Aesthetics

Simple

The visual design of Flux will be minimalist. I've always been a fan of minimal design and impressed by those who do it well. I'm currently the only artist on this project, and will have to keep things as simple as possible to finish it. If form follows function, then this design approach makes the most sense to me. Just as the game design for Flux is a reduction of larger ideas, so too will the visual design be a reduction of a larger visual pallet. Simple and elegant.

Here are a few examples of designs that I think do this very successfully.

And speaking of design, this is one of the better explanations I've heard on design:

Flux

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, no one thinks of changing himself." 
                                                                                          
                                                                                             -Leo Tolstoy

Flux is a game that explores the idea of change, and how we as individuals react to it.

The idea for Flux came from a larger game idea that I had a few years ago. Being too large to make with the limited time and resources I have, I've tried to extrapolate the key elements of this idea into something smaller and more achievable.

 

Avatars

In most avatar based games, the state of the avatar is binary, he is either alive or dead. For the most part, the state of the avatar does not influence the structure of the gameplay. Once you are dead, you simply wait until you are alive again to proceed with the game. The avatar might level up, gain additional powers, increase his health, or pick up new weapons, but his objectives are largely still the same. In Flux, I would like to explore what kind of gameplay can happen by changing the state of the avatar, and how that affects his objectives and strategy.

Gameplay

• Flux is a single player game where you play as one of three shapes; a circle, a square, or a triangle. At the beginning of the game you start as a circle.

• As the player, your shape is equipped with a shooter.

• There are 2 types of bullets that you can shoot; red bullets and green bullets.

•  As a circle, you can shoot both red bullets and green bullets.

• As a square, you can only shoot red bullets.

•  As a triangle, you can only shoot green bullets.

• When hit with a red bullet the shape will devolve into the next shape down.
• When hit with a green bullet the shape will evolve into the next shape up.

• A circle will devolve into a square, a square will devolve into a triangle.
• And back up the chain, a triangle will evolve into a square and a square will evolve into a circle.

 

 

Objective

• At the beginning of each level you will be given a pattern of three shapes.  As a player, your objective is to make the shapes in the play area match these shapes, known as “target shapes”.

• You must do this by navigating your shape and shooting the other shapes to match the target shapes.

• This will be a timed event.

• You get points based on how quickly you match the target shapes.  

Platform

Flux will first be designed for the iPad. As resources and time permits, it would then be developed for the iPhone, and android devices. It could also conceivable be developed for the pc, and consoles.

Mechanics

• You move your shape around by a small virtual joystick at the bottom right of the screen.

• You shoot bullets by using 2 red and green buttons on the bottom left of the screen.

• The mechanics should be iterated on to get the most simple, natural and functional feel.

• Feel is very important in this game, being an animator, I want the movement and motion to feel smooth and clean, using fundamental animation principles to achieve this.

Gameplay Prototypes 

The player will start the first level as a circle equipped with a shooter. The two other shapes will not have shooters. Their movement will be driven by a constant velocity as they bounce off each other and the walls of the level.

 

 

As the game progresses, the other shapes will also be equipped with shooters. They will still be driven by physics at first, but will eventually be driven by smart AI, that will chase the avatar and the other shooter.

Introducing Change

As the game progresses, various elements of change will be introduced to affect the player's state, and increase the degree of difficulty. Some of the elements that would be changed might be:

• Level Maps
• mazes
• obstacles
• traps

• Addition of colored shapes
• Special Weapon pickups
• Color bullets, changing the color of the shapes
• Shields to protect other shapes state
• Grenades

• Smarter AI
• Bullet deflecting walls
• Ability to make walls appear or disappear
• Additional target and player shapes 

At any point in the game, you can shake your mobile device and one or more elements of your gameplay will randomly change. These changes might include 

• Change to your shape as a player
• Change to other player shapes
• Change to the level map
• An explosion of colored grenades on the gameplay area
• A change to the target shapes

Here we go

So that's the basic idea of Flux. As with most creative endeavors, I'm sure this will change into something very different from what I originally imagined. But look here for any updates and progress as we try to develop this game.

Introduction

Flux is a game that I'm developing as my master's thesis project at the University of Utah. This blog will serve as a production journal, design document, and a place to post any thoughts, ideas, inspirations, and anything else that may come up during that time.

My name is Allen Stevenson, I'm currently a graduate student at the University of Utah's Entertainment Arts and Engineering program, as well as a full-time Animator at Avalanche Software in Salt Lake City. We're about to release Disney Infinity, and after a lot of hard work, frustration, inspiration, and overtime, we're all very excited to see how it will do. It's a great experience working with such talented people, and on such cool properties.

In addition to being an animator and student, I'm also an adjunct instructor at the Art Institute of SLC, and teach part-time in their Animation and Game Design programs. To top it off, we just had a new baby boy a month ago. Life is very busy and the decision to start a master's program in the middle of all this is an interesting story itself, one that I might go into later.