Edits Daylight - High Concept and Prototype Screenshot

I'm currently working on the design document and prototype for the game "Edits Daylight" for my crazy random game idea. I've decided to post the high level blurb and a screenshot from the current state of the prototype.


High Level Concept

Edits Daylight is a game about growing flowers. These flowers are actually words. The player picks out which words to plant. The words begin as seeds that the player plants in the ground. The player then maintains the plants as they grown, giving the sun, shade and water. Once in bloom the player picks his flowers. The flowers have a memory and the remember how they have been treated through out their lifetimes. These memories enhance the words and become descriptors. If the word was a verb the descriptors are adverbs about how the plant was treated throughout its lifetime. If the word was a noun it has adjectives that describe its lifetime. After the player has picked all his flowers he can put these words together so that they become a poem.

There are three main stages to the game. The first is where the player picks out his seeds. He chooses words from randomly generated lists. These words are the seeds that will become the flowers. After the player has picked all of his seeds, the main game begins. He can then begin to use his tools to plant his seeds and must make sure they have the appropriate amount of water, sun and shade. The last stage of the game is where the player puts together his words and creates sentences that become his poetry.

Screenshot:

First Try - A fork edits his daylight

I have started my first "Random Game". I followed the directions set out in the previous blog post. Here are my results.

Random Sentence: A fork edits his daylight.

Your random word is: poetry

The initial idea:

The game takes place over a number of days. Each day is a complete phase. As the sun comes down its light can be broken up into shadow and sun with simple objects. The player is forking the sunlight. As the sunlight hits things they grow. You are actually growing words. Some words like a lot of sun, some like a lot of shade. They can also burn from too much exposure. How they are treated over the course of their lifetime effects the words. When they are plucked the words get modifiers based on how they were treated (adverbs if they are verbs, adjectives if they are nouns). Once they have grown enough they can be harvested. The order in which they are harvested in matters to the end game.

I will further develop this into a real design document and make posts as the game itself progresses.

Working the Brain - Designing a Game

In order to keep myself agile, in shape and ready for any design challenge that might come up, I've decided to start designing small games based off of themes. I searched around the net and stumbled upon a nice site that generates words and phrases in attempt to help brainstorming. It seemed a decent place to start.

I devised this system for coming up with a theme for a game.

1. Start At: http://watchout4snakes.com/CreativityTools/Brainstorm/BrainstormWord.aspx
2. Type a situation OR use a random sentence. I'm going to start with random sentences - this creates more of a challenge I think and forces me to think outside the 'box'.
3. Follow the rest of the instructions for brainstorming ideas.
4. Take these ideas and formulate a small game document.
5. Execute and Iterate on that game document.

Pretty simple really. I'll see how it works out.

Direction, Collaboration and Autonomy

Direction at the appropriate level with the appropriate detail.

Direction sets goals that are achievable, relevant and measurable. Goals answer questions with enough flexibility to not be directives. Goals are almost always immutable and rigid. Goals have enough detail as to not be interpreted in ways that conflict.

Collaboration in the correct Direction.

Collaboration is working together against common goals in ways in which we can measure our success. There is a synergy and understanding. Collaborate on "how we are doing..." not "why we are doing...".

Clear direction and good collaboration leads to autonomy in implementation.

Be autonomous enough to measure against our goals without guidance. Collaborate enough to continue without intervention. Set direction, collaborate and go.