Background Story:
Jacob, Bella’s cunning werewolf friend, has grown tired of constantly living in teenage-vampire Edward’s shadow. Mad with jealously and hormone-fueled rage, he decides to steal Bella away. Edward must use his wit, craftiness and ability to sparkle in bright sunlight in order to vanquish his annoyingly-muscular foe and return Bella to his side. In the course of this game, the player must navigate Edward through several themed levels in pursuit of his adversary, gaining new powers and tussling with Jacob along the way.
Game Setting/Rough Levels:
The game begins in Edward’s high school, where the protagonist (through his convenient ability to read minds), hears that his beloved Bella is trapped in the woods and under duress. Rushing to her side (and navigating a maze of violent jocks, pitiless popular kids, and cliques of Bella’s nerdy friends), Edward finds that Jacob is in the midst of making off with his love. After a brief battle, Edward must pursue Jacob through the woods, feasting on deer and fighting off Jacob’s werewolf buddies as he goes. After finally catching Jacob, another showdown ensues, but Jacob is again able to escape, leading Edward into Port Angeles, WA’s seedy downtown, where he must contend with violent thugs and more tasty deer before reaching the outskirts of town, where Jacob mounts his trusty motorbike and takes the chase to the beaches and cliffs surrounding Forks. After another fight, Jacob finally evades Edward, fleeing to Italy with Bella and taking up refuge in a castle owned by the Volturi, a creepy clan of powerful vampires with a strong distaste for Edward and his family. Unperturbed, Edward gives chase, resulting in a final showdown with Jacob and the eventual salvation of his angst-ridden beloved.
The actual levels will be roughly as follows:
- Edward and Bella’s high school
- The woods outside Forks WA
- Downtown Port Angeles WA
- Beaches and cliffs
- The cathedral in Jacob’s castle
Game Mechanics:
The game itself will consist of platform-jumping with a side scrolling frame. Each level’s platforms, background, etc. will be themed for that particular level (i.e. tree branches for the woods, rocky outcroppings for the cliffs, etc). The emphasis of the first level will be on escape; after this, each level will follow a format in which there is a themed enemy (werewolves, thugs, Italians, etc.) which Edward must battle as he proceeds. At the end of each level, Edward will fight with Jacob, leading up the climactic showdown at the game’s conclusion. After each level, Edward will also gain a new vampire ability; thus, the range of possible attacks available to the player will increase as the game progresses, adding interest.
Since the first level will focus on escape, it will emphasize dexterity and acquaint the player with the game’s controls; once the player completes this level and gains his/her first vampire ability, the emphasis will transition to firepower, although the platform-jumping aspect will be preserved. Cut-scenes between each level will advance the plot. The motorbike portion of the third level will incorporate new sprites for the main character and perhaps different physics or a faster pace, but again the platform-jumping requirement will still be satisfied, with the player jumping Edward and his motorbike from platform to platform rather than jumping with Edward himself.
The protagonist will begin each level with a certain number of hit-points; being injured by an enemy (bitten by a werewolf, stabbed by a thug, scoffed at by a cheerleader, etc.) will reduce these. If the player loses all their hit-points, they will return to the beginning of the level they are currently playing. Deer will serve as power-ups; eating them will increase the player’s hit-points. During each boss battle (following each level), the screen will cease to scroll, and the fighting mechanics will change as the player squares off against Jacob. Jacob will become increasingly hard to vanquish as the game progresses; however, the player will also have new vampire abilities after each level, so this will serve to keep the game balanced. The player’s hit-points will regenerate at the beginning of each of these boss battles; if he/she loses to the boss, the boss battle will restart, but he/she will not have to complete the entire level.
Our general aesthetic will be dark and moody, in parody of the material we’re working from. This will be reflected in the character sprites, the level backgrounds, and the game music, which will be original, and will incorporate emo/techno styles.
A Quick Note on Copyright:
Since we’ll be borrowing a lot from the actual Twilight series here, it’s worth briefly mentioning the grounds we feel we have to claim fair use. Firstly, this is a non-commercial game, and as such will not affect Stephanie Meyer’s ability to make money from her work. Secondly, this is project has an educational character, and so is covered on those grounds. Finally, and most importantly, this is a parody, which is another category of derivative work which enjoys protected status. So take that, American legal system!
TODO:
- Resolve velocity vectors
- Figure out why sound takes 1-2 seconds to play after hitting a wall
- Fix screen size issues
- Add more awesomeness
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