Tuesday, 15 July 2014

Impulse | Design Document and Concept Images from 2006



Today, I discovered a most exciting ancient artifact on my hard drive: the files for an old Design Document that I made while I was enrolled at the Art Institute of Vancouver (2006). I had a blast working on this project and remember it fondly. Looking back, I think that this was the first major step in realizing that game design, not game art, is my true calling.

I would like to present to you all, Impulse, a game concept that I designed exclusively for the Nintendo Wii:





Click here to view the full Game Design Document (PDF)






'I', the main protagonist of Impulse. As you can see, I have a penchant for blob creatures.


Concept:

The core idea behind Impulse is that the player controls both of the main character's plasma arms to interact with the game world. Using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk's accelerometers and gyrometers,  as well as the Wii console Sensor Bar, the player can mimic real life arm motions to grab, pull, throw and slash. The Rumble motor is used to replicate tension feedback when stretching too far, or trying to lift something heavy. Progress through the game unlocks various 'morphs' to the arms, including swords, cannons, wings and jet engines.

In hindsight, mimicking both arms would be a little difficult to realize due to the lack of sensor component in the Nunchuk. Alternatively two Wii Remotes in each hand could produce the desired result. Nevertheless, the idea of being about to virtually feel your way through a game is incredibly compelling to me.


Additional Images:

Along with finding the document itself, I also found a my old UI mock-ups and some concept art. I have added a selection of them below:



UI Mock-Up | Main Menu



UI Mock-Up | Character Creation (Multiplayer)



UI Mock-Up | Planet/Level Selection



Flow Chart | Boot Screen Flow



Enemy Sentient Beings | Gaulian, Polluxian



Planet Concepts





© Scott Balmer - Game Design - 2006 - 2014

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