http://imagecache2.allposters.com/image ... LC5041.jpg
Outline:
The game is supposed to be a 3-D platformer starring a female humanoid robot with detachable hands/gloves (more on that later). Whereas most block-based games limits the number of blocks to those provided, the protagonist in this game can create an "infinite" number of blocks spontaneously. Different hands (or gloves) creates different sort of blocks. The first hands creates a standard block where each face's texture is a copy & paste of the background, similar to the one portrayed in Magritte's artwork. I was also considering a "Santa's hands" which allows you to generate a transparent present box that can carry small objects.
The goal on each level is to make it to the end of the level, indicated by a large, elaborate door.
Story:
I have none
. Just kidding, but it's still a very bad one. I originally intend the game to be about experience than complexity, so bear with me:They game begins with the protagonist waking up in a flower field, mute and amnesiac (I know, stereotypical). The first few courses she'll travel are all dream-like landscapes, but as she progresses further, each course starts hinting aged, artificial parts (example: a part of the sky has a tear in it, revealing it's just a wallpaper). The last level is factory level I'm dubbing as "Android's Hell" (I think it's copyrighted, so I'll need a better name soon). In the factory, a few news clips reveal that robots with ability to create things spontaneously are against the law of nature, and must be destroyed. Naturally, the protagonist escapes from the dreaded destruction, but when she opens the level's exit, finds herself standing on a rusted, abandoned oil extractor in the oceans.
I believe the levels should portray the story, using sing sign posts and such only as clues to the big picture. The story and the levels doesn't have to make sense, but it should still leave an odd impression to the player.
Art:
Again, I want this to be a surreal game. I LOVED how Tim Schafer portrayed the "MIlkman's Conspiracy" in Psychonauts ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF7aIWxfgnA -> spoilers!), and wish to convey the same, eary feeling in this game as well. Unlike Psychonauts, though, I'd rather have the environment (mostly) devoid of intelligent life, and instead have the levels speak for itself.
Some level ideas I had:
1) flower field and curtains, similar to Mother 3
2) Gigantic Christmas tree, put sideways
3) MC Escher's Relativity, except each door leads to a coliseum
4) Life-size Jenga in a tall library
5) Android's Hell. This is supposed to be the last level, and also the only one that seems realistic. It's a garbage disposal where decapitated clones of the protagonist are thrown in a furnace. Since the protagonist is a robot anyways, the whole level should look mechanical and tainted red for mood.
Note: I'll expand this section once I get my scanner acting up.
Also, I have no experience with 3-D modeling and animation, so any help with that is greatly appreciated.
Music:
Embarrassingly enough, I still like Pachebel's Canon D. It'll be great and disorienting if the majority of the courses were filled with soothing music like Canon D. Of course, parts like the coliseum and Android's Hell should have battle music and stuff, but otherwise, mostly calm music.
Gameplay:
The game will be portrayed in 3rd person. The player's motion will be controlled with WASD or directional pad, while the camera with the mouse.
Basic actions are:
1) Make block/Lift already-generated block
2) Throw block (aiming with mouse)
3) Cancel block /Destroy block. This can be utilized either when facing one, or holding one.
4) Jump
5) Read signpost/interact with NPC
This will be similar to Pikmin's controls, although the camera part may have to be tweaked.
I'm debating about adding push block, but that may end up more confusing to implement.
Risk:
On the programming side, It should be pretty obvious from the description that the game is incredibly memory intensive, and demands a lot of physics calculations (blocks can be stacked on top of each other). Additionally, 3-D games tends to be extremely time-consuming.
Tools:
For programming:
I use Linux. Usually, this spells trouble to Windows users. Fortunately, most of the tools I'm using are going to be Visual Studio compatible. Language will be C++.
For graphics, I plan to use Ogre3D. The downloads page has an installer for Visual Studio, so that should be taken care of.
For physics, I decided to drop ODE, in favor of Bullet. The library contains a Visual Studio 7 solution, which is troubling.
For controls, I'm using the Ogre-dependent OIS.
I'm still searching for a sound library. May consider OpenAL.
I also plan to use CMake, which generates Visual Studio project files for Windows, and Makefiles for linux.
And for project sharing, I'm using Git with ssh. It's pretty complicated to use, and I apologize for selecting such a confusing version controller, but one feature it does nicely is branches. The repo is currently private (non-sharing), but I'll make it available to you guys as soon as I've got the CMake files cooperating.
For Art:
I prefer using GIMP and Blender, because I'm penniless. I can already sense outrages going on, though....so, "Photoshop and Maya."
On the Programming perspective, though, You have to export the files to make it compatible with the code. As such, you'll need to install the Ogre Exporter tools for your 3-D models.
For 2D images, while I don't mind downlading PSD files, I won't be able to open them. As such, we need those files exported to PNGs as well (this may be subjected to change).
For Music:
Unless there's a need to change, I prefer OGG or FLAC. My decision is validated here, though: OGG (lossy) sounds better than MP3 with the same file size, and FLAC (loss-less) compresses better than WAV.
I'm planning to get started once summer strikes, and work on it incrementally. I mostly want to get the physics and graphics solid first, so a lot of time will end up just learning to program with Ogre (graphics) and Bullet (physics).
.