My Project -

• What I will be producing -

I will be designing a level for a beat em up game which will be called 900AD. Originally I would have liked to have been able to create 3 different levels but due to historical references for the other two levels (China and Middle East) these were hard to come by. I have managed to get accurate historical referencing from The Viking Era which was set around the same time period. I will be producing 3 sections within one environment which will be in focused in the Viking’s historical place. These levels will also have interactive objects that the user will be able to break them whilst fighting .The setting for this stage will be in Norway/Demark region. In the pre-production section I will be producing a Level Design Document which will show where various objects and scenery will be placed. This will be done through sketches, concept drawings and practice models alongside other sources. These will go into the Pre-Production section.

• Why -

Beat em up’s such as Tekken, Soul Calibur and Street Fighter have set a standard within the games industry as well as the genre. Tekken and Soul Calibur were made by the same company have a lot to offer. Characters, Graphics and a huge fan base etc... So I feel that it would be good to create a Beat em up environment using real and accurate historical references.

• How -

I’ll will be drawing out my ideas from the research I have gathered. Building small objects within Maya for reference to the way I would like my environment to look. Other software packages such as Maya and 3D Studio Max will be used to help me produce the final models which will also be imported into the Unreal 3 Engine Edition that comes with Unreal Tournament 3. I will also be using many of the integrated objects within the package.

• When -

The tasks will start after I have completed my Dissertation work and when I’ve planned out my Pre-Production stages. Once I know what tools, references and research I will need, I will put all my tasks into my Gantt Chart so that I can have a rough estimate of when things can and will be completed.

• Who -

The audience for this would be those who like 3D beat em ups. The idea of being able to create a stage for the already built fighting game for the characters to combat on would be well received in my opinion. • Intellectual Property RightsIntellectual Property Rights isn’t too much of a concern within my project due to the idea being my own original thoughts. If I was to publish this for a real game that would allow level modifications then I would have to contact the relevant company with my idea to see if it would constitute IPR.

• Audience -

The audience for this level mod will be for those who are fans of the beat em up genre. Imagine being able to create a stage for the characters to fight on. I feel that this area has never been explored in this particular genre, but being able to create a stage for a fighting game using the ‘UnrealED’ and importing the level into the actual game itself for players to fight on with their favourite character would be something special. This has been done for characters and levels but not for a beat em up game, whereby the user can create their own stages.
If this was a “true” avenue, I feel that this would be welcomed by consumers as well as the company that has created the game for stage modifications.