Post by LittleBoyBaka on Jun 19, 2004 11:54:04 GMT -5
Story:
Because this concept was based on gameplay ideas, I haven't exactly figured out a decent story yet, but any story this game will be focused on exploring the different beliefs about food (like pork being "unclean", the forbidden fruit of Eden, meat vs non-meat sacrifices) and cooking philosophies, and such. The main character, however, is a girl named Daphne who lives in a fictional version of Earth.
The Party
There are up to five members in a party at once, but not in the traditional way. Only three fight, while one is the "chef" character (Daphne) and the fifth is an "extra" character. The fighting characters are called Hunters, and Daphne will meet three Hunters on her travels. They are also the other major characters in the story. The "extra" characters do not fight, but they can have useful abilities. Daphne will encounter many "extra" characters on her journey, most will require Daphne pay for their services. Here are the kinds of Extras Daphne will meet:
FridgeRaiders: Every night, the FridgeRaider will disappear from the party and come back next morning with a random ingredient. It may be a good item, or bad one.
Tasters/Food Critiques: These are quite common, and the player will most likely have one as their first extra character. Every time Daphne creates a recipe, the Food Critique will tell Daphne if it is a good combination, who it will be effective against, what region will appreciate it most, what you could probably add to it, and other details.
Shopkeeper: Looking for a particular ingredient? Then Shopkeepers can tell you where you can buy it, or find it in the wild..
Battle System
There are two types of fighting modes in this game:
Hunting:
There are many animals roaming around in the wild. Touching one will start "Hunting Mode". Hunting Mode plays like a tactical RPG battle, but simplified. The objective is to kill the animal, and to do this the player can attack the animal directly (sometimes not a good idea), or set up traps, ie. poisoned food, mouse traps, pits, etc. Once the animal is killed, a "Take Meat?" question dialog appears. Any meat retrieved is stored in the "Cooking Sack."
Cooking Battle:
In the game, there are many people who want to challenge your cooking ability. You meet this people in tournaments and on the streets. A challenge with another person is called a "Cooking Battle." The winner is decided by "judges" a panel of four who will witness a battle. This is the rule in Marania. A Cooking Battle is split into several phases:
Phase 1: Prepare!
The player has to prepare the food with the ingredients. Every time you "lay out" an ingredient, you do battle damage to the opponent. The rarer the food, the more damage is done together. You can rack up combos by laying down several ingredients which go well together, ie. beef and chilli powder, which inflict more "damage" on the enemy. These ingredient combinations are called "recipes" You can also get damage bonuses by laying down certain ingredients in certain countries ie. China's national food is rice, so laying down rice will inflict more damage. The "Make" phase lasts for 60 seconds, and each opponent lays down one ingredient per turn, it's pretty fast paced.
-When "Make" is over, it's time for the food to be cooked...
Phase 2: Cook!
The player starts cooking his/her food. Before the phase starts, the player has to fry, boil or bake the food. This is determined by the type of food it is. Whichever is chosen by the game will start a little game which will decide whether the food will be cooked properly. Each game lasts about 15 (?) seconds:
*Fry is chosen: The player has to successfully "toss" his/her food into the air until it is cooked. Every few seconds, the word "TOSS!" flashes on the screen, and a green bar appears, with a line moving left to right along it. The player has to align the line with the red part of the bar to successfully toss it. With more successful tosses, the player gets more points and the game gets harder. Every time you miss, points are subtracted.
*Boil is chosen: The player has to push a button as many times as he/she can to keep the food boiling at a steady temperature. The amount of points given out is decided by how many times
*Bake is chosen: The player has to make sure that the food isn't undercooked, or burnt. In this game, a picture of the food appears on the screen. Gradually, it gets darker and darker, which shows it being gradually cooked. The player has to decide when to turn off the oven. How many points are given out is determined by how thoroughly baked the food is.
-When "Cook" is over, it's time for the food to be served...
Phase 3: Serve!
The player has to serve the food in a stylish manner. To decide how "stylish", it will be, the player has to push several button combinations which do not end until the player slips up, then the food is served. The points given are determined by how long the player is able to go on pushing the combinations.
-When "Serve" is over, it's time for the judges to pass their opinion...
Phase 4: Decide!
The judges taste each character's food, then give a final percentage depending how many points were achieved by each character in the first 3 phases. The winner is the one with the highest percentage.
I will post more info later, and I would like to see what people think of the game mechanics, and ideas for possible storylines. I'm also aware that this game will probably be too complex to create, but it is just a concept for now...
Because this concept was based on gameplay ideas, I haven't exactly figured out a decent story yet, but any story this game will be focused on exploring the different beliefs about food (like pork being "unclean", the forbidden fruit of Eden, meat vs non-meat sacrifices) and cooking philosophies, and such. The main character, however, is a girl named Daphne who lives in a fictional version of Earth.
The Party
There are up to five members in a party at once, but not in the traditional way. Only three fight, while one is the "chef" character (Daphne) and the fifth is an "extra" character. The fighting characters are called Hunters, and Daphne will meet three Hunters on her travels. They are also the other major characters in the story. The "extra" characters do not fight, but they can have useful abilities. Daphne will encounter many "extra" characters on her journey, most will require Daphne pay for their services. Here are the kinds of Extras Daphne will meet:
FridgeRaiders: Every night, the FridgeRaider will disappear from the party and come back next morning with a random ingredient. It may be a good item, or bad one.
Tasters/Food Critiques: These are quite common, and the player will most likely have one as their first extra character. Every time Daphne creates a recipe, the Food Critique will tell Daphne if it is a good combination, who it will be effective against, what region will appreciate it most, what you could probably add to it, and other details.
Shopkeeper: Looking for a particular ingredient? Then Shopkeepers can tell you where you can buy it, or find it in the wild..
Battle System
There are two types of fighting modes in this game:
Hunting:
There are many animals roaming around in the wild. Touching one will start "Hunting Mode". Hunting Mode plays like a tactical RPG battle, but simplified. The objective is to kill the animal, and to do this the player can attack the animal directly (sometimes not a good idea), or set up traps, ie. poisoned food, mouse traps, pits, etc. Once the animal is killed, a "Take Meat?" question dialog appears. Any meat retrieved is stored in the "Cooking Sack."
Cooking Battle:
In the game, there are many people who want to challenge your cooking ability. You meet this people in tournaments and on the streets. A challenge with another person is called a "Cooking Battle." The winner is decided by "judges" a panel of four who will witness a battle. This is the rule in Marania. A Cooking Battle is split into several phases:
Phase 1: Prepare!
The player has to prepare the food with the ingredients. Every time you "lay out" an ingredient, you do battle damage to the opponent. The rarer the food, the more damage is done together. You can rack up combos by laying down several ingredients which go well together, ie. beef and chilli powder, which inflict more "damage" on the enemy. These ingredient combinations are called "recipes" You can also get damage bonuses by laying down certain ingredients in certain countries ie. China's national food is rice, so laying down rice will inflict more damage. The "Make" phase lasts for 60 seconds, and each opponent lays down one ingredient per turn, it's pretty fast paced.
-When "Make" is over, it's time for the food to be cooked...
Phase 2: Cook!
The player starts cooking his/her food. Before the phase starts, the player has to fry, boil or bake the food. This is determined by the type of food it is. Whichever is chosen by the game will start a little game which will decide whether the food will be cooked properly. Each game lasts about 15 (?) seconds:
*Fry is chosen: The player has to successfully "toss" his/her food into the air until it is cooked. Every few seconds, the word "TOSS!" flashes on the screen, and a green bar appears, with a line moving left to right along it. The player has to align the line with the red part of the bar to successfully toss it. With more successful tosses, the player gets more points and the game gets harder. Every time you miss, points are subtracted.
*Boil is chosen: The player has to push a button as many times as he/she can to keep the food boiling at a steady temperature. The amount of points given out is decided by how many times
*Bake is chosen: The player has to make sure that the food isn't undercooked, or burnt. In this game, a picture of the food appears on the screen. Gradually, it gets darker and darker, which shows it being gradually cooked. The player has to decide when to turn off the oven. How many points are given out is determined by how thoroughly baked the food is.
-When "Cook" is over, it's time for the food to be served...
Phase 3: Serve!
The player has to serve the food in a stylish manner. To decide how "stylish", it will be, the player has to push several button combinations which do not end until the player slips up, then the food is served. The points given are determined by how long the player is able to go on pushing the combinations.
-When "Serve" is over, it's time for the judges to pass their opinion...
Phase 4: Decide!
The judges taste each character's food, then give a final percentage depending how many points were achieved by each character in the first 3 phases. The winner is the one with the highest percentage.
I will post more info later, and I would like to see what people think of the game mechanics, and ideas for possible storylines. I'm also aware that this game will probably be too complex to create, but it is just a concept for now...
