Technical Requirements
From Project Shrink
In addition to the general game features, such as proper collision detection and tight controls, Shrink will require additional features that are exclusive to the game. Firstly, and most importantly, the shrink and grow feature must be implemented perfectly. This ability will not actually change the size of the player, but will actually shrink and grow the environment, giving the illusion of the player changing. Everything, such as pick-up items, platforms, and enemies in the level must change size for the ability to work. While this may cause more difficulty than simply making the player on the screen tiny would, I believe forgoing this feature would have a drastic negative affect on the game’s immersion factor. Having the world appear to grow around the player will give a much more “personal” feel to the experience than a camera view which would be “attached” to the world’s scale. It is important that they players feels like THEY are shrinking, and not just watching a sprite on a screen get smaller and larger.
Another key feature of the game is the high level of interactivity between the player, items, and the environment. This will allow the player to explore and figure out multiple and unique ways to complete each stage. Our goal will be to develop a system that allows for smooth interactivity without excessive hard-coding as a priority. One way this can be done is to break down the items and landscapes into categories and then code how each group interacts with each other. Such as if a stick item, be it a tooth pick, chair leg, etc., comes in contact with a fire item, it then becomes a torch that can be swung around by the player.
POTENTIAL TECHNOLOGY ROADBLOCKS
In order to implement these features, there is the possibility that potential roadblocks will slow down the development. Hopefully, by anticipating some of these problems, the severity of the issues will be lessened. As far as the shrink mechanic, we must make sure everything shrinks/grows, everything must stay in relative position when changing, and items that are being held must now change with player, not environment. To work against these possible problems, there must be constant testing and debugging. In the end, the shrink mechanic must work flawlessly since it is such an integral part of the game.
When it comes to the interactivity of the game, there are near limitless amount of interactions possible, limited only by the imagination of the user. Another possible problem is that users may not understand what can/cannot be done with certain items. To alleviate some of these issues, we must allow for many different people to play test and get feedback on what interactions should be added from the different player perspectives. In addition, we can signal to players with arrows and glowing objects as far as what can interact with each other.
