Megaman World Design
The places you go are just as important as the characters you see on the screen. When players play Megaman they choose thematic robot masters to fight that have a memorable contrast from one another. Being in the online Megaman community since 1997 as Waveman of the MM5 team... I have seen quite a lot of discussions about the possibilities of the active community back then. We are lucky in todays time to get so many translations and answers to the questions of back then. Many Keiji Inafune interviews, many projects, and many fanfictions later it is easier to see today through translation the process Megaman creators took back in the day to make our beloved hero. And from that conceptualizing parts of the missing world we wondered about with the same type of mindset. Fictional Scientist stories references...Thomas Light (loosely based on Thomas Edison) and Albert Wily (loosely based on Albert Einstein) so that opens to the concept trend of using real life scientists to inspire story concepts and lessons in their philosophies of science. Inspiration in World Design For example in Megaman 8 there is Frost Mans level which has colors of orange,yellow, light blues, and smooth services in a construction site with ice all over. This reflects the robot master itself as well as makes you question where the stage is located. Luckily for us we can see that it is located in Nunavat. All of these form questions that flesh out the story and make for an even more immersive world. For the gamer it makes them think into asking if there are other places in Canada? what is the globe area still called Nunavat Province or something else? What technology does the area Frostman is in have, or has Frostman stage enemies and himself have unique technology? What is the uses of such technology for people in the area? It can truly inspire, but since its based on real life places there can be a few ideas to draw on from the real world while thinking about how it would be in the Megaman world. Discussing World Design The creation of world design is apart of game development from the creator and reflected on from the players. There are many perspectives in platformers of how a good game is perceived. There are The Runners (those who enjoy speed) in their game, The Precisions (those who enjoy jumping and accuracy), The Fighters (those who enjoy combat and character identity). These are just a few of the fundamental types to consider. Storywise it is important to understand how each place helps the story progress. There might be key plot points into solving the mystery, continuing a battle, or information of plot points that are needed to make the story go forward. This can include Robot Master Battles, Rival Battles, Quest Battles, Opposition Faction encounters, Secret Information, Mechanic introductions, Meeting new characters (Parents, Rivals, Family, Friends, Favorite things)Explanation of a design or item, or New technology. Conceptualized World Design You build up areas, towns, dungeons, and encounters. Each place will feel unified between games, which is what Megaman needs for the Classic series for consisted narrative. A game needs sections or modules of places to explore, so a Classic game may have robot masters from around the world with different regions being available in its own zone delineation or game title. The Real World Translated for Megaman People enjoy locating real life locations tied to them with certain small parts to connect themselves to the game travel wise or resident wise. Sometimes that alone makes people interested to give a game a try. Some will even continue playing and anticipating for a title to feature their part of the real world planet. The real world would have a basis of design in the approach and not really copy the area. A creator would choose probably 25% likeness with major changes based on the series itself. The uniqueness of a game is its design approach and how much different it is from our actual world, so having a idea that replicates the real world may not give it that fictional excitement players are looking for when dealing with a title such as Megaman. In the game it would have a starting town with introductions to a theme, fashion style, and characters unique to the story that start the game off to help teach the player what themes to expect for the design of the title. A few areas of the real world map maybe chosen and really changed up with small hints of what or where it could be found on a real When people go to places within a game series they want the sense of adventure, exploration, and game use.world map with deep analysis. Area Essentials in Megaman World Design It is important to get down what is needed to make a area memorable. So we will start with a pattern guide on how to do just that. The area on the planet must have a "Region Theme" this would include naming conventions, colors, animals robots and plants, building designs, environment design. What this does is set the theme that is needed for the entire region that the portion of the story will be telling. It might even be a good idea to stay within one region per title for the sake of lower costs, easier design of constant elements being redrawn, and create a regional episodic expectation of the series itself in its marketing. The functions of the town might be something to keep interest in the town, such as: several or more buildings that have mini-stories attached to them, several stores and interactive features, main attractions as if it were a travel site, geography, and the people. As we know Megaman doesn't seem to have too much to explain in the ways of towns, however we have seen functions in some of its 3D titles from Capcom. Megaman Legends is important to note regardless of the financial failure of the game... the design of the theme is important to note. A open world was designed with many parts missing from the Classic series. Megaman Legends explains the family of Megaman and their relationships, different areas, and faction based story that makes the story increasingly interesting as well as increasing its complexity. Frost Man's Area Explained Places have maps and a slow reveal of a map can be really interesting for building hype. But not only that, but it can also show a theme that can be used time and time again. The music for the stage in Frostman's level uses specific instruments and beats that could be used in other parts of the area's music approach. The pacing of the stage deals with precision, so maybe the diverse puzzles and adventure may deal with more precision than usual in its game design. A few of these maybe the jumping of falling blocks, difficult to see snow, learning how to jump at the right time from enemies shooting ice blocks, and oddly timed enemies who ram while bouncing off the walls. A way to diverse for example the block shooters in the stage would be asking what direction are the blocks shooting. Could we make a red block shooter that shoots the blocks up and they come crashing down? Could we Make dark blue block shooters that shoot at a faster frequency? can we make a yellow ice shooter that shoots two ice blocks? Thinking of direction, frequency, and speed are a good starting point in thinking about area related enemies. This can be done for any robot masters stage to expand on the already layed out ideas of the Megaman series of enemies. Megaman Internets and Net Navi The Battle Network and Star Force series also expanded on the Megaman series with similar design concepts, but done even deeper with both titles being made after Megaman Legends. Capcom's development of a Megaman Internet would introduce the unique designs of their interface designs for technology. While the classic designs fit the Megaman World the internet of that world would most likely resemble Battle Network. To include those invested in the series it would be important to implement the ideas that further explained aspects of the Megaman World. For example Chips include feature abilities, such as Battle Chips. Navi Opts Mobile Personal Terminals (PET devices) are the mobile technology of the MegaMan world. Various terminal models appear throughout the series in a wide variety of colors and styles, which can be the basis of the evolution of these devices from title to title with possible companies being created in the process. This could greatly effect game play aspects of those who are operators. A Theory even suggests that the Battle Network Internet may be related to the creation of "The Deep" where Network Operators assist you. Looking deeper into this concept could unlock a whole world of challenges a Operator from the Megaman Classic series could have and its evolution to the Mega Man X Operator job title. Which could make seemingly non-conflict oriented characters to having a very strong personality when in the internet space.
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