Game Document Only Flashlights Defeat Projections

Project Name  “Only Flashlights Defeat Projections”

Programmer: IndieManiaC (https://indiemaniac.itch.io/)

Music: Allen Opperman (https://soundcloud.com/alleno-1)

Graphic Designer/Art pattaq (https://www.facebook.com/colorfolcomics/)

Designer: zettovyker (https://www.youtube.com/user/zettovyker)

Design Start Date to Submission Date

December 1st, 2017 (Due Date January 2nd 2018)

Design Start:   Dec 24th

Development Start: Dec 25th

Planned Submission: Monday January 1st

Actual Submission: January 1st 1130PM

Competition - https://itch.io/jam/minimalistic-jam-2

Most games have some really dope pixel art but that isn't always necessary for you to make a great game. The goal of this jam is to focus more on game mechanics than art.

Requirements:

⦁ The game must be made within the allowed time period

⦁ No nsfw

⦁ If you can have an html version of your game that would be great :)

⦁ Have fun and don't worry to much about ratings

Art requirements

⦁ All the colors throughout the whole game combined shouldn't be more than 10

⦁ Each sprite should not contain more than 2 colors

⦁ Particles should not contain more than 2 colors at most

⦁ Each texture/background should not contain more than 2 colors

⦁ Music and sound effects should also be minimalist(nothing to crazy or over the top) but that is up for interpretation

⦁ In general all the art in the game shouldn't be to detailed

⦁ No pixel noise

⦁ You can use transparency to some extent

⦁ Gradients are allowed but no more than 3 objects/sprites/backgrounds in total with a gradient and the two main colors from the gradient count towards the 10 color max.

One Sentence Pitch

One finger death punch meets a light hearted tale of a child fighting shadows with a flashlight.

Scope Statement

What features do you definitely want to include, and not want to include?

Currently In scope: [Remember that everything is up to change and discussion]

⦁ Minimum graphics

• (as many objects can be represented within the same 10 colors)

⦁ Core game mechanics

• One finger death punch, aka one button interact in a direction

Out of Scope: (many limitations are due to time restrictions and our inexperience)

⦁ adding depth to game

• Skill tree systems, experience, levels,

Story

A child on their way to kitchen for a drink of water finds herself terrified of the darkness in the hallway. Her only defense is a flashlight that illuminate the projections of her mind and reveal what is truly hiding in the shadows.

Game Logic

Explain the rules of the game completely as possible, as you would to a human being.

The goal of the game is for the player to defeat the incoming enemies by shining a light when they are within close range to the player. The enemies will generally approach the player from two direction on a 2D plane (the left and right of the player). Once they get close enough the player will be able to shine their flashlight on the shadows and revealing the enemy to be a normal object (destroying them and rewarding points.)

One Finger Death Punch Reference video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDPDlPOBErM

Model/Coding

Explain how the game will work technologically. Include any mathematical models governing the system, all game modes, and explanations of all options within the game.

TBD

Aesthetic

Describe the look of the game.

The game has a semi-spooky theme but has a family friendly undertone. The colors are are light hearted, complimenting the tone of the game setting. Sticking to the minimalistic graphics, the art direction is hand drawn and childish.

Screens/UI
Describe the visual appearance of each screen

Sticking to a 10 color palette for the entire game is a big challenge. Many characters are forced to share the same colors with the screens which is where the shadow/illumination idea came from.

The main stage is simple purple hallway of a house with the player in the center. The score is in the bottom center and is not distracting from the action happening but still is an important element to put close to the players attention.

Level Design Ideas

• There were two ideas of where to take the game, one being a monk who caught leaves as they blew in the wind/were falling down. The other being what we went with (a little girl battling the shadows with a flashlight)

• The most likely different stages would be different rooms in the house, and changing the enemies to be relevant to what is in that room.

Controller

Explain how the controls for the game will work.

Controls are simply two directional combat. There are several button inputs that make the player shine light in the left and right directions respectively (the left mouse button (LMB) and the right mouse button (RMB), the “A” key and the “D” Key, the “Left Arrow” and the “Right Arrow” keys.

Players will have to wait for the enemies to get within ‘shining distance’ highlighted by the green bar next to the player before shining the light on the enemy and destroying them for points.

Shine the light to defeat the shadows!

Enemies have to be within the ‘shining distance’ to be attacked.

“A” Key - Shine light Left

“D” Key - Shine light Right

Left Arrow and Right Arrow Keys (or LMB and RMB) can also be used!

Important Links:
Trello: https://trello.com/b/mMLcFXdT/only-flashlights-defeat-projections
Crowd Forge Chat: https://crowdforge.io/jams/minimalisticjam2/teams/801/dashboard

Design/Creation Process

Document the overall process of creation for this project.

The main objective this jam was for all of us as first time game jammers was to simply create something fresh from scratch and literally combine the elements as much as we could.

IndieManiaC wanted to try his hand at making ‘one finger death punch’

Doof was going to aim for ambient yet scary/unsettling background Music

Pattaq was pulled in late into development to quickly sketch out some art to fill needs.

Zettovyker hoped to combine all the elements into a coherent story.

We were inspired early on by a joke. When searching for an artist in the Discord someone gave us a poorly drawn ghost and asked if that was acceptable. Being that we were open to ideas and direction we accepted, however the artist in question was not serious and could not join us.

Sharing that ghost image with the team did however say bring a smile to our faces and so we wanted to continue in that direction of a spoopy action game. After listening to Doof’s initial music files I found that we could honestly combine all the elements into something.

It being all of our first time doing this however, (and the event being hosted over two holidays, both Christmas and New Years Day) we worked at a very relaxed pace. In future jams, given more time to work directly on the project, there are more mechanics and depth that is possible to be added.