One aspect to my concept I am still unsure of is the Investigating part of gameplay – or more specifically the best application of camera angle. To try to find the best solution, I played several successful “point and click” / puzzle titles.
The first game leans more on the puzzle side of things in Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. In the game you are placed into the world of a new spirit who does not know who he is or how he died. A mysterious figure begins to tell him that he has until end of the night to answer these questions or he will disappear forever. To aid him in his quest he has the ability to go back in time four minutes before someone’s death and possess and “trick” objects to help them avoid their fate.
The game itself makes use of the touch screen feature of the Nintendo ds, with the player having to scrape along the surface of the screen to travel between objects and manipulate them. The game operates as a puzzle in itself. The player can only stretch a small distance to travel between objects and otherwise must make use of correctly timed actions to move further (for example by activating a blender and a table top fan, and then travelling to a nearby scrap of cloth tied to a pole, the fan then creates a wind which blows the cloth up the pole like a makeshift flag. At the top of its flight the player can then move across to another item that would have otherwise been unreachable). The game operates like this throughout, with the four minutes before death sequences adding a level of suspense and quick reactions to play – while still offering a player certain routes at certain times (ie: going through a large portion of the scene not being able to move before at the final countdown, three seconds before death, something will move and the player will have to execute very quick actions in time).
Aside from the innovative gameplay mechanics, the style and camera angle was something I picked up upon. The game is stylishly presented for the low pixel restrictions of the Nintendo ds system and is essentially a 2D side scroller. Yet in every environment there are a number of individual objects available for easy access to the player. Furthermore, by allowing the horizontal panning system to be controlled by the directional buttons and not be restricted to the player, it allows for panning around the screen (at points being Essential to the success of a puzzle) which is something I might consider for my own game.
Note: the platform of the Nintendo DS is looking increasingly suitably for my concept – with many games that offer much more substantial plot for lack of graphical power residing in the Nintendo DS library. Furthermore successful similar games clearly equal a market and audience for that within the DS gamer. Furthermore, if the type of gamer demands for a next generation console like the PS3 or Xbox 360 are considered, those are that which my concept would simply not meet (photorealistic graphics, multiplayer, an established brand, “shoot-em-up” or “action RPG” gameplay). Finally Point and Click is just not suited for a conventional controller, and touch screen/ mouse controls would offer the player a much more fluid experience.
One issue with the designing for the DS is that it would undoubtedly have to be almost exclusively for that console due to the Dual Screen and touch screen features of a DS title.
http://cdn-thumbs.viddler.com/thumbnail_2_7af97228_v1.jpghttp://www.vgchartz.com/games/pics/ghost-trick-phantom-detective-675716.jpg
http://www.gamepad-dojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/GhostTrick02.jpg (06/10/2011)
No comments:
Post a Comment