Bullet Ride Alessandro Ciavola Byron Munsie David Hinds Hampus Gross Pedro Arimany

GD 28 Concept Document

VFS [Bullet Ride]

Table of ContentsTable of Figures...........................................................................................................................................3

Table of Tables............................................................................................................................................4

Document History.......................................................................................................................................5

Game Overview...........................................................................................................................................6

Bullet Ride...............................................................................................................................................6

Philosophy...............................................................................................................................................6

Intense speed in small packages..........................................................................................................6

Exploding Art Deco..............................................................................................................................6

Common Questions.................................................................................................................................7

What is a Bullet Rider?........................................................................................................................7

Why create this game?........................................................................................................................7

Where does the game take place?......................................................................................................7

What do I do?......................................................................................................................................7

How many characters do I control?.....................................................................................................7

What is unique about the Game?........................................................................................................7

Audience......................................................................................................................................................8

Target Market..........................................................................................................................................8

Main Player Overview.................................................................................................................................8

Scale........................................................................................................................................................9

Vehicle: Bullet........................................................................................................................................10

Mechanics.................................................................................................................................................11

Movement.............................................................................................................................................11

Point System..........................................................................................................................................11

Speed is Life...........................................................................................................................................11

Turbo.....................................................................................................................................................12

Turbo Gauge......................................................................................................................................13

Supper Turbo.....................................................................................................................................13

Obstacles...............................................................................................................................................14

Constraints............................................................................................................................................14

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Ricocheting............................................................................................................................................14

Difficulties..............................................................................................................................................16

Infinity Mode.........................................................................................................................................16

Control Scheme 1: Xbox 360..................................................................................................................16

Camera......................................................................................................................................................17

Camera Mode 1: On Reigns...................................................................................................................17

Camera Mode 2: Third Person Turbo....................................................................................................19

Game Art Vision.........................................................................................................................................20

Visuals effects........................................................................................................................................20

Motion blur........................................................................................................................................20

Colors in Environments......................................................................................................................20

Particle and HUD Effects........................................................................................................................21

Particle effects...................................................................................................................................21

Breakable Objects..............................................................................................................................21

Level Design Philosophy............................................................................................................................22

Master of Speed....................................................................................................................................22

Obstacles...............................................................................................................................................22

Dodging & Close Calls............................................................................................................................22

Ricochets & Navigation..........................................................................................................................23

Turbo Rings............................................................................................................................................24

Dizzying Speed & Funnel Tunnel............................................................................................................24

Example of how to create a room for the Level.....................................................................................25

Mind the speed.....................................................................................................................................26

Low Art Game Mock-Ups...........................................................................................................................27

Cinematic...................................................................................................................................................28

Scene #1................................................................................................................................................28

Scene #2................................................................................................................................................28

Audio.........................................................................................................................................................28

Music.....................................................................................................................................................28

Sound Effects.........................................................................................................................................28

Game Interface..........................................................................................................................................29

Competitive Analysis.................................................................................................................................30

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Temple Run...........................................................................................................................................30

Jetpack Joyride......................................................................................................................................31

Subway Surfers......................................................................................................................................31

Table of FiguresFigure 1: Bullet Ride Inspiration Poster.......................................................................................................6Figure 2: Bullet Rider...................................................................................................................................8Figure 3: Color Pallet...................................................................................................................................9Figure 4: Scale..............................................................................................................................................9Figure 5: Bullet..........................................................................................................................................10Figure 6: Character....................................................................................................................................10Figure 7: Movement..................................................................................................................................11Figure 8: Speed is Life................................................................................................................................12Figure 9: Turbo..........................................................................................................................................12Figure 10: Breakable Objects.....................................................................................................................14Figure 11: Ricocheting...............................................................................................................................14Figure 12: Ricochet Dynamic.....................................................................................................................15Figure 13: Camera on Reigns Side View.....................................................................................................17Figure 14: Camera on Reigns Top-Down View...........................................................................................18Figure 15: Camera on Reigns in Game View..............................................................................................18Figure 16: Camera on Reigns Movement...................................................................................................19Figure 17: Camera Third Person Turbo......................................................................................................19Figure 18: Game Art Vision 1.....................................................................................................................20Figure 19: Game Art Vision 2.....................................................................................................................20Figure 20: Motion Blur...............................................................................................................................20Fiure 21: In-game Time Dilation................................................................................................................20Figure 22: Debris.......................................................................................................................................21Figure 23: HUD..........................................................................................................................................21Figure 24: Burnout.....................................................................................................................................22Figure 25: Star Wars Episode I: Racer........................................................................................................23Figure 26: Mirror’s Edge............................................................................................................................24Figure 27: Segment Design........................................................................................................................25Figure 28: Level Design Mood Board.........................................................................................................26Figure 29: Low Art Mock-up 1...................................................................................................................27Figure 32: Art Mockup 3............................................................................................................................27Figure 30: Art Mockup 2............................................................................................................................27Figure 31: Actual Game Footage...............................................................................................................27Figure 33: Temple Run...............................................................................................................................30Figure 34: Jetpack Joyride..........................................................................................................................31

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Figure 35: Subway Surfers.........................................................................................................................31

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Table of TablesTable 1: Scale...............................................................................................................................................9Table 2: Points Break Down.......................................................................................................................11Table 3: Speed Chart.................................................................................................................................16Table 4: Game Interface............................................................................................................................29Table 5: Competitive Analysis....................................................................................................................30

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Document HistoryThe following table describes the creation and changes of the document.

Revision Date Change Description1.0 Jan 16, 2013 High Concepts, Common Questions, and Audience added1.0 Jan 18, 2013 Mechanics, Camera Added, and Game Interface1.0 Jan 20, 2013 Art and Level Design Added2.0 Feb 6, 2013 Added Philosophy

Added How Many Players do I controlEdited Target MarketAdded Player CustomizationAdded Scale

2.1 Feb 8, 2013 Edited Competitive AnalysisEdited ScalePlayer CustomizationAdded in Philosophy: Exploding Art Deco

2.2 Feb 14, 2013 Added Details to CharacterAdded Level DesignAdded Bullet DetailsAdded Speed is Life MechanicEdited Turbo MechanicEdited Breakable ObjectsEdited Aim for Mobile Market PhilosophyCut Player CustomizationCut Time ReversalChanged from PC to Xbox 360Updated CameraUpdated Character InformationAdded Vehicle – BulletEdited Camera and added picturesCut Jet StreamCut In-Game DilationAdded HUD

3.1 May 7-10, 2013 Added Turbo GaugeAdded Close CallsAdded Supper TurboAdded Ring PickupsAdded Randomly Chosen SegmentsAdded ConstraintsAdded DifficultiesAdded AudioAdded Point System

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Game Overview

Bullet RideSpeed KillsBullet Ride is a single player, third person, action game for the Xbox 360. The player takes on the role of a Bullet Rider, a small person that runs on top of a bullet that must guide the bullet he is riding to his target. The player must evade obstacles, crush through breakable objects, and ricochet off of metallic surfaces as they try to lead their bullet to their objective.

Philosophy

Intense speed in small packagesBullet Ride is trying to capture the feeling of speed at a very small size. As the player, you should feel like you are an unstoppable force packed into a small package moving at the speed of sound. Obstacles can slow you down, but few things can outright stop you. The art assets are used to make you feel very small as you ride on top of a bullet. The world, while large in size will speed by; you will feel a rush of adrenaline and a need for speed as you play the game. Reaching top speed is akin to reaching nirvana: intense focus on maneuvering the bullet, you are one with the flow, nothing else matters; it’s just you and the world as it gets left behind.

Exploding Art DecoFor the overall feeling of the game, Bullet Ride will strive to emulate an Art Deco style made popular throughout the 1920s and 40s. The game draws a great deal of inspiration from the Rocketeer movie. Not only do we want the game to look strikingly beautiful with its unique Art Deco look, we also want to destroy it! We want to capture the “shock and awe” feeling of exploding objects to make the player feel a great deal of satisfaction as they crush through objects.

Figure 1: Bullet Ride Inspiration Poster

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Common Questions

What is a Bullet Rider?The game is set in alternate dimension, where bullets have tiny little people that help guide the bullets to their destination by running on top of them. This is their Job. And they are exceptionally good at it. They are employees of Slug Inc. and are paid to be shot out of a gun riding a bullet, lead it to its intended target and jump out at the last possible moment with a small parachute. They are called the Bullet Rides.

Why create this game?We want to create a game that instantly makes an impression on the player. We decided to create Bullet Ride because it seemed an outrageous concept. The idea of a little dude running on top of a bullet seemed highly comical and very unique. It is something we have never seen before in a world overflowing with creativity. It grabbed our attention. Also, because of the nature of the game, the limited track and having the player constantly moving in one direction, we would probably have a great deal of control over the pace of the game and the overall experience of the player. This enables us to design an experience that can knock the socks off the players.

Where does the game take place?The game takes place within and apartment building in an alternate dimension. Everything looks very much like our world would have looked like back in the 20s through 40s. The architecture and fashion speak very loudly of early modernism and art deco. The thing that sets that dimension apart from ours is the little people that get shot out of bullets. Because the main character is a tiny person that can fit on top of a speeding bullet, the entire world takes on gigantic proportions.

What do I do?You control a Bullet Rider as he is shot of a gun. It is your job to control a bullet speeding through the air at impossible speeds. You must evade obstacles, strategically take out breakable objects, ricochet off of metallic surfaces, and do everything in your power to lead the bullet to its intended objective.

How many characters do I control?You control a Bullet Rider as he tries to steer a bullet. The Bullet Ride is a small person that fits on top of a bullet. Essentially, you are controlling the bullet as it navigates through a three dimensional space. You will be avoiding obstacles and trying to hit special, breakable objects to help speed you up, and eventually hitting a target at the end of the level.

What is unique about the Game?The idea of a little man riding a bullet moving at high speeds is something that we found both comical and attention grabbing. The game takes the concept of a missile guiding mini games in some shooters and extracts their essence in order to create its own original game. Bullet Ride is meant to be colorful, comical, bright, explosive, and above all, very fast. You would want to play this game, and not our competitor’s game, because Bullet Ride provides an interesting art style, navigation on a 3D plane, fast paced gaming, and tight mechanics all bundled up in comical flair.

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Audience

Target MarketOur user is familiar with technology, and has a number of technology gadgets, from gaming consoles to mobile devices. They spend their time doing other entertaining things, including buying movies and music, going out with friends and playing sports. They love playing fast paced racing games. They are entertainment enthusiasts looking for fun and move freely from a Smart phone to an Xbox to a laptop. These are casual gamers with busy schedules that can play games at 5 minute intervals throughout their day. With these considerations in mind, Bullet Ride is designed to be extremely accessible through simple controls, relatively short levels, captivating visuals, and non-stop action. The idea is to keep a low barrier to entry while still keeping the game fresh and fun.

Main Player OverviewIn this world every gun magazine has a small office with professional looking little people wearing smart looking suits inside of it. You play as one of these little people whose 9-5 job is riding a bullet to make sure it hits its mark. This character is just one amongst many of its kind, since every bullet is required to have a rider.

Figure 2: Bullet Rider

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Figure 4: Scale

Figure 3: Color Pallet

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Rick O’Shay is one among millions of employees for Slug Inc. In this world every bullet is guided by tiny people, who are extremely effective at preforming this job. They are called Bullet Riders. Rick O’Shay’s job is no different, just like all the other employees at Slug Inc. he helps guide bullets to their destination.

The dress code that must be followed is not casual by any means. Proper appearance is very important to Slug Inc. Each Bullet Rider wears a suit, tie, and properly shined dress shoes. They are allowed no freedom in choosing what color palette this uniform follows. As a result, every suit jacket is a dark navy blue, pants are black, shoes are a nice deep red, and the shirt, a golden yellow. Each Bullet Rider is suited up with protective equipment; Elbow pads, knee pads, helmet, goggles, and a parachute. The parachute is used when the Bullet Rider is seconds away from impacting the target.

Just like the strict color palette for clothing worn, each piece of protective equipment also adheres to a specific color palette. Elbow and kneed pads consist of a white color with the hard plate being outlined by a black line. The helmet is white with a black stripe down the middle. And finally the parachute is a base white with all straps being black. Lastly since appearance is extremely important to Slug Inc. all employees are responsible and are heavily disciplined if clothing or safety equipment is not kept in pristine condition. Clothes must be clean, pressed, and never appear anything else then crisp. Safety equipment is always washed and buffed, no scuffs or dents.

ScaleThe scale of the game uses the Bullet as the standard measurement. The mechanics and level design of the game will refer to the bullet as the standard unit of measurement when referring to speed and size. The bullet is 5mm x 14mm. With this in mind, the character is about ½ a bullet.

Character Stats:

Height 6 mm (1/2 bullet) Weight 300 mg Age Range 25 to 45 yrs.

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Table 1: Scale

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Objects BulletsBullet Ride 0.5Bullet 1Gun 5Chair 15

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Vehicle: BulletThe overall visual goal for the bullet is to design an object that is distinct while it is spinning. The references that are being used are ones that show a bullet that is beat-up and has unique markings over its surface. Furthermore the color will follow a palette that consists of orange and brown colors. In the end the bullet will be designed to be as unique and visually interesting as the character riding.

Figure 5: Bullet

Figure 6: Character

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Mechanics

MovementThe movement in Bullet Ride is meant to feel like a combination of snowboarding, and jet plane piloting. The player flies about in a 3D Plane. As the player moves left/right the bullet strafes in the inputted direction. The bullet does not turn! It flows like a curving bullet.

Because Bullet Ride is a fast paced game, the controls have to feel smooth and accurate so the player can fit through small places. Since the player is technically controlling a bullet it is able to strafe left to right, but while moving up/down the player can tilt in the inputted direction.

The player moves forward along the z axis automatically at a constant acceleration of 10 bullets per second till their speed variable reaches the top speed of 100 bullets per second, it takes approximately 10 seconds to reach top speed.

Point SystemThe point system is implemented in order to foment re-playability and to provide a point of reference to how good/bad players do. The points are placed at the top of the screen during game play. At the end of each round the player is also awarded a number of bonuses based on how well their run went.

Table 2: Points Break Down

Points BreakdownDuring the Run Points

Ring 100Speed 1 x SpeedClose Calls 20Grinding 3 x SpeedSuper Turbo 2 x Speed

End Bonus PointsCollected All Rings 1,000Super-Fast Bonus 20,000Fast Bonus 10,000Final Impact Bonus 10 x SpeedFlawless Run! (no impacts) 5,000

Speed is LifeBullet Ride is all about Speed; it even acts as the player’s “health”. The better the player is doing, or the fewer obstacles the player hits, the faster they will go and the more “health” they will have. The normal top speed of the player is 120 bullets per second.

Figure 7: Movement

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Objects in the environment that the player collides with have different effects on the players speed. Obstacles will decrease the player’s speed when the player collides with them. If the player’s speed hits 60 bullets per second, the player spirals down into the ground. Walls and large metallic objects that bullets cannot traditionally pierce will result in instantaneous death.

The player is constantly decelerating at 1 bullet per second.

Figure 8: Speed is Life

Turbo Turbo Mode can be activated holding down the “A” button. When in turbo mode, the bullet accelerates at 20 bullets per second until it reaches a top speed of 150 bullets per second, but it loses 75% of its maneuverability.

As soon as the player lets go of the button, the bullet’s acceleration and maneuverability returns to normal. If the bullet is traveling above its normal top speed (120 bullets), it decelerates at 10 bullets per second until it reaches its normal top speed.

When the player strikes an unbreakable obstacle while in turbo mode they: are knocked back into normal mode, suffer the normal impact penalty to their speed after hitting and obstacle, and are unable to reengage in turbo again for 2 seconds.

Turbo Mode is depicted in game by the avatar lying down and hugging the bullet, the character yelling as he spins on the bullet, and a wave of distortion that looks like breaking the sound barrier.

Figure 9: Turbo

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Turbo GaugeTurbo is not infinite; it is dependent on the turbo gauge. The turbo gauge goes up to a maximum of 100 points. Turbo consumes 25 points per second of the turbo gauge when activated. The turbo gauge is filled up using close calls and picking up rings. When the Turbo gauge falls to 0 points, the player is unable to engage in Turbo.

Close CallsClose calls are activated any time the character comes close to missing an obstacle.

Each near miss awards 10 points of turbo gauge. Each near miss awards 10 points to score. The player must have traveled 2 bullets away from the border of the obstacle in order to

activate the close calls. When the close call is activated the player is visually rewarded with a blue light particle effect

that streams by in the location where the close call was made. The effect can happen to the left, right, or beneath the player. There is no effect above the player.

Ring PickupsRings serve to guide the player, re-fuel the turbo gauge, and provide extra points. They are pick-ups laid out throughout the level in key places. Each Ring gives the player 20 turbo gauge points and 50 score points.

Supper TurboSuper Turbo is activated with the “X” button. The turbo gauge must be above 80 points for it to activate. When activated, for 3 seconds:

the player accelerates to a speed of 175 bullets per second the player becomes invulnerable to all objects the character unleashes a wave that looks like they chattered the sound barrier score goes up by speed x 2

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ObstaclesThere are 3 types of environmental objects in BR: weak, strong, and solid. If the player hits any objects while not in turbo they lose certain amount of speed: weak -10%, strong -35 bullets/second, solid -50 bullets/second. The player is never stopped by these objects they only effect their speed.

Figure 10: Breakable Objects

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Weak Objects: These objects are made out of clay and glass making them distinctive in the environment.

Strong Objects: These are made of wood, drywall, and plastic. If the player hits these while in turbo they loses 10 bullets/second.

Solid Objects: They are made of metal or cement. If the player hits these while in turbo they lose 50 bullets/second.

Inpenetrable Obstacles: Walls and large metal obstacles will kill the player on collision.

ConstraintsBullet Ride is an “on rails” game. The constraints have been built to keep the player on the track. When players touch the limits of the level they enter what feels like harsh turbulence. The camera shakes up and down and it becomes very hard for the player to navigate. They are also unable to keep toing in the direction that they want as the constraint tries to push the player back into the desired part of the track.

RicochetingCertain objects (usually sturdy and made of a strong metal) can be ricocheted off of, which drastically changes the player’s direction. The direction that the player travels in will be pre-determined, and the objects will be specifically placed in spots that lead into paths that would not be able to be reached otherwise.

If the player hits these objects while in turbo: The bullet smoothly ricochets off the object and huge sparks fly off it.

If the player hits these objects while not in turbo: The bullet bounces off the object poorly with a few sparks coming from the point of impact and spins uncontrollably into the new direction. The player is then traveling in the new direction but with a speed.

These are obstacles that are in the way but are conveniently angled so that a ricochet effect occurs which changes the bullets path. The purpose of the ricochet is to break up the level pacing and also make it seem logical for a bullet to travel through something like an apartment without giving the player too much freedom with changing the bullet path.

Figure 11: Ricocheting

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Figure 12: Ricochet Dynamic

How it works; the level designer choose the rotation of the object by placing the Z axis in the new player direction and he tags the object with the name “RicochetObject”, by doing that the script automatically change direction of the player when there is a collision with the player’s character.

The animation of the impact lasts 0.2 seconds with a sound effect that lasts 1 second; also the impact shows a little particles effect with sparkles to give a visual feedback of the collision to the player.

The player’s character turning duration is 0.1 seconds.

When player collides with a ricochet trigger his acceleration increases by 20% for next 3 seconds, and after this time the acceleration comes back to the original value.

Y axis: Speed points

X axis: Seconds

DifficultiesBR has three different difficulties: Easy, Medium, and Hard. The only thing that changes from one difficulty to the other is the impact that each obstacle type gives to the player.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 80

50

100

150

200

250

300

Speed

Speed

Table 3: Speed Chart

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In Easy Mode a player can hit an average of 10 obstacles in a row before they die. In Medium Mode a player can hit an average of 4 obstacles in a row before they die. In Hard a player can hit an average of 2 obstacles in a row before they die.

Infinity ModeBullet Ride comes with an infinity mode. It is a survival mode that tests the player’s ability to its limit. In this mode, the game chooses different segments of the level and randomly alternates between them. This mode continues until the player dies. The score system is the same as the normal mode, but without using the bonuses that are not relevant: Fast Times and Impact Speed.

CheckpointsCheckpoints are a simple mechanic that re-set the player back to a safe position after their death. The checkpoints are littered throughout the levels at close intervals to simulate a smooth transition between deaths and re-birth. Each checkpoint saves the score of the player and re sets it to it’s save state if a player dies and restarts at its point. The closely spaced out checkpoints serve to make the game significantly more forgiving.

Control Scheme 1: Xbox 360 The left analog stick is used for movement in 4 directions (up, down, left, right). The “A” button is held down to enter turbo; the player holds it down to remain in turbo and

releases it to come out of turbo. The “X” Button is pressed to activate Supper Turbo The “Start” Button is used to access the pause menu

CameraBullet Rider’s camera is from a 3rd person perspective, but changes depending on where the player is and whether or not they are in turbo. The camera modes are: Third Person, Third Person Turbo, and First Person

Third Person: This is the default camera mode. The camera is 3 “bullets” behind the player and 1 bullet above. This places the character at 1/10th above the bottom of the screen while idle.

Third Person Turbo: In the same way the player’s mobility gets tighter while in turbo, so does the camera. Once turbo is pressed the camera zooms in so it is only 2 “bullets” behind the player and moves down ¼ a bullet (the zoom takes 0.5 seconds).

Camera Mode 1: On Reigns This is the default camera mode. It gets its name because it is meant to mimic the feeling of being on a chariot being pulled by a bullet so it swings around like it is attached on reigns. While in turbo the reigns tighter and the camera gets pulled closer to the bullet. It is meant to imitate the feeling of being in a carriage with the bullet for a horse.

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The camera is always trying to center itself at the idle position of 3 “bullets” behind the player and 1 above (default position). When the player strafes to the left or right the camera slides in that direction. The reigns are 4 “bullets” long, therefor if the camera becomes 4 “bullets” away from the player the camera gets tugged back toward the default position (takes 0.3 seconds for the camera to move back to the “default position”). If the player doesn’t move far enough to pull the reigns to the max, the camera moves back toward the idle position as soon as they stop pulling away from the camera.

Figure 13: Camera on Reigns Side View

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Figure 14: Camera on Reigns Top-Down View

Figure 15: Camera on Reigns in Game View

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Camera Mode 2: Third Person Turbo

This is camera while in turbo. While the player is holding down the “turbo button” the camera zooms in from “camera mode 1” so the camera is only 1 bullet behind the bullet and the camera rotated 20* on the x axis (this takes half a second).

The restraints on the reigns are half of what they are in camera mode 1. In the same way the player’s mobility gets tighter while in turbo, so does the camera. Once turbo is pressed the camera zooms in so it is only 1 “bullet” behind the player and moves down ¼ a bullet (the zoom takes 0.5 seconds).

Figure 17: Camera Third Person Turbo

Figure 16: Camera on Reigns Movement

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Figure 19: Game Art Vision 2

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Game Art Vision The art vision for this game is aimed at creating

a world which is very contrast oriented in its color choices. Where the color of objects and rooms plays a role in indicating to the player what choice they should make to highlight decisions of whether they need to dodge an object or can crash through it. Also, having contrasting colors helps creating easier landmarks for the player to identify.

The character style vision is similar to the level of detail and proportions that is found in the drawing style of caricatures. The

proportions are not realistic, and the character detail contains a caricature

like style.

Visuals effectsMotion blur From the point the bullet is fired the player can observe a motion blur effect

on the outer 2/3 of the screen, conveying the sensation of moving extremely fast. The

area of screen in affect looks visually blurred, where the colors are be slightly washed together, and are stretched along the same direction the player is moving

Colors in EnvironmentsThe colors in the environment direct the player to the correct course of action. These colors indicate to the player things like, what can be broken if collided into, what should be avoided, and what will cause their bullet to alter course. I.e. Metal objects cause the bullet to

ricochet; deflecting the player onto a new trajectory. The result then is anything metal alters the bullets course and the player can now play according to this principle.

Figure 18: Game Art Vision 1

Fiure 21: In-game Time Dilation

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Particle and HUD EffectsDuring game play there are a few areas that use particle and HUD effects.

Particle effectsWhen the bullet collides into or ricochets of an environmental objects, there is a particle effect like debris or sparks that is triggered. I.e. Metal objects will be sparks and soft objects like wood or brick will be debris.

There is also the bullet trail that is generated behind the bullet that makes it seem like the bullet is cutting through wind at high speeds.

Breakable ObjectsDuring gameplay there are objects that populate the world which the player will be able to break. These objects include: Vases/Bottles

Windows Weak areas in the walls PlatesHUD

Bullet Ride has a very simple HUD. Speed is communicated through motion blur the perception of object flying towards the player. There is a speedometer and turbo gauge at the bottom left of the screen which blinks in red light when the player approaches death speed and blinks in blue light when the player gathers close calls. There is also the score at the top center of the screen. This simple HUD allows for the character and the bullet to be the main focus of the game. The Obstacles take on center stage, and there is little else to take up the attention of the player.

Figure 23: HUD

Figure 22: Debris

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Level Design PhilosophyThe speed of a bullet. The guy who is standing on the bullet has a different time perception than big people. Our blinks of eyes are his getting a good scratch down below. As we still wanted that sense of speed so badly, it is our main mantra after all, we had to make the level go by really fast.

But our game is more than just speed. It has this spirit of humour and swing. We have more in mind for it than just a hardcore speed-chaser game. We want crazy, we want humour; we want a fat guy running on a bullet desperately trying to fix his screw up and finally save a hostage.

Despite this, speed is still the most important factor. With maneuvering in high speed comes precision as well. A pilot has to maneuver into the sweet spot. We want the environment to play a big part in the experience of the game. This breath of art deco, crazy shapes and bright colors conveys a perfect dizzying effect, helping to disconnect the player from reality and feeling closer to a comic universe. So as far as Level Design Philosophy goes, we had two pillars to guide us: Dizzying Speed and Funnel Tunnel.

Master of Speed We look at racing games first, referencing games like Burnout, Need For Speed and Blur. The challenges of these games are Time and Opponents but for Level Design the challenges are obstacles. The obstacles in these racing games are mainly curves and they demand precision and control in ordered to be mastered. Bullet Ride obstacles are about dodging if you look at them one by one, as a beginner at driving sees only the curve in front of them. We try to also capture the mastery of getting the perfect score, the Flow.

ObstaclesAs we are going through an apartment, the material of the interior is going to be different. So we created the system of Weak, Strong and Solid objects. The absolute majority of the used obstacles are Strong, middle path will lead you straight. The weak are breakables with a reward tied in and the Solid are obstacles with a very unforgiving punishment. Refer to page 14.

Dodging & Close CallsSo as we are comparing ourselves with racing games we have a fundamental difference in our game. We have not only left and right movement, we have up and down as well as diagonal. So we have to look at different kinds of games and the first that comes to mind are flying games. The one that we are reminded of the most while looking at the prototype’s movement was Starfox 64. Although the steering is completely different and the core gameplay is mostly shooting it has a lot of dodging elements in it

What is most exciting when playing all of these games are the close calls just as well as getting the best time. In a racing game it’s those moments when you’re right behind the leading car and you’re both

Figure 25: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

Figure 24: Burnout

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facing a sharp turn. The leading car breaks in and takes the safe clipping point and you risk it. You go on the inside, you break in just a little bit later and you turn just a little bit sharper. If you fail you have to punch the break to not collide, but when you succeed you take the turn and leave the other car in your dust.

The game Star Wars Episode I: Racer does this spectacularly where you have to turn a fairly broad vehicle up on its side in order to fit through a narrow gap. These moments are when your focus has to be at a high and you go blue by holding your breath, heart pumping, palms sweating. Capture this feeling is paramount for our game’s feeling.

Ricochets & NavigationSo how can we make a game about riding a bullet that lasted longer than the time it takes for a bullet to reach its target? Ricochet comes to mind immediately. We are thinking of those moments in some movies where the bullet misses and just hits a lot of objects in a sequence and then suddenly hits somebody. This allows us also to flesh out the premise of our game, the hostage situation.

The ricochets works as the center pieces in the level design. They are the turns of the racing track. This way we don’t have a bullet just going through a bunch of rooms, crashing through walls. We can actually spend more time in the room and turn around the player. What this creates is gameplay where the obstacles are tied to each other as they have to both fit the theme of a room, making the environment more interesting and sensible.

Figuring out what the obstacles are and putting them into a real perspective is supposed to work in the back of the player’s mind.

Putting a player in control of a guy riding a bullet through these big apartments makes it hard to control where the player goes. Even though the constraints mechanic works well, we still have to make the player not want to move in the direction that would interact with the constraints. The original thought of the constraint was to mechanize and visualize a wind tunnel, but as the visual feedback is only displayed when the player actually hits the constrains because a permanent visual representation of a wind tunnel conveys to much linearity. We have to use other methods in order to have the player going down the desired path where the challenges are.

What we find is it’s really hard to distinguish ricochets from obstacles. How are you supposed to know that lamp is a ricochet but that other lamp is an obstacle? Early iterations are actually that lamps would be the only ricochets. This doesn’t make much sense later as the lamps can be too thin and don’t fit overall in the rooms.

It was recommended that we create a strong visual language and we decided to make only solid, metallic objects ricochets with a distinctive, unison color. We have a sharp metallic shader that stands out as we also decide no other metallic objects should be present in the level. We look closely at games like Mirror’s Edge for reference on their use of color in the level design to guide the player.

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Figure 26: Mirror’s Edge

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As the ricochets became more distinguishable they also became what they were originally intended for, waypoints. If there is more than one ricochet between a sequence filled with obstacles, the nearest ricochet should be visible from the ricochet the player just hit.

This could be seen as a sort of part objectives for the original mission: hit the ricochets to get back to the target!

Turbo RingsNot only does daring fate and going close to obstacles give you charge for your turbo. Rings are placed throughout the level in challenging placed to reward the most skilled of players. To go out of your way to get them gets you out of the most effective path but gives you more turbo to go even faster than originally.

The ring placement frequency is fairly low. Up to two in a room is the max for balancing purposes but also to not water down the initial intended challenge. The rings are placed so that the player not only gets the ring but also gets the close call bonuses as the ring is placed in such a tight place.

Dizzying Speed & Funnel TunnelThere are a lot of components here that together shape a Bullet Ride level. Hitting a statue and then dodging books while figuring out where to go gets confusing. As the bullet is pretty small placing obstacles and ricochets is all about finding those crowded spot in an interior. A bookshelf is a perfect example: Books lying down makes for good up and down, left and right dodging while still being able to see over the books rim to the other side. Something like picture frames blocks the player view and funnels him from going outside the shelf. A natural wall with glimpses of a world outside, conveying the sense of being in a room but rushing through it fast.

Spacing out objects creates a natural speed indicator. The space between objects gives the sense of whooshing by stuff, just as a race track has marked sides to indicate speed.

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Example of how to create a room for the LevelAs you can see in the picture above the rooms are decorated where the player path is, the rest of the room is mostly empty. The empty space can be utilized to create and alternate player path later, recycling already created segments, something that is crucial in this game where the art load is so heavy with details.

Figure 27: Segment Design

Segment 1 starts off in the table, goes behind picture frames and aims for a hole between the books in the shelf. Out through the hole the empty area to the right is blocked off by stacks of paper, blocking view and only giving away glimpses. The path goes up over the archive cupboard and over the desk and then straight through the window. As Ricochets are not leading the player, funneling is crucial for navigation.

Segment 2 starts off through the window, over the telescope and goes straight for the massive ricochet in the form of a statue. Then behind a big row of books and over a book stack, seemingly going straight for an empty wall with nothing but a distinctive vent shaft.

Segment 3 goes on through a vent shaft where at the end of the tunnel there is a ricochet throwing you out into a room filled with crates. The only object distinguishable is a statue sitting in one of the crates. The statue is another ricochet that steers you into a closet full of shoes where the shoes are stacked in a diagonal way that forms up into a tunnel with two “walls” and “floor” underneath in the shape of shoes. The “roof” is the coats hanging above. Only way out is through a wall and on it goes. Funnel tunnel.

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Mind the speedIt’s easy to forget how hard this game is in the beginning for a new player. As you have to keep a lot in mind for the design a player has to focus on a lot to go through it. It’s important to not hold back though and not be discouraged players having a hard time though. The learning curve is surprisingly soft. A new player will crash and burn guaranteed the first time but as the setting and rules of the game sink in, the third time’s proves to often be the charm. But, tweaking is always a high priority. As the player can go all directions, the variations of ways an obstacle is avoided the approach towards the next is different.

Figure 28: Level Design Mood Board

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Figure 29: Low Art Mock-up 1

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Low Art Game Mock-Ups

Figure 32: Actual Game Footage

Figure 30: Art Mockup 2 Figure 31: Art Mockup 3

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CinematicThere will be two cinematic scenes in the game that will be played, one at the start of the level and one at the end.

Scene #1 Overview: The player will see the character they are playing as it is getting ready to go to work; to ride the bullet.

The opening of this scene shows the gun and then moves into an x-ray view of it. In this view the character will be seen in the bullet clip which will be visually shown as a staff break room. This will be where the character and its other co-workers wait till they are needed to work. When this character is called to work it will walk across this break room to a door where he slips a punch card into a machine to clock in. Then proceeds to go through the door to where the bullets are kept. The character hops on and as the bullet begins to rise it puts all the equipment on and prepares to be fired out towards the target. Finally the bullet reaches the chamber and is fired sending the character hurdling outwards.

Scene #2 Overview: The player has successfully hit its target and is shown a scene where the character jumps off the bullet and parachutes down to safety.

The bullet is about to strike the target; the character is ready to now jump off the bullet and parachute down to safety. As the character bails off the bullet it opens up its chute and begins to slowly descend. While it’s descending downwards a splatter of blood rains down onto the player’s parachute confirming that the bullet has struck its target.

These objects will be color theme to indicate that they will be breakable. A possible example is glass will be a bluish themed color, or walls might be a whitish color.

Audio

MusicBullet Ride has sounds designed to place the player in the world. The music genre is electro swing. A mixture between the swing music popularized between the 20s through 40s and electronic music, a much more modern sound. The combination of this dichotomy works wonderfully to set the player in Bullet Ride’s remarkable world.

Sound EffectsEvery object in the world has a hit box that lets loose a sound based on the type of material it is upon impact with the player. The levels are covered with wood, glass, metal, paper, and ceramic obstacles.

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Turbo and super turbo have a unique sound. There is a whooshing and flapping background sound throughout to give an impression of moving at high speeds. Near Misses also have a whooshing sound effect when activate. The character lets out a yell when he enters turbo and supper turbo.

Game InterfaceTable 4: Game Interface

The Game Interface is simple. Through the Main Menu the player can decide to start a Normal Game or an Arcade Mode game, or exit the game. In the main menu the player is able to view high scores, the credits, and a tutorial of the game. Normal Game Play takes the player through the game campaign as it was designed by the developers. Arcade Mode provides an infinite, randomly generated level that allows the player to play for as long as they can. When a player starts the game, they are given the option of choosing easy, medium, or hard difficulties. In game, the player can access the volume, sensitivity and Invert the axis of their controller by pressing Start button and entering the Pause Menu.

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Additionally, the Pause Menu allows the player to restart the level, return to the nearest checkpoint, or return to the Main Menu.

Competitive AnalysisThere are a number of games on the mobile market that explore a similar concept to that of Bullet Ride. Temple Run, Jetpack Joyride, and Subway Surfers are games that, like Bullet Ride, try to give the player a feeling of speeding through a colorful environment as the player tries to avoid obstacles. However, this is where the similarities end. Each game has a unique style, concept, and gameplay mechanics that leave plenty of room for Bullet Ride to provide a unique experience while still being relevant to the same types of users. Table 5: Competitive Analysis

Game Competitor Feature Bullet Ride FeatureTemple Runhttps://itunes.apple.com/en/app/temple-run/id420009108?mt=8

Escape the Evil Demon Monkeys 3D Game Fast pace racing down ancient temple walls and

along sheer cliffs. Avoid obstacles

o Turno Jumpo Slide

Collect coins and buy power ups, Unlock new characters

Bullet Driving 3D Game High Speed Evade Obstacles Break Obstacles 3D Navigation Reverse Time Ricochet off surfaces Turbo Customizable Characters

Jetpack Joyridehttps://itunes.apple.com/en/app/jetpack-joyride/id457446957?mt=8

2D Side-Scroller Action Game Fast Evade Obstacles Fly Collect Coins Crazy Explosions Very Colorful Multiple Vehicles Customizable Character

Bullet Driving 3D Game High Speed Evade Obstacles Break Obstacles 3D Navigation Reverse Time Ricochet off surfaces Turbo Customizable Characters

Subway Surfershttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/subway-surfers/id512939461?mt=8

Run Through Train tracks Collecting Coins 3D Game Fast pace racing. Avoid obstacles

o Turno Jumpo Slide

Collect coins and buy power ups, Unlock new characters

Bullet Driving 3D Game High Speed Evade Obstacles Break Obstacles 3D Navigation Reverse Time Ricochet off surfaces Turbo

Temple RunTemple Run is a faced paced game 3D game where the player traverses through an ancient temple along sheer cliffs. The players must try to escape from an evil demon monkey by constantly running. The players avoid obstacles by turning, jumping or sliding as they try to collect coins and power-ups. The

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game ends only when the player dies, otherwise the level is continually generated by randomly placing level pieces.

Like Temple Run, Bullet Ride tries to achieve a feeling of high speed in a 3D environment as the player must try to avoid obstacles. The biggest difference between the two games, besides the Artistic concept, is that Bullet Ride is consistently steered in 3 dimensions, while in Temple Run players simply give inputs by swiping on the screen when the character needs to move. This means that in Bullet Ride the player has a much more immersive control of the character. Also, instead of just avoiding obstacles, players can obliterate certain obstacles, which can be much more satisfying that just running away from enemies and collecting coins.

Jetpack Joyride

Jetpack Joyride is a 2D Side-scroller game where players try to avoid and destroy obstacles as they fly around with a jetpack collecting coins. The game is fast paced, very colorful and cartoony, and has flight. Bullet Ride has a similar concept, but a radically different execution. Both games aim to give the player a feeling of flying at high speeds. While Jetpack Joyride is a 2D game, Bullet Ride is fully 3D. This allows Bullet Ride to give the player a more intimate experience with speed!

Subway Surfers

Subway Surfers is a 3D game where players run through train tracks collecting coins and avoiding obstacles. The game has more in similarity with Temple Run than it does with Bullet Ride, indicating that there is still plenty of space in the genre for other games. Both Bullet Ride and Subway Surfers are about racing down a tight venue at high speeds in a 3D environment. However, in Subway surfer the players must try to collect all the coins, not

necessarily always evade obstacles. The biggest different is that Bullet Ride is steered on 3 dimensions, and instead of just avoiding obstacles, you can obliterate them. Bullet Ride stands out because of its different take on avoiding obstacles and giving the player a feeling not only of speed, but of flight.

Figure 33: Temple Run

Figure 34: Jetpack Joyride

Figure 35: Subway Surfers

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