As I said last time around, concepting is one of the most fun parts of game development. That said, this is still some of the most fun I’ve had brainstorming for a game. Frog Snatchers already has such a well-defined brand and theme (and I imagine my enjoyment is partially just relief after such a muddy and poorly defined brand/theme last semester), but what makes it so fun to design for is that it’s all based on turning context for mechanics and processes that so many games take for granted, and giving them a cute, wacky reason for being there. Some examples are things like fast travel being your character falling asleep and waking up in the new location. Or getting up a mountain the first time by platforming up a broken ski lift. Everything’s based on coming up with little comedic bits, which makes the narrative part just such a joy to work on.

I’ve been writing some narrative interactions this week. I’ve been trying to build them to fit into the tone that Frog Snatchers has established for its characters and I think I’ve done a pretty good job. So far I’ve got:

• A bouncer who won’t let you into a club, but only because his massive frame is stuck in the door and he needs you to find him something slippery to get him out.
• An enthusiastic salvation army recruiter who starts following the player and getting increasingly more desperate and revealing more depressing details about their life.
• A 40 year old man with a backwards baseball cap who uses phrases like “on fleek” poorly and calls you “home slice”.

These are just ideas and mostly just world filler details. It’s gonna be interesting to find people to fit into the main narrative who can remain consistent with the feeling, as all of these people were conceived as their own isolated events.

We’ve also met up and distributed the areas to each respective level designer. It looks like I’m responsible for Florida, which is pretty exciting. Florida’s already got a lot going for it in terms of weird narrative context, and a lot of options too. We’ve got tourist trap areas, beaches, and everglades for starters, and there’s all kinds of weird enemies and obstacles to be done with that. Florida will be where the player gets the “dash” ability, which will make the structure of my platforming sections pretty interesting, especially considering the dash goes 8 ways! It’s been a fun week concepting and I can’t wait to actually start implementing content.