Till Death do us apart
Lost in death and Darkness
I was set on making my initial final idea premise for my final major project when suddenly another indie game came out with the title I thought of months ago. So with this matter in hand luckily I managed to change one word or so but just in case I came up with another game title "Lost in Death and Darkness" which from my research, this game title has not yet been taken and I managed to still keep the word "Death" in it. This is great as Death (who is one of the main characters), should be in the game title rather than Time.
Till death do us apart original idea paper document.
As the picture above shows, the original idea for my game was a sidescroller and the characters were very simple stickmen. The tagline for the game was "Be good & Be Bad". Child (the initial name for Time)could originally freeze timed events in the level. Death could also use his powers to kill "Skeltons" and he could put "Child" on his shoulders to reach higher ledges, he could also put them on boxes or into higher hard-to-reach small space areas.
Chronos Greek mythology 17th century painting -- Time idea for LIDD
Time-Demonic paradise -- Time idea doe LIDD
Chronos-Smite - Time idea for LIDD
Skeleton Father time -- Time idea for LIDD
The pictures above show my initial revised designs for my digital variations of "Death & Time". Death could've turned out to look like a Skeleton or a god, whereas Time could have also ended up looking like "Chronos" the Greek God of Time, or a wizard perhaps wielding a staff with a clock imbedded in it.
Quote from henry David Thoreau
When sourcing out real-life comparisons that my game has regarding scope and story, I looked to a famous quote from Henry David Thoreau who said "As if you could kill time without injuring eternity". Over time since this phrase was created, it has been interpreted differently and worded differently for varied audiences and languages.
I personally heard this quote in an episode of "The Flash" where the villain of the episode had his whole identity set around time and clocks. They referred to this quote by saying "You cannot kill time without wounding eternity" and this quote inspired me to write a uniform premise and one-liner for my game idea for my final major project.
I looked further into where this quote came from and did my research by reading one of Henry David Thoreau's texts to extend my understanding of what it meant. The picture above has more writing beneath the initial quote, which helped me a lot with my research and story idea progress.
So when I use this quote as a reference for my game, "Death" cannot kill "Time" without wounding eternity. Eternity in my game idea would be a being too, I have not yet designed them yet but I have some simple ideas as I do not want to spend time on Eternity, I'd rather save this idea as a backup if I have extra time at the end of my project.
Main game idea and story stuff planning for LIDD & TDDUA
Basic level plan for TDDUA and LIDD
Another game idea that never got off the creation table was a game called "The Boomerang That Won't Come Back" The name came from a song of a similar name in the 1960s it has a very silly story in the verses but I used this idea to make a game out of it.
The premise is that an Australian cowboy has a boomerang and uses it for the first level or so but after running into some aliens that put a curse on it; the cowboy uses his boomerang only for it to never come back into his grasp. The aliens steal his weapon and for him to get his trusted tool back, the aliens tell him he must be respectful of their homeland in the outback.
After some time learning about the different cultures living near him, the cowboy acquires similar boomerangs with unique game mechanics. These include a ninja star, a bow, a starfish, a bone, and a wrench. These could all be used to solve puzzles in the game, there are also other variations of the designs which would be like special collectible versions of the boomerangs. The different levels would be set in different biomes.
Each of the different villains you face has its own boomerang that they use as either their main weapon or incorporate in their armour/vehicle.
Other potential game idea. The boomerang that won't come back
When trying to come up with another two ideas in order to pick one final one, I participated in a task to separate the different elements of a game idea. This included the Theme, the Emotions, the Culture, the Character, and the Time Period. I did this task twice and each one had different options to choose from that were suggested for this.
I tweaked one or two as I had found two ideas that worked well with an accompanying substituting choice of my own.
The first idea called "AGE OF BONE" has a Theme of "Dystopia", Emotions of "Prideful", the Culture of "Mongolian", the Character class of "Doctor" and the Time Period of the "Stone Age". "Doctor" was later tweaked to a witch doctor as it still had the same effect in my mind.
You were to play as a Stone Age Witch doctor who is trying his best to help the surviving villages of a dystopian Stone Age world. The world has been ravaged by many ice age events as well as volcanic ash tornados and acidic tsunamis. It's a resource gathering and magical game, as you perform tricks and make prayers as well as recruit animals for your voyages of healing communities.
You can also send out hawks to receive messages as well as scout out upcoming areas. There are quests to do in each village with each member of the community. There would also be rival shamans who would test your skills. The player would have to use the right ability and trick or action/item to collect a reward and move on.
Age of Bone padlet game idea
Victorian Trading traveller game idea
My second game idea for this task called "VICTORIAN TRADING TRAVELLER" (VTT) used the Theme of "Utopia", Emotions of "Whimsical, the Culture of "Spanish", the Character of "Pilot", and the Time period of "The Industrial Revolution".
In this game, you play as a Spanish pilot working in the Industrial Revolution era, in the past you had travelled far from your hometown in Spain and are ready to use the skills you picked up working in various industrial areas to make your own dream of flight come true.
Whilst exploring the big cities of London, traveling from one to the next picking up more tips and tricks as well as knowledge of materials, you are tested in Paris by making your first official Hot Air balloon. This goes wrong however but your skills shown and bravery are commended by the judges and are given a badge as well as an expense-paid ticket to London's first aviation gathering in 1904 which was backed by Orville and Wilbur Wright.
Further along, you end up in London as you collect materials and trade goods to get the best mechanical parts to make machines for puzzles to come your way. In the endgame, you keep making more and more complex flying contraptions that can reach higher environments with better resources.