Final Project

Some of this has been posted before, but I recompiled it, and presented with pictures of the game below so it all comes together for my final project.  I have also posted a YouTube video here.

JB's stick it to 'em
Robert E. Pitts Jr.

Have you ever in customer service and wanted to tell off that rude customer?  Well now can!  Choose from an assortment of remarks, comebacks and things to do to get back at them.

Features

• Game board is shaped like an airliner, you move around the plane and hopefully you get off through the escape slide.  Inspired by flight attendant with JetBlue Steven Slater
• Play your cards against the customer cards in a battle of wills to see who can dish it out best.  Movement based on the card battles.
• Decision making is key.  Do you play it safe and wait to pull out the big card or go for broke and try to quickly make your escape?
• For even more entertainment, an interactive DVD is included that has comedic clips of customer service situations that you choose to play instead of cards.
• Play through to avoid the dreaded managers office.
• Makes a great party game where everyone can have a good laugh
• Motivation
• Your ultimate goal is to slug through the customers and make your escape from customer service.  Tug at the emotions of the players as they relive those dreaded times with rude customers.  Anyone who has worked with the public understand that people can be rude, obnoxious and downright mean.  So feel free to let it all out and tell than what you really think.

Genre

The game is a mix of a board game, card game and the benefit of the DVD

Target Customer

The large percent of the population working in a customer service role of some sort.  Everyone from waiters to department stores employees.  People want a release from dealing with the public.  Read this quote from austenbronte who wrote on ABCNews.com. "Working with the GENERAL public is mundane and rude people like that woman can drive your insane, day after day, after day, after day. WAY TO GO STEVEN! You are free from that daily nightmare, now I wish you good luck in fighting the legal system and the airline, so you can stay out of jail."  - Taken from ABCnews story linked here - http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/steven-slater-jetblue-flight-attendant-quitter-online-hero/story?id=11369252

Competition

None that I have found.

Unique Selling points

• It would be the first game of its kind
• Allows people to role play tough customer situations finally get to stick it to rude customers
• Great party atmosphere game
• DVD allows for longer play and great laughs
• Tap into the potential of workers tired of dealing with rude people.

Target Hardware

• Tabletop and a DVD player – according to the Digital Entertainment Group 2009 year end report, 92 million households have a DVD player.

Design Goals

• Easy - setup and game play
• Entertaining – Good laughs, replay value with different play through based on the cards dealt
• Group Play – get together and share the laughs
• DVD – videos appeal to the YouTube crowd and are campy and funny

Rules and play-through information


The Rules are simple but with a bit of strategy. You have two desks of cards. One deck is the Customer Cards deck (CC), the second is Service Representative deck (SR). CC cards are comments, complaints, obnoxious remarks and general dumb customer interactions and are weighted with negative values from -1 to -10. SR cards are comebacks to complaints, inventive ways to get back at customers, general ways to frustrate the stupid customers of the world and are weighted with values from +1 to +10. You initially start with 10 cards in hand after shuffling the deck.

The board is shaped like an airliner, you move around the plane and hopefully you get off through the escape slide. Movement is determined by how you play your cards. Meaning SR-CC=movement. Move forwards or backwards the appropriate # of spaces.  If negative you do not get another card. The catch of course is to strategize your card use. You can also get a bonus SR card on select spots on the board. If you run out of cards, land on select spots or select cc cards with the instructions for mangers office, you then proceed to the  managers office and lose a turn. There are 3 mangers offices around the board. When you go the managers office you go backwards to the previously passed office or if you are not past the first office return to start. On your next turn only if you have run out of cards  you draw 5 cards from the SR deck.

To add a little spice, you can utilize the DVD by landing on select spots on the board or selecting CC deck cards with the DVD icon. Some clips will be positive for the player or negative siding with the customer - movement will come from these. The clips will be around 30 seconds or so and will be campy and funny. The result will make you move forwards or backwards. You do not lose or draw a card with a negative DVD playback result, just move the appropriate number of spaces.
Another option as well for direct head to head competition is to play with another person in charge of the CC cards as you battle directly for victory and escape from the customer service nightmare!

Picture of Service Representative Cards

 Picture of Customer Comment Cards

 Picture of Game Board Layout

 Picture of actual prototype gameboard & Cards

Cards and Dice

Premise

• A Different twist on high card draw, using dice as a “power up” and utilizing joker cards as a re-roll of dice.

Rules

• Each player rolls three dice.  These dice are added onto point total of cards as a “power up”.  They can only be used one at a time and once used are removed from play (unless you draw a joker).
• value of cards ace=1 through king=10
• joker cards let you re-roll your dice and act as a way to reload your “power up”.  If joker is drawn then you re-roll your dice putting them back in play and then you draw another card (to replace one that was played).
• deck including jokers is shuffled and each player draws 10 cards
• high card including “power up” wins.  Cards are played by each player first sliding a die forward if being used and then simultaneously placing their cards on table face up to see who won.
• After you play your cards each player draws a card, winner drawing first
• most wins determines overall winner

Revisions after play-through

• I dropped the number of cards drawn from 10 to 7.  this allows for a little more randomization of what you will draw.
• As a variant, I added the option to add up to two dice at once, discard after usage of dice still applies.

Chapter Seven Book Work

Which load system would you choose to implement in you original game?
I will use a combination of auto-save when entering a new area and unlimited manual saves at any time.  This would be like what is in Fallout 3, for example.

Why would this system be preferable to others?
Well I do not want to be limited with my saves thus I don't want to do the same to people playing my game.  Second the reason why I have the auto save in the background is if you are like me you will get into the game and forget to save sometimes.  This way you will not have to go all the way back to your previous manual save but to the beginning of the area you entered.

How will you balance immersion with player control?
Since the auto-save happens in the background players will not notice that part.  The manual save is up to the player so the only immersion issues will be up to the player.  I mean if you are a control freak and need to save every 5 minutes that is your choice.    I save when I remember and it might be a while so I don't interrupt the game.  The unlimited manual save allows the player to have more control as they see fit.  The player is ultimately in control of everything.  You have some players with a busy schedule that hop into a game for an hour at a time just to have a little play time.  Other players set aside entire days to play the game and basically live the game.  So why limit gamers?

Movie Madness

I am going to try to create a game concept based on a movie.  This is usually touch because as most gamers well know, movie based games are horrible.  So here is my attempt.  The movie I selected was Training Day.  The genre will be 3rd person, action (sometimes stealth), rpg esque by maintaining reputations with confidential informants (C.I.) and cops you trust.  Some basic mechanics will be multiple dialog interactions with characters, some shooting on missions, collection of evidence and maintaining your cover. 

The overall plot of the game boils down to you finding out the special task force you assigned to is not what it seems.  Now I would have to take some deviation from the movie to flesh out conversations and give it an overall fresh feeling.  Just sticking to the movie you already know the outcome.  This way the game and plot are a better fit. 

Here is a very basic summary.  You go through several missions as part of the task force team and realize something is not right.  It is up to you to find out who you can trust You must maintain your cover, develop and keep C.I.'s happy so your can get information or legit favors to help you out.  Working with your task force team you have to play along and act as one of the group but over the course of the game, each crime scene you collect needed evidence without being noticed or attracting attention to yourself.  Also once you start to figure out who you can trust you must formulate a plan to bring this corruption to an end.

Chapter Six Book Work

For this assignment I will list three games and three ways they keep my playing.

Fallout3 – Good loot system to see what I can collect from the game world.  I like the combat system and upgrading my character.  Also the detailed game world and sheer size and amount of stuff to do.

Mass Effect 2 – Great story that keeps you hooked, with the multiple dialog choices and outcomes.  Being able to bring my character forward from the prequel and my continued evolution.  Fun weapons and combat to satisfy the need for action.

Metal Gear Solid 4 – Finding out what happens in the end and filing in the blanks with flashbacks.  Amazing visuals and controls.  Don't forget the nail-biting stealth game play – oh yeah the inch worm!

Character Development Revisited

How does the environment in the games affect the character? Well it has a huge impact on the characters in the game.  It can determine their physical appearance, weapons, thoughts, dialog and interactions.  I picked God of War and moved the game from ancient Greece to the Vietnam war era.  If we look at Kratos he would physically appear out of place.  His clothing would not be of the correct period, his weapons would be useless in jungle combat.  His enemies would pick him off hidden in the bush.  Yes he has some magic powers but those too would not be “real” for Vietnam.  Flamethrowers yes – Medusa’s head – no way!  The character of Kratos would need to be totally revamped with maybe once exceptions, his drive and determination.  This key part of his being would not be limited to one era. Everything else from clothing, weapons, dialog would need to be changed to fit the time period.  If not you run the risk of having the protagonist feeling detached from the game world. 

Also characters in the game would be laughable as well.  Greek Gods on the Ho Chi Minh Trail?  I don't think so...  Skeletons, Titans and other monsters roaming around outside of a forward artillery fire-base?  That would seem something out of a cheesy science fiction movie.

The grit and rawness of the Vietnam war does no fit the mystical enemies or the overall mood of God of War.  Characters that are closely tied to their environment do not transition to a different on easily.

Card Game

The Premise:

This is simple, attack the other players “kingdom” and win. (based on two players only)  Think of it as a modified “I declare war” card game.

The Rules:

1. Take a deck of cards, remove all kings and queens.  One player takes all black cards, the other takes all red.
2. You place one black or red king and queen down face up.  The other black or red king and queen will not be used.
3. Each player takes their remaining cards and shuffle.
4. Remove 4 cards without looking and place them face down in front of you.  This is your “reserve” unit (this is done so the cards held in hand will have some degree of randomness)
5. The remaining cards are held in hand and played against each other.  Each player presents a card at the same time and high card wins that battle ).  In the event of a tie the battle is a draw and nobody wins the battle. 
6. The reserve unit cards can be played at any time by selecting one and placing it face up.  You do not get to see what card it is and this will take place of using one of the cards in hand.
7. Play continues until all cards are used (including reserve unit cards. Player that has won the most battles wins the war and has conquered the other kingdom and defeated the other players king and queen.

After playing the game a few times, the only change I made was upping the reserve unit cards from 4 to 6.  this makes the cards held in hand more random and you have to have a little more strategy.  Just make sure you pay attention to what is played.  Heh and with any card game look to see of the other player has a tell or not.