Gameplay Conventions
During my research I have found that there are several mechanics found within mini golf games, In order for a game to be a mini golf game it must have a ball and a way to hit move it as well as a hole for the ball to go in for the very minimum of a mini golf game. Other mechanics can be introduced such as a wind mechanic which be seen in many golf games as a way of increasing the games difficulty as it forces the player to adapt and compensate for the wind plus it can add a sense of replayability if the wind changes each time you play a hole, I encountered this mechanic in one of the games I played for my research(mlock mini golf) however it was a good example of how not to do it as there was no indication of where the wind was blowing and the mechanic wasn’t explained nor even introduced to the player which is a terrible thing to do. Another mechanic is a power meter which can be found in a lot of mini golf games as it allows for the player to have a sense of how hard they are hitting the ball via the meter on the hud which often often uses colours to express the power such as red for hard, orange for decent and green for soft, this lets the player learn the power of their swings a lot quicker and easier than not having a power meter making it more accessible an example of a game with a power meter is mini golf demo by buddy4point0 during my research. Another mechanic is a time or stroke limit with a parr score to give the player a goal to strive for which some games contain to stop a level for going on forever in multiplayer and give a sense of importance to each stroke you take which makes the player think before they swing instead of just mindlessly hitting the ball because eventually it will go in the hole, an example of this is golf it and golf with your friends which are both games I researched. Most golf games also contain a directional arrow to show what direction the ball is going to be launched in. There is the level design which is a big part of mini golf games of course each level needs a start and end as well as something in the middle to make it unique whether that be a terrain changes such as raised or lowered areas or even a bend, it could also be obstacles such as water or a windmill. realistic physics are another convention of mini golf games as players expect the ball to react like it would in real life since it is trying to mirror the real life experience Lastly thematic elements can be incorporated into mini golf games in many ways such as obstacles that match the theme like having a castle in a medieval themed game or no gravity zones in a sci-fi golf game as linking mechanics to the theming helps make the game seem more unique which can be seen in golf it where for example a winter level would have ice as an obstacle.
Target Audience
Mini golf attracts a very wide range of people due to its simplicity and fun nature but during my research I found that the main audience is families, children and seniors for real life mini golf courses and that it copies over to mini golf games as well as during my research I found that most games have an E for everyone age rating as they are simple enough for children to understand but can still be enjoyed by older audiences, a lot of golf games feature some form of multiplayer which encourages competitive play between people which would make it fun with families or a group of people. In order to better appeal to the target audience I will be using a pirate/tropical theme since that would appeal to a wide range of people. I will also make unique and fun hole designs to help my game stand out as it would appeal to the target audience more since the level design is one the the most important areas of a golf game since if the level design is bad then even if the mechanics are good the experience is still likely going to be bad. Another way I can stand out and appeal to the target audience is by making sure my mechanics work well and are fun to use, I could also add additional mechanics to make my game more unique as well however I think that getting the core mechanics working well first is more important. Since I want my game to have a wide target audience I am going to have to make my courses difficult enough that they have challenge but not too difficult as to exclude younger players or people who aren’t as skilled at golf games/games.
Requirements Of The Product/Thematic Elements
I have decided to create a mini golf game with a theme of tropical/pirates which I will utilise in my choice in obstacles and decorations as it will help my course look more interesting and unique, I will be including a minimum of 3 holes but will be aiming for more and will try to make each level a reasonable size since I want my levels to be a bit longer than other games levels, I will be including a power meter as it tends to enhance the player experience as I have found with several games during my research as seen in 3D mini golf, I have not settled for exactly what camera angel I will be using however it will not be top down due to the limits that that would create for me, I would like to include other mechanics if possible such as moving platforms, water dead zones, wind and any other ideas I come up with during my planning. As I have learnt from my research a good control scheme is important so I will try to keep my controls easy to understand. I will try to make sure I could also have a story present throughout my course using the scenery with it being the progression of pirates searching for treasure or something similar. Another key aspect is sound which I will need for hitting the ball and getting the ball in the hole but I will also include ambient sounds that relate to the courses location to add further depth to the scene. Lastly I will need a professional looking itch page to upload my game to so that people can play it, its important that the page looks good so that more people try my game since people are less likely to play it if the presentation is bad since that would affect how people would first judge the quality of the product.
Considerations
One issue I will run into is that I have very little experience with maya and so when creating models I am going to have to keep them simple plus make them fit in with the other assets so that my game maintains consistency and then use the unity asset store for the more complex models which may mean that not everything fits together perfectly but I will try my best to make everything look good together. Since this will be my first project using unity, maya and bolt I may encounter issues in those programs as I am yet to fully understand them and they are notably harder than what I used in my previous year which means I will be quite limited in what I will be able to do within those programs and so I will try not to give myself anything that is outside of my skill range. Another issue I will encounter is the time span I have as for this project I will be learning to use unity, maya and bolt which is a lot to learn in what relatively short time I have to produce my game and so I will have to balance the time I spend on each so that I can create a finished product, I will also use tutorials to help me learn all 3 programs so that I wont find using them as challenging. I’m also doing project 8 so I will also have to spend time doing that as well. Another problem is that I depending on where I position the camera It will affect the design of my entire course and so I will have to be very careful with where I decide to position my camera, Currently I have not decided where I will position the camera but I will most likely not do a top down camera since I don’t like the idea of the player being able to see the entire hole at once from above.
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