Greenlighting & End of Pre-production

We just finished watching the last Greenlighting Presentation at our college, and man, our semester is AMAZING! There are 7 groups, each with great and interesting projects, and everyone had to show the results of Pre-production today: Finalized Concepts, Schedules, Management Plans, Teasers, etc etc.
In a business situation, the greenlighting is used to present the shaped idea to the customers and to get their Yay or Nay on starting Production on the project. Since we only have 3 months time for our project, we don´t have the chance to redo the whole conceptualisation at this point, so the whole process is a lot more straight-forward for us.
Our project was well-received, we got a lot of positive feedback on our art style and the game mechanics! This surely boosts our morale a lot, and now we are about to start PRODUCTION! I updated the blog and facebook pages with a gallery showing our concept arts, so check it out!

Other Projects:
But there were also the other groups, which I´d like to showcase a little:

Ship Wars - Taking fandoms to the ultimate fight Create a SHIP powered by FANS and shoot CANONS at other SHIPs!

Riverside – Work together, work in radiation Fight pollution by building a bridge out of trash! As cute, mutated animals!

Paranoia – Heroes, prepare for fear, because the Dungeon Master is pissed Asymmetrical turn based strategy game for two players!

CG Rookie - Webisodes giving a peek behind the way CG movies work (no webpage yet!)

Build my Level - Platformer where you create your own Level! (no webpage yet!)

Wings of Nations – Realtime strategy that focuses on quick building, continuous exploration and fast battles! (no webpage yet!)

Next Steps:
For us, the end of pre-production means we will have to get serious now. We need assets! Levels! And the Prototype has to be expanded! Everyone will be quite busy from now on, but I´ll be keeping you updated, no worries.
Meanwhile, why don´t you go to our Facebook page and tell us what you think of the project? Any and all comments, questions and feedback are very welcome! We´re doing this project for gamers after all :)

Layouting and Prototype

Hello everyone!

We are progressing rather well in our project. We have decided on an Art Style, are finalizing the Layout, and our Programmer Sven has a wonderful prototype ready!

The Layout

This is a small preview of what the layout of the game will probably look like. It is of course by no means final, but this way we already have a general idea of what we need to produce for the UI, as well as have a guideline for the placement and design of the screens.

We are currently debating the possibilities of a server based platform for storing and loading player created puzzles, or a simple save-load function. Since we don´t know yet which solution we´ll take, the elements actually used in the Layout now are subject to change.

The Editor Prototype

Here we go, this is what Sven managed to do in such a short time. All basic functions are working already, and did you see that beautiful animation at the end? Amazing! Right now every Kirigami pattern that actually works physically is possible to fold, but in the actual levels there will only be one right solution.

So, we´ll go back to conceptualising and planning. Can´t be lazy now, right?

See you next week!

Introduction to FoldUp

Ever heard of Kirigami?

Well if you haven´t we are going to show you what it is – with our virtual puzzle game for the browser! Sadly, it isn´t developed yet. But that´s what this blog is here for: We are going to give weekly updates and exclusive insights into the development process of FoldUp!

Here´s a quick rundown of the game principle:

You are presented with a riddle in the form of a checkered piece of paper and a preview of what you need to accomplish: A finished Kirigami pop-up. You are given tools to mark cuts, valley folds and mountain folds and then the program computes what you marked – if it is correct, it will FoldUp and you completed the level!
Since we are currently still in the Pre-production phase, let me just introduce you to our team for today, explain what our roles are, and what our vision for the game is.

The FoldUp Team:

Martin – Project Lead and Art Director

Neti – Manager and Character/Story Artist

Pia – Blogger and Background Artist

Sven – Programmer and Technical Director

We all are studying Digital Media Animation and Game at the Hochschule Darmstadt in Germany. This is our fifth semester project and the last step before we approach our Bachelor!

Our Vision:
We want FoldUp to be a casual puzzle game for breaks in-between appointments, on the train, or just at home to relax a little and get your braincells running. Each puzzle will be designed so that you can actually create it out of real paper too, and we will provide you with the blueprints for every level you complete. So try to figure out the solution, then print it out and FoldUp yourself!

If you like puzzle games, spacial thinking or just trying out something new, check back here and follow our progress. Comments, Questions and Critiques are very welcome!
Until next Wednesday everyone~
Pia