Table of
Contents
I.
Overview.. 2
1. Overview.. 2
4.1. Turning. 2
4.2. Speeding
up and Slowing down. 2
7. Levels. 3
III. Artificial Intelligence. 3
1. Enemy AI 3
2. Motion. 3
IV. Game Elements. 3
1.1. Ollie 3
1.2. Teachers 3
1.3. Students 3
V.
Possible Future Improvements. 4
1. Power-Ups. 4
1.1. Longboard. 4
1.2. Shortboard. 4
1.3. Dirt
board. 4
3. Jumping. 4
4.1. To
the First Class 4
4.2. To
Get Books 4
4.4. To
Lunch. 5
4.5. To
the Third Class 5
4.6. To
Sleep. 5
4.7. Bonus! 5
SKATE or FAIL is an action skateboarding game. The player controls Ollie McFlop, a student at Harvey Mudd College, as he rides his skateboard around his dorm.
A player’s score is determined by how quickly he can navigate Ollie to his destination. Failing to get to there in the allotted time will result in Ollie failing all of his classes.
SKATE or FAIL is an isometric, 2-D action game similar to classic NES games such as Paper Boy and Back to the Future. SKATE or FAIL is different, however, because it is not a constantly side-scrolling game. Instead, the scrolling is player-initiated. The game mechanics are designed to allow the player limited movement, which imitates a real skateboarder.
The majority of the player’s window is taken up by the view of a section of the Harvey Mudd College campus, with the player’s character approximately centered on the screen. In addition, at the bottom of the player’s window, the time remaining will be displayed as well as the number of frames displayed each second.
The player has control over Ollie in much the same way that a real skateboarder has control over their movement. The controls are designed for use on a Windows computer with a standard keyboard. The player can turn Ollie right and left, speed up, and slow down. Turning is done using the right and left arrow keys, speeding is done using the up arrow key, and slowing down is done using the down arrow key.
When Ollie is on the ground, the player can move Ollie left and right in the game-world. Left and right are always relative to the current direction Ollie is moving; they are not relative to the sides of the screen.
When Ollie is on the ground, the player can cause Ollie to speed up or slow down. Speeding up can be done until Ollie reaches his maximum speed, and slowing down can be done until Ollie stops. Note that slowing down doesn’t cause Ollie to begin moving in reverse. To move in the opposite direction from where Ollie is facing, Ollie must turn around using the turning controls.
Ollie can ride on any surface. Ollie cannot ride through buildings or over teachers or students. If Ollie tries to ride into a building or over a teacher or student, Ollie will fall off of his board. The physics incorporated into the game will be the force of drag. Drag causes Ollie gain and lose momentum as he rides for a more realistic feel.
If Ollie runs into an object, such as a building, student, or professor, then Ollie falls off of his skateboard. Ollie will be unable to move for a specified amount of time, until he can get back onto his feet again.
There is only one level in the game. Future versions may have more.
Enemies in the game, such as teachers and other students have different reactions to skateboarders. Students pay no notice to Ollie and wander randomly around campus. Teachers will meander about, but if you get too close they’ll be attracted by Ollie’s impertinence, and try to trip him up. Neutral obstacles do not have AI, as they just sit there.
Beyond reactions to Ollie, characters in the game will have fairly randomized behavior patterns, thus there is no AI involved in the movement beyond immediate reactions.
In addition to our busy hero, there are numerous ne’er-do-wells frequenting the Mudd campus, all bent on making a failure of poor Ollie.
Our hero on the skateboard, controlled by the player.
Big, slow, and smart. Teachers will seek out Ollie and attempt to learn him good.
Small, fast, and stupid. Students walk from place to place in a random way, though if Ollie comes near them they will flee.
There are several objects in the game that neither help nor attack Ollie. However he still must avoid them. Colliding with buildings will cause Ollie to fall and lose precious time.
A big project such as this needs to be taken in pieces. Therefore, many of the hopes and dreams for SKATE or DIE have been allocated here, to the “if we have time” section.
There could be various power ups for the player to pick up to affect their abilities in some small way.
Collecting a longboard would add Ollie’s speed and possibly make turning more difficult.
The shortboard has the opposite effect of the longboard, making Ollie more maneuverable but slower.
Allows Ollie ride over grass in addition to concrete.
Ambulances, Lawnmowers and Pumpkins, oh my!
When Ollie is on the ground, the player would be able to make Ollie jump. This would suspend all side-to-side motion until Ollie is again on the ground. Jumping will appear in a projectile fashion, to make the game play realistic.
Different scenarios for Ollie to get himself through. Current ideas include:
The first level is going from South (the dorm in which Ollie slept on a couch last night) to Thomas-Garrett for an early morning recitation. It’s very early morning, so only a few students are awake.
The second level takes Ollie to a friend’s room in WEST where he left a book the previous evening. It’s an hour after Ollie’s first class, so the walkways are more crowded.
After getting his book, Ollie must hurry down to Galileo where he has a mid-morning lecture. F & M has decided to wash some dorms and has strung hoses up across some of the pavement.
After morning classes, Ollie is feeling very hungry. But so are many of the other students. There is a rush to get to Platt for lunch, and Ollie must navigate his way around professors and students to get his midday meal.
After lunch, Ollie has an afternoon seminar class in Olin, the farthest academic building. As students with no class crowd the path, Ollie must make it to class on time so maintain his academic standing.
Ollie heads back to his dorm, Linde, after a long, busy day to get some rest. Linde is the farthest dorm from the Academic side of campus, and since everyone is done with class for the day, they all seem to be walking around!
Possibly an off-campus bonus level