Month: August 2017

Game Concept

• PLAYER OBJECTIVES

As mice hide from AI/NPC cat and find items on your way to the cat in order to level up and better fight the cat. As cat find and kill AI/NPC mice on your way to the final showdown in order to level up and better fight the player mice. Once done fight each other in an arena.

• GAME MECHANICS

the game would play like Dark Souls meets Evolve with procedural levels. The single player would consist of going through the levels and collecting gear to fight the cat and then having the option to fight and AI cat or a player cat. Alternatively you could play as the cat hunt AI mice through the levels and then have the option to fight AI character mice of player mice in the arena. Players would also have to option to jump right into arena fights between the cat and the mice with set gear.

• CHARACTERS AND KEY OBJECTS

Guinevere: She is a healer. She can use long range weapons as well as heal the other mice. She has average attack and health but moves slightly slower, but makes up for it by being able to attack from long range as well as heal. She is the only one that can use bows and crossbows her other weapon is a small dagger used to do small damage and light stuns. She can heal from up close or far away but the closer she is to the other mice the more she heals. She also has a power to heal herself and gain armor to absorb one hit ala Quen from The Witcher, although she can cast that spell she has no normal block and the armor has a cool down. She should prioritize keeping herself and the other mice a live as oppose to killing the cat. All her skills revolve around healing. She cannot dodge.

Weapons: bows, crossbows, small dagger, healing staff                                                   Skills: long range heal (the closer to target the more it heals), healing touch (recover large portion of health), revive (4 uses), armor spell (can be used on anyone),                                                                                                                                         Attack: medium 5/10                                                                                                             Defense: medium 6/10                                                                                                         Health: medium 6/10                                                                                                               Speed: slower 3-4/10                                                                                                                    Range: high 10/10

Cadbury: Has the highest attack but lower health, he is the only one that can use the magic sword. He can use a small shield. He is more of an assault class. Because he can use the magic sword he can stun the cat as well as do much more damage, he should be one of the main characters use to kill the cat. His block will mediate some of the damage done by the cat. His dodge is the only thing that can be used to avoid damage. All of his skills revolve around damaging the cat. He also has a skill that can increase damage to a certain area of the cat depending on where he attacks. His magic sword is the most powerful weapon in the game.

Weapons: Magic sword, small sword, blessed axe, small shield, potion                      Skills: axe throw (throw axe and increase damage to cat in that area for a short amount of time but weapon must be recovered), Magic hit (attack the cat with magic and do a large amount of damage), dodge, block, follow my lead (attack the cat and increase damage to cat in that area for a longer amount of time)       Attack: high 10/0                                                                                                                    Defense: lower 4/10                                                                                                                    Health: lower 4/10                                                                                                                       Speed: medium 6/10                                                                                                              Range: mid-close 5/10

Little Francis: Moves quicker than other characters but has less hit points. Would be smaller so he would be able to find more items in small nooks and crannies. He has the best dodge and the fastest attack speed and movement but can’t take a lot of hits. He is very much a hit and run character even though he does not have a lot of attack power his attack speed more that makes up for it. He can climb faster and farther than the other mice and is the only one who can climb on the cat. He can also string together multiple dodges. He also dual wield weapons to increase damage but cannot block.

Weapons: swords, axes, daggers, small weapons, potions                                               Skills: dodge, ghost (fade out to avoid all damage and escape but cannot attack, has a long cool down), flurry (attack one spot many times incredibly fast, mixes well with axe throw and follow my lead),                                                           Attack: low 2/10                                                                                                                       Defense: medium 3/10                                                                                                         Health: low 3/10                                                                                                                        Speed: incredibly fast 10/10                                                                                               Range: close 3/10

Gilbert the Elder: Can open locked door and chests as well as find hidden routes, hiding spaces and rooms. He has higher attack and much more health but moves very slowly due to surviving so long in the castle. More of a tank. He is the only one that can use the horn which is the strongest mouse attack in the game and can be used to stun the Cat or do a lot of damage. His other attacks are more short to mid-range attacks that don’t do much damage. He can use a bigger shield. He has the most health and can attack from mid-range with spear or similar weapon. His shield can absorb a large amount, and he has a very short dodge. His horn is the most powerful item in the game and has two uses, one will cause an army of ghost mice to attack the cat and do a large amount of damage, the other will summon the army to stun the cat for a long amount of time. He can hold a lot of weapons that can be thrown but must be recovered in order to use again.

Weapons: spear, halberd, long axe, large shield, horn, potion                                         Skills: block, throw, Horn (stun and damage), dodge                                                  Attack: higher 7/10                                                                                                             Defense: high 10/10                                                                                                               Health: high 10/10                                                                                                                     Speed: slower 2/10                                                                                                                 Range: high 5/10

Max the Magnificent: Boss character, moves and attacks slowly and has a wide range of attacks. Telegraphs before each attack. Can use tail to stun but won’t damage. Can attack with paws and bite to gain some health. He also has a pounce that does area of effect damage.

• GAME WORLD

Looks huge compared to characters would be a castle and the mice would hide from the AI cat while the find weapons and items using their various skills. The weapons found would change the fight with the cat. As the cat the player would hunt AI mouse to increase their power and health. The level would be procedural parts of the castle and the battle would take place in an arena.

• GAMEPLAY HIGHLIGHTS/HOOKS/FEATURES

4 player Dark Souls like combat in an Evolve like arena. RPG/loot elements. Single and multiplayer.

• INTENDED AUDIENCE AND HOW YOU WILL APPEAL TO IT

Those who like the style of Dark Souls but with to play with and against more people, as well as those who want single player in multiplayer centric games

• GAME STYLE/PLAYER EXPERIENCE

Evolve meets Dark Souls with procedural dungeons.  Where the boss can be played by another character and the mice would be played by four different people and they would use loot the found on the way to help fight the cat.

I think it would be really cool to explore the castle from a mouse’s point of view.

Story: You are a mouse living in a grand castle. Life is good until one day when the queen discovers your friends in the kitchen. Scared, the queen enlists the help of a cat (Max) as an exterminator for her rat problems. However, Max is lazy and sends out minions (TBD) to do his dirty work. The minions prove to be effective and are slowly getting rid of all the mice in the castle. You must destroy the minions, scare Max away, and save your friends from death.

Game Play: The player will play as a mouse on a quest to defeat Max. During this quest, the player can explore the many rooms of the castle in search of weapons and upgrades. However, the player will also need to defeat the minions that Max sends out to destroy him. There will be a final boss fight between the player and Max.

Player Objectives:
Defeat the Final Boss (Max)

Game Mechanics:
Exploring – explore the castle and find new weapons/powerups
Fighting – fight minions that Max sends out, fight final boss Max

Characters:
You would play as a Mouse on his quest to defeat Max

Key Objects:
Weapons – sword and sword upgrades
Key – only this key can open the door that leads to the horn
Horn – which summons warriors for a duration

Game World:
This would take place among the many floors and rooms of the castle

Gameplay Highlights:
There will be clues of a secret weapon, the horn
Finding the horn and using it to summon warriors

Game Style:
This game will draw a lot of inspiration from the book art

Audience + Experience:
Ages 10+ for an easy and fun game
Not a lot of experience needed

View post on imgur.com

Royalty Restoration

By Will Suriner

Concept:

The Royal Mice is about a large group of rodents that live in the princess’ castle, what I wanted to do to the story is to change the premise of it so that the mice are now on their last legs and are fighting to prevent their extinction.

For my game, I was thinking of making a point and click adventure game with a gothic feel and art style, where making the right decision is crucial to the survival of the mice. It will have a dark and musty color scheme and feel to it, as well as a horror aesthetic.

 

Story:

Max the Magnificent has been slaughtering the mice of castle one by one. However, due to the sheer amount of mice in the castle, the princess has now hired multiple cats to take out the mice. Cadbury, one of the mice queen’s right hand men, is on a very important mission, to get the sword and the horn from the chamber high in one of the towers. This will be their end game, but the trek there won’t be easy.

Max and his squad of mice murderers will do anything to help out their queen, which means ruthlessly track and kill mice as soon as they get the chance. Cadbury must travel up the castle through a multitude of rooms to get to the top and unleash the army of the undead upon Max and his squad.

 

Characters & Key Objects:

Cadbury will be the mouse you will take control of in this game, but other mice may be able to assist you in your adventure.

Other characters will include Max and his squad, which will be the ones you will try to avoid. Some other characters will be small side characters that will give advice on your way to the end goal. These characters are Guinevere the mouse princess, Filthy Francis the young trouble maker, and the Grand Gilbert the Eldest and most wise of the mice.  There will be some other mice you will meet along your journey that will be introduced later in Cadbury’s adventure.

Key objects are both the sword (sword of the dammed) and the horn (hades whistle). These are crucial to help Cadbury summon the dead and help drive out the cats that are now in control of the castle. There are going to be some other objects that will help you along your journey, but are not required to finish the game.

Game play:

This game will be a point and click adventure where your decisions impact the end of the game, and on whether you finish the game at all. The intended audience would be for anyone that is a fan of gothic and dark style games (ex: Dark Souls/Bloodborne, Limbo, Inside), and obviously for anyone who likes point and click games. The player should get a sense of dread and emptiness when playing this game as well as a lingering fear of the predators constantly trying to track you down.

Mock up of a room/ scene:

 

 

“The Scourge of Aleria” is a game about ridding the once beautiful kingdom of Aleria from the rats and diseases that came with them. In the opening of the game, the player is introduced to Queen Diala and her animal kingdom of Aleria. It is a beautiful, sprawling, technologically advanced city, until approximately 5 years before the time of the game when a huge infestation of rats moves into the city and overpopulates, driving most other inhabitants out of Aleria or into the rich district. In the 5 years after the invasion, the city has fallen apart into a steamy, polluted, overcrowded, and messy dump.

You play as Max, a cat of the Queen’s guard who has been training since a kitten to protect the queen. After a near fatal attempt is made at the queen’s life, you are tasked with ridding the city of these horrible rats with any means necessary. As the game goes on, the player will meet other characters in the city who aid Max, make him new gear, and train him with new abilities. Towards the end of the game, the rats will retaliate on the queen, and Max will have to defend Diala with other members of the queen’s guard.

The game will be set in a large open-world style city with various districts. The main elements of the game are stealth and mobility. Max can climb and run up, along, and inside almost all buildings and landmarks. When he gets near rats, trails of smell will hint the direction of the rats. If max can approach near a rat undetected he can perform a surprise assassination. If the rats notice Max due to hearing him run or seeing him, they will scurry to a hiding spot. The players must then chase after the rats, avoiding obstacles, and accurately running after them if they hope to catch the rats. As the game goes on, rats will begin to arm themselves and travel in groups for protection. Players can set traps to ambush these rats, use environmental damage to harm them, or choose to fight rats in the open. Players will have to chain together attacks and use various skills in these fights. Various crypts of a legendary cat warrior named Gallaford are hidden around the city. Gallaford was a member of the first queen’s guard centuries ago. These crypts all contain remnants of Gallaford’s legendary sword and horn, which the player must eventually collect in Zelda-like dungeons and have put back together to fight back the rats in the final act of the game.

I wanted to explore gameplay as the cat rather than as the mice, so the player had a sense of power and able to hunt enemies. I wanted an open world for the player to play in for more varied choices and better player freedom, and decided to change the setting from just one castle to a large city (run by the queen in the castle.) Most story elements from the book are kept, but rearranged (such as the sword belonging to an ancient cat rather than an ancient mouse.)

PLAYER OBJECTIVES: Sneak and kill rats while avoiding detection.

GAME MECHANICS: Climb and run around the city, stealth assassinate targets. Fight using abilities and weapons. Solve puzzles in Gallaford’s crypts.

CHARACTERS AND KEY OBJECTS: Max, Diala, Gallaford’s legendary sword and horn

GAME WORLD: A large, steampunk themed city with a dirty, grimy color-scheme except for the rich district which remains white and gold with palaces and parks. Different areas in clude the mill, the waterfront district, the city center, the slums, the industrial park, the rich district, and the Royal Palace.

GAMEPLAY HIGHLIGHTS, HOOKS, FEATURES: Non-linear gameplay, freedom to roam around, various side-quests. Fast-paced action. Enjoyable dungeon puzzles.

AUDIENCE: Teen and higher, violence and language suggest games for kids around 15 or older. Patience and skill for sneaking around and mastering the controls also requires a slightly older audience.

GAME STYLE/PLAYER EXPERIENCE: “The scourge of Aleria” is intended to give players control over their experience. You can either take the game stealthily and deliberately, or chase and fight enemies. New skills and gear, and changing enemy tactics give the player a sense of progression.

 

I intend to adapt the book to make an RPG. To maintain focus on the plot rather than point based level up stat systems, the leveling up will be behind the scenes. The game will be played from the perspective of the mice, which means that the size of the world around them will be comically exaggerated. The game will follow the mice from the introduction of Max the Magnificent into their home to when they chase him out again (the final boss battle).

Player objectives

The ultimate player objective is to secure the mice’s spot in the castle. This requires defeating Max. In order to do this, the player must first learn of the existence of the magic sword and horn and then go on a quest to retrieve them.

Game mechanics

The game will be played in third person while following around the character of Cadbury. The world will be fairly open for exploration, but the story will not advance until Cadbury achieves the necessary objectives. In order to do so, he will have to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.

Characters and key objects

Cadbury: The main character and the mouse that the players control.

Guinevere: Mouse royalty and the love interest for Cadbury.

Gilbert the Elder: The oldest, wisest mouse among them. He tells them of the existence of the sword and the horn.

Little Francis: Young mouse who stumbles across the secret room where the sword and horn are kept.

Sword: Half of the magic duo to summon the ghost mouse army.

Horn: The other half of the magic duo to summon the ghost mouse army.

Ghost mice: Deceased warrior mice that aid Cadbury in defeating Max.

Queen: First boss and the catalyst for inviting Max into the castle.

Max the Magnificent: Final boss and primary antagonist of the game.

Game world

Exaggeratedly large to emphasize the smallness of the mice. The game takes place entirely in and around the castle. Key locations include the kitchen where the final battle takes place and the tower and room where the mice find the sword and horn.

Gameplay highlights/hooks/features

Play as a mouse! Summon hundreds of mice warrior ghosts a la Lord of the Rings! Fight a cat with your ghostly army!

Intended audience and how you will appeal to it

It’s based on a children’s book, so the game should be kid friendly, but it should still be fun to play for people of all ages. To maintain the appeal for children, the style will be cartoony and exaggerated. Additionally, Max is now a vegetarian, so all the mice he captured were actually caught and released.

Game style/player experience

The environment and characters will be stylistically exaggerated to add to the cartoony nature of the game. The goal is to ensure that the player experience is fun and enjoyable without getting too heavy.

Jack Riley

While it’s unsurprising that a children’s book has shallow characters and a morally simple plot, I’m interested in how “The Royal Mice” would look with more depth. This adaptation seeks to add that depth, as well as a neutral perspective from which to view the story’s events.

In terms of gameplay, the game would be an exploration based platformer. The player would control an unnamed mouse who observes the events of the book. The player would have to navigate rooms of the palace and avoid various dangers in order to witness the story unfold. Depending on which areas the player visits, they will see different the story’s different facets.

There are a few ways to add more depth to the game’s characters, as well as a bit of moral greyness. To start, rather than being purely heroic Cadbury is arrogant. Him acquiring the sword and horn will lead not only to the mice living safely in the castle, but also to him ruling the mice with the power of the summoned ghosts. Additionally, if the ghosts are summoned to fend off Max, they will slay the cat rather than scare him off, making the mice’s “salvation” more unpleasant. Further filling out the “pure evil” Max is the fact that if he fails to rid the castle of mice, the Queen will have him killed. Lastly, despite her cruel treatment of Max, the Queen gains some depth from the Royal Mice spreading deadly diseases throughout the castle rather than just being a nuisance.

The player will also be able to affect the story through the actions they take in the levels. For example, the player could find the sword and horn before Little Francis and choose to use it for their own goals rather than hand it off to Cadbury.

The ultimate goal of the game is to modify the story of “The Royal Mice” so that the overall plot stays the same, except for an ending determined by the player, where no choice is wholly correct.

 

Player objectives: Navigate levels to witness the story and affect it, avoid being caught by enemies and traps.

Game Mechanics: Classic platforming elements (jumping, running, etc.), a system of hiding from enemies.

Characters and Key Objects:

The PC– a nameless mouse who can observe or change the events of the story.

Cadbury– The loud and arrogant leader of the mice. He believes that only he is fit to properly lead the mice, and will go to great lengths to secure his power. Although his hubris might get him in trouble, he would not willingly endanger the mice he seeks to rule.

Guinevere– A noble mouse who’s currently being courted by Cadbury. She doesn’t care who’s in power as long as the mice are safe. She is willing to do anything to preserve them.

Little Francis– A young mouse who is dazzled by Cadbury’s charisma. He wants to emulate the ‘heroic’ mouse, and is always looking for ways to impress him. Aside from his hero, however, he is often caustic and rude.

Gilbert the Elder– A mouse of exceedingly advanced age. He has not grown this old through chivalry, and will use the knowledge he has gathered over the years to preserve himself above all else.

Max the Magnificent– A mighty mouse hunter summoned to rid the castle of mice. He will mercilessly kill any mouse he finds, partly out of the fear that if he fails to do so he will meet a similar fate.

The Queen of All You Can See– The queen of the kingdom, she has become horrified by the sickness spread by the castle’s mouse infestation. Saving her court from this threat is her top priority.

The Sword and the Horn– A legendary knight’s sword and hunting horn, hidden away in the walls of the castle. Blowing the horn will summon a host of ghostly mouse warriors, while the sword grants its wielder the authority to order the host.

Game World: The castle of the Queen of All You Can See. It consists of lush chambers, bustling kitchens, cold stone hallways, blustery castle parapets and other castle features.

Gameplay Highlights/Hooks/Features: Observing and affecting a new take on the story of “The Royal Mice”, platforming through storybook-style levels, discovering different sides to the game’s events through exploration.

Intended Audience: Older audiences, specifically those who can appreciate the story’s new moral ambiguity.

Game Style/ Player Experience: The game’s artistic style will be similar to the original’s storybook style. The player experience is designed to make the player think carefully about how they want the game to end, and wonder afterwards if they could have made a better choice.

 

 

 

My game is going to focus on the catch-and-run between Max the Magnificient and the mouse spirits. The gameplay of the game is basically a parkour game like Subway Surfers and Temple Run. In the Royal Mice Parkour (working title), the player will play as Max the magnificent and try to escape from the gathering of spirits.

In my game, the story is gonna be dark and creepy. After Casbury summoned the army of the spirits, death spread throughout the palace and almost all the living things are turned into zombies, ghosts, and monsters except Max the Magnificient. He must find a way out of the palace before it’s too late.

There will be boss battles in which the player will stand against special and strong spirits and even the princess who’s infected by the spirits and turned into a ghost. The art style of the game will be dark and creepy in which the spirit army of the mice will be depicted as zombies, ghosts, and monsters.

• Player objectives

The player will have to survive as long as they can in each level and fight the boss at the end of a level. Through the escape, the player can pick up different collectibles to upgrade Max the Magnificient.

• Game mechanics

The game is a traditional parkour game with boss battles. In the game, the player has to dodge or conquer obstacles to reach the boss battle. Through the escape, the player can pick up different collectibles to upgrade Max the Magnificient. In boss battles, the player has to dodge the boss’s attack and pick up different weapons to fight the boss.

• Characters and key objects

The main character is Max the Magnificent who’s controlled by the player.  And there are several types of enemies in the game. The most common one is the weak spirits who gather and run after Max the Magnificient. And there are several bosses. Some of them are strong spirits who have special abilities, and some of them are the servants and ministers in the palace who are infected by the spirits and turned into zombies and monsters. The final boss of the game is the princess who’s also infected by the spirits.

• Game world

The game happens after Casbury summoned the army of the spirits. Death spread out in the palace and almost all the living things are turned into zombies, ghosts, and monsters except Max the Magnificient. The game takes place in different places in the palace.

• Gameplay highlights/hooks/features

The game is a traditional parkour game with boss battles which are not common in parkour games. Also, the art style of the game is terrifying and creepy. The mix of these elements will make the game interesting to play.

• Intended audience and how you will appeal to it

The intended audience is parkour game lovers and horror game lovers.

• Game style/player experience

The game is somehow hardcore since parkour games are usually not easy not mentioning boss battles. The player will need to spend some time on the game to win it. Besides, there are going to be jump scares in the game so the game is quite intense.

• Concept Art

Hello, welcome to my mini portfolio.

• High poly 3D sculpt

• Low poly 3D model

• Photoshop collage or other multi-layer composition

• Digital painting
• Drawing

• Animation

• Games

http://users.wpi.edu/~fmo/finalpuzzlecover.html

 

Since the story of “The Royal Mice” focuses on a large population of mice living an extensive castle, my goal for a game to capture this story will be one akin to the Pikmin series. The gameplay will thus focus on resource management and strategy, but will still have lots of action elements. The player would control a large group of mice to accomplish certain tasks specific to the level.

The levels would consist of different areas of the castle, such as the kitchen, bedroom, tower and so on. Each level wouldn’t be relegated to a single room, but would contain the rooms surrounding that central key room. Each level’s objective would be related to the area. For example, if it is the kitchen level the goal would be to gather enough food for the mice to live off of in hiding, and the tower level would be about navigating to the top to retrieve the sword and horn.

Gameplay-wise, the player would be in control of a single mouse, who in turn would be guiding the whole group. The lead mouse would be Cadbury (since he is the one who uses the sword and horn). Most of the mice Cadbury is leading would be generic, but there will be special “units” that can make up the group. Little mice like Francis are more nimble than the regular mice, and are used to retrieve resources quickly. Elders like Gilbert are excellent at rousing speeches and will give the whole group a defensive or offensive buff. Additionally, once the sword and horn have been retrieved, spirit-mice can also be added to the group who have much greater attack power.

The group can be split up and assigned to different tasks in the level, much like in Pikmin. There will be food lying around the level which can picked up by the mice and used to heal injured ones. Key level items can also be picked up, such as a doorknob which can be used to open a door. The mice can be used to attack objects to break them; glass jars can be broken to retrieve the food inside. The mice can also be grouped to attack enemies, which can range from weak cockroaches to full on cats. These enemies have the ability to take out mice in the group, so the health of the mice must be taken into account. If the player needs more mice, there will be mouse-holes throughout the levels where more mice will spawn. These mouse-holes are a limited resource though, so they must be used wisely.

The game will be targeted to younger audiences (probably 9 to 13-year-olds). To make the game appealing, it will have a colorful art style that emulates vector art (flatter colors). Thus, the art will be more cartoony. To minimize the violence, enemies and mice will die in little puffs of smoke.

Created by: Casper Cox

High Concept:

How Max Became Magnificent is a quest-based exploration game in which the player controls Max, an average young housecat, as he goes on a journey to save his hometown from being ravaged by mice. Along the way, he has many opportunities to change his reputation in the eyes of his townsfolk, fellow cats, mice, and his owner; the more things he does well, the more magnificent he becomes.

 

Story:

Everyone knows the tale of Max the Magnificent, a cat who, at an unfortunate fault, was bested by the royal mice of the Queen of All You Can See’s castle. But what no one knows is how that cat, formerly just known as Max, became so magnificent in the first place.

Several years before the occurrences at the Queen’s castle, when Max was just a kitten, there was a mouse infestation in a forest-trapped village. The Queen thought she had it bad with the royal mice, but her problems were nothing compared to this. The mice had overrun everything. Houses were filled with them, food storages were picked clean because of them, and illness was rapidly spreading from their presence. For a while, no one stepped forward to solve the problem, and because the village was surrounded by dangerous forest, word for help could not spread past the trees.

Within this unfortunate village lived Max and his owner, Franny. The two were very happy together until the mouse incident, but even through the start of the infestation they were doing fine. However, by autumn Franny fell ill. She could no longer move about their cottage, and could not take care of herself or Max. Because the mice had gotten to nearly all of the food, Franny and Max were beginning to starve as well. When Max saw the condition that his dear owner was in, he knew that he had to do something. Max remembered seeing something about a magical horn in Franny’s books; a horn tucked deep inside the heart of the darkest part of the northern forest. Although the woods around the village were filled with peril, he, with Franny’s encouragement, ventured out to find the horn, hoping that in doing so he could save his village, and, more importantly to him, save Franny and make her proud of what he had done.

Max traveled deep into the woods to find the horn. He met a handful of other creatures along the way, including a master mouse-catcher named Stella, a guilty rodent named Robin, and a far-too-dancey frog named Ripple. He won each of them over with promises and his kitten charms, and managed to bring the magical horn back to his village. When he reached the village, it was nearly too late. Everything was in shambles, and the townsfolk were on the brink of moving out – a dangerous feat because of the perilous forest. Max blew into the horn with a great breath, and produced a wind strong enough to blow all of the mice away. Max rushed to his owner Franny, only to find that there was no helping her at this point. She was still alive, and very proud of her Max, but they both knew she would be passing soon.

After Franny’s passing, Max, now known by all in the village as Max the Magnificent, left his hometown to find a new purpose in life with the hope that he could be seen as truly magnificent in someone else’s eyes, just as he was seen through Franny’s.

 

Player Objectives:

The main objectives of the game are to go on quests, both fetch quests and battle quests, in order to increase Max’s reputation, get him a step closer to saving his home and Franny, and to become Max the Magnificent.

 

Characters:

Playable Characters:

The only playable character is Max. He’s a fluffy kitten with a patchwork of spots on his fur. His claws are dull and need to be trimmed, and his tail droops downwards with very little motion to it. He has lived most of his young life up to this point in fear of the mice which terrorize the townsfolk of his home and steal all of the food. Once his owner becomes deathly ill, Max realizes that something needs to be done and travels through the dangerous forests surrounding his home in order to find a magical item. More than anything, he wants to save his owner and make her proud.

NPCS:

Franny is Max’s owner. She is old and frail, and, after the mice stole most of their food, deathly ill. She’s also a retired herbalist, and has tons of books on magic, plants, and enchanted items scattered around her house. She motivates Max to gather courage and save the town, promising him that she’ll be proud no matter what he does. In Franny’s eyes, Max has always been magnificent, he just needs to see it himself. Franny survives until shortly after the mice have been chased out of the town, which is when Max packs up his life and finds another person to make as proud as he made her.

Stella is a tortoiseshell cat which Max meets in the forest. She is tough, courageous, and well-versed in chasing mice out of towns. However, she is old, and cannot go with Max to help him; she is able to teach him some of her tricks, though.

Robin is a mouse which Max meets near the item he seeks. Robin does not approve of what his rodent-kin have been doing in Max’s hometown, and agrees to help Max reach the item so long as Max will try to do as little harm to the mice as possible.

Ripple is a large frog which guards the wind horn. He is joyful and loves dancing. Much to Max’s dismay, in order to earn the trust of Ripple, he must set up a stage and perform a dance for the frog.

 

Key Objects:

The main object in the game is a magical horn which, when blown, produces a great wind. The horn is crafted from silver, and has intricate carvings of puffs of wind around its end. Max hopes to use this horn to blow the mice out of his home.

Other key objects are bundles of food which the mice have stashed away in the forest. The more food that Max gathers, the better off his town will be once the mice are gone, and the better Max’s reputation will become.

 

Game Mechanics:

The game will have a few different mechanics, namely fighting, quests, and exploration.

For fighting, some sections of the forest which Max must travel through are crawling with enemies – both mice and other small creatures. Max must get past them, either by defeating them or sneaking past, in order to progress.

Quests will be the most significant method of story and world discovery. There are fetch quests and fighting quests that Max must undertake while on his journey. The main quest of the game is to find the magical wind horn to save Max’s town. Other quests include finding food, finding objects to gain NPCs’ trust, and fighting enemies to protect NPCs.

Exploration will take place when traveling from quest to quest. As the player explores more of the forest with Max, they’ll discover hidden paths which loop back to other areas, and might also uncover hidden stashes of food to take back to the village.

 

Special Gameplay Features:

The main gameplay feature is that the things Max does while on his journey to save his town will affect his reputation. If Max goes against his word and harms a lot of the mice after receiving the wind horn, he’ll have a bad reputation with Robin, and with some of the townsfolk, but a better reputation with characters like Stella. If he puts more effort into merely blowing creatures away, he’ll have a better reputation with smaller animals like the mice and frogs. Different combinations of actions will result in a higher reputation, but, no matter what he does, he’ll have a good reputation with Franny, and will forever be seen as Max the Magnificent in her eyes.

 

Art Style:

The art style for this game is going to be a mix of the original art style of the book and a more cartoonish style in order to keep the game fit for its target audience. The colors will closely reflect the book’s style with some of its more vibrant tones in certain areas, but will have natural enough shades to accurately represent the main forest setting of the game.

Genre:RPG

 

Target Audience:

The intended audience for How Max Became Magnificent is ages 10 and up. It will have a few darker nuances, especially with the story, but kids around this age should be able to catch on relatively quickly. The game will appeal to this audience through its range of gameplay types, storybook characters, overall story, and light bits of humor. Violence will be minimized by any defeated creatures turning into small clouds of dust. Think Cartoon Network’s Over the Garden Wall for the sort of feeling this game will produce; this game will have lots of similar traits, but in interactive game form rather than as a show.