Worcester Polytechnic Institute Improvisational Music Game Major Qualifying Project Report Michelle Clifford Timothy Cushman Brian Hettrick 4/30/2009 2 Improvisational Music Game 3 Table of Contents Table of Images ....................................................................................................................................... 5 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1. Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. 6 1.2. Preface..................................................................................................................................... 6 1.3. Existing Music Games ............................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Game Design Document ........................................................................................................... 7 2. Foundation of the Process ............................................................................................................... 8 2.1. Improvisation ........................................................................................................................... 8 2.2. Opportunities of the Internet ................................................................................................... 8 3. Development of the Design............................................................................................................ 10 3.1. Chords of the Dead ................................................................................................................ 10 3.2. ImprovOnline ......................................................................................................................... 11 3.3. iGotBand Flash ....................................................................................................................... 12 4. Producing a Game.......................................................................................................................... 13 4.1. Tool Overview ........................................................................................................................ 13 4.2. Levels ..................................................................................................................................... 13 4.3. Characters .............................................................................................................................. 17 4.4. Code ...................................................................................................................................... 21 4.5. Website ................................................................................................................................. 40 5. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 47 5.1. Post Mortem .......................................................................................................................... 47 5.2 Late Additions and Successes ....................................................................................................... 47 5.3 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 47 6. APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................. 48 6.1 RESEARCH .............................................................................................................................. 48 6.2. Other Art Assets ..................................................................................................................... 52 6.1. Original Idea Game Doc .......................................................................................................... 54 6.3. Improv Online Game Doc ....................................................................................................... 56 1. PREFACE ........................................................................................................................................ 59 1.1 Purpose...................................................................................................................................... 59 1.2 Target Audience ......................................................................................................................... 59 4 Improvisational Music Game 1.3 Prerequisites .............................................................................................................................. 59 2. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................................................................. 60 2.1 Assumptions, Dependencies and Risks ....................................................................................... 60 2.2 General Constraints ................................................................................................................... 60 2.3 Goals and Guidelines .................................................................................................................. 60 2.4 Development Methods .............................................................................................................. 61 3. DATA DESIGN ................................................................................................................................. 62 3.1 User Database ............................................................................................................................ 62 3.2 Band Database ........................................................................................................................... 63 4. INTERFACE DESIGN ........................................................................................................................ 64 5.1 Art Assets ................................................................................................................................... 64 5.2 User Interface ............................................................................................................................ 66 5. PROCEDURAL DESIGN .................................................................................................................... 68 5.1 Server-side Scripts ...................................................................................................................... 68 5.2 Client Design .............................................................................................................................. 69 6. POLICIES AND TACTICS ................................................................................................................... 70 6.1 Design Decisions ........................................................................................................................ 70 6.2 Deadlines ..................................................................................................................................... 71 6.3 Responsibilities .......................................................................................................................... 71 Table of Images 5 Table of Images FIGURE 1.3:1 CONCEPT OF IGOTBAND LOGO. ............................................................................................................... 6 FIGURE 2.2:1 CONCEPT FOR IGOTBAND ONLINE PLAY. ................................................................................................. 8 FIGURE 2.2:2 EARLY CONCEPT OF GAMEPLAY............................................................................................................... 9 FIGURE 3.1:1 EARLY CONCEPT OF GAMEPLAY............................................................................................................. 10 FIGURE 3.1:2 EARLY CONCEPT OF GAMEPLAY............................................................................................................. 10 FIGURE 3.3:1 ARTISTIC RENDER OF SPEAKERS FROM ARENA LEVEL ........................................................................... 12 FIGURE 4.2:1 ARTISTIC RENDER MADE DURING BAR LEVEL DEVELOPMENT .............................................................. 13 FIGURE 4.2:2 EARLY RENDER OF PARK LEVEL .............................................................................................................. 14 FIGURE 4.2:3 FINAL RENDER OF PARK LEVEL .............................................................................................................. 15 FIGURE 4.2:4 FINAL RENDER OF BAR LEVEL ................................................................................................................ 16 FIGURE 4.2:5 FINAL RENDER OF ARENA LEVEL ............................................................................................................ 16 FIGURE 4.3:1 CONCEPT OF BUSINESS CHARACTER ..................................................................................................... 17 FIGURE 4.3:2 RENDER OF BUSINESS CHARACTER ........................................................................................................ 17 FIGURE 4.3:3 CONCEPT OF GOTH CHARACTER ............................................................................................................ 18 FIGURE 4.3:4 RENDER OF GOTH CHARACTER .............................................................................................................