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XB3002: Reef Explorer Game Development

Development

Once I had settled on Reef Explorer as the artefact for my research in DD3000 I began visualising how the game would work with underwater exploration, and thinking of a way to make the player care about the environment they were swimming around in. Prior to this I had spent some time playing Subnautica, the game referenced in my market research (Unknown Worlds, 2016). This influenced my design a great deal as far as the exploration and the nature of the environment goes. The difference being that this game would take place on earth, and as well as exploration the games objective would be to remove pollution from the water surrounding an island.

To encourage the player to care about the environment I used some narrative that would have the player save a fish from a six-pack can holder. This event would drive the player onwards to clear the starting area of pollution. Once done they can look back on their handiwork and view an area that’s transformed from a dead zone to one that’s now flourishing with life. This small victory would then start off a desire to rid the whole game world of pollution. For some this feeling may subliminally trigger a want to help clean the world’s oceans, whether by becoming an activist or simply making a donation to a marine organisation.

For the sounds in the game I used royalty free files from freesound.org (Freesound, 2016), specifically;

‘Underwater ambience’ by akemov (akemov, 2014)

‘Underwater breathing’ by univ_lyon3 (univ_lyon3, 2015)

‘Jungle Meets Ocean’ by RTB45 (RTB45, 2014)

The two underwater sounds were combined together using Audacity to create the underwater ambience in the game.

To reduce the time spent on making the environment, I used free assets from the ‘Open World Demo Collection’, and a water material from the ‘Water Plane’ sample packs. These can be found on the Learn section of the Unreal Engine Launcher.

Alterations

Initially the game was just about swimming around a tropical reef and removing the pollution from four areas around the island. I received feedback in class that the gameplay of the concept would be rather boring, which I agreed with. After undertaking a little more market research I concluded that the game needed the following three additions.

1. The environment had to be bigger. So instead of four separate locations I designed the game world to be one big open world that could be explored at any time.

2. The player needed to feel a sense of danger. This being a natural environment has an abundance of predators in the real world, so these would be implemented into the game. The level of violence in the game would need to be toned down in order for the game to be accessible to as many age groups as possible however. So no visible blood, just a red vignette would be sufficient to warn the player that they’re taking damage.

3. A sense of progression and their character becoming stronger over time. This will be implemented with the levelling system and unlocking/purchasing of new equipment.

Successes and Failures

I encountered a few technical issues whilst making the demo for Reef Explorer, these included issues with blueprint not recognising when all of the pollution had been cleared, and the ambient sounds cutting off when a piece of trash had been removed. These were both rectified eventually after seeking help on the Unreal Support forums, the discussion about the ambient sounds can be found here.

https://answers.unrealengine.com/questions/439909/ambient-music-stopping-after-item-is-picked-up.html

Even after fixing these issues my skills with the Unreal Engine are still rather limited, because of this the content in my demo suffered. I managed to set up a basic environment with a mission objective, but I couldn’t make other additions such as a HUD, AI for fish, or the xp and gold system. My time management’s for this module wasn’t great. This was due to an injury over Christmas which disrupted work across all modules for the second semester. Time management aside however, this concept has inspired me to want to improve my skills with Unreal. I may continue working on it until the game is completed.

Bibliography

akemov (2014). Underwater Ambience. Unknown, Unknown, Unknown. Retrieved from http://www.freesound.org/people/akemov/

Freesound. (2016, 6 29). Freesound Homepage. Retrieved from freesound.org: http://www.freesound.org/people/univ_lyon3/

RTB45. (2014, 12 14). Jungle Meets Ocean. Retrieved from freesound.org: http://www.freesound.org/people/RTB45/

univ_lyon3. (2015, 10 11). Underwater Breathing. Retrieved from freesound.org: http://www.freesound.org/people/univ_lyon3/

Unknown Worlds. (2016, 6 29). Subnautica Home Page. Retrieved from unknownworlds.com: http://unknownworlds.com/subnautica/

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XB3002: Game Concept and Market Research

Three Initial Concepts

At the beginning of XB3002 I was to formulate three initial game concepts to tackle the issue raised in DD3000. In my case the topic was on Marine Pollution. I concluded in this module that people aren’t fully aware of the consequences of marine pollution as many haven’t seen the problem first hand. By showing people the issue in the medium of a game they get to experience it and thus raise awareness. By playing through the game they experience a “feel good factor” from removing the pollution and watching the environment transform, this in turn may also influence the player’s behaviour and life choices, such as what they do with their rubbish. The micro transactions in the game will also be charity donations to further support the issue by funding the charities and organisations that are cleaning the world’s oceans. The three game ideas I had based around this are as follows.

A City Sim (No name)

This concept was for a city sim app game that was aimed at casual gamers. Players start on a randomly generated island with a small town. Their forms of income are from fishing, a local oil rig, and tourism, each of these have different impacts on the surrounding environment. The islands population also has an agricultural and industrial footprint. These all have to be managed to reduce the level of pollution surrounding the island. For instance overfishing will increase the income from fishing, but once the fish are all gone that source of income will be removed. By only fishing on a lower scale the player gets a lower amount of income but it will be at a constant amount. As the players town grows they must build new structures, these take time to build and upgrade. Build times can be reduced by making a donation to a charity via a micro transaction or by friends who also play the game helping them.

Reef Explorer

This is an underwater first person coral reef explorer game. The player assumes the role of a Marine Biologist whose task is to document marine life around a tropical island. Upon arrival they discover that the water surrounding the island has been heavily polluted by the islands poor waste management, fishing, oil, and tourism industry. The player’s objective is to remove all of the pollution from the surrounding area and its sources. Players gain experience and gold from taking photographs, exploring the reef, and removing the pollution. They use this to unlock and purchase new equipment, and gain the ability to remove more forms of pollution. Experience, gold, and unique items can be bought from the games website, the money from which is all donated to marine charities and organisations. Photos that are taken can also be shared on social media and used as computer desktop images.

Post World Environment (no name)

I haven’t put much thought into this concept as I can’t see how it could have a positive impact on the player. This game portrays a doomed world outlook set in the future. The oceans have become so polluted that they no longer support life and are no longer capable of producing oxygen. The purpose of this game was to show how difficult life would be for humans if life in the oceans had been completely destroyed, to scare them into acting in a sense. I decided that although it has noble goals of raising awareness for marine pollution, its setting is rather gloomy and will likely make a depressing game.

The idea I chose

Chosen Idea

I’ve settled on the Reef Explorer game idea. The third idea of a post-apocalyptic game was a definite no go, given that it’s rather depressing, and the city sim idea was dropped for two reasons. Although it does meet my aims of raising awareness of marine pollution and providing aid for it via donations, it does run the danger of being lost amongst the vast number of city sims that are already available on mobile devices. If the game isn’t noticed and played there’s no reason in making it at all. The second reason is that the perspective that the player plays the game is from high up and away from the environment that the game is based in. it is for this reason that I’ve chosen the Reef Explorer concept as it give the player a first person perspective of the issue at hand. It also puts the player in a large open environment that they have no knowledge of. The only way to learn the environment is to get out there and experience it for themselves. With the rising popularity of VR this game also has the potential to utilise this new technology and truly immerse the player.

Market Research:

Subnautica (Unknown Worlds Entertainment, 2016) Gameplay ~23 hours

Subnautica is a first person survival game set on an alien world covered in water. The player assumes the role of a crew member from a spaceship that has crash landed onto the planet, fortunately he managed to reach an escape pod in time though it appears he’s the only one that did. Now alone drifting in the escape pod he must salvage materials from the crashed ship and the surrounding environment to craft the tools needed to survive. Harder difficulties also require the player to hunt for food and find a means to produce drinkable water.

The game was released on Steam on the 16th December 2014 at a price of £14.99. The game also has an overwhelmingly positive review with 92% of players recommending this game (at time of writing) (Steam, 2016). Numerous players continue to support the game with reviews and playthrough’s on Twitch and Youtube.

World of Diving (Vertigo Games, 2016)

World of Diving is a diving adventure simulation where the objectives are based around taking photographs of wildlife for rewards such as monetary gains. With these players can buy equipment for their character, such as a sea scooter, and cosmetics such as new swimwear and decals for their oxygen tanks. Promoted via Steam Greenlight, the game was released on the 26 August 2014 for £14.99. Admittedly the game has a low percentage of recommendation votes at 43% on Steam, at time of reviewing (Steam, 2016). These bad reviews are mostly down to there being little to do and that, considering that it’s a simulation game, the player is never in any danger even though they are swimming around sharks. The game does support multiplayer so it is possible to explore reefs, shipwrecks, and other locations with friends. A recent update now let’s players use the Oculus Rift and Vive headsets which has greatly improved the quality of reviews, this promises to bring more immersion to gameplay and will likely improve the games standing in future updates.

Depth Hunter 2 (Biart, 2016) Gameplay ~ 1 hour

Depth Hunter 2 is a first person nautical exploration game played from a first person perspective. The games objectives are based around hunting fish via spear fishing, taking photographs, and discovering treasure hidden among reefs and shipwrecks. For all of these the player is rewards with gold and experience. By accumulating experience the player levels up, when they do so they receive rewards such as new gear and gold, the rewards become greater the higher the level they achieve. Gold can be used to upgrade their gear, including their fins for greater movement speed, their spear for greater accuracy, and their rebreather for greater lung capacity when under water.

The game was released on the 20th August 2014 and is available for £10.99. It has received mostly positive reviews at 75% (Steam, 2016). The positive comments compliment the visual beauty of the game and how the gameplay provides an environment to relax whilst they explore. The negative comments in the reviews are based mostly around the environment being too safe with sharks not attacking the player, the objectives being too easy, and the environments being too small.

IP opportunity

From reviewing these games I have found that there is a market for underwater exploration games. Collectively the negative comments are based around there being no danger, little to do, and the environments being small. Reef Explorer contains none of these downfalls as the player is always at risk, whether from attacks from wildlife such as sharks and jellyfish, or from environmental hazards like explosive fishing and discarded fishing equipment. With ongoing objectives such as removing marine pollution, finding collectables, and the need to level up to progress through the game, there’s always something for the player to do. With the map being 4km2 and up to 1km deep in some areas, the map isn’t what could be defined as small too. If this game were to be made I believe it would have to be crowd funded as the project wouldn’t be financially viable to a publisher, considering that all monetary gains are given to charity. With the rise of indie games getting support from Steam Grenlight, for example, I believe the prospects of this game would be good.

Bibliography

Biart. (2016, 6 29). Biart Developer Website. Retrieved from www.biart7.com: http://www.biart7.com/node/50

Steam. (2016, 6 29). Depth Hunter Steam Store Page. Retrieved from store.steampowered.com: http://store.steampowered.com/app/248530/

Steam. (2016, 6 29). Subnautica Steam Store Page. Retrieved from store.steampowered.com: http://store.steampowered.com/app/264710

Steam. (2016, 6 29). World of Diving Steam Store Page. Retrieved from store.steampowered.com: http://store.steampowered.com/app/251890

Unknown Worlds Entertainment. (2016, 6 29). Subnautica Home. Retrieved from unknownworlds.com: http://unknownworlds.com/subnautica/

Vertigo Games. (2016, 6 29). World of Diving Home Page. Retrieved from divegame.net: http://divegame.net/

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Blog post 1 | Game Futures Definition

In this module the outcomes I created were defined by my DD3000 report. I had to use my findings to develop a game solution to the issue in the report. In my case my topic themes were population and pollution in city locations. In my report I highlight how global cities have expanded for the demand for the lifestyle increasing growths. In cities around the world there are high levels of air pollution due to the amount of vehicles and lack of green spaces. As well as highlighting the issues I looked at potential future solutions that could be implemented. This means that people have got to be sustainable and use pollution free technology as alternatives to fossil fuels used as the century progress.

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Blog post 2 | City planning game idea

One of my main themes in DD3000 was the importance pollution free living and a positive way this can be translated in a game format through a city planning title. This genre allows users to generate their only individual city landscape through selection which would be an ideal way to include information about sustainable living. The gameplay experience would be first person game therefore allowing the user to become more connected with their city creation. The requirement that I have added will allow me to be creative in the level design, meaning that I will approach, my city planning game in a different way the genre released titles.

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Blog post 4 | Design | City planning level and gameplay

Overview

In this post I plan to explain about the game structure and challenges incorporated into my city planning game. It was an unusual game idea, which involved the player selecting objects, then defining the rotation and scale which is different to other games in the genre that employ a third person perspective.

Level design ethos

The main level design factor is that the gameplay is viewed from a first person perspective. In creating a first person viewpoint I needed to be innovative in ways in which the player interacts with the game. The level form dictated the style of gameplay and the way the player interacts. On each iteration there have been improvements on the previous incorporating the most productive ideas and fusing them with new concepts, which aim to improve gameplay.

Gameplay style

The selection area would have to be uniquely designed to enable the player to select a wide range of objects. The selection area would also require to be rotated to define the object parameters before adding to the city creation grid.

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Blog post 8 | Design | Starting the Games Design Document

To begin the Game Design document I put the art style of the game into the design background. A key element of this is the colour scheme based around green tints an affect often used to show sustainable elements in logos.

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Blog post 9 | Research | Incorporating DD3000 finding into Games Design Document

The way I incorporated my research related to DD300 through the type of city the player can create and how it would evolve throughout the gameplay turns. This would be reflected through the objects that the player can select at the beginning being objects of industrial revolution. This is because in my research I found that the majority of western cities grew in the 19th century bringing economic power. This allowed cities to build more houses and generated more demand for road infrastructure.

This process of development with be replicated in the game with the player selecting industrial factories and terrace houses. This will build up the income of their city so that the city can afford to purchase more expensive sustainable technology.

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Blog post 10 | Outcome | Developing the Gameplay outcomes

It was important that I further develop the gameplay and give depth to challenges. This was vital because the player can just place objects within the creation world and the perspective will automatically increase providing there is sustainable objects such as solar panels or wind turbines. There needed to be several different gameplay scenarios which will provide several winning and losing states to the game.

I did this through creating an economical system which dictated that the player has to use fossil fuels technology such as power stations and factories to gain income before using renewable sources. The system that I created ensured that the player has got to balance the values with the demands that are required in a city that can be met with fossil fuels. This was designed to highlight the issues that modern city planners have and suggest solutions to the player.

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