Industry Practice - Game Ideation (12/10/24)

 Today we all participated in a game jam to discuss the interactive novel we are creating.

High level narrative summary

• Target audience - 14+ as there's a lack of understanding of mental health among young people and many individuals choose to hide their struggles. This game aims to help them feel like they can get support and help.
• Subject of narrative - Mental health and the struggles faced by those suffering from it.
• How does the narrative address the brief - My team have decided to gather research on different struggles faced and how our characters view their memories and open up about their struggles.
• Mechanics utilised to progress the narrative - The player will take on the role of the therapist listening to their 5 patients talk about their memories and hopefully open up.
• Can the game be won? -  There is no winning in our game. We plan on having different endings depending on the choices the player made.

List environment assets

• Major location - The main setting for our game will be the therapists room where the player talks to the characters. We discussed having the therapists room become more colourful the more each patient open up.
• Other locations - Each character's memory will contain a different location relating to their past. For example, my character's memory will involve a hospital and the room they were treated in.

Character assets 

• Main character - This is the therapist. We discussed not having a design and name for the therapist so it can help immerse the player in this role as they can picture themselves as the therapist. 
• Patients - Each patient will have a 'monster' design as well as a mask. They all have masks to show that they're concealing/ unwilling to be themselves and at the end (if they are comfortable) they'll take off their masks. The 'monster' forms represent how they view themselves at the start and they will become more human as they start to accept themselves.

Refine plot overview

• How will the story be told? - The story will be told through the eyes of the therapist (the player) asking each patient on struggles they're facing.
• Who is the narrator? - The therapist is the main narrator. Each patient will become the narrate their own memory.
• How much choice is offered to the player? - The players aim is to make the patients more comfortable by picking the right choice. We discussed having a total of 3 choices for each patient and wrong moves could result in the patients growing more distant.

File sharing and meetings

• File sharing - We plan on using OneDrive, google docs, discord and our Miro board to update everyone on our progress and show our concept art.
• Meetings - We will meet up a minimum of once a week to check up on how everyone is doing and discuss our ideas in more depth.

Here is a screenshot of our Miro Board.