
The mechanics:
- Score points = Collect recycling
Brother Monkey can only collect *% recycling before he must find a recycling bin. On collision with Recycling bin recycling count gets reset and 1 point goes to the global score. - Stay alive = Brother Monkey will lose 1 life on collision with Toxic waste. In the easy levels toxic waste will be static. As levels progress toxic waste will become trickier to avoid, rolling along branches and along the ground.
To regain lives Brother Monkey will collect bananas, to a minimum of 5 health points.
If Brother Monkey’s health reaches 0 the game will reset and all points will be lost. (During the holidays I will work on making game progress saveable and have Facebook integration)
The above are the main componants.
Level One:
Level one will be a walk through to get the children used to handeling the game character. The children will learn how to move Brother Monkey, score points and avoid loosing health.
When the child feels they are are ready to start game they can click on a button that starts live game play.
Level Two:
I am still working on level two, the digger will be coming and knocking down trees. I am working on coming up with a solution to how Brother Monkey can stop the digger from knocking down trees.