Character Designs with Textures

Character Design

I created these character designs exaggerating the sweet innocence of the teens, the harshness of the adults, and the stereotypes of the outside world.

Rumspringa Game Concept

Above is the logo I designed to brand my game concept- Rumspringa. It incorporates the two key elements of my game- The felty art style and the Amish lifestyle.

My game concept, Rumspringa, is based on the period of the name, in which young Amish people between the ages of around 16-25 can experiment with the "English" world (world outside of the Amish community). This time is meant to be a decision period, during which they can decide wether or not to dedicate their lives to the Amish Church. Although rules are more lax for them around this time, there is still a lot of pressure to be a good christian, and to eventually dedicate themselves to the Amish Church. 

The contrast in the lifestyles they can choose between, and the "freedom" that they have is the basis of my game. It is the most extreme form of teenagers disobeying their parents.

They game will be day-cycle based, during which time the players can decide wether or not their days take an Amish route or more English route. There will be pressures from both worlds, deciding who to talk to at parties or what form of transport to take to church if you want to get there on time.

Although 'crafty' throughout, the art style and colours/ weather in the game depending on what decisions you make and who is trying to get your attention. It will look blissful and felty one minute, then suddenly - lightning and angry faced cardboard cutouts.

Art and Game Style

I would like my game to look "artfully cutesy". Not full- on arts and crafts, but enough for the art style to appear ironic compared to its more satirical theme (more about that on a later post).

Pictured above are gameplay and concept art for the games "Kirby's Epic Yarn" and "Yoshi's Woolly World", both of which take on a knitted/ sewn art style. Also pictured are some characters made out of wool felting and a screencap of the knitted stop-motion animation "Little Red Plane".

The "ironic satirical" theme I want to look into will be similar to that of the animated adult TV Show "Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in all the World". Both the theme tune and the art style (below) appear to be that of a children's TV show, but the show and it's script are far more adult.

Game Mechanics

I've been thinking about the possible mechanics of a game based around "Politics", "Numeracy" and "Scale".

-Time based (Day/Night cycle with tasks to complete)

-Open world (A world map and explorable world in which to complete tasks)

-Different activities available at different times of day (possibly even times of year?)

-Rep (Building up reputation in the "town" or "world")

-Choosing to adhere or not adhere to the rules of the "town" or "world"

In terms of games that already exist I was thinking of 'Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as King' a game in which you play a young king who has to help his kingdom grow. Each "level" is a day cycle. You assign people in your kingdom to do different tasks that day and help build new buildings. When the day cycle is up you see how far you have progressed while he is 'asleep'

Gameplay from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as King (2008)

I was also thinking of Animal Crossing. A relaxing game set in real time in a sleepy town by the name of your choosing, in which you can choose how to while away the day doing activities such as fishing, visiting neighbours, and collecting fossils for the local museum. 

Gameplay from Animal Crossing: City Folk (2008)

Character Project Breifing

For the narrative project, I had the fortune of being given three cards containing the words

POLITICS

NUMERACY

SCALE

At first this left me a little clueless, but after further analysis I realized that these words could combine to create a solid mechanic for a game structure, numeracy can be time based on about collecting things and scale could mean expansion, linking to the power in politics.

As my words are so vague, I could set these mechanics in any type of environment, theme, or art style, so I look forward to beginning to explore this.