Design Proposal

Group #12

Group Members: Trey Harper, Phillip Ryan, Daniel Trazzi

Game Title: Captain Chemistry!

Game Tagline: While the world is being threatened by an evil mastermind who is destroying all the chemical compounds on Earth it is your job as Captain Chemistry to fly through the city collecting the various elements to make basic compounds and restore order to the world.

Game Synopsis:

Overview: This game is education themed focusing mainly on chemistry and will make learning chemical compounds unique and interesting. The game will provide fast paced quick on your toes gameplay that at times could be a little stressful and tense. At the end of the game the player will be satisfied from a gaming standpoint while most importantly learning something new in a fun way. You are Captain Chemistry flying through the city and the goal of the game is to collide with elements to form basic compounds such as sodium chloride,NaCl. If you collide with elements that don't make the compound that is asked for then you will lose points. There will also be various obstacles that will come in your path. The object of the game is to correctly pair up as many compounds as you can without making an incorrect bond.

Gameplay Description: The player will need to click or release the mouse button in order to make Captain Chemistry move up and down to combine the appropriate compound. While the player is moving the character up and down there will be elements that can be combined that will not create the compound that is being asked. When this happens, penalties will be accessed to the player's score. The screen at times will be filled with all kinds of elements that make the game progressively become harder to navigate to what element is desired. The main game mechanic will be making the character move up and down by clicking and releasing the mouse button.

Control Interfaces: The game will be in side-scroller format, such as Super Mario Bros., with the only control being a mouse click. Captain Chemistry will float in space and by either clicking or releasing the mouse, Captain Chemistry will either rise or fall. The screen scrolls to the left with multiple other elements coming from the right of the screen. There is a section to the left of the gaming screen that will display what compound is needed to be made, the score for the round, and also previous compounds that have been successfully made. 

Rules: (1) Make correct compounds (2) Don't make incorrect compounds (3)Make as many pairs as possible (4) Watch out for birds and trash

Scoring/Winning Conditions: The player will continue to play as long as they manage to create the right compounds in a row. Failure to make the correct compound will result in a decrease of points. Flying into an object such as a bird or trash will result in automatic game over and restart if desired.

Point System:

Making the correct compound: +100 points

Making an incorrect compound: -150 points.

Hitting an object: Game Over

Concept Art

Deliverables:
By week 10, our group will have a fully functioning video game that provides players with fun and engaging game play.  The game will be able to entertain the player for up to ten minutes if not longer. While the game will be fun it will also be educational and be used as a possible learning tool.

Technical Activities:

The major tasks of the project include making a strong hearty game. 

Movement:

In order to do that one of the most important mechanics behind the game will be the movement of captain chemistry throughout the playing field. The mechanic that will be used to navigate him is my the clicking of the mouse to elevate the captain. He will automatically fall from the position once the mouse is not being clicked. The captain will move at a constant increasing speed that is pre-defined in the programming. The user has no control of this aspect. 

Interaction:

The second most important aspect of the game is the interaction with other objects in the program. There are multiple items that the captain can interact with and each interaction brings upon its own reaction, creating an extensive game mechanic in that aspect. The first interaction is with the surrounding cityscape and birds that have the reaction of ending the game and killing captain chemistry. The second interaction, with the most possibilities  is the reaction of captain chemistry with other molecules to create useful elements. This will be difficult because not only will the current molecule have to be stored but the next touched molecule will have to react with the first one and create a score addition or subtraction, a animation in the compound chamber and start a new mission for a element. The combination of these reactions makes this the most difficult part of this game.

Scoring:

The final aspect of the game is the scoring and displaying at random or a predefined list of elements that will be sent and displayed to the user. The scoring as defined above will be added or subtracted by 100 and 150 respectively. The next aspect is to display a random element that must be created for that instance in the game. This also leads itself to the creation of random compounds and birds that will be create moving in the opposite direction of the captain that the captain either needs to avoid or grab. Once the random or predefined assignments have been made the game will only require some polishing of bugs and other additions to the game and we will have a finished product. 

Final notes:

The proposal of the above technical descriptions is based on the small experience that I have gained from the creation of our first video game that can be seen in the weekly progress page. The limited knowledge that I acquired during that process lead me to become aware of objects and instances that the game requires for it to work. I will further my knowledge of the program before the next week as described in the week by week plan. If any changes need to be made to this design proposal technically, they will be made. 

Division of labor: 

• Philip Ryan 
• Main programmer (has the most experience coding, is currently learning the language used in Gamemaker)
•  Concept development 
• Trey Harper
• Assistant programmer (has some experience with coding, will help when possible)
• Art Creation: has some experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.
• Concept development
• Blog Maintenance
• Daniel Trazzi
• Assistant programmer (has some experience with coding, will help when possible)
• Art Creation: has experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.
• Concept development
• Research (possible molecules, etc.) 

Weekly Schedule is as follows: 

Resources:

• Art and Visuals: Made using Photoshop and Illustrator 
• Programming: Done in Gamemaker Studio
• Sound: Will be done in Audacity (a freeware sound editing program)
• Communication: GroupMe messaging, E-Mail
• Publicity (when needed): Done using Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit

References:

• BBLearn, Gamemaker Studio Tutorials