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Conversion

The player must decide the fate of their creatures.

The player plays as a god who has come down to his world in order to revive the peacefulness that once existed.

The god must fight his chaotic creatures

The player must kill or transform some creatures in order to save others. Saving a creature is hard and has no reward other than points, while killing and transforming help the player by giving him/her health and helping them get to other locations.

Kill or transform creatures in order to save others

The player had to transform a creature into a statue in order to reach the platform that leads to a room full of more creatures. They had to sacrifice one in order to save more.

Some you must transform in order to reach others

Video:

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Description:

  • A Flash Platformer vertical slice created in 15 weeks
    • Cut so team members can work on other games
  • Play as a god as he tries to save as many of his chaotic creatures as possible
  • In order to remove the chaos from his world, he will have to sacrifice some of his own creatures
  • Utilitarian perspective on morality
    • The player must find ways to get the greatest good to the greatest amount of creatures
  • Different ways to change a creature to a peaceful state
    • Peaceful conversion
      • Hardest way to convert a creature and puts the player at risk
      • Only way to convert a creature without a bad side effect
      • Results in the creature being a happy and peaceful being
    • Killing
      • Easy to do, just a click of a button
      • Increases player’s health
      • Must be used to reach some creatures
        • Some paths to creatures will kill the player unless he/she kills one creature along the way for health
    • Transforming
      • Easy to do
      • Transforms a creature into an inanimate object that helps the player get to new locations to save more creatures
        • Trampoline
        • Stone statue to climb on
        • Vine whipping plant that can break walls
      • Can be helpful if the player can figure out a way to use the transformed creature to save more
        • Sacrifice one to save many
    • The main gameplay mechanic is having to figure out who must be killed or transformed in order to save others
  • The message of the game deals with how our decisions affect other people and what we must do in order to make the overall population happy

Goal:

  • Create a 2D vertical slice of a game using AS3 in 15 weeks on a team of 3 students working 10 hours a week

Outcome:

  • Design of the game changed a lot due to scope
    • Tried to include a lot more about morality, but realized very soon that it would be very difficult to do in the amount of time we had
    • The design went through a very iterative process and was completely redone twice with all feedback taken into account
  • Despite the changes and a very small team size, the vertical slice was completed on time and it includes the core of the original design

My Role:

  • Lead Designer
  • Lead QA

Team Size:

  • Designer
  • Artist
  • Programmer

Released:

  • 12/18/09

Documentation:

  • Old Design Document (Click to View/Download, this is a design document before some of the final changes were made so you can see how much the game has changed)