Spoken to Simon, reassured about my concept, progress towards working out the kinks.
So far thoughts are:
- Mutation process of bacteria as written in the OGR presentation, where you get to pick new attributes, bearing in mind old unkillable attributes and it is chance if you will be effective against new attributes.
- ~Need to decide list of attributes - eg hardened skin, shields against certain weapons, ranged attacks, slow etc. Can make icons to choose from end of each round.~
- The time restraint/max antibiotic development factor is brought in, in form of a counter bar on the side, slowly fills up as you deplete attributes to apply, you are only able to apply max of ~15? but there are ~25? to choose from, so chance if you will ever be able to defeat the bacteria. Have to be tactical in choosing ones that will definitely defeat some.
- Each 'round'the infection gets more serious - not only do the antibiotics and bacteria change but the setting also changes, moves around the body. Simon suggested explore only 4 in the animation, for example I could start in the throat with a basic throat infection, then as you go on not defeating the bacteria completely, you move to more vital areas. Eg I was thinking lungs, heart, and then the brain being the "final level" where if you are still unable to defeat the bacteria with your attribute bar filled up, you lose the game.
- Visually, the bacteria will get bigger and meaner looking with each mutation, I have already started on some new bacteria designs that I will be uploaded later tonight, different direction from the ones in the OGR as these are far too limp and non directional.
- Also will be developing the antibiotic designs to be more "knight" like, and refined.
- Concept art for different areas of the body is beginning, now I have a decent idea of the different settings I will actually include and why, I have a few ideas on how I would like them to look. Simon also said I would probably benefit from a bit of map making, planning out the entirety of my "levels" the characters will move through rather than just a freeze frame.
- I need to decide also on my list of attributes/mutations and their counterparts, eg what can destroy what, and then later on of course how these will look on each the antibiotic and bacteria.
Feeling better about this now, what are your thoughts? :)
OGR 04/03/2016
ReplyDeleteHey Pip,
I think your game-derived idea for your animation is solid, so no worries there, but as you observed, there's a slight conflict in so much as the 'point' of the gameplay is a mixed message: if we play as the antibiotic, then we're messaging that using lots of different antibiotics is a 'good' thing, when the point of your film is to demonstrate that it is 'not' a good thing, because it creates resistant bacteria. You can't set it up so we play as the bacteria, because in so doing, you're again messaging that it's a goal to become antibiotic-resistant - when we know it's not.
I do have a suggested solution to this however: so, you go ahead as planned, and present your animation as a game in which the antibiotic character takes on the bacteria in different body zones; you show the antibiotic character zapping the bacteria, only for it to mutate etc. We see this happen in different zones and the mutant gets more unkillable and the antibiotic running out of options. The final scene sees the bacteria boss wiping out the last antibiotic character - and we have a 'Game Over' moment - and then, you come in with a message, something like Misusing Antibiotics Isn't A Game - and then you follow on with some facts about the dangers of resistant bacteria etc. In other words, you set your animation up as whizz-bang gameplay from a 'goodies vs baddies' style scenario, but really it's a public awareness film. This way you can indeed show the player being encouraged to level up and fight the baddie bacteria, but you can then come in with the caution at the end. Does that make sense?
Hi Phil, ooh yes I quite like that idea actually! It certainly helps make it a lot simpler, and I like the little twist ending. Perfect, thank you!
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