The Great Migration: Concept Document

Jessica Holtom(14091224) - Andrea DAcunzo(14065746) - Samuel

Dutson(14036622)

Introduction

Summary
A historically inaccurate graphic adventure that retells the story of The Great
Migration, with a satirical and humorous tone. Players explore each level,
collecting objects for various missions and gathering journal pages for the
furtherance of the story in this point and click adventure game.

Abstract
The game is set during The Great Migration, from 1630 until the end of the 17th
century. You play as John, a deluded English gentleman, recently betrayed by his
fiance. He decides to leave England and travel to the New World. The game will
alternate between open-world gathering levels, in which John must find and
acquire the necessary goods to achieve his current goal (building a house, help
constructing the town walls, assisting various characters in their adventures,
etc.) and side scrolling platform adventure style levels. The subject of each level
will be inspired by actual historical events, but with a slightly distorted and
sometimes humorous perspective.

Target Audience
Our demographic is aimed at 15-25 year olds. Younger players may enjoy the
humorous tone of the interaction between the protagonist and the narrator, while
older players may enjoy the inaccurate retelling of the historical events.

Platform
The game is being realized for PC platform using the GameMaker engine, but it
should be easily adaptable for mobile gaming.
We have already found more than one guide on how to use GameMaker to export
games for the Android platform, but this platform adjustment has not been
implemented as of yet.

Selling Points
The focal points of our design will be aimed at creating a humorous and fun play
experience. We are looking to keep the atmosphere of the game as a light
hearted and funny adventure. This will serve as our main selling point, and
everything from the story to the art style is being designed with this goal in
mind. The game will follow actual historical chronology and this will allow for the
game to retain an educational value alongside its entertainment purposes.
Mechanics

Controls

The game uses the W,A,S,D keys for directional movement and a mouseover
function combined with the left-mouse button for interaction with objects. We
took inspiration for the play mechanics from Monkey Island, Lucas Arts, 1990.

Controls for a mobile version of the game would obviously include swiping left
and right and tapping, encompassing movement and interaction, respectively.

Win/Lose States

At the moment, we are looking at including a lose condition that occurs when the
players health hits 0. This would result in the game being over. For this iteration
of the game, when the player defeats the giant turkey, the game has been
completed. We have not yet implemented a health mechanic as of yet but we
are looking into the best way to introduce this feature into the game.

We have also included a feature where you have an interactive relationship with
the Narrator, drawing inspiration from The Stanley Parable, Galactic Cafe,
2011. The narrator will inform the player when he has made a poor choice or
when the story line is to be changed due to Johns habit of exaggerating the
facts.

Level Design

There are two kinds of levels: open world gathering levels and side-scrolling
platform levels.
The ship levels will be the main focus for the side-scrolling levels. These will
concentrate on the story of John and his travel across the Atlantic Ocean on the
Arabella, as well as serving as a springboard for a game play tutorial.

The basic chronology of the story will begin with King Charles I and Archbishop
Laud expelling the Puritans from England and banishing them to the New
World. It then shifts to a location in the port where you will be introduced to the
protagonist of the story, John. You will follow John on his journey on the Arabella
to the new world where you will encounter the following quests.

The Ship level will have three parts:

Arm yourself (Tutorial level)
Training with:
Cannons and muskets VS Spanish Armada soldiers.
(Cutscene)
 Wooden pole VS seagulls. (Room Change)

Resist the storm (Main Ship level)

Bring water to the sick. (Mini Quest)
Empty the buckets. (Mini Quest)
Secure the loose crates. (Mini Quest)
Feed the crew (Main Quest)
Bring food to the crew and listen to the gossip they
share about the other passengers. (Secret mission: to discover who
has stolen the captains cat, General Meow.)
Report to the captain.

Once you report to the captain you will be informed that land has been spotted
and you should prepare yourself to dock at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts Bay.

The Port level:

Home Sweet Home (Main Quest)
Gather materials from the forest to construct your
home.
Converse with the Natives.

This is where the level design will change to an open world environment with a
faux pas 3D mechanic, inspired by Dont Starve, Klei Entertainment, 2013.
Here you encounter the Native Americans, who are angry with you for chopping
down their forest. After you complete the building of your home you will trigger a
cutscene informing you of a disturbance in the forest, which you are required to
investigate.

The Forest level:

Hostile in Nature (Main Quest)
Investigate the disturbance in the forest.
Defeat Big Chief Wampum.

Here you will enter into a Boss Fight with the Native American Chief, whom,
after a clarification from the narrator, transforms into a giant turkey. The game
will finish here for the time being, however we are leaving the storyline
incomplete so as to allow for further development.
 Example of Faux Pas 3D mechanic in GameMaker.

Concept

Visual Style/Language

The aesthetics of the game will center around a cartoon feel, with inspiration
taken from Time Squad, 2001. We intend to maintain elements of historical
accuracy portrayed through caricatures of major historical figures and locations.
Character Design

Despite having an anachronistic storyline, we believe that having period

appropriate clothing would add to the authenticity of the game. We tried to keep
the clothing as historically accurate as possible, while still retaining some of the
playful whimsy of cartoonification.

Weve gone for a playful animation style for the aesthetics, accentuating the
features of the various characters for comedic value. I.E. Making a
royal/aristocratic lady have a snooty personality and a short, stout appearance.

Character sprites:
Carrying a Barrel
Holding a Musket
Shooting a Musket
Holding a Stick/Pole
Swinging a Stick/Pole
Crouching/Ducking
Holding a Scroll/Journal Page
Walking
Carrying a Log Stack
Carrying a Hatchet
Swinging a Hatchet
Holding a Lamp

Screenshots

These are some of the preliminary screenshots of the game. The skulls represent
seagulls (moving enemies that you have to click with the left-mouse button to
defeat). This is a temporary image of a ship model as the background, this will
be modified later on to better fit with the cartoon theme. You navigate through
the ship using basic side-scrolling platformer mechanics. Moving near interactive
objects prompts a message to appear explaining what type of interaction is
necessary. (I.E. Moving past a barrel will trigger the message pick me up to
interact with it.)

Assets
We will be creating a multitude of level specific assets, however, some
assets may be re-used for more than one level where relevant. (I. E. Seagulls and
barrels will appear more often.)

Ship Assets
Crates
Barrels
Oil Lamps
Sheets
Ropes
Candles
Clay Bowls
Pewter Mugs
Poles (Wooden)
Poles (Iron)
Sacks (of Various Items)
Buckets
Cannons
Cannon Balls
Iron Pots
Wooden Planks
Bottles
Nets
Rats
Seagulls
Muskets
Journal Pages
Quill Pen

Village/Port Assets
Buildings (Tavern, Warehouse, Market Stalls, etc)
Water
Piers
Ropes
Crates
Barrels
Sacks
Street Lamps
Cobble stones
Dirt Paths/Patches
Buckets
Mugs
Bottles
Rats
Seagulls
Nets

Forest Assets
Trees (Green Foliage)
Trees (Red Foliage)
Bushes
 Grass
Leaves (Green)
Leaves (Red)
Rocks
Boulders
Logs
Sticks
Dead Trees
Flowers
Woodland Creatures (Fox, Deer, Birds, etc)
Large Male Turkey
Dirt Path/Patch

Audio

Audio

The audio features for the game are currently still in pre-production. We are
looking at utilising a sea-shanty-esque theme for the soundtrack to all of the
Ship levels. We would also like to create a score that invokes tension and is a
thrilling accompaniment for the weapons tutorial, as well as any other battle
sequences we may implement. We were also looking to use public domaine
compositions that are period appropriate, but possibly adding an undertone of
modern pop or rock style music to make the ambience more relatable for the
player.

We intend to record voices for our characters and we believe this will bring more
life to the characters as individuals, setting them apart from each other in sound,
as well as looks. We believe this will make it much easier to convey the context
of the dialogue as well as the tone of the communications between characters.