Fear not, Cowan is still alive and well and some big news will be announced shortly--although, I can now confirm that, yes, there will most defo be more cowbell.
I've been in the land of the rising sun for the past little while and, while there, I interviewed with a game developer, Unicon Products, for a planner (English translation: designer) position and, as part of the application process, had to propose a game design based on a conveyor sushi restaurant. I came up with a WiiWare title that would be 4-player cooperative featuring a mix of action/arcade, sim, and RPG elements. They liked me, and though they ended up going with someone else, it was a good experience. It's interesting because a U.S. company would almost never request a design as part of an application process as they'd be too afraid about potential copyright troubles. The design had to be presented in the form of a PowerPoint presentation and below you'll find a handful of the 50+ slides contained in the full presentation.
Download the whole PowerPoint presentation here: !ta-Chan's
And, below that, Tony's first draft of a Cowan design doc (made with the aid of a design doc template found online) can be seen--take a peek.
Again, Cowan project announcements will be forthcoming soon. Stay tuned, peoples.
COWAN
DESIGN DOCUMENT
VERSION 1.0
NOVEMBER 19, 2008
GAME OVERVIEW
What is this game about?
Cowan is a 1st person shooter about a kid that finds himself in the middle of an underground crime and sex ring run by cultists. The story revolves around a young man named Dan O’Brien, who doesn’t realize it at first but has a family linked directly with the early 70’s child kidnappings of Michigan.
After a brief couple of levels about the past of Detroit and the crime that ensued, involving Dan’s uncle Mike O’Brien, the game is brought back to the present where Dan has a troubling dream about KKK-like cultists in the woods and a haunting vision of a divine presence. Dan’s main goal in the game is to eventually solve the mystery and bring these evildoers to justice, whether by the help of the law or brute force.
GAME DETAILS
Description
The Game is based off of many standard First Person Shooter Models. The uniqueness of this game comes from its risqué storyline and material that few have delved into in a game.
Your Character, Mike O’Brien, battles his way through various levels and finds items to complete his objectives in bringing an underground child pornography cult to justice.
Game genre?
First Person Action / Shooter
Is this single-player or multiplayer game?
Single Player, with the option of Multiplayer later
Is this 2D or 3D?
3D
Where does the game take place? (world)
The game takes place in Michigan, with its primary focus on several cities spread out through the lower and central parts.
What do I control? How many characters? Can I use vehicles?
The game play focuses on the main character and his ability to use both melee and projectile weapons. Throughout the game, the transitions from one scene to another may involve or show the character in a car or on some sort of vehicle, but for the initial run, the primary focus will be on what the character can do.
In later versions of the game, the ability to switch between 3rd person and 1st person as well as use cars and other vehicle types may be implemented, depending on the needs of the game play.
What is the main focus?
The main focus of the game is to guide your character through linear levels, fighting off enemies while solving puzzles and collecting clues which progress the story and game play.
How long the game lasts? Or how long game matches last?
The game is intended to involve the character in each stage for a period of fifteen minutes to an hour. Each Chapter consists of several stages, and there are two chapters for the initial run. The overall play time of Cowan should take about three to five hours to complete the two chapters set forth.
As the game develops and future versions are released, further chapters will be implemented in the game, adding more depth and play time for the casual and advanced gamer.
Comparison
[List 3 similar games and tell how this game is different from those]
What is unique?
The game play is relatively standard to other games of the genre (Half Life, Unreal Tournament, Doom, etc.)
In later chapters that will be released, though, it may be possible to switch between planes of reality for the user, from a dream world to the real world.
Why create this game?
While the game play doesn’t vary much from its predecessors, the real gem is the content and story of the game, tackling a very risqué subject matter. It delves into the inner matter of the human psyche, and follows the story of a family that is fighting a secret society. The subject matter has never been touched in a game before, and may offend some people, but there is much historical significance from Michigan and the Child Kidnappings of the early 70’s that the game is based upon. While the game is a work of fiction, the purpose of creating the game is to let others know about these issues as well as entertain.
REVIEWS
Game reviews
[Put any game reviews in this section - you can use brief quotes if you want. ]
Player comments
[Put player comments & quotes here.]
BUSINESS
Competitive strategies
[list 3 competitors and explain how this game will competete against them]
3 Reasons why would people buy this game?
[Give 3 reasons why people would buy this game.]
Business model
[will the game have add-ons? will it be monthly payment? what?]
FEATURE SET
General features
PLAYER FUNCTIONALITY:
- ADVANCED: First Person engine where camera views are exact implementation of character's facing; for example, if the character dives, the camera would show the ground rushing beneath as a character dives, then the screen would roll as a character rolls.
- ADVANCED: Player view separates between 3rd person and 1st person as character does feats, like dive, slide, roll, roll and fire.
- ADVANCED: For special actions, camera would slow down to emphasize dramatic move.
- View: Standard first person view, with all of the bells and whistles; crouch, crawl, walk, run, jump; view of weapon in hand and possibly view of arm or hand holding weapon.
- Character would be given a real-world carrying capacity of weapons; maybe room for two small weapons and a larger weapon (ie. hand gun, knife and shotgun; machete, Uzi, and rifle; etc.)
- Ability to dual-wield weapons at cost of accuracy for firepower
- Character able to interact with world, including use items laying around a room, push and pull things, break stuff, turn lights, tv's and other electronics on and off, and use the environment to his or her advantage.
- Player conversations can be initiated by pressing a button near potential NPC's throughout the game.
- Players should have a choice of how their conversations play out with NPC's, either leading them to vital information or possible confrontation based on the interaction and choices made during the conversation.
NPC's AND NPC INTERACTION WITH PLAYER AND ENVIRONMENT:
- ADVANCED: All NPC's in the game will function based on a generic AI functionality script and a goal script. The goal script would be an advanced functionality that gives NPC's their own agendas in the game, anything from walking up and down a street to hunting down the main character and killing him, or more advanced scripts like convincing other NPC's to join them in an attack or shooting other NPC's to scare others.
- Simple script driven play that has the enemy following orders based on their objectives in a level and allowing them to access a generic AI interaction/fight script when player arrives.
- NPC's will follow general paths around a stage until they are interacted with.
- Interaction scripts will run once when the player interacts with an NPC for the first time. After the initial interaction, a default script will run based on the final answer/conclusion the NPC and the Character came to.
SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
- The character will progress through the game and find items or weapons that he can carry which will allow him to do things he normally can’t do.
- ADVANCED: In later versions, the character may have the ability to learn skills and abilities as he progresses through the game, allowing him to achieve more or solve puzzles that normally couldn’t have been solved earlier.
- Such skills may include: Improved Jump, Sharpshooter, roundhouse kick, nose smash, dive and cover, roll, improved swim, improved health, inventory increase, throw, and possibly even flying (Should the game include the ability to switch between dream and reality)
MINI GAMES AND PUZZLES:
- Throughout the game, the player may come across mini games or puzzles that may take them to an interactive screen different from the first person perspective. Through these screens, different challenges will present themselves to the player, for instance, a code lock to a safe, or some sort of slider puzzle that you have to form a picture out of 15 blocks.
- ADVANCED: puzzles and mini games are part of the environment; an item that the character picks up or sees laying on the desk is interacted with right there; so the sliding puzzle for example would actually work without going to a different screen. It would be affluent with the flow of the game. A person trying to figure out a puzzle in hand may have to throw the puzzle down or divert their attention if a bad guy comes into the same room and starts shooting at them.
Multiplayer features
Not Included
Editor
Not Included
Gameplay
See Above
THE GAME WORLD
Overview
The Game world takes place mostly in the State of Michigan, and many of the stages will be modeled after authentic places in Michigan. A few cities will be researched and documented and modeled for the stages.
Key locations
Oscoda, Michigan
Grand Haven, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Lansing, Michigan
Travel
For the extent of the first two chapters, the primary method of traveling will be on foot. In later versions and chapters to be released, the character may be able to drive cars, swim, and ride other vehicles.
Scale
The scale of the world will be normal: the character sizes and stages will be true to life. Each stage is small enough for the player to complete the objective within a reasonable amount of time.
Objects
Many of the objects in the game world can be interacted with in some way. Boxes, bins, any loose crates, cans, and many other smaller objects can be knocked around, punched, kicked, shot, blown up and interacted with on an attack-level basis. A standard physics model will handle the “destruction” and the movement of the objects placed in the world.
Weather
The weather model will be specific to the stages. Each stage is depicted at a certain time of the year, mostly throughout the winter. The outdoor levels will contain a drop off distance, where the 3D objects appear as grey shadows. Some stages will contain falling snow, which will be rendered as 2D objects in a 3D world (small icons with transparency). Because the stages are handled in real time (no acceleration of normal time throughout the game), weather will rarely change throughout the level.
Day and night
Day and Night will be depicted on a level-to-level basis depending on the current setting of the level. Night stages will have less direct light and more ambient light to highlight objects as they become relevant. Items and weapons, on the other hand, will have their own illumination, and not be dependent on the environmental status.
Time
Time flows as real time does. Some stages may be time-sensitive, but other than that, it flows as real time does, and events will be based on the time specific to the stage and its setting.
Water
Water will be dynamic, and react according to NPC’s and objects as it hits an area related to it. For example, as footsteps go through a puddle, the puddle will move out in waves from the point of impact. For computers that are less powerful than others, the dynamicity of water can be reduced to animated 2D mipmaps.
Other elements
Certain objects will be fixed to other objects, but will react when the character stands within a certain radius and hits the action button. In this case, the object will morph to the new dimensions to indicate a status change. For example, When the character stands next to a ladder that is too high to reach, he can hit the action button to attempt to lower it.
CAMERA
Overview
The camera view will work in a typical style of 1st Person Shooter; perspective from the 1st person point of view, and will be sticky to the movements of the mouse and keyboard inputs of the user.
Variations on the camera will include a sniper-style view, and the dreamworld sequences. In sniper view, the camera will zoom in to get a close-up perspective of the object on screen. In the Dreamworld view, the camera lens will have a hazy effect, blurring the edges and keeping the focus on the center of the screen while the entire screen distorts in a wave-like pattern.
GAME CHARACTERS
Overview
The characters in Cowan are specific to the story, as each has its role and importance on the flow of the game, the interaction with the main character and the outcome of possible events. There is a host of general bad guys that will attempt to kill the main character given what weapons they are spawned with at the beginning of each stage, and from these random spawns, a pseudo-random AI script will be chosen for each bad guy as it pertains to the NPC’s spawn point and random weapon.
The main characters in the game will each have their own custom palettes and graphics associated with them, and will spawn in the level at the specific location they are designated.
Character creation
The game is centered on the main character(s), and will not have an option of creating a character.
Enemies and monsters
See attached pages with concept art and descriptions.
USER INTERFACE
Overview
The user interface is fairly simple, as most of the action will center on a more realistic medium-paced action-adventure. With this in mind, the user will have hotkeys assigned from the options menu that they can press which will bring up a quick item menu for swapping useable items. This will keep the pace of the game while not pausing the game constantly to vamp through items or weapons, respectively.
Details
- In the lower-left hand corner, the character’s selected weapon and ammo will be displayed.
- The view of the character’s weapon will be visible on the center lower half of the screen, along with a compass and ping of objectives and objects/NPC’s that can be interacted with.
- In the lower right-hand corner, the character’s selected item will be displayed in an icon style, along with the amount of that item the character has on him.
- Pressing the pause button (default “esc” or selected by player) will trigger the main menu for the game, which during play will have the options, continue game, exit game, save game, load game, and quit game options. Before starting the game, The main splash screen will contain the same options, as well as a replay scene, trailers/bonus features.
- The control
OBJECTS
Overview
Throughout the game, objects will play a major role. Due to the Medium-pace of this shooter, its required that your character is given enough time to think and react to the hostile environment he is in. Because of this, Not only is he shooting at enemies, but if he can, he is using his surroundings to his advantage.
This gives the game more depth when it comes to engagements with the enemy. If the player is taking cover behind a box, the character can push against the box to gain an advantage has he closes in on the enemy.
Also, for this certain amount of interactivity with various objects in the world, the objects will take damage after being fired upon so many times. A canister, for example, after being shot so many times, will change its shape to a more destroyed version. The objects are not physically changing in real time, but have a life meter which, as it goes down, reaches certain markers that will trigger a swap from one rendered model to another. When an object runs out of its own health, a final model will be displayed, and its usefulness will have been fulfilled.
Weapons
- There will be an assortment of melee and ranged weapons that the character can acquire throughout the game.
- The weapons that are used will leave visible marks on the environment where they hit, for example, bullets will leave bullet holes and knives and sharp objects may leave cut marks.
- The character may at some point acquire an ability which will allow him to dual wield weapons, for instance, two knives or two guns at the same time.
- Melee weapons: shank, knife, cleaver, machete, sword/katana, stick, rock, pipe, spear
- Ranged Weapons: Slingshot, rock, blow dart, pistol, shotgun, uzi, spear, AK-47, M-16, Rocket Launcher
Items
- Health could be as simple as medical packs, crosses, or eating food. It may be as difficult as no health at all, and the only way to get healed is to get to a hospital or use a field kit to dress your own wounds.
- Certain items may be acquirable which allow the character to perform super human acts or do things that they normally couldn’t do.
- Items may have special affects which affect the environment in some way or allow the character to enter new areas.
- Items: health, food, ammo, clue pieces, body armor, story specific items.
- Items will rotate when laying on the ground, and give off a faint glow relative to their primary color
- After walking over an item, the item will disappear and a message will be displayed in the text area and a sound FX will play, depending on the item.
- An item will appear on the ground spot where an NPC dies, a box or crate is broken, or at specified locations throughout the stage depending on the part of the story or mission that the character has to complete.
Equipment
There is no equipment, per se, within the world of Cowan. All of the equipment is handled as an item; if your character comes across a bullet-proof vest, the bullet-proof vest will have a number, indicating the health of said bullet-proof vest. See Items for more details.
Objects
- Objects in the game, like crates, boxes, bins, canisters, drum barrels and other container like items will sometimes hold items in them, if the user chooses to break them open.
- Certain static objects, for example, a back-alley fire exit, can be interacted with changing or “morphing” its state to a new state. For example, a ladder would descend from the back-alley fire exit. More objects will be listed here as stage design progresses. Some examples would be a locked chest, a door, a light switch, a television set, a toilet, and a ceiling fan.
- Objects can be stood upon, kicked around, punched, shot, opened, blown apart, interacted with (morphed), pushed, and other wise be affected by the game physics and the world physics (gravity, wind resistance, floating in water, etc.)
MUSIC AND SOUNDS EFFECTS
Overview
The music and sound within Cowan will lean towards a darker, almost gothic feel with contemporary motifs to create a unique sound experience for the player.
Details
The music and sound effects in the game are detailed and oriented towards a darker, gritty theme of 70’s Detroit crime and cult-style music. The opening theme will be reminiscent of gothic music with splashes of 70’s guitar funk and current electro styles. Voices of children will outline the main theme as it plays for the player when they first start the game, setting the tone of the game, as well as the pace of the game. This will be done subtly and almost on a subconscious level, not apparent to the player but instilling it through the use of motifs in the actual music.
For sound effects, a standard sound bank of common and free sound effects will be used as well as custom-made sound effects by the Sound team.
Music tracks
- Cowan Main Theme
- The Chase theme during 70’s sequence when main character chases down drug dealers for information
- Pop/Rock background music in Car scene, preferably something contemporary
- Radio in opening stage in a room of the building being raided will be playing several 70’s Funk tracks which the player can turn on and off.
- “Fireside Chant” in dream sequence
- Techno Music and/or Rap Music during party sequence
- Metallica or Some sort of 80’s to 90’s rock music playing in background at bar in Grand Haven.
Sound effects
- Kick
- Punch
- Scream (small boy, small girl)
- Death cry (small boy, small girl, man * 4, women * 4, Main characters)
- Blade swish (knife, katana, cleaver, stick, other melee objects)
- Grunt (man * 8, woman * 8, boy * 3, girl * 3)
- Foot steps (grass, pavement, woods, tile, rock)
- Glass breaking
- Box falling on ground
- Canister falling on ground
- Wood shattering
- Metal scraping
- Door open, close
- Various TV clips for background TV’s
- Dialogue
- Fire burning
- Small clicks and clanks for various thrown objects and other small object interactions with environment
- Book Page turning
- Body falling to ground
- Gun shots (pitched for various weapons, shortened and lengthened depending on type of weapon)
- Explosions * 8
- Car starting
- Car ambient engine running
- Car Door opening / closing
- Gulping / swallowing noise
- Glass being put on table / bar
- Random chatter
- Pool balls breaking
- Twigs and sticks breaking
- Car horn
- Breathing / huffing
- Water dripping
- Water spraying
- Engine motors passing by
- clapping
3D sound
- All sound effects will be 3D positional.
Other
ART
What kind of style will be used in the game?
The Art style in the game will push more towards a realistic feel, where faces and characters will mimic and look like real world people.
Needed building models
- Oscoda Ranch
- Drug House building (Detroit)
- Police HQ (inside)
- Dungeon Layout
- Various Detroit Buildings popular in 70’s and now
- Church
-
Scenery models
- Trees * 12
- Bushes * 12
- Fences
- Wall
- Lamp Posts
- Signs
- Boxes
- Bins
- Crates
- Garbage Cans
- Canisters
- Dumpster
- Mail box
- Bike
- Lawn mower
- Tool sheds
- TV
- Radio
- Overhead Lamp
- Computers
- Desks
- Chairs
- Book cases
- Couches
- Lamps
- Beds
- Small center pieces
-
Character models
- Cult Leader (70’s and Now)
- Cult Master (70’s and Now)
- Cult Lieutenant (70’s and Now)
- Cult Thug (70’s and Now)
- Drug Dealer
- Main Characters
- Random Punks * 3
- Civilians * 8 (Male and Female)
- Cop Lieutenant
- Cop Chief
- Cop Secretary
- Detective
- Party Goers * 8 (Male and Female)
- Bar Patrons * 4 (Male and Female)
- Bar Tender
- Bar Waitress
-
Vehicle models
- Main Vehicle (70’s and Now)
- Bus
- Van
- Civilian Car
- Broken Car
-
Particle effects
Coming Soon
Other
SINGLE-PLAYER GAME
Overview
The Single-Player game is a story driven action sequence, with the character using weapons and the environment to his advantage as he fights his way through each stage to the end. There will usually be a boss or an end puzzle that the character must solve to complete each scene and move on to the next.
Details
Victory conditions
Each stage will have certain victory conditions that must be accomplished before completing the stage and moving on to the next stage. As more of the story is revealed, the victory conditions for each stage will be written off here.
MULTIPLAYER GAME
Overview
Not implemented.
Max players
Not Implemented.
Servers
Not implemented.
Customization
Not Implemented.
Is the world persistent or not
Not Implemented.
Saving and loading
Not Implemented.
Scores
[What kind of scoring system there will be? And will there be online high scores or ranks? How do you get points or ranks?]
Chatting
[How do you chat with other players in the game? Is there game lobby? Rooms? In-game chat?]
Clans
[Can players create clans or tribes in the game?]
MODDING
Overview
As of now, there are now plans to allow mods of the game, as in fact this is already a Mod of the unreal Tournament Engine.
Different languages
[What languages there will be? Can you add your own language in the game?]
Game graphics and sound
[Can you change the graphics? Textures? Models? Sounds?]
Game play
[Can you affect on gameplay - like mod weapon effects?]
RESOURCES & LINKS
Links to related resources
http://cowan.blogspot.com
EXTRA MISCELLANEOUS STUFF
Overview
Crazy ideas
[If you have really crazy ideas - this is the place to put them]
