Concept Document - University Student Simulator
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/universitystudentsim
Premise and Purpose: University Student Simulator is all about trying to get that grade while at the same time, squishing in as much relaxation time as possible. Experience the fluctuating emotions of a student across campus, through the quiet library, to the coffee shop downstairs. As a student in university, you have one week to get through that netflix series while studying and trying to ace your assignment, and maybe (with some luck) get a date with that special someone. We want to give our users a relatable experience while maybe including a few laughs here and there.
Intended Medium and platform: Web-based (Browser) PC or Mac
The genre that the University Student Simulator falls under is Role Playing Simulation/Visual Novel Game. The strengths of this medium is that anyone can access it as long as they are able to connect to the internet. Another advantage is that there are not many graphic limitations. We plan to take advantage of this medium by sharing it with many people and students, integrating several interactive choices and building a rich storyline that develops the environment and characters.
However, this medium does include some weaknesses. One such disadvantage is that it will not be available to console gamers and if the user does not enjoy reading text then it will be difficult to keep them interested in the story. Our strategy of dealing with this problem is to keep the script concise and only include necessary dialogue. We will also try and overcome this problem by including visually appealing graphics and music.
Intended Audience and Market:
Our main intended audience is young adults aged 18 to 23, mainly university students. Due to the rise of video games in the entertainment industry, many people, especially in this age group enjoy playing video games. Therefore, this is a perfect platform to appeal to the technologically savvy population. This should appeal because it is basically an over exaggeration of university life, for students to laugh about similar experience and create that connection since they may have had these experience first hand. Therefore, the intended audience would be interested in our application because it is related to their life and experience at university.
The visual novel simulation genre does increasingly well in Japan, where it originated. It has expanded to the Americas with the increase of cross-culture interest, and is a very good way for new gamers to experience gaming in general. Gameplay is a simple point and click, but the relationships between characters and unfolding narrative appeals especially to younger adults or those that have seen the premise of the story and find that they can relate.
Narrative/gaming elements:
Although at this stage in development the full storyline has not been fully fleshed out (in terms of specific dialogue) we have identified a basic storyline. The main complications in narrative have been identified with the player character having the following main three objectives to be completed over the course of the week:
(1) get your assignment done
(3 - bonus objective) finish that tv series you are currently obsessed with
The tone of this narrative is a light hearted, slice-of-life type of story to help a student succeed in his/her everyday life.
The user directly impacts the character’s academic and love life and gradually learns more about the character’s environment, classes, and relationships. The user is also able to choose between two options at each stage of the game to determine his/her outcome. At the end of the game, the character either fails or passes the assignment - and that all depends on the decisions the user makes. An interactive image map will be used to provide the user with a way to access the different environments where paths of the narrative can take place. The user will view this world in the first-person perspective and therefore feel more connected and impacted by the decisions they make in the game.
The main character is a university student and the user is allowed to chose both the gender and name of the character they will be playing as. There are also several non-player characters:
Librarian (helper figure)
Love interest character (adversary almost)
The interface features simulations of different locations of a university campus (e.g. classroom, library, coffee shop) and each location acts as a stage of the game. Initially, the user will be able to choose the gender and name for their player - they will feel like a real university student! The simulation focuses on the different narrative choices a student has to make based on what they want for their academic career. The game is structured so that different outcomes occur based on decisions made throughout the simulation via a non linear branching storyline.
The player controls their own avatar, and gameplay includes conversing with different characters through correct choices of dialogue. The game lasts over the course of a week - starting on a Monday when the professor character hands out the assignment to the player - and the assignment is due on Friday. The game revolves around complex character and branching dialogue trees, and having the player chose responses as the player character would say them.
An interactive image map of the university which allows the user to view the different locations and chose where to go next. In terms of different modules, each “day” is considered one module that a player has to get through, and each day will include different interactions with different characters and environments.
Storyworld and sub-settings:
The central fictional world is Somin Fresar University, the Library, Blender’s Coffee, and the Player character’s bedroom. Geographically, they’re all in the same city, and will have views of character’s classrooms and everyday environments. Each location will have a different character able to interact with the player (i.e. the prof in the classroom, the barista at the coffee shop). The story is contemporary and takes place in the present day. The storyworld will feature both pleasing and challenging interactions:
Pleasures: unexpectedly seeing your crush at the coffee shop too, seeing your crush on campus
Challenges: going to your classroom and finding your professor there to ask you a pressure-inducing question
The user will want to unveil the story and choose right options in order to see multiple endings - to either pass or fail the assignment. The important goal would be to complete the story in a way the user would want a satisfactory ending (i.e. getting the girl/boy, getting an A on the assignment). To add tension to the story, the player only has 5 days to do this. There are several rewards and penalties associated with each decision at each stage:
Rewards: more points toward a relationship, more points toward an A, more points toward finishing the series
Penalties: less points toward a relationship, less points toward an A, less points toward finishing the series
The game features meaningful interactivity in the form of allowing the player to have direct power over all the choices the character makes, meaning the player chooses how the story will progress.
There will be a mix of text on the screen and graphics, including interactive maps and pictures of all environments and characters. The environment will be realistic and based on different locations you can find at a university campus. The non-player characters may speak based on if willing voice actors are found for the dialogue - there will be ambient sound and royalty free background music in every different environment.
