Further TDG research (16/1/2014)

* To start of with we showed what we had been up to, in order to keep everyone up to date.
I shared my research and possible synopsis which they were ok with.

For my narrative I was told to do some more research and to think about how to get across the safety information more efficiently. Two other examples of games I was recommended to play were 'Final Fantasy: Crystal Defenders' tower defence game, as it is a spin off from a narrative driven series and 'Defence Grid: The Awakening' which was said to include good use of comedy whilst also being informative.

• 'Final Fantasy: Crystal Defenders': From looking at online videos I didn't see it include any sort of narrative as the series it is from. However, it captures the feel of the series thanks to its sprites and animation which I felt helped give this tower defence game its own flavour.

• 'Defence Grid: The Awakening': Had good comedy from a British computer that talked to the player and explained the rules clearly. Objectives were also clear and therefore balanced the two things perfectly. Finally the sound was also a good example as it played different tracks depending on whether it was safe or not.

* I also learnt that Chris has been designing some levels with environments in mind. Therefore, I asked him to provide me with the list of environments so as to create a basic narrative that could link each one.

1. House Interior 
2. Class room
3. Wooden class room
4. Science Lab

I was told by the team leader that we needed to start with a house so as to get the safety information across better. After all, kids would relate far more to someone losing their home rather than their school. However, if we have the time, we will also include the other environments as seen above.

I came up with two basic narrative types that can be seen below, one for if the location was just a house, and the other for if it was a school as well. Both include a cartoonish / comedic feel, inspired by the 'Phoenix Wright' series (see below), as I felt this style would appeal to kids.

House only:
An old decrepit, hard of hearing and short sighted granny is in a house fire and won't leave the house despite this as she is unaware that she is in danger. Thus the fire fighter has to stay to put it out.
The voice of the  fire fighter appears muffled, as they are heard through their helmet. This is so as to hide their gender and allow players to put themselves into the main role and relate to the character.
Whenever damage occurs to the house, the granny will complain. However, at the end of the game she will thank the fire fighter after he finally gets across to her that her house was on fire.

House and school: 
With this setting however, the player would do the above and then get called to save a burning school.
The class room would contain a cool kid who would keep out of the way, but would want to watch and help by providing advice he has learnt about fire fighting. 
The wooden class room would have a tough manly-man PE teacher who is dumb enough to try and fight the fires himself. However, this is clearly something he shouldn't do and therefore realises this when this environment is complete.
Finally, the science lab would have a cowardly nerdy science teacher who is too scared to leave. Therefore, the fire fighter has to put out the fires in order to convince him to.

Although I understand the above characters to be stereotypes, I wanted the game to appeal to younger audiences and therefore felt these characters would help to make the game more light hearted.

* When pitching the above to my team leader, he explained that, although he liked the ideas he felt that the comedic almost slap stick nature of them would either take too long and /or take away from the important safety information.
I completely understood this and his concerns. Therefore, I continued to research how other tower defence games get across their information ready for when the team leader shows me the GDD, then I will be able to better understand the type of narrative and genre he wants and how to get the information across successfully.

One such example that Jon highly recommended to me was 'Bloons Tower Defense 5' that I played and found to be a lot of fun as it introduced new fun tower defence on a regular level. However, despite having good tutorials and item descriptions it lacked a narrative that I was looking for. 

* I also asked my team leader if he would like me to come up with some descriptions for the fire types so that players can read about them. He said that this would be fine and asked if I could include two example write ups so as to provide him with a choice. I am ok with this.
One which is completely educational based but not too boring, and one which includes some humour without taking away from the important information.

Harvard Referencing:

• Unknown (2013) Crystal Defenders Lite [Online Image]. Available at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.squareenix.android.crystaldefenderslite (Accessed: 16/1/2014).
• Poff, T (2009) Defense Grid: The Awakening Screenshots for Windows [Online Image]. Available at: http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/defense-grid-the-awakening/screenshots/gameShotId,357653/ (Accessed: 16/1/2014).
• Jamie, P (2013) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Review [Online Image]. Available at: http://www.negativeworld.org/review/9270/phoenix-wright-ace-attorney-review-nintendo-wiiware#.UtwP5rTFLIU (Accessed: 16/1/2014).
• Unknown (Unknown) Bloons Tower Defense 5 Hacked [Online Image]. Available at: http://www.hackedonlinegames.com/game/717/bloons-tower-defense-5 (Accessed: 16/1/2014).