Newsletter 2 – neuraltone

This week was productive, as we brainstormed several game ideas that fit our client’s needs. Our brainstorming style works well for our team; we each came to the meeting with a set of ideas and we took turns throwing them out to the group. Maintaining a laid-back and friendly atmosphere was essential to making this process work. In the end we had 6 solid ideas to take to our client. Read more about that on page 2!

We also took turns sketching out some logo ideas. Here are some of the best.

Our brainstorming session was heavily guided by the goals out client had for us. Specifically, it must be naive user friendly, sound must play a predictive role, and it should be easily customized. To that end, we pitched these six ideas and came up with some concept art for each.

Ideas:

1. Whack-a-mole
Sounds help predict where the moles appear.

2. Connect-3 Ball Dropper
Like Tetris or Dr. Mario, colored balls drop in from top, players control where the balls drop from. Sound predicts which color ball is coming next.

3. 2D Lane Game
Like space invaders, enemies approach from the top of the screen in predefined lanes. Player ship at the bottom can move left and right to shoot the enemies. Sound helps predict which enemies are coming next.

4. Side-Scroller Action Dodger
Player is on the left side of the screen and is moving right through the level. Player can move up and down (gravity could be adjustable,) and is attempting to dodge obstacles that approach from the right.

5. Radial Shooter/Collector
Player is in the center of the screen and can rotate. Enemies approach from a ring around them in different lanes. Player must shoot (or collect) enemies before they reach the center.

6. Deep Sea Adventure
Essentially a re-themed version of the existing game. First person viewpoint, player is a deep sea diver lowering into the depths. Enemies are fish that approach and must be either captured or destroyed.

After pitching these ideas to the client, we had another meeting and determined that we will build prototypes for three of them:

1. 2D Side Scrolling Dodger

2. Radial Shooter

3. Deep Sea Diver

With these ideas picked out, we’re ready to move onto our prototyping stage. This coming week we hope to have 1 or 2 simple prototypes done by Friday. We’ve also been thinking that we may have gameplay to show off my Quarters, which would be an opportunity for good feedback.