Resident Evil Zero

 

Originally a GameCube release, it later came out on the Wii with an added title of 'Resident Evil Archives'.

I looked into this game solely for the puzzles featured in it; the older Resident Evil instalments featured a lot of puzzles, which seems to have slowly faded away within the more recent games. I literally just picked one of the games from the series that I owned and played through to get an idea of the puzzles; I'm quite glad that I picked out 'Zero' as it utilized similar assets to a puzzle that are already present in RPG Maker, which are chess pieces. I won't be copying it exactly but it gave me a good idea as to the variety that I can potentially work with puzzle wise.

The chess piece puzzle involves having to push the piece around that fit with the smaller chess boards alignment, a basic idea but really effective when applied to a well thought out setting for it.

Another puzzle that really stuck out for me was the Animal statues.

 

"Six souls, imprisoned within the chains of death. Rekindle the

flames of life from the spirits of the weak!"

So the player must light the flames before the statues in order of their strength; each of the statues each have a riddle of sorts written on them.

The basic premise to this is triggering the switches in the correct order but with a riddle making it a bit more of a challenge.

 

These two puzzles in particular I'd like to try and integrate something like this into the technical report- demo on RPG maker, to see if it works well.

Selecting a character

13th November 2012

 

Our group met up in town to discuss our character creation process, once BA7 is submitted we want to know who was doing what. Particularly since over Christmas holidays it wouldn't be guaranteed that we'd be able to contact one another as easily as over term time.

We had already agreed that if each of us pick as character that we would like to design then it would cut down on the amount of different ideas that most of us would have; having each of us focused onto one character gives us a much better time frame to really refine that person. This did raise the issue that we were aware of to begin with; there are four main characters, but only three of us. We efficiently agreed that whoever was left would by default be a 'free for all' All of us would come up with ideas for the remaining one and swap ideas with one another.

 

We didn't encounter any issues with picking our characters; all of us were content with any of them.  I chose to work on the prince character- Aeron; Kyle picked Coste, the female detective and Jade chose Astra- the princes guard. This left us with Eli - the male detective as the 'free for all'. This also worked out nicely as all of us were happy to contribute to this particular character.

 

So now since I have an assigned character, my research for character orientated inspiration will be narrowed down considerably.

Supernatural

Supernatural

 

One of the subjects we probably drew the most inspiration from with the themes of supernatural detectives is the series 'Supernatural'. The series follows the Winchester brothers, who are supernatural hunters- following in the footsteps of their father; the catalyst for the story is the elder brother, Dean appears out of the blue to younger sibling, Sam (Who had separated himself from the 'family business' to live a normal life), informing him that their father had gone missing on a hunting trip.  The two spend most of the first series looking for their father; meanwhile travelling around solving various cases on their way.

 

 

http://www.geekpeeks.com/2011/04/23/supernatural-6-17-my-heart-will-go-on-review/

 The setting is in present day America; so the concept of ghosts or demons to the 'normal' people is extremely sceptical. The two face a lot of difficulties when explaining themselves; most of the time they rely on pretending to be officials for information retrieval. Or in the occasion of murder cases, to actually gain access to the information - obviously since it would be restricted from public. This is something that we have thought to apply to our 2 main characters; with them pretending to be part of the organisation (a bonus being that the male 'Eli' was once a part of it.).  Unlike with our two characters; the Winchester brothers are so close as they are essentially the only family they have, most of the people they encounter either meet unfortunate ends which re-enforces their relationship over the course of the story.

With the sources of supernatural activities and mythology; it has a wide expanse of different origins- from modern ghost stories to ancient Hindu and Buddhist mythologies- the example being Rakshasa -known as 'man-eaters'. It is impressive how they've integrated in such a variety of different myths and legends into the storyline; while still pulling off a modern twist. As the series has progressed the most dominant source of supernatural beings in the storyline is biblical, eg: Lilith, Lucifer; even angels such as Uriel. For the most part in the story as a whole it remains central to Demons in particular; so it hasn't strayed far from its common theme despite how long the series is.

Relationships and conflicts

The relationships and conflicts between races

As my focus for my research report will be revolving around internal and external conflicts I really wanted to cover this in our teams fabrication of our world; it wasn't big stretch for us as we are all dedicated to focus on the creation of our game.

 

Leo and Capricorn: They are the main conflict that we have thought up. There has been a long standing power struggle of sorts between them. Capricorn's element being Earth and Leo's fire; they are both the strong elements, which worked well for their conflict- at least for the deep rooted reason. Leo's kingdom is essentially the Capitol of our world; they are at the heart of the industry. Capricorn's kingdom is a bit less inclined for the push forward with development; Unlike Leo they also have reigning Monarchs.

The power of strength and prosperity over royalty.

 

Gemini:  The most secluded race, they have very little to do with others. Hence this there is next to no conflict between them and anyone else. The most contact they have had between different communities is Pisceans and Aquarius; not often.

 

Aquarius and Pisces: There is a long running history between these two races, due to Aquarius fishing around the Pisceans waters there were some disputes; nothing to cause a major conflict however.  They have made the agreement that the Aquarius had designated fishing spots away from their home,  and the two can work together to provide for the sea faring economy.

 

Aquarius: They provided a strong resource to the economy and prefer to avoid conflict where possible, mainly as it would interfere with the work.

 

Pisces:  Some do consider themselves a more advanced race, other races also see them as interesting prizes to acquire. This is not a major issue to the community much anymore as kidnapping and keeping Pisceans have been outlawed. They are peaceful and rarely see the concern for conflict towards them.

 

Scorpio: Desert folk, very few other races can manage to stay in such living conditions and because of this they don't have much to do with others. They are wary of visitors but they do no judge off the bat. Scorpios live in tribes across the desert, most conflicts with them have been between the tribes, so contained within their race. Some Scorpios make a living of acting as travel guides through the deserts as no one knows them better than they do.  

 

Aeries: Most of them are very airy fairy, some of them are more down to earth which keeps their community well grounded. No one daren't threaten Aeries not only because they are possibly the friendliest of all races, but they are the foremost of medical advancements. They have perfected the art of curing ailments and healing injuries; as a race they are relied on the most.

 

Libra: Similar to Aeries, they have not par taken in any form of disputes; but unlike them however, there is a general dislike for them in the bigger civilizations. Possibly due to their 'tree hugging' lifestyle and their attitude towards the other races lifestyle. Some do not recognise their ability of attuning to the world; Sagittarius do, but since the two prefer forested areas they have to deal with them a margin more. It is like a love hate relationship, they both irk one another, but they both have the forests well being in mind.

 

Taurus: Muscular, horned race; the Taurus were called on as help during the war as their strong build made them ideal for the front line. They are seen as one of the physically strongest race and for that is sometimes misread as being like savages. Taurus are not ill mannered unless provoked. They honed the idea of using trees for building and became well respected carpenters and builders across the land, it is also wrongly assumed that Taurus alone are the suppliers of wood; Sagittarius as also one to be noticed for their work.

 

Sagittarius: Centaur folk, they tend to stick close to the forested areas. They don't often see much other races; not actively, Sagittarius simply likes to stick to familiar land. Them and Taurus have a mutual agreement over their land; to ensure the forest is well kept and not cut down too much. They are noticed as somewhat of 'protectors' of the forest, due to their appearance particularly. In terms of any larger conflicts, the race has not experienced anything to a war-like degree despite being protective of their home. Sagittarius only shares their land with Librans, with the knowledge that they too have the lands best interests at heart; however it's only on a tolerable level, they aren't massively fond of them.

 

Cancer:  They are extremely secluded from other races, select few do live outside of their swamp land; this is all due to other races in the past using them to the point of slave labour courtesy of their multiple limbs it made them a very desirable dogs body. This eventually became apparent that they were being taken advantage of; so they revolted and instead of causing a conflict, most of the Cancer simply left with the refusal to be treated like this. Their home then later being the swamp lands. They are very stringent with visitors and generally don't display much fondness of them either.

 

Virgo:  Due to such a large population of this race, there have been a multitude on conflicts over history. They are dotted over, mixed with other races communities and even on their own; despite such a large degree of Virgo, other races are not really threatened by this in fact some believe them to be better than them.

 

After the war between Leo and Capricorn, to retain peace and good communication between the different races the council was formed. This is comprised of chosen authorities from their areas; despite that, there is very few members of the council.

The council.

-1 Leo

-2/3 Virgo, as there is so many of them they are so widespread, hence more than one on the board.

-1 Capricorn, not a royal

-1 Taurus

-1 Representative for the Sagittarius

-1 representative for Pisces and Aquarius

-1 Aries

Transmedia storytelling

Transmedia storytelling

 

Also called multiplatform storytelling; I will be looking at what exactly this is. This is a method of telling a story over differing platforms, while still engaging with the audience. As in writing for a book would not be the same as it would be for a film; the pacing would be too slow for a viewing audience as opposed to a reading one. The aim is to immerse the audience to the point where their minds do no wander off; which can also be applied to a gaming lifestyle, particularly RPGs, the entire basis of an RPG game is to immerse oneself into the storyline.

Basically you have your storyline, but expand it to something much less simple than that alone; multiple narratives with their stories, adding much more complexity to the mix. This is shown over differing medias, mostly it seems to be assumed that video games are the first to jump to with this, but it does spread to television and books etc.

As an example there is the lord of the rings trilogy, they have utilized the books over to film, which then bled over to games. All of which are still telling the same story but in a different media. The audience is immersed into the experience, similar to children pretending to be their favorite characters; this I suppose could also bring in fanart and fanfiction into this subject. The audience responds to their enjoyment of the story and characters that this is utilized in making stories and art with these existing devices.

Another example of transmedia storytelling would be the 'Star Wars' franchise. "...Captured that imaginations of millions of would-be jedi knights first through an approachable and classically structured story, and then through books, comics, animated films, games and toys intended to only to maximize profits. These extensions however, helped encourage fan immersion and involvement."  1. It is interesting that Lucasfilm was merely trying to make money on the franchise, but in so the immersion of this world became so much greater.  

Another interesting one is in Japanese modern culture you have the birth of 'cosplay' the person dressing up at said character and pretending to be them. 'Otome' and 'dating SIM' games, where the player is given choices over their love interests and so forth; to 'Drama CDs', this is not commonly seen over in western countries as such, it would be better known as a dramatic reading, it is voice actors of their characters of said story acting it out as opposed to just one person reading it.

In short this method of storytelling is heavily reliant of the immersion that the audience experiences.

Taking a look at Golden sun

Golden Sun

 

I have chosen to look at this particular Gameboy Advance game as it ticks a lot of the boxes that we are looking at in our game. The mechanics and graphics are pretty much the on the dot for what we are looking for in particular; I'll also be analyzing the character 'Alex' as he in particular I feel will give me a better idea into the inner workings of such a character; due to him being similar to our character The prince.  'Alex' is somewhat of the main antagonist, but unlike the traditional, he plays as a 'companion' to the party through the game.

Upon his first appearance in the game he is evidently sided with the antagonists who the party are hell bent on stopping  throughout the first instalment of the game. The main antagonists are two 'fire adepts' from the same home town, Saturos and Menardi, they are the most often seen and are clearly against you. They hold 'hostage' two of the protagonists companions, Jenna and Kraden. The final member is Jenna's Brother Felix, who was believed to be dead, but is now following the antagonists for reasons that are not mentioned until much later. Swinging back to Alex, it does seem like an odd group, why and how did he become part of this group? How is never clearly mentioned, but Saturos and Menardi trust him enough to be a part of the group.

Unlike them, he is a very cool, level headed character, with a bit of a silver tongue. In terms of combat, it is literally never seen from him save for one occasion at the start of the second game; which gives the example to the player that Alex is by no means weak, but simply, as stated by him "I do not wish to inflict unnecessary bloodshed.". This is further backed up by one of the protagonists that join that party, Mia; who is from the same clan and was taught the same abilities (Both are what is known as 'Water adepts'); she is baffled by Alex's ability to teleport at will- the most frequent example of his abilities. So even with the extent of knowledge that I have on this character there is literally so many unanswered questions about him; which I found quite interesting and actually quite logical- what is there to gain by telling people your secrets? He tactfully dodges questions that reach such subjects.

This does ripple over to the player over time, questioning whether they can truly trust him or not.

In the second game, you play as Felix and are this time working to the same end as Alex- which would imply that he would join the group. He ironically says that he works better alone but makes appearances over the course of the game; also seemingly switching sides yet again as the party is being 'too slow' and joins yet another group.

And this is all to meet his own ends of gaining the ultimate power and immortality. A pretty common motive for an antagonist; but his methods to go about it are what I love so much about this character. Our prince is along a similar strand of how he covers his true motives and plays to the fellow protagonists;  unlike Alex our Princes motives are childish and have a lot less grandeur to it; he also has plays a completely different facade to conceal his motives.

 

The mechanics and gameplay of Golden Sun is very similar to what we are capable of doing on RPG Maker, unlike usual RPGs with a side view battle screen -which is our aim for our demo; Golden sun has a more cinematic style of switching perspectives, from slightly angled behind the party to behind the enemies. Unfortunately with the amount of time we have, we aren't being that excessive with the battle system. Our main focus is the integration of elements of detective and puzzle work.

The Demo scenario and the general flow of the game

This is a basic flow chart of how the demo for our game will pan out. This will later be much more fleshed out and scripted. We just needed to know some integral parts that we hadn't initally considered, like the demos scenario for instance. In this we have fully planned out every game mechanic tutorial and also how the party joins together.

 

Flow chart

 

Starts with a scene of the latest abduction of children, which then skips to the pair of detectives reaching 'Braithemount', upon hearing rumours of children disappearances, and will o' wisps being the casue

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(Male)Eli tells (Female) Coste about the lead and to go see the missing child's parents

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She comes across some of the few children that are still okay, this will introduce the player into the bluffing system for them to find a lead on the case.

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When done correctly, the player will get a lead of the children seeing their friends going off to the graveyard late at night.

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Lead. Seek out the graveyard, only to find that the gates are locked.

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Coste doesn't see that as much of an issue and decides to scale the gate to go over it.

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She is stopped by the priest who catches her in the act.

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Talk to the priest, who mentions that the grave keeper keeps the gates locked a lot of the time. -(This is a red herring, but the player will not know this. The implication towards the grave keeper, however brings him in as a suspect.)

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Skips to the pub, the location of Eli (Male), he is talking to the pub owner and the others at the bar, one being the grave keeper. A fight breaks out over him correcting a double negative comment made by a thug who is egging on the prince(Eli obviously does not know who he is at this point)

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Queue tutorial fight. Prince flees just before the fight.

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Coste (female) comes in afterwards, who brushes off the scene as if it were normal. She informs him of what she had learned. The grave keeper being suspect

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Eli disproves the red herring as he points towards a pile of beaten men, said grave keeper being one of them. This brings them back a step and decides to give the graveyard a firsthand sweep along with the church itself as it is right next to it.

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As the two leave they spot the princes guard, Astra, who seems to be in a panic rushing through the village.

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They reach the church, it too is locked up.

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They give it a rest and decide to carry on tomorrow, the party go to the inn.

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During the night another child is missing, possibly one of the ones that they were talking to the day before.

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The duo talks about asking around over the priest, this is where the players information gathering comes into play, simply asking around the villagers over last night's events. A lot of mention over the church and graveyard.

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The prince overhears the conversation, as in intentionally. He zooms off to the scene with the intention of help, followed by the guard- who is trying to stop the prince from such 'tomfoolery' .

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Detectives now see this as a race, to stop civilians from butting into their work.

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Player races over to the church.

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The detectives reach the location a little later than the prince, but the main door is locked and neither of the two would consider breaking in.

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They, however are fine with this. The player works around the prince and guard, while avoiding getting to close to them; find another way in.

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Find a smaller side door, Coste boots down the door. The player is given a small opportunity to look around the room before the other two find their way in.

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The two pairs meet and reluctantly on nearly everyone's but the princes end, they team up.

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More examination of the room. The player will come across the door to the priests room.

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The door is locked in a peculiar fashion, Introduction to the puzzle tutorial.

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Upon achieving the puzzle the door unlocks, the player must find clues about the priest. - this will lead to an explanation and flashback of the priests motives. The detectives next clue leading them to the graveyard, that the children are being kept somewhere in there.

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Reaching the graveyard, the detectives warn the party of the hostiles about. -Basically that random battles will occur in this location.

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Examine the area, no one appears to be there. Checking the crypt, the player will find that it leads somewhere.

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This triggers a confrontation- in the form of a mid-boss, blocking their way.

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After defeating the boss, the player will come across a small dungeon to go through. Random battles will still be in effect here.

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The characters discover the children, the detectives block the prince and guard from leaping to their aid before quietly motioning to them. The children appear to be possessed. Detectives reach the conclusion that if the children spot them, that couldn't possibly work in their favour.

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Avoid the children while traversing the crypt.

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Reaching the end, they meet the priest, who is actually possessed by a malignant spirit with the control over will o' wisps. The spirit took a hold of the priest after the death of his daughter, using his grief to make him believe that the spirits ability was a gift.

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BOSS FIGHT

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The party resolves the case, bringing the children back, without mention of the culprit.

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The detectives make their leave, stopped by the prince who wishes to tag along. Astra (The guard) Steps them aside and asks them to help her take the prince back home. By doing so they will be rewarded.

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And since the two wouldn't turn down the opportunity for easy money they accept the offer. They officially become a party of four.

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End demo.