The aim of the project is to make an avatar customization system, that can be easily implemented into any game, and a demo game to showcase the system and how it works.
The avatar customization system will be used to help with the diverse player base being found within the games industry. The ways that a diverse audience can be catered to with a character creation system include: the ability to choose pronouns; gender; hair style; hair colour; skin colour; and many more.
The System
"What we need is an accessible and scalable avatar customization tool to use in our future projects. This tool should come in two parts: a customizable user interface for character creation and a data structure that the game can use to derive what the avatar looks like."
"Attention has to be paid as to how your custom character tool can be integrated into a game from a workflow point of view. Consider how artists can easily add assets to be used by your tool and how that information could be used in the game."
What needs to be done for the system:
Code a system that is easily editable and can have assets read into easily.
Choices made by the player during the character creation need to be easily readable during gameplay and stored somewhere that can be accessed at all times. For example, a pronoun choice will need to be read into all dialog within the game.
A template UI will need to be made that can be used as a template in any game's demo during creation that can easily be replaced with a more personalized design for the game it's in at the time.
The system needs to be designed in a way that someone using the code can easily add another customization option in the system without having to write a whole new section of code themselves.
Ways to choose
Depending on the customization option, there may need to be a different way to customize than just a slider. Sometimes, for options like hair style, there may need to be a selection of choices on show in a table to choose from instead of going through options. This lets you see them before applying them to your character, making selection easier.
In addition, an option like pronouns is an ever expanding field, people like to come up with their own pronouns sometimes and this can be catered for by making this field be a write-in field instead of a choice. Unfortunately, in a game with voice overs, having a write-in field that can have literally anything in it will be a problem as there won't be recorded lines for every option. In this case the options will have to be limited to a selection of the more popular ones, like She/Her, He/Him, and some like nya/nyas (cat girl pronouns).
The Demo Game & What I Plan To Do
Character customization is becoming a common element within RPG games, and so the best way to showcase the full potential of the system is to make a demo of a RPG game that uses this system. Options, such as pronouns and gender, can then be mentioned within dialog between the player and NPCs, as well as between two NPCs that the player overhears talking.
With the limited time frame to develop this game concept and system, the best option would be to make a 2D side scroller RPG. However, instead of making it a pixel game I want to design it similar to other 2D games on the market, like Super Neptunia RPG and Child of light.
Both of these games are examples of 2D RPGs that are designed with a unique style. Super Neptunia RPG has a smoother and anime-like design, while Child of Light has a stylistic, fairy tale style design that replicates old fairy tail paintings.
For the game idea, I'd like to have a stylistic design for the backdrop, level, and characters. Currently, I'm not sure on a set design, but I'd like to have the design reflect the setting and story of the game. If the game is set in a fairy tale world, a design like child of light may be more appropriate, while a simple fantasy world would have more of a Neptunia look. The target market and audience can also have an impact on the design choice of the game. If the target market is a young demographic then the design would need to be more appealing to that audience.
The gameplay of the game will also be similar to these games, with NPCs in towns and places to, talk to with dialog boxes, and enemies in the field that can be fought in combat.
Already, the game caters to a niche audience with it's 2D platformer-RPG design, so possibly adding turn based combat may be a bad approach if this was a commercial project. However, as this is simply a task to create a character creation system and a game to show it off, I'd like to have some creative freedom to design a game that I like.
Playboards define what the player needs to do in the gameplay to advance further on in the game, and what features will be there for the player to interact with. It shows how the game would play out in the player’s perspective, but also adds in additional options for the player to take, for example, if the player needs to go a certain direction or needs to grab a certain item, or if the player needs to fight enemies, or solve a puzzle etc.
Playboards give information to the level designing department, as well as those in charge of programming the game, so the level designers get a clear idea of how to structure their level, and the programmers get a clear idea of what they need to code in to make sure the gameplay is running as intended.
Presentation
What's needed in the presentation:
The Character Creation system (foundation of the game, UI, Code)
Design Ideas (RPG, Focus on making a few zones, Turn-based Combat,) *
Production Plan (what needs to be created, the team, how it will be planned)
Playboard (gameplay features)
Storyboard (World building)
Mood boards (Used to help designs for world, characters, and UI)
Reference Images (Similar Games and Other Character Creation systems)
Sketches (designs for characters, UI and town/zones)
* Reference images and mood board may be included in this zone
Presentation: