Kick-Man’s Super Jop-Jop

RelentlessRolento

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Okay, below is a game desing document I created for a portable system for my game design class at college. I need your input: is it good, bad, suggestions, and what system should it be on (PSP or DS). Remember, I am trying to be as original as I can be, partially inspired by Katamari Damacy. Also, this is a very early crappy document, so alot of it still needs to be fixed. Read on... it's long:

Game Title: Kick-Man’s Super Jop-Jop


Story---

The story starts with a very small asteroid (oddly shaped like a acorn) falling from the clouds in the sky. It comes down and hits an elementary school kid in the head (this part of the game allows you to customize your character’s looks). This is where you start playing the game. The game will then ask the player some questions. Soon enough the asteroid cracks open with a little baby Jop (small alien thing no taller than 1 inch) and a canister of white pills. Your goal is to raise the Jop by training it, feeding it, and making it become a lot like you. While raising the Jop you become the local small town hero through small deeds eventually leading up to larger deeds by defending your neighborhood from an evil small gang of “Those Kids”.

Game---

Gameplay is split into different modes of play

-Beginning of Game: When you talk to the fallen asteroid you must answer some questions (that are coming out of the asteroid) in order for it to break open. This part of the game determines what kind of Jop (a small alien creature) you get by seeing what type of personality you have. The Jop then breaks free and is yours to keep while you also get to keep the asteroid (oddly enough turning into your shoes for unexplained reasons).

-Raising your Jop: You will keep your Jop in a small little cardboard box with little toys and random objects that can be found in the game. You can also let your Jop run free in your backyard or your room. It will have a mind of its own (by unique AI) and respond to the objects that you hand it/show it and most importantly how you speak to it. You feed it pills that are not like ordinary pills. These pills can only be fed to the Jop after talking to them (yes, the pills). Depending on how you speak to the pills will affect the Jop’s growth, development, and overall physical look when you feed the pills to the Jop. The Jop also interacts with different objects affecting its mood such as the following:
-Live animals: Rats, frogs, dogs, cats, bugs, etc.
-Small toys: Playing die, toy soldiers, lego bricks, etc.
-Organic: Fungus, plants, food, etc.

-Later in game: The game opens up even further allowing your main character (not the Jop) to go off a roam free anywhere you wish wide open much like the Grand Theft Auto series, but more in a condensed area (play Mega Man Legends to see what is meant).

Powers/Abilities---

-Using your Jop: Using the Jop with the character you have created gives that character special powers. Depending on how you raise it changes the what powers you gain. Using each power is done by saying a word associated with that power (like if I wanted to use the power “Water Blast” and I set the power to the word “Splash Away!” I would have to say “Splash Away!” in order to use it). On top of that you can throw your Jop at objects (the Jop jumps back towards you automatically) Even further, when the player is near certain random objects in the game (such as holes, electronic devices, animals, people, etc.) you can use you Jop with/on the object. This in turn has different affects (depending on what the object is and the area).

-Kicking: Strangely enough kicking has strange affects in the game. Since the shoes you wear happen to be part of the asteroid your Jop came in, the affects your shoes have are very numerous. One thing to consider though is that you have two different shoes: Prospare-io, the shoe of creation and smooth positive flow, and Catastroph-io, the shoe of hasty negative growth. When each individual shoe “kicks” an object or part of an area it has different affects. Prospare-io focuses on the creation of things, smoothing rough edges, happy emotion. Catastroph-io focuses on quickening time, unhappy/mean emotion, and making things/objects larger in size.

Characters---

Note: Names in quotations (“”) are nicknames of the characters. Some characters have no names, but their nicknames are usually used throughout the game to refer to them. The first name mentioned here for each character is the name they are mainly referred to throughout the game.

-(The Main Character)”The Boy”/”That Boy”/”Boy”/”You Boy”/”Baby Boy”: A no named main character only referred to as “The Boy” by all other people. He is a young boy with a dream to become a hero, protect his neighborhood from “Those Kids”, and have a loving relation with his Jop. He looks very geeky and possibly wears glasses.

-(Game Pet)”Jop”/Jop-jop-hibble-smock-plop-kersople-knop-top-jop-jop(full name)/”[user defined nick-name]”: The small, round, blobby alien that “The Boy” owns. This thing truly fulfills “The Boy’s” dream of being a hero. It is a very mysterious creature/alien. Its overall appearance and color depends on how you answer the series of questions in the beginning of the game.

-“Kick-Man”/”Dumpster Diver”: A homeless bum who acts as a tutor or tutorial in the game teaching “The Boy” the necessary skills needed to play the game. Mostly referred to as a senile Dumpster Diver dirty old man, he is often fascinated with space life and oddities. He refers to himself as Kick-Man, since he has a tendency to kick things often. Always ends with “Thus says me, the mighty Kick-Man!” when finished speaking.

-(Game Enemies)”Those Kids”: A gang of evil kids who plan to take over the entire neighborhood and speak in unison. They are led by “The Kid”.

-(Rival)”The Kid”/”That Kid”: Leader of “Those Kids” and your character’s rival. Always cocky and looks like a pretty boy. He refers to player character as “Baby Boy”.

Objects---

-Jop: Read above in the Powers/Abilities section.

-Food: Food is used in three different ways. You can either throw it at things/people, use it as money, or you can eat it. Throwing it will usually make a mess, or if someone is hungry you can throw them some food. At shops you can give certain characters food to “bribe” them for information or lower prices. Eating food raises your health (in different volumes, depending on what type of food it is).

-Coins: Obtained by either finding them in an area/level or defeating enemies. Can be used at shops to buy items or to bribe people for information.

Visual Look---

Overall graphics-The game will be blocky with a lot of bright colors. The people will have a unique and distinctly square geometric style. It will have very little use of textures keeping it to a bare minimum. Focus on looking solid and geometric.

Visual reference:
-Video Games: Katamari Damacy, Megaman Legends, Space Channel 5, Earthbound, Ribbit King, Parrappa the Rapper
-Movies: Rushmore, Waking Life, Amalie, Yellow Submarine

Interface---

The interface will be very minimalist and try not to clog the screen with too much information. Two different interfaces are used in the game.

Jop Raising Interface- This interface allows you to navigate through menus to use items with your pet Jop. It also allows you to take the Jop in or out of your box. Playing with the Jop is done by the movement of a cursor.

The Boy Interface: This interface allows you to map certain buttons to certain commands or items (reference: The Zelda series). You will have a indicator of health in the upper left side of the screen. Very clean and simple.
 
Seems kind of weak on the technical side of things, and a little lacking in actual specifics.
Not to sound overly harsh, but most people could come up with a concept to rival that in a couple of minutes.

Otherwise, it does seem rather creative, and not to bad as a one page. As an actual design document, however, it's pretty weak.

Even thinking about whether is should be on PSP or DS is way beyond you. You should think about a Palm based format first, since many of the dev tools to make Palm apps are much more widely available and much cheaper.
 
Since this is a school project - he probably needs to have details such as system - especially since I think(?) he mentioned voice input. And making this a Palm or Windows CE/Embedded program might not be a bad idea - if you were to actually implement it.
 
what kind of mind comes up with the idea that you have to talk to pills before feeding them to this alien thingy? very creative.
 
Wow, that is a really cool idea

How about letting you also control the Jop using telepathy...or something.

If this is a DS game It could be like you're controlling both characters almost like RAD (the little known mech game on PS2)

In RAD, you control both a giant remote controlled robot and the kid with the controller. As you kick ass and take names with the robot, you also gotta make sure that the kid stays away from any dangers and basically doesnt die.

In Jop Jop, the earlier missions would include the boy escorting his Jop around, making sure that none of those kids take them, while Jop does small odd jobs so that he can grow and begin to understand how to become a hero

Meanwhile, later missions would be just the opposite, as Jop must protect his master

For example: In an early mission, The Boy tells Jop to practice fighting on a racoon that is always tipping over his garbage can. As jop searches through the backyard to try and find the racoon, the boy must make sure that none of those kids (who are always patrolling their turf) dont find the little creature (he'll be armed with a water gun or something)

The bottom screen on the DS will be your main character, who u are currently controlling. With the top screen you can keep an eye on the other character, and instantly switch if a problem comes up. If he is inactive, Jop will be taken over with AI and will set up traps or fight off any threats while fufilling his objective. On the other hand, an inactive boy will simply sit around an act natural, avoiding suspision of enemies. Because of this system, you will spend more time as the boy.

In between missions, you can explore as the Jop at night and the Boy during the day. As you said, as the boy you could kick objects to change the environment, and collect new things to treat your jop to. The Jop can not go out during the day in risk of being captured, but during the night he is free to roam around and learn from his environment.
For example: In the park, a Jop may learn a water spell from a fountain.
There would also be effects, both positive and negative from kicking objects in the day, at night. If you kick a berry bush positively, it would focus on growth and making your Jop stronger, while negative can be used as a weapon or a quick power up. Perhaps when jop goes to the berry bush one night he is attacked by animals and cant do anything because the berries are positive. Meanwhile, if the boy makes the berries negative the next night, Jop is not harmed at all, and you just wasted a night.

I still have some other ideas (this is just such a creative game), but ill spare u the details: item creation, Jop evolution (feed him too much, make him fat but strong; do more work with the boy, keep Jop small, allowing him to fit in small places and stay stealthy, but making him weak), Jop reputation (do good deeds, people respect Jop more, give him stuff, etc)
 
The raising of the Jop reminds me a lot of the Chao's from Sonic adventure, buy items to give to them, interaction with animals gives different powers etc...
I'd say go for the PSP because you don't have to deal with all that touch screen nonsense that is involved with the DS. If you really need to touch specific stuff on the screen go with an old-fashioned mouse pointer design. As for the talking part... I don't know if either system could support microphones but if they did, you could make it so the volume of your (you as in a person) voice determined what kind of pill it was.. Loud for Strength, Quiet for brains or love or something... w/e interesting idea, but I just can't see this game as being that intertaining for more than an hour or so. Otherwise cool design...
 
Great input AlbinoNinja, I like the whole RAD idea.

As for the specific game details, this is a very very early draft of what the game will be like (if it will ever be made at all :p ). So yes, I do agree it lacks alot of details, but I am mainly covering the general and main aspects of the game.

Also, as for the PSP microphone the use of the USB can easily be used.

Thanks for the awsome input. Anyone else: feel free to give input (dosnt matter if good or bad) or add something if you wish. I'll see if I can work on this document a little more.
 
I'm kind of surprised that people actually read this whole post. Here's how far I got:

[quote name='RelentlessRolento']Okay, below is a game desing document I created[/quote]
 
[quote name='evilmax17']I'm kind of surprised that people actually read this whole post. Here's how far I got:

[quote name='RelentlessRolento']Okay, below is a game desing document I created[/quote][/quote]

:lol:, yeah I thought so too!

I am not actually making this game, but it is something I am working on both for school and experience. I plan on going into the game industry (possibly as lead designer) since it is a real passion of mine. I do say this though: If I ever make a name for myself in the game industry in the future, you WILL see this game comming out at some point. So yes and no, this game may or may not see the light of day.
 
just wondering, but how the hell did you come up with this name...

Jop-jop-hibble-smock-plop-kersople-knop-top-jop-jop
 
[quote name='Cracka']just wondering, but how the hell did you come up with this name...

Jop-jop-hibble-smock-plop-kersople-knop-top-jop-jop[/quote]

Don't know... just came to me I guess :shock: :lol:
 
[quote name='RelentlessRolento'][quote name='evilmax17']I'm kind of surprised that people actually read this whole post. Here's how far I got:

[quote name='RelentlessRolento']Okay, below is a game desing document I created[/quote][/quote]

:lol:, yeah I thought so too!

I am not actually making this game, but it is something I am working on both for school and experience. I plan on going into the game industry (possibly as lead designer) since it is a real passion of mine. I do say this though: If I ever make a name for myself in the game industry in the future, you WILL see this game comming out at some point. So yes and no, this game may or may not see the light of day.[/quote]

You're kidding, right? NO ONE GOES INTO THE INDUSTRY AS A LEAD DESIGNER. NO ONE.
Designers are the job everyone wants.. it's the fun part.
Of course, no one actually gets the job without an understanding of multiple facets of the industry, spanning all the way from business concerns to programming.
 
[quote name='JSweeney'][quote name='RelentlessRolento'][quote name='evilmax17']I'm kind of surprised that people actually read this whole post. Here's how far I got:

[quote name='RelentlessRolento']Okay, below is a game desing document I created[/quote][/quote]

:lol:, yeah I thought so too!

I am not actually making this game, but it is something I am working on both for school and experience. I plan on going into the game industry (possibly as lead designer) since it is a real passion of mine. I do say this though: If I ever make a name for myself in the game industry in the future, you WILL see this game comming out at some point. So yes and no, this game may or may not see the light of day.[/quote]

You're kidding, right? NO ONE GOES INTO THE INDUSTRY AS A LEAD DESIGNER. NO ONE.
Designers are the job everyone wants.. it's the fun part.
Of course, no one actually gets the job without an understanding of multiple facets of the industry, spanning all the way from business concerns to programming.[/quote]

Yes, I know this. It is never possible to start off as a lead designer, but i plan on working my way into becoming one. So yes, I know I won't be one right away, but I plan on becoming one eventually.
 
[quote name='RelentlessRolento'][quote name='JSweeney'][quote name='RelentlessRolento'][quote name='evilmax17']I'm kind of surprised that people actually read this whole post. Here's how far I got:

[quote name='RelentlessRolento']Okay, below is a game desing document I created[/quote][/quote]

:lol:, yeah I thought so too!

I am not actually making this game, but it is something I am working on both for school and experience. I plan on going into the game industry (possibly as lead designer) since it is a real passion of mine. I do say this though: If I ever make a name for myself in the game industry in the future, you WILL see this game comming out at some point. So yes and no, this game may or may not see the light of day.[/quote]

You're kidding, right? NO ONE GOES INTO THE INDUSTRY AS A LEAD DESIGNER. NO ONE.
Designers are the job everyone wants.. it's the fun part.
Of course, no one actually gets the job without an understanding of multiple facets of the industry, spanning all the way from business concerns to programming.[/quote]

Yes, I know this. It is never possible to start off as a lead designer, but i plan on working my way into becoming one. So yes, I know I won't be one right away, but I plan on becoming one eventually.[/quote]

Ok, good.
From your post, it wasn't clear.
It's really annoying to see people on game message boards saying they are going to go in and get jobs that talented people have spent multiple years working in the industry to get. It's an epidemic that sweeps over multiple boards, and is just a pet peeve of mine.
 
[quote name='JSweeney'][quote name='RelentlessRolento'][quote name='JSweeney'][quote name='RelentlessRolento'][quote name='evilmax17']I'm kind of surprised that people actually read this whole post. Here's how far I got:

[quote name='RelentlessRolento']Okay, below is a game desing document I created[/quote][/quote]

:lol:, yeah I thought so too!

I am not actually making this game, but it is something I am working on both for school and experience. I plan on going into the game industry (possibly as lead designer) since it is a real passion of mine. I do say this though: If I ever make a name for myself in the game industry in the future, you WILL see this game comming out at some point. So yes and no, this game may or may not see the light of day.[/quote]

You're kidding, right? NO ONE GOES INTO THE INDUSTRY AS A LEAD DESIGNER. NO ONE.
Designers are the job everyone wants.. it's the fun part.
Of course, no one actually gets the job without an understanding of multiple facets of the industry, spanning all the way from business concerns to programming.[/quote]

Yes, I know this. It is never possible to start off as a lead designer, but i plan on working my way into becoming one. So yes, I know I won't be one right away, but I plan on becoming one eventually.[/quote]

Ok, good.
From your post, it wasn't clear.
It's really annoying to see people on game message boards saying they are going to go in and get jobs that talented people have spent multiple years working in the industry to get. It's an epidemic that sweeps over multiple boards, and is just a pet peeve of mine.[/quote]

I totally understand. Yeah, it kinda bothers me too when people assume that it's easy to get certain possitions or jobs. oh well... :roll:
 
[quote name='JSweeney']
You're kidding, right? NO ONE GOES INTO THE INDUSTRY AS A LEAD DESIGNER. NO ONE.
Designers are the job everyone wants.. it's the fun part.
[/quote]

I think programming is the fun part. Design work is a lot more tedious then most people realize.
 
[quote name='rockhero'][quote name='JSweeney']
You're kidding, right? NO ONE GOES INTO THE INDUSTRY AS A LEAD DESIGNER. NO ONE.
Designers are the job everyone wants.. it's the fun part.
[/quote]

I think programming is the fun part. Design work is a lot more tedious then most people realize.[/quote]

I actually only meant the high level stuff, which is what most people are talking about when they talk about design. The don't realize that you have to do such much in depth work even in world design... when you start realizing you need to worry about minutia that goes down to almost silly insignificant things, you start seeing why it takes a certain mindset to be a lead designer. I mean really, who pays attention to how each specific blade of grass moves in the wind?

You're exactly right about that...just like you, I prefer programming.
I'd rather be doing some coding or working on a knowledge base for the AI.
 
[quote name='JSweeney'][quote name='rockhero'][quote name='JSweeney']
You're kidding, right? NO ONE GOES INTO THE INDUSTRY AS A LEAD DESIGNER. NO ONE.
Designers are the job everyone wants.. it's the fun part.
[/quote]

I think programming is the fun part. Design work is a lot more tedious then most people realize.[/quote]

I actually only meant the high level stuff, which is what most people are talking about when they talk about design. The don't realize that you have to do such much in depth work even in world design... when you start realizing you need to worry about minutia that goes down to almost silly insignificant things, you start seeing why it takes a certain mindset to be a lead designer. I mean really, who pays attention to how each specific blade of grass moves in the wind?

You're exactly right about that...just like you, I prefer programming.
I'd rather be doing some coding or working on a knowledge base for the AI.[/quote]

I feel I have that mindset, due to my love for desing, sound, programming, technical issues, working with people, sound, graphics, team leading, spokespoerson, animation, etc. Almost everything, no matter how hard, about being a lead desinger I love. Most people don't fit into that catagory, but I love every aspect.
 
[quote name='RelentlessRolento']Well, different boats for different folks... or whatever.

Um... can we try to stay on topic so I can get a little more input. Thanks so far though.[/quote]

Considering that rockhero is in the industry, and is shipping games, you'd be better off listening to him than the people wanting to come in and kiss your butt and tell you how good and creative your design is.

Evilmax17 had a very good point... how do you expect people to take you seriously if you can't spell "design" right... and when called on it, you don't even bother to go back and correct it.

You should be happy that people like rockhero are even commenting...
advice from industry types is the most valuable you could get.
Opinions from other teenagers and the like may bolster your ego, but it really doesn't help you grow or shape your skillsets.
 
[quote name='JSweeney'][quote name='RelentlessRolento']Well, different boats for different folks... or whatever.

Um... can we try to stay on topic so I can get a little more input. Thanks so far though.[/quote]

Considering that rockhero is in the industry, and is shipping games, you'd be better off listening to him than the people wanting to come in and kiss your butt and tell you how good and creative your design is.

Evilmax17 had a very good point... how do you expect people to take you seriously if you can't spell "design" right... and when called on it, you don't even bother to go back and correct it.

You should be happy that people like rockhero are even commenting...
advice from industry types is the most valuable you could get.
Opinions from other teenagers and the like may bolster your ego, but it really doesn't help you grow or shape your skillsets.[/quote]

hey, I totally agree with you, I am not putting anything or anyone down. I'm just throwing out ideas and getting feedback. I love the input so thanks alot for that. I have created actual games before with coding and everything, but never really have worked on a full fledge design document until now.

As for my spelling :lol: i actually have gone back to my other posts and re-edited them once or twice before anyone even said anything about my spelling, so hey, I missed one or two of my words... no biggy. Don't judge someone by there spelling, but their character (though i do agree it is hard to see people's character online). Oh, also, I type too fast for myself at times and have HORRIBLE spelling. :lol:

yes, teenagers may give me an ego boost, but if you look at it another way it's fellow gamers (no matter how dumb they can be). I am gald to even have any input at all. I am just happy that people enjoy creativity once in a while.
 
hey, I totally agree with you, I am not putting anything or anyone down. I'm just throwing out ideas and getting feedback. I love the input so thanks alot for that. I have created actual games before with coding and everything, but never really have worked on a full fledge design document until now.

If you are actually using it for an education experience, you really should visit a few website and look in a few books for the format and more formal standard expected in a design doc.
While you have a decent basis here, and the makings of a decent one page, like I said before, you really need to look at refining it and treating it "as if it were" for a real project.

Again, it is a creative idea, and a don't want to quash your enthusiasm, but for your work to be really useful, you need to act like you were actually doing it for a grade or a project.

As for my spelling :lol: i actually have gone back to my other posts and re-edited them once or twice before anyone even said anything about my spelling, so hey, I missed one or two of my words... no biggy. Don't judge someone by there spelling, but their character (though i do agree it is hard to see people's character online). Oh, also, I type too fast for myself at times and have HORRIBLE spelling. :lol:

Of course, but you need to understand... kids who want to "make games" are a dime a dozen, and ask these quesitons all the time. If you want to get help from people that are actually worth getting help from, you need to clean up your posts before you post, and look towards some more design oriented board, where more technical matters are discussed.

yes, teenagers may give me an ego boost, but if you look at it another way it's fellow gamers (no matter how dumb they can be). I am gald to even have any input at all. I am just happy that people enjoy creativity once in a while.

True, but what good is creativity without focus.
A lump of steel can do damage.
A lump of steel that has been refined, forged and shaped can do much, much more.
 
Double post.

Just try and do your best, and try to do professional calibur work.
It will be more useful than just treating this a "toy" problem.
 
JSweeny, thanks for the great concern.

Don't worry, next time I post something like this I will do it in a more proffesional fashion.

I take my work seriously, but not too seriously enough to forget what makes something fun (or at least I try to).

Once again thanks.
 
i wish i knew how to make games :(

i always come up with ideas that i think would make for a good game.

The only games i've ever made were for the TI calculators..
 
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