CS247G: Downtown

by Anna Rong Gao | Posted on

DOWNTOWN (Formerly Wingstop)

Team: Anna G., Atman J. Cyan D., Dia C.

Artist Statement

In creating Downtown, we decided to take on our own empathy challenge, both as players and designers, while telling a story about finding comfort in the uncomfortable. To us, slowing life down doesn’t demand worldwide travel as much as it does looking closer at the familiar. From towering traffic cones to tug-of-war with a caterpillar, we wanted to explore the journey of a chick navigating a world incomprehensibly larger than itself. As you play Downtown, feel how quickly your world can be made and destroyed, yet how gentle you are to a world that can’t be gentle with you.

This tiny creature happens to hold a dream soaring high above the metropolitan—the taste of flight. As it meets a caterpillar with dreams of becoming a fluttering butterfly, the dream of flight is what gathers our protagonists and brings them home. We hope to give players a refreshing perspective of their everyday environment while reminding them that our size in the universe isn’t to be coped with—it’s to be celebrated. And, in the same way the unpredictable city holds no candle to a few dreaming animals, this futile universe was defeated the moment animals could love despite it.

From the very start of Downtown’s development, the next addition to this ragtag bunch has been a plastic bag. In the face of the big city, we all feel inanimate, but as long as we’re dreamt of, we’re alive. These creatures want to fly like a plastic bag.

Playtests and Iteration History  

The goal of our very first playtest was to better understand the overall narrative structure of our game. Our sticky notes outlined a skeletal version of what our final narrative would look like, including potential settings that we could include and which characters would get introduced in which scenes. In this initial playtest, we originally decided to have the “puzzle element” exist through mini games that would be unlocked as our main chick met new characters. 

 

In this playtest, we wanted our playtesters to recount their interpretation of the story, as described by an incredibly low-fidelity narrative timeline. Through this playtest, we were able to see what players would potentially be interested in seeing in this game from their understanding of the prototype thus far. They had ideas involving switching which character you could be, furthering each character’s personality and individual skill, in addition to expressing interest about what the mini-games would look like. 

 

Following this first playtest, we devised this more structured narrative prototype (pictured below) that outlined our main settings which centered around the four main characters that our overall game would highlight. This iteration would feel more organized and gave us more insight into what our end goal would look like. 

 

 

Pictured above are our scenes that we created for our second narrative playtest, this time with a more storyboarded version of our game for the users to interact with. In this playtest, our main goal was to better understand our audience’s reaction to a more fleshed out narrative and start testing out the perspectives and moods. To accomplish this, we wanted to discover what parts of the narrative felt the most interesting, which panels the players had specific interest in seeing in the game, and which they perhaps felt less enthusiastic about. 

Overall, the players were curious about the linkage between the characters themselves. Because we had four characters, each with a semi-unique personality and goal of the game, (and the prototype itself consisted of four separate panels), the players wanted to see how once you met a character, how it would fit into the overall narrative in scenes that they were not highlighted in. 

Playtest 3: Paper Play Lofi-Prototype

For this next prototype, we constructed a paper version of the initial truck scene with a pipe cleaner version of our chick. We wanted to test out the overall balance between the user interacting with the game itself and gaining more insight on the narrative. 

To do this, we created a setting where one of our team members controlled the chick, and the player told the controller what actions they wanted to test out. There were certain parts that were more “automated” and would be representative of our use of cutscenes in the actual digital game. 

Pictured above is one of our street designs (with the chick – side right), in which the moderator would move the chick from outside of the truck and onto the road, to see how the player would react. 

In this playtest, we realized that while the narrative aspects of our story were in line with the natural reactions of the players (i.e. after the chick falls out of the truck, the player wanted to chase after the truck and felt sad that the chick had fallen out in the first place), there were certain game components that still needed to be ironed out, specifically in the player’s motivation to explore different aspects of the environment (ones that were not intuitively linked to the narrative). 

For instance, in order to enter the caterpillar mini game (which at the time was a tug of war game), the chick needed to climb up a set of bricks, in order to enter into a flower pot. The chick then would need to have their interest peaked in this flower pot, pecking and exploring the flower pot and its flowers, and in turn engaging in a fierce round of tug of war with an equally feisty caterpillar. 

However, to our player, it was not clear as to why or how the chick would know to climb up on the flower pot ledge, or why they were interested in pecking the flowers in the first place. These were the next aspects that we ended up thinking more about with one idea being that the chick was motivated to find birdseed. 

If we could easily establish that the chick was hungry from an early part of the game (perhaps right after they fell out of the truck), then they could be enticed to follow what they think is a trail of birdseed throughout the environment. 

Following this playtest, as a team, we decided to sit down and fully flesh out what we wanted to accomplish. Due to the sheer number of photos from this iteration, they are included on this Google Doc for your further perusal.

In the playtest itself, we wanted to test out our goals with perspective and overall aesthetic design of the game. A great focus of this playtest had to do with the art styles, and what animations would add to the personable nature of our beloved chick. In this playtest, we decided to keep the pixelated art style of the game and its backgrounds, and that adding additional animations (such as the default bob of our chick) made the game more interesting and whimsical.

During the actual iteration, our team discussed at length how we would incorporate the “puzzle” nature of the game. In previous iterations and playtests, the mini game nature that we had originally planned on felt too separate from the actual gameplay itself. Because of our heavy narrative focus, we decided that the game began to feel rather segmented and non cohesive due to incorporating separate mini games. Thus in our iteration before playtest 5, we set out to find ways to incorporate the puzzle into the environment itself, and embed the challenge into how the chick would have to maneuver through its space.

After creating the opening scene of our game, we playtested it with 4 classmates and 1 TA. In this playtest, testers explored the inside of the truck by chatting with non-playable characters representing our protagonist’s family and interacting with various objects in the truck. These interactable elements and environmental cues were designed to provide exposition. We wanted to help orient players with who the chick was and where the chick was going. Moreover, we wanted to prime players for future narrative developments. After exploring the environment, they watched an animation of the chick falling outside of the truck. Going into this playtest, we were interested in seeing whether players “properly” explored all of the environmental cues and to test the mechanics of our games. 

Through this playtest we received several points of useful feedback. First, we noticed that were some issues in figuring out the mechanics of the game. In particular, it was not intuitive how to exit and click through dialogue. Second, it was difficult to know which elements in the scene were interactive. Similarly, it was difficult for players to keep track of which elements they already interacted with. Third, we noticed the lack of reaction towards some of the protagonist’s thought bubbles. As a result, we made a number of changes in the next iteration of our game that helped improve the player experience. 

 

Playtest 6: Final Playtest

Our final playtest (linked in the final links sections) was done with the complete version of our slice (up until the user meeting the caterpillar). This was the first iteration of the complete game, with the transitions between the scenes and everything linked together, so we wanted to test if the game felt cohesive in nature. Additionally, we wanted to test if the player had enough hints while playing the game, so that they could comfortably move from scene to scene without much prompting from the moderator. Overall, the full gameplay took around 5 minutes, with the majority of the time being spent on the puzzle area. The player felt like the game design was very cute and they really enjoyed the design of the chicks especially in the farm scene. However, certain design elements could have been improved – such as the first scene being more clear that they were in a truck. Additionally, the puzzle scene felt difficult to learn, without another person (the moderator in this case) giving more clear cut instructions about what to do. 

For the next iteration, this would mean the following:

  • For design choices, we initially changed the design from Playtest 4, due to feedback that it was not immediately clear that they were in the inside of the truck. However, instead of changing the physical layout of the truck itself, we decided to include more about being in a truck in the actual dialogue and interactions between characters. In the next iteration, we would further think about how the physical design and layout of the truck could be more compelling and representative of the inside of a truck. 
  • For the puzzle aspect, we want to continue to test out more hints that are dependent on the user’s progress throughout the game. 

Model of Chosen System

Initial Decision on Formal Elements and Values

Our team went through a very extensive narrative building process beyond what our slice could really capture (our original storyline pictured below). In the first class period we were together, we all agreed on the general themes and aesthetics of the game: We wanted a gaming experience that was overarchingly calm in the visual and sonic aesthetics as well as  gameplay which evoked a “small character, big world” feeling with  opportunity for the player to gain new friends throughout playing and a narrative that felt transformative to the player. We determined that our game would be a completely digital explorer game that was heavily guided by narrative. In our first few meetings we worked out the following formal elements of gameplay. Drawing from 2D games such as Toby Fox’s Undertale or Satoshi Tajiri’s Pokemon which match our audience of young teens to young adults (aged 12-24), we decided that a one player vs. game role with the player objective of exploring and experiencing game narrative to be best for our game.

We thought a lot about our mechanics in reference to the narrative we were trying to bring across. For instance, instead of a “select” feature, the player interacts with other players and items using a “peck” command to tie into our theme and impersonate the natural actions of a chicken. On the other hand, added the mechanic “fly” which adds no functionality to the standard jump feature until much later in the game. This choice was very intentional in order to maintain the story we are trying to tell of a chick who desperately wishes to fly, but must overcome the obstacle of being a chick with only downy feathers. We also added functionality for our player to push items, but only those small enough that a chick could reasonably move, such as a tin can or other pieces of trash, which additionally fit in with the setting of a cityscape. With our simple controls, players are meant to embody the role of a tiny chicken in a big and brilliant world, interacting with everything in the vicinity. Intuitively, the peck action is dynamically set to be the outlet for the player to explore the game and learn more about the world we’ve built, just like a chicken would. Mechanics such as the inability to pass a scene without interacting with other characters, leads players to learn more about the world and our main character as they play. The details and accompanying functionality of our scenes and mechanics tie together to create a feeling of being small and curious. Details, such as the scale between our playable character and the background and other players, alerts players to the vulnerability of our player which is affirmed by the NPC’s you interact with. We wanted the visual clues, themed mechanics, and intentionally placed information gleaned from interactions with others to create that “small guy, big world” exploratory aesthetic to put players in the headspace of our lovable main character Flutter, while the cute and playful visual and sonic design creates a playing experience which is calm 

Justification

Our decision to make a slice graded partially on narrative….

We spent so so so so long creating full personalities, back stories, motivations, insecurities and complete storylines for each of our characters and the overarching plot of our game. There were to be somber moments (chick feeling hopeless, cat revealing childhood trauma, chicken learning about the poultry industry, etc), minigames (tug of war, chase scene, dance scene), and plot twists/ changes in motivation (chicken finding home and deciding to leave and free the other chickens) that leave players feeling moved and connected to each of our characters… however it was not feasible to build out this vision in a way that felt complete to us within the allotted time. With that in mind, we worked to create the best slice of this in-depth narrative. We decided that we would still like to convey the aesthetics we had originally mutually wanted to pursue: a cute and calm vibe which would best be demonstrated with a slice style of gameplay. In this way we could add a lot of details which evoked the “AWWWW” gut reaction experienced in nearly all of our playtests and began the slow build of storyline which we would love to continue in the rest of the game’s build. Please note our attention to detail in the following categories

  1. The spatial comparison between our main characters and the environment, which is in some ways exaggerated to emphasize the tiny size of the chick. 

2.The small details of each interaction: For example, the poster in the truck that Flutter stares at daily, alluding to their deep desire to fly, or the “Wait, you’re just a kid” dialogue with the Rat, which in addition to providing a moment for tutorial shows the player that the other characters in the world are also regarding flutter as small and delicate and feeling protective over Flutter for that fact. 

  1. The flow between each scene and the cohesiveness of the game even as it switches from a top-view to platformer format amidst cutscenes. The decision to have so much motion and a changing play format is an intentional choice to capture the chaos and turbulence that Flutter themselves is experiencing. As both a baby and a 2 inch tall being who has never lived outside of a truck with other chickens, they find themselves in a new world in each scene, constantly adjusting to an environment different than the last. As we attempt to mimic this feeling with our players, we include details at every scene which links them to the scenes before and after (ex: after the chick falls from the truck they find themselves in the road and have to get onto the sidewalk, rather than spawning onto the sidewalk) so that the player remains oriented in the storyline as they transition across scenes.
  2. Where and when you feel like you are, as you play the game. The artstyle and the mechanics were one of our first discussions. We enjoyed the idea of having a nostalgic and decidedly cute and young feel to the game which prompted our decision to make the game both 2D and pixelated and additionally we wanted to emulate the Flash player games that we all enjoyed in our youth, which influenced the motions of our playable character in and between scenes. Our artstyle is meant to make you feel like you are chilling on your middle school/high school chromebook playing games during math class. We hope that you can imagine the school air as clear as you imagine the cityscape that Flutter has fallen into.

Our Narrative

Our chick starts off in the inside of a truck that is heading toward “Cutie Farms.” Inside of this truck, we see the chick’s mother hen, sibling chickens, some elements that explain more about who our character is:

  • the runt of the litter: being told to move away “small stuff” and being made fun of because of his interest in flying
  • has always wanted to fly: our chick has an inspirational poster about dreaming about flying high through the skies
  • is deeply cared for by their mother hen (young, naive): the birdseed interests our character, and the warning of a cautious mother follows shortly behind as the truck rattles on towards the farm

After interacting with everyone in the room, all of a sudden, the truck handle begins to shake and our curious, yet brave chick ventures off to investigate the origins of the sound. Pecking the truck handle, the truck door pops open, and our poor chick is left tumbling into the streets, watching the truck drive on by. 

(watch this cut scene here): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQekRpbzme4&ab_channel=AnnaGao 

Saddened, but determined to move along in hopes of catching the truck, our chick is now in unfamiliar territory. After befriending a kind rat who offers some sage advice about keeping itself safe in the street, by staying on the sidewalks, our chick is faced with the puzzle of navigating the sidewalk. Littered with candy wrappers and soda cans significantly bigger than our chick, our chick learns what it means to make do with the world around. (And in case this takes our chick longer, the rat’s sage advice about the “R” key being a button to restart the level echoes in our chick’s ears). Our chick is determined to follow the sidewalk because of the rat’s promise of a flowerpot on one of the higher levels – this flower pot is frequented by other birds, which the chick finds exciting – what if one of these birds can teach our dear protagonist how to fly? 

Once the chick finally reaches the top, they are distracted by the colorful beauty of the flowers. Intrigued, our chick goes to peck the flowers one by one, noticing that they disappear with each peck and alas, he is not fruitful and does not gain more flowers as he goes. When our chick goes to peck the last flower, he discovers the reasoning behind each of the flowers disappearing as they go – a feisty, young caterpillar. 

watch this cut scene here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiaxZ9D67As&ab_channel=AnnaGao 

They have a brief moment of tug of war, when the young caterpillar reveals himself, angry as can be. 

Although this is where our slice ends, the narrative that our team has lovingly created during this class extends far longer. 

After meeting this caterpillar, the two young characters discover their shared interest in flight – one however (being the caterpillar) will actually be capable of achieving this flight (because the other is a chicken, and chickens alas cannot fly). Determined to help the chick achieve its lofty dreams, the caterpillar joins their adventure. This unlikely duo (where in another life, the caterpillar may have been eaten by a sibling of the chick) ventures off to discover the true meaning of flight and friendship along the way. 

One of these being a plastic bag – a bit surprising as a character, due to it being an inanimate object, but we wanted a main theme of the game to be some unconventional, nontraditional tropes that the player may not expect. The plastic bag does not actually talk, which is in stark juxtaposition to the two vibrant young characters, but rather the two young characters find out more of the bag’s backstory through its contents – an old tattered receipt, among a few other items. 

These three characters share a sad backstory of feeling lost, discarded, and hopeless, but this backstory only unites them further. 

After some interactions with a mistrusting cat (we chose cat, because of the image of two small characters and one large cat added to the whimsical nature that we wanted to achieve), the ragtag group finally reach the farm. 

However, the chick quickly realizes that the farm is not in fact the dream that he had imagined, his siblings (and his mom) do not quite know how to fly, and that the chick has grown quite a bit since his last ventures on the truck. Although scared at first, our chick realizes its value (and mental strength after enduring much time away from familiarity). The final “game” or puzzle of our game involves an escape room type game, where the chick and his friends help all the family escape. 

Final Links:
Playtest: https://youtu.be/rOGv8wv6lZI 

Playthrough:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNpO5fUcAXE&ab_channel=AnnaGao 

Game on GitHub (instructions in the ReadMe): https://github.com/soupybloo/chick 

References

YouTube Tutorials

Spotify Links for Game Music:

 

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