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Page 8 Mechanics and Power ups The Mechanics of our brilliant game Coffee Run includes Theodore, who you control by pressing the arrows to move left or right on your keyboard or you can click the space bar to activate the jump. These are chosen because they are the most common keys used in today’s generation. These movements help the character manoeuvre across the spaced out buildings. Although Its very simple to navigate the character around, the movement isn’t too quick, however when Theodore jumps on the girders, we have increased the density and added a bounce, so he can bounce automatically from girder to girder and gain momentum. Other mechanics we have used would be the air vent. The air vent was an unusual idea, however is great because it makes the Theodore float up onto the crates away from the enemies. The way this came together was simply through tagging Theodore and setting behaviour to the Vent, which would automatically change the velocity of Theodore when they collide. This enabled the player to achieve something through levitating their character instead of climbing a boring ladder. Another mechanic, which was successful, would be the crates. They are a great idea to get the character to move them and jump across in a unique way, However the fun starts when the crates separate in freefall, and the player is forced to speed up to get across. The mechanics were easier for the Gravity Crates than making them normal Crates; normal Crates require gravity attributes and a vast amount’s of behaviour’s, which we originally had planned, until we felt it would be better to go with something different and more fun. We didn’t include any power ups, because we concentrated more on the core mechanic’s. We wanted the game to be more like an obstacle course. With the Achievement being that the player actually completes the level.

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Mechanics  and  Power  ups    The  Mechanics  of  our  brilliant  game  Coffee  Run  includes  Theodore,  who  you  control  by  pressing  the  arrows  to  move  left  or  right  on  your  keyboard  or  you  can  click  the  space  bar  to  activate  the  jump.  These  are  chosen  because  they  are  the  most  common  keys  used  in  today’s  generation.  These  movements  help  the  character  manoeuvre  across  the  spaced  out  buildings.  Although  Its  very  simple  to  navigate  the  character  around,  the  movement  isn’t  too  quick,  however  when  Theodore  jumps  on  the  girders,  we  have  increased  the  density  and  added  a  bounce,  so  he  can  bounce  automatically  from  girder  to  girder  and  gain  momentum.      Other  mechanics  we  have  used  would  be  the  air  vent.  The  air  vent  was  an  unusual  idea,  however  is  great  because  it  makes  the  Theodore  float  up  onto  the  crates  away  from  the  enemies.  The  way  this  came  together  was  simply  through  tagging  Theodore  and  setting  behaviour  to  the  Vent,  which  would  automatically  change  the  velocity  of  Theodore  when  they  collide.  This  enabled  the  player  to  achieve  something  through  levitating  their  character  instead  of  climbing  a  boring  ladder.    Another  mechanic,  which  was  successful,  would  be  the  crates.  They  are  a  great  idea  to  get  the  character  to  move  them  and  jump  across  in  a  unique  way,  However  the  fun  starts  when  the  crates  separate  in  freefall,  and  the  player  is  forced  to  speed  up  to  get  across.  The  mechanics  were  easier  for  the  Gravity  Crates  than  making  them  normal  Crates;  normal  Crates  require  gravity  attributes  and  a  vast  amount’s  of  behaviour’s,  which  we  originally  had  planned,  until  we  felt  it  would  be  better  to  go  with  something  different  and  more  fun.        We  didn’t  include  any  power  ups,  because  we  concentrated  more  on  the  core  mechanic’s.  We  wanted  the  game  to  be  more  like  an  obstacle  course.    With  the  Achievement  being  that  the  player  actually  completes  the  level.                  

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Game  Flow    Our   coffee   run   game-­‐flow   is   very   intense,   challengeable   and  repetitive  when  you  begin  your  journey  past  the  different  obstacles.  The   flow   is   about   a   the   player,   well   adjusting   himself   with   our  character  and  Coffee  Runs  atmosphere  before  he  moves  forward  and  explores  a  big  city   like  NY.  He  begins   leaving   the  coffee  house,  with  his  coffee  cup  through  the  city  itself  before  getting  towards  ‘night  life’  his  workplace/or  the  finish  line.  The  key  point  is  to  avoid  crowds  of  people  and  not  to  fall  off  cranes,  or  broken  buildings  or  you  will  die  and  have  to  start  all  over  again.      During  the  sun-­‐lit  city,   it  will   look  very  cheerful  and  not  too  hard  to  play,   however   the   challenge   begins   once   you   enter   the   dark   side,  which   includes   trying   to   cross   over   girders   and   avoid   hitting   the  parked   vehicles.   You   will   also   cross   over   large   buildings   and   the  density  will  be  less  so  the  challenge  will  increase  by  controlling  your  character.  The  new  ability  of  ‘coffee  run’  is  crossing  over  to  the  next  level,  which  is   nightlife   and   making   sure   your   character   does   not   fall   off   any  buildings.  We  do  include  warning  signs  about  the  long  drops,  so  the  player   will   have   pre-­‐caution   and   have   chances   to   understand   the  element  of  the  game  thoroughly.  We  haven’t  considered  a  score  just  a  character   gaining   skills   and   exploring   new   abilities   to   cross   over  buildings.  The  only  score  is  completing  the  level.    There   are   no   weapons   included,   just   an   escape   route.   Interesting  things  to  help  you  get  away  from  the  enemies,  for  example  when  you  enter   the   world,   you   will   see   a   crowed   of   people   starting   towards  Theodore.  He  cannot  jump  over  the  crowd;  the  only  option  is  to  find  an  escape  route,  like  the  wind  vent  provided.  Once  reaching  the  vent,  it  will  alter  Theodore’s  velocity  and  begin  to  animate  wind,  creating  the   appearance   of   thrust.   With   the   help   of   the   wind   vent,   your  character  will  be   taken  up   to   the  cranes,  where   the   real   fun  begins.    

 

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Replacements  of  Enemies    

The  player  will  face  many  enemies  throughout  the  Coffee  Run  game.  The  first  ‘enemy’  or  ‘obstacle’  of  the  task  is  to  avoid  the  crowed  of  people  at  the  start  and  they  are  considered  enemies  because  if  you  collide  with  them,  you  will  die  and  have  to  start  over.    The  interesting  thing  about  the  group  of  people  is  that,  they  don’t  look  evil;  they  are  just  dressed  in  casual  for  work,  they  blend  in  with  the  CoffeeRun  Theme  and  could  be  easily  mistaken  as  something  positive  and  not  a  hazard.      We  don’t  have  any  enemies,  other  than  the  distant  ground  from  the  rooftops.  I  believe  that  there  is  an  element  of  excitement  for  a  player,  playing  with  death  in  a  game.  So  to  make  it  more  exciting,  we  created  a  way  that  allows  the  player  to  freely  fall,  entirely  depending  on  Gravity  crates  to  pass  over  the  streets.      Sometimes  it  is  better  to  create  obstacles  instead  of  enemies  because  its  more  unexpected  and  fun.  The  tactics  are  the  mystery  of  the  challenge,  For  example  the  crates  are  falling  apart  as  you  cross  over  them  and  the  challenge  is  to  get  to  the  finish  line.  This  is  a  great  replacement  because  it  adds  more  pressure  and  leaves  the  ending  with  a  thrill.  

   

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Coffee run is a game based on one coffee, one journey. The player controls the character of Theodore. A hipster, young adult that works night shifts. As the player, your job is to take control of Theodore and help him bring his boss a cup of coffee. This however, is easier said than done.

The player must use the arrow keys and the spacebar to influence Theodore's movements; run forwards, backwards and jump. He must avoiding any potential hazards. These vary from construction sites, to crowds of people or even just falling from tall buildings.

The character Theodore is the only fully commandable Actor during gameplay. With just using his basic ability to move and push against other actors, you can reach high levels and move gravity crates in order to create new pathways for your character. This is very important for the game to include, it gives the player a feeling of total control over his character, with a sense of freedom, allowing him to choose what he does with objects.

The player has not been given a time limit to complete his game, purely for the amusement. The color, music and the overall design of the game has been described to be quite beautiful, and so it was in our best interest to not rush the player, and give them the time and ease to appreciate the game for what it is.

The controls responsible for Theodore’s movement and interaction with other actors, are the eight rules shown in the picture. Most are straightforward, for example: the collide behaviour was added to Theodore so that he could bounce away from any actor with a given tag. The collide behaviour becomes useful when creating a surface that an actor could bounce from, like a trampoline, then you also have access to the trampolines physics elements, allowing you to change the bounciness. I am mentioning this because, halfway through the gameplay, Theodore approaches some falling girders that have the same behaviour, allowing Theodore to jump from one to another.

The ‘move rules’ are basic commands, simply changing the attributes once or twice per movement and a reserve, so if the forward arrow on the keyboard isn’t ‘down’ then the ‘don’t move’ rule is applied in default. This is very important to the characters movement appearance once the animation is include, because not only is it easier to find where to place the animation in the rules, it also corresponds with it’s change, each time a different button is pressed.

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Theodore’s background The story begins with our main character, named Theodore. Theodore works night shifts at a firm called ‘Nightlife’ a co-operation run by one man, who depends on his coffee in the morning to function, his name; Sir John Fritz. He normally chooses from his employees to get it for him. One Monday evening, five minutes before he left for work, Theodore received a text from Sir John Fritzes secretary, informing him to pick up a latte from the Coffee House down the boulevard, with no given extra time, Theodore would be fired if he disobeyed/arrived late. His journey embarks on a series of exaggerated, health and safety hazards downtown. Including a wind tunnel at the beginning, to thrust Theodore upwards, keeping him from knocking over his drink by a crowd of people heading to the CoffeeHouse. When Theodore reaches the middle gateway tunnel, he enters the city life during the night. Although he pursues the same goal, Theodore is faced with more challenging obstacles. The first set includes a broken down crane, dropping many girders. Theodore must wait, then jump from girder to girder, to reach the next building. At the rooftop of the second building, he comes across three 'gravity crates'. He realizes that he can't reach his destination without moving the crates in order to create a disfigured, stepping stone path. After they are positioned, Theodore athletically jumps from the first to the second and third, when he finally makes it to his workplace. • Avoid crowd of people. • Reach vent. • make it to first building. • Make it through girders. • Approach second building. • Push and position Gravity Crates. • Jump from one crate to another. • You have completed the level.                              

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Like every platformer game, the player cannot see the whole map during gameplay. He or she can only see as far as the character’s camera allows them. In our game CoffeeRun, in order for the player to see what the map consists of ahead, he or she must maneuver Theodore to either to the side of the screen to display different parts of the map. The music is a soothing and peaceful song that we selected for the game, right after we created the paper prototype. The fact that it fits with the world of CoffeeRun so well, improves the experience for the player. The odd tune’s collaborate well with the make believe world and compliment the overall design. Podington bear’s soundtrack became the song for our game, immediately after we heard it. The idea of coffee run was to create a different interface where the player, could start the game with a peaceful mindset allowing them to easily adapt to the controls. This heavily depended on the atmosphere of the game being bright and easy at first. Then, to introduce new challenges, a dark side was literally created within the game. A juxtaposition of the ‘pretty opening’ We called this, The City Nightlife. The ‘dark side’ is not only a change in color scheme, but where challenges become more daunting and very intriguing for the player, which also includes some surprising elements that are unlikely to be found in any other game.

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Below  is  a  Simple  Flow  chart  demonstrating  how  the  player  navigates  the  interface.