So I'm sure you are probably wondering what on earth does a food fight have anything to do with making video games much less a board game (since that is what we have been heavily focused on this year). Now you are perfectly justified in thinking that because until I looked at my last assignment of the year for Game Design and Production I would have thought the same thing.

Now for this week's GDP assignment we were required to create Healthy Game Design, now before reading the assignment I was under the impression that my group and I needed to create a game with a good design but I was absolutely floored when I read the assignment to only find out that we literally needed to make a game based on when Fruits and Vegetables are in season. My first response was to start swearing and flipping out thinking 'How on earth are we suppose to make a game about Fruits and Vegetables!!' (this being the clean version of my rants).

Our research, design and development meeting for this assignment

Now after taking with my group members and other students in my class about this assignment we slowly started building ideas for our groups game and let me tell you this was definitely one of the most interesting and weird things my group has ever needed to discuss. Some of the ideas we came up for this were just bad and were scrapped so fast we didn't even start developing those ideas. Eventually we finally came up with our current idea that divides the fruits and Vegetables up into 5 sections based on what season they local and fresh in, the five sections are Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall and All Year Round. We researched intensely what Fruits and Vegetables were in each section in order to create our game. Below you can find some pictures indicating what fruits and Vegetables are in each season:

Deciding that we couldn't include every single Fruit and Vegetable (cause there are way to many, some of them aren't even shown in the pictures above) we decided to use 3 fruits and 3 vegetables from each season only. We created Cards for each of them and made cards for the different seasons as well. Our current idea for this game was that it was going to be a battle game using cards where certain cards would be stronger than others, and you could make cards more powerful by changing the season with the season cards.

Example of some of the cards(Incomplete designs)

Now these cards were yet to have the text place on them that would indicate what Fruit/Vegetable they were and I believe any info about the fruit/ Vegetable or what they were string against (I can't remember exactly what was going on the cards because we changed our idea around so much).

While we were designing we tried to decide what the winning condition of our game would be and what type of game it would be, now we came up with a lot of different conditions and types only to scrap them since either it was too much like a race to the end game or we just didn't like them. Our most current idea was to make our game an anti-collection type game, where players would need to have the least amount of cards in their compost pile (the pile where the defeated cards would go) in order to win. However that was a tentative winning condition since we have been constantly changing our game design whenever we find something we don't like or feel doesn't work. The finalized winning condition and game design are in the rules outlined below:

How to Play

There are two decks, Vegetables and Fruits and 4 categories of each divided into Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. The objective of the game is to destroy the competing farmer’s land. A mysterious scientist has provided you with a growth hormone to create warriors from your produce.

There are 6 plots of land that each farmer owns. If they are all destroyed the farmer will be forced to retire. Each season is two turns for a player. There is a maximum of 5 fruit or vegetable fighters at any time; however they can still be grown on a plot of land. Each Category of fruit and vegetables can only be grown at the start of the season, and at the end of the season they are ready to fight and move to No Man’s zone.

If the produce cannot be moved to the zone after maturity, they will decompose after half a season and be shuffled back into the deck. There are exceptions such as the mushroom.

There are 4 phases in a turn: Draw, Grow/position, Battle and End phase.

Draw

You can draw one card per turn.

Grow

You may place produce down on a plot if it is the start of the season if it corresponds to their type. You may also move grown Fighters to No Man’s Zone if there is space.

Battle

Fighters have attack and defence points. The defence points deplete as they are being attacked. If they die, the side effects of the growth hormone infects a growing produce and decomposes it or if there is none then a plot of land wither aways and dies. The destroyed fighter is sent to the compost.

End

If you have more than 7 cards in your hand, discard one card to the compost.

If the previous step does not apply or has been done, you may draw one additional card on your next draw phase if you have destroyed one or more plots of land this turn.

How to win

The game ends either of the farmer’s 6 plots of land is destroyed. One of them then sells their land because they cannot live off it anymore and it is turned into a new mall.

MY THOUGHTS

At first I thought that making a game based on when Fruits and Vegetables are in season was the dumbest assignment I have ever heard of in my life. However after completing this assignment I realized that it really forced us to think outside of our normal thought process and I know for me it really expanded what topics or ideas I thought could be made into games. This was an interesting assignment to say the least but I don't think I want to make another game based on produce for a while.

Confused about the name of this blog post and wondering what on Pandaria^[1] and in all that is holy in Hyrule^[2] does a dance party have to do with game development and this blog in general, well keep reading and I'll answer all your questions. Now in order to understand what a dance party (specifically a Hindu Dance party, since Chaiyya Chaiyya is sung in Hindi, a language spoken in India) has to do with game development you need to know what my Game Design and Production class's last prototype of the year is and how Chaiyya Chaiyya is relevant.

Now our last prototype of the year is a party/music/dancing game that must incorporate one of the most famous Bollywood dancing scenes called Chaiyya Chaiyya (hence the name of this blog). This game needed to incorporate and convey the look and feel of this scene that could be played with at least 4 players (you should be able to play with 8 or more). Now at first when my group read the assignment we literally sat and thought to ourselves what in the land of Ooo^[3] are we going to do for this, and since none of us (well aside from Keerthana who grew up with Bollywood) knew little to nothing about Bollywood or Chaiyya Chaiyya, so we did some research.

BOLLYWOOD:

Now you may have heard the term Bollywood before, if you were required to read Slumdog Millionaire in school (now I know all you lazy people probably just watched the movie) than you probably think you have a good understanding of Bollywood and don`t need to read this section of the blog, but that`s where you are wrong since Slumdog Millionaire is not a Bollywood film but a British one (go figure huh, but I won`t be getting into this movie since it isn't the focus of this blog) so if you want to learn about Bollywood keep reading.

Now the word Bollywood is a general, informal term used and associated with the Hindi-Language film industry which is based in Mumbai, India. Bollywood is usually regarded as the whole of Indian cinema, which is incorrect seeing as it is only s part of the industry. It is understandable that many make this mistake (I admit I made the mistake as well since I didn't know any better either) because Bollywood is the largest producer in India and the world.

The history of Bollywood was started in 1913 with Raja Harishchandra which was the first silent film made in India (more info on the film is found Here). Since then Bollywood has been constantly growing and evolving into what it is today, in fact in the 2000s Bollywood began gaining popularity throughout the world helping spread the knowledge of its existence. Bollywood has six major influences that have shaped it, which include Indian Epics (more info found Here) and Hollywood, specifically their musicals. While Hollywood influenced Bollywood, Bollywood influenced it back starting with the musical films of the Western world (Fun Fact: Did you know that the musical film Moulin Rouge! (2001) was directly inspired by Bollywood musicals?).

Now a Bollywood film (as we know Bollywood) have some defining features that make it easy to recognize the film as Bollywood, here are a few examples:

There is a distinct dominance of one or two actors (usually a male and female)
There is use of other forms of art such as dancing, singing and playing instruments
Romance is the main plot or subplot in the story
There is no kissing (there are very few exceptions)
There are very large and extravagant sets and decorations
There are very authentic and detailed costumes

For more info on what makes a Bollywood film a Bollywood film check out the link Here.
CHAIYYA CHAIYYA:

Chaiyya Chaiyya is one of the most famous Bollywood dance scenes, which is found in the Hindi film Dil Se, released in1998. This Hindi song became extremely popular around the time of its release mainly because it was filmed on a moving train. The lyrics of Chaiyya Chaiyya were based on a Sufi folk song called Thaiyya Taiyya, the lyrics were rewritten and the title was changed to its current title.

The Chaiyya Chaiyya scene was filmed on top of the Ooty train (which is a train that runs through the town of Ootacamund in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu, more info found Here) through the mountains, which was the reason why this scene became so imensely popular. The male lead, Shahrukh Khan, dances with the female lead, Malaika Arora and numerous other dances on top of a moving train. This scene was inspired by a movie song video from 1977 which used the similar sequence.

The Lyrics of Chaiyya Chaiyya:

Chaiyya Chaiyya is a very catchy song not only because of it's beat but also its catchy lyrics and chorus (not that I have any idea what they are saying with out the translations). You can find the lyrics below:

Jinke Sar Ho Ishq Ki Chaaon
Paanv Ke Neeche Jannat Hogi
Jinke Sar Ho Ishq Ki Chaaon
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Saare Ishq Ki Chaaon Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya
Saare Ishq Ki Chaaon Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya
Paanv Janat Chale Chal Chaiya Chaiya
Paanv Janat Chale Chal Chaiya Chaiya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Saare Ishq Ki Chaaon Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya
Saare Ishq Ki Chaaon Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya
Paanv Janat Chale Chal Chaiya Chaiya
Paanv Janat Chale Chal Chaiya Chaiya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya

Woh Yaar Hai Jo Khusbhu Ki Tarah
Jiski Zubaan Urdu Ki Tarah
Meri Shamo-raat Meri Kaynaat Woh Yaar Mera Saiyyan Saiyyan
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya

Gulposh Kabhi Itraye Kahin, Mehke To Nazar Aa Jaye Kahin
Gulposh Kabhi Itraye Kahin, Mehke To Nazar Aa Jaye Kahin
Taabeez Banaa Ke Pahnoo Use Aayat Ki Tarah Mil Jaaye Kahin
Taabeez Banaa Ke Pahnoo Use Aayat Ki Tarah Mil Jaaye Kahin
Gulposh Kabhi Itraye Kahin, Mehke To Nazar Aa Jaye Kahin
Mera Nagma Wahi Mera Kalma Wahi
Mera Nagma Wahi Mera Kalma Wahi
Yaar Misaale Os Chale Panv Ke Tale Firdaus Chale
Kabhi Daal Daal Kabhi Paat Paat Main Hawa Pe Dhoondho Uske Nishaan

Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya

Woh Yar Hai Jo Khusbhu Ki Tarah
Jiski Zuban Urdu Ki Tarah
Meri Shamo-raat Meri Kayanat Woh Yar Mera Saiyan Saiyan
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya

The translations of Chaiyya Chaiyya can be found Here. The music video/ scene can be found below if you wish to watch it (which I do suggest):

THE PROTOTYPE:

For the prototype we were very confused and unsure of where to even start designing a party game based on Chaiyya Chaiyya, but with a little bit of research and several meetings we were able to develop a fun (and slightly embarrassing party game which some ppeople may need a little convincing to play) party game with simple rules so everyone, no matter how intoxicated they are can still play.

The Initial Meeting:

During our initial prototype meeting we were missing Evelyn and Zee who unfortunately had previous commitments but they were informed of what was occurring through Skype, Text messages and in person. After doing a little research on Bollywood and Chaiyya Chaiyya (Keerthana knew all about it already which was i guess a bonus for our group, because we had someone familiar with this type of film) we began discussing some ideas for the prototype. After discussing and discarding numerous ideas, Keerthana came up with our current idea which incorporates many Bollywood dances, scenes and songs along with a spinner to help determine your song.

The basic premise of our game is that players (in no less than groups of four) must split up into equal sized teams (or as equal as they can be) and spin the spinner to determine what dance they must follow. The players of the spinning team must follow the dance moves of the video and whoever did it the least correct was eliminated from the spinning team. This would continue until there was 3 players or less then the eliminated players would be the sole judges in who wins and who is eliminated.

This idea required numerous songs from the Bollywood movies and since Keerthana was the only one who was familiar with these movies she began gathering songs and clips to use, while Chrystal and I were in charge of the spinner, Clement was given the rules to handle, Zee was in charge of editing and burning the game dvd and Evelyn was given the task of organizing the presentation.

The Second Meeting:

While our first meeting was mainly focused on getting and developing our game idea, our second meeting was all about making the game. Chrystal and I focused on making the the spinner board and the spinner. Now since we were unsure how how to make the spinner board in the style of Bollywood we decided to make the spinner a Bollywood dancer dressed up in a type of outfit seen in these movies.

The Beginning of Our Game:

The Meeting:

During our meeting we tried to narrow down and tweak anything off about our game and thought of a few rules we didn't think of during our first meeting. This meeting's main purpose was to put everything together and make sure everyone knew what their job was for this prototype.

The Writing of The Rules:

Chiaiyya Chaiyya Party Game

Game Rules

Use the spinner to determine which difficulty to choose from. Green is easy, yellow is medium, and red is hard. Choose a song from the difficulty level and imitate the dance.

Everybody in the group has to participate. Songs in the same difficulty cannot be re-chosen until the whole difficulty has been completed once.

There is a minimum of 4 different players or groups. This allows for no stalemates in judging as the performing group cannot give a pass or not. Judging is simple, at the end of the performance the groups either give a pass or not and the majority vote is given as the final verdict.

There are two modes you can choose from. Elimination or Point based rounds. Both modes still use the same judging system however in Elimination if you fail two rounds you are eliminated, however you will still judge. The point based system gives your group one point per pass on a round. Decide on how many rounds everybody wants to play of either 3, 7 or 10. The group with the most points win.

The winning group gets to single out a person to do a dance of their request.

The Editing and Making of The Disc:

Keerthana and Zee worked together for collecting the clips and editing them (to ensure there is always a dance to do rather than not having a dance to follow which would defeat the purpose of the game) they need to be very careful where they cut and how they put the clips together otherwise it may possible mess up the rhythm of the game. The clips where divided into three categories, easy, medium and hard, the songs in each category are as follows:

easy:
- ghanan ghanan
- kabhi kabhi
- maskali
- papu cant dance
- patshala
- thok de killi
medium:
- barso re
- chiggy wiggy
- jai ho
- jai ho (you are my destiny)
- jiys jale
- mitwa o mitwa
hard:
- azeem o shan
- chaiya chaiya
- kehna hi kya
- key sara sara
- rangeela re
- tere bina

The Making of Our Spinner:

My Thoughts:

To make a game based on such an intricate and unique concept of Bollywood proposed an interesting challenge for my group and I, which forced me to learn more about the interesting world of Bollywood Films. I think that making a party game was a good way to end the prototypes (while at first I hated the idea of making a board game based on Chaiyya Chaiyya for the main reason of I had no idea what it even was, thank god for Keerthana and her Bollywood knowing ways). I think this prototype was a good experience but i do not want to do this again because it took so much time to go through to learn and understand Bollywood to make our game.

In case You Were Interested

Here are some links for more info on some of the topics discussed in this blog.

Some References Found In This blog:

So ever since watching Wreck-It-Ralph with some friends from my Game Development class I have been incorporating game and cartoon/TV references in a lot of my sentences (I think it is because of all the references made throughout that movie). Here is a quick explanation of my references in order of appearance:

^[1]Pandaria is ancient realm in the newest World of Warcraft expansion pack
^[2]Hyrule is the land where Link, The Hero in all the Legend of Zelda game, resides in
^[3]The Land of Ooo is the world of the cartoon Adventure Time takes place in

The Rants of an Angry Game Dev Girl

Friday, 30 November 2012

Office Adventure Concept Art

Studio and Game Logos

Poster; Designs and Sketchs

Main Character; Design and Sketches

Side-Kick Character; Design and Sketches

NPC Character Design

Enemy Designs

Power Up Designs

Textures

Paper Game Board

Wednesday, 28 November 2012

Food Fight