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Aerial Salvation

Question what you know to be right.

Designed by Owen Leach

Advised by Jennifer DeWinter

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Overview……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3

Gameplay Description………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4

The Message………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5

Art……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6

Level Design……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….8

Level 1……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………9

Level 2………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….10

Level 3………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….11

Level 4………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12

Tech…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………13

Menu System……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….14

Expense Breakdown…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………15

Promotional Material……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….17

Market Breakdown………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….18

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Aerial Salvation: An Addicting 2D Flying Adventure with a Twist

Overview:

Question what you know to be right.

Platform: Mobile (iOS, Android, Kindle)

Gameplay: 2D Side scrolling plane game

Character: Player is 3rd generation crop dusting pilot named Jet, who wants to leave his boring

farming life behind.

Progression: Player starts as crop duster, becomes fire fighter plot, becomes Air Force

paratrooper pilot, becomes Air Force bomber pilot

THE MESSAGE: Player is glorified for all of his/her actions, dusting crops, putting out fires, etc.

eventually has to kill Vietcong with napalm – Game will force player to kill Vietnamese civilians,

will be praised for their actions. Forces player to feel regret and grief as to what they have done,

ideally causing them to change their views on warfare and killing.

THE CONTRAST: Cutesy, addictive, light hearted gameplay, will deeply contrast the horrors that

the player must commit. The praise and light hearted nature will emphasize the nonchalant

attitude games place on killing.

THE FEELING: REGRET and GRIEF

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Gameplay:

Plane is constantly descending

Tapping/holding the screen causes the plane to ascend

Tapping/holding also causes the plane to spread its payload (i.e. crop dust, water, etc. changes

depending on level)

Player must avoid in air obstacles like clouds, birds, smoke

Hitting obstacles will cause player to drop payload regardless of choice

GOAL: Spread crop dust (pesticide) over maximum amount of crops, player must reach

minimum crop coverage to advance

End Level: Player praised by narrator for the great job he/she did. Image of player over looking

his work proudly followed by an image of the aftermath of their work/the work they failed to

do: i.e. burnt corpses that did not escape the forest fire, dead WW2 troops that they directly

dropped into enemy fire, dead Vietnamese soldiers and their families mourning over them.

INSPIRATION: Play http://games144.com/game/38437-jetman-game.php#play for an extremely

basic idea of how the game plays. See below for others.

See Level Design section of this document for a more in-depth description

Progression:

4 Levels

Each level the player takes on a new role: crop duster - firefighter - paratrooper pilot - bomber

pilot, each with different payloads

Morality of later levels make player question whether they should be proud of what they do

Each new level has new obstacles, similar behaviors but different art assets

See Level Design section of this document for a more in-depth description

Game Inspiration:

JetMan – Basic gameplay

The McDonalds Game - Cutesy but still drives home a message

Defcom – Deep message, disguised with gameplay. Able to convey grief well

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The Message:

The game is meant to convey regret and grief

Regret comes reflecting on the acts that the player committed and the praise they receive for

those acts

The whimsical nature of the game creates a contrast of a light hearted game that forces the

player to do extremely horrible acts and gives them rewards for doing so

Regret doesn’t come into play until the last two levels, the second to last level ends with the

player being praised by the narrator for doing a good job as he looks on at the corpses of the

enemy as well as the American troops that have died.

Regret is further conveyed in the last level when the player is forced (through gameplay) to burn

down Vietnamese villages that are not housing Vietcong. Ending narration commends the player

as they over look the barren, burnt expanse that is the land they just poured napalm over. A

mother weeps, holding the charred corpse of her son. The player can hear the narrator say “You

did good son. Don’t worry about those villages you burned either, they were probably housing

the Vietcong. Either way, who’s gonna miss a few Gooks?”

Grief is conveyed aurally and visually. This dual method is because mobile games are often

player without sound. By doubling up the attempt to convey grief, there is a lesser chance the

player will miss it. Grief will come during gameplay and after. While the player flies through the

level, there will be a voice over from the station command. As the player misses forests fires,

drops troops into enemy fire, kills innocent Vietnamese, they voice over the intercom will begin

to crack up, losing himself (male voice over) with grief and sadness, pleading with the player to

improve their performance. Grief will be further instilled at the end of the level when after the

player is praised for their work, they look at a real, graphic image of what they caused/failed to

prevent such as the burnt bodies from a forest fire that they failed to stop completely.

Game ends with player receiving Silver Star for their contribution to the war effort

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Art The art will reflect the conflicting message of the game. It will embrace a cartoony art style that separate

the player from the horror. The one exception comes at the end of each level where we see a realistic

image of the player on the ground, overlooking what he/she just accomplished. See below for reference:

Gameplay:

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End of Level Image:

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Level Design

4 Side Scrolling Levels

Three basic components:

o Air based obstacles – cause players to lose fuel

o Ground targets – player needs to spray with pesticide/water/troops/napalm

o Ground based non targets – Spraying these will reduce amount of pesticide/water etc.

but will not increase score.

Advanced Components (levels 2-4)

o Dynamic flying obstacles that move vertically or sporadically (smoke, anti-aircraft fire)

o Dynamic flying obstacles that move horizontally (birds)

o Air obstacles that disrupt drops (Flak will kill troops that fall through it)

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Level Breakdown

LEVEL 1: Dusting Crops

Player = Crop Dusting Pilot

Goal = Dust the most crops possible

Avoid = Hitting clouds and dusting non crops

Level Components:

o Static Air Obstacles: Clouds

o Ground Targets: Corn crops

o Ground Non Targets: Houses, Farm Equipment

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LEVEL 2: Fire Fighting

Player = Fire Fighting Pilot (Drops water on fire)

Goal = Use water to put out most fires possible

Avoid = Hitting smoke and flocks of birds, dumping water on non-burning targets

Level Components:

o Static Air Obstacles: Clouds

o Dynamic Air Obstacles: Smoke + Birds

o Ground Targets: Burning Forests

o Ground non targets: Lakes, non burning fields

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Level 3: Paratroopers

Player = Air Force Paratrooper Pilot (Drops troops into combat)

Goal = Drop as many troops safely into enemy territory, don’t drop too many to their death

Avoid = Hitting Flak and flocks of birds, dumping water on non-burning targets

Level Components:

o Static Air Obstacles: Clouds

o Dynamic Air Obstacles: Flak (kills troops that fall through it as well as kills troops if plane

flies through it), Smoke

o Ground Targets: Open fields, towns

o Ground non targets: Burning forests, enemy troops

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Level 4: Vietnam

Player = Air Force Bomber Pilot (Drops Napalm on Troops)

Goal = Spray enemy troops with napalm

Avoid = Hitting civilians with napalm

Level Components:

o Static Air Obstacles: Clouds

o Dynamic Air Obstacles: Anti-Aircraft Fire (functions just like smoke, only faster) Flak

o Ground Targets: Enemy Troops (non moving)

o Ground non targets: Civilians (non moving), Villages

SPECIAL NOTE: Must make times where the player has to drop napalm on the civilians (i.e. long stretch

without targets, forces them to raise altitude, dropping napalm)

SPECIAL NOTE 2: The two meters on the right include Vietcong killed and Vietnamese killed. The

Vietnamese killed is a cumulative score of all people killed (enemies and civilians).

SPECIAL NOTE 3: The player CANNOT LOSE THIS LEVEL

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Tech Breakdown

Controls = Intense Simplicity

FEATURES:

Game based on mobile platform

Programmed with C# (Unity compatible)

Physics based, plane will ascend and descend according to believable physics

One touch controls: A single finger touch on the screen will make the plane ascend. The

longer the finger is held, the longer the plane ascends.

Dynamic HUD that changes depending on the performance of the player

o For example, a bar that increases depending on the amount of fires put out (acres

saved). Each level has the same basic functionality but represent different things.

A status bar that represents how long the player can ascend. The longer the player holds

down, the higher the plane goes, the more the meter drains. The level ends when the

player has no more “fuel.” This “fuel” is actually the payload the plane is dropping but acts

in the same way as fuel.

A system to measure achievements, i.e. the player completing a level without dumping the

payload on the wrong target.

A dynamic menu system

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Menu system

Training the player

A touch based menu system will serve as the training aspect of the game. The menu will have

all aspects of the game built into it. The plane will be present; there will be a HUD that displays

the current payload available, and a meter on the right side of the screen that measures how

many crops the player has dusted. The bar on the right of the screen (the crops dusted meter)

will have a menu with the buttons grayed out. The player will initially try to press them and

nothing will happen, except, that the plane will ascend and drop its payload. If the payload hits

the crops, the meter on the right will fill up. Once the bar fills up enough, passing the menu

options, the menu button will then no longer be grayed out and will be able to be pressed. The

more crops the player dusts, the more menu options become available. This will serve as a

basic teaching method for the game.

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Predicted Expenses

$4852.67

Expense Type Expected Cost

Labor $3000

Utilities/Overhead $60

Promotion/Marketing $690

Distribution 30% of Gross Revenue ($0)+$225

Equipment $57.68

Licensing $819.99

Total: $4852.67

Expense Breakdown:

Labor- The predicted total expenses for labor was derived from a three person team working two 20

hours weeks. Each member of the team is semi-skilled and earning $25/hour.

$25*40hours*3 employees= $3000.

No expenses were added for employee benefits nor taxes.

Utilities/Overhead- This encompasses thing like rent, electricity, heat, water, etc. This prediction

assumes an at home work environment where increases to utilities like heat and water are negligible.

Since rent is already paid, electricity is the only factor considered here. On average the electricity

expense of a household increases by $40 a month if working from home. Since we have 3 employees,

working two weeks:

($40/2weeks)*3 employees = $60

Promotion & Marketing-

Google Ads: $250/1,00,000 Impressions

Facebook Ads: $140/1,000,000 Impressions

Misc Fund for App sites (appadvice.com, appshopper.com, etc.) advertising: $100

In App advertisement (Tapjoy.com): $200/1,000,000 Impressions

Total: $690

Since our game is android based we will rely heavily on online advertising and in app advertising. We will

create ads on both Facebook and Google. The current asking price of Google for 1,000 ad impressions is

$.25. We hope to achieve 1,000,000 impressions on Google. This requires $250. Facebook asks $.14 per

1,000. This will require $140 for another 1,000,000 impressions. We will also create in app

advertisements via the Tapjoy service. Tapjoy specifically targets games and boasts a 339 million

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monthly reach. At a cost of $0.20/1,000 impressions, we will purchases 1,000,000 impressions for $200.

We have also included a $100 misc fund to be used for advertising on sites like specialize in mobile apps.

These sites include appadvice.com, appshopper.com, 148apps.com, etc.

Distribution- The cost of distribution was calculated as a sum of the cost to place the app on varying app

marketplaces for one year. These marketplaces include the iTunes store ($100/year), the Amazon

Marketplace ($100/year), and the Google Play store ($25/year). These marketplaces also take a 30% cut

of the selling price of the app. This is noted above but total distribution cost cannot be determined until

after receiving the sales figures.

$100+$100+$25=$225

Equipment- This prediction assumes that computers, monitors, mice, keyboards, etc. are all already

owned by the employees. The cost above is the linear depreciated cost of the equipment over a two

week span. We assume 3 setups that include all necessary physical equipment to create the game at a

cost of $1000 per setup. $1000*3setups = $3,000. The average lifespan of a computer required to create

games is about 2 years. 2 years*52 weeks/year= 104weeks. The game will take two weeks to complete,

therefore:

$3,000/104weeks * 2 weeks = $57.68

Licensing- The game will be created using the Unity Engine. Since sales of this app are not expected to

exceed $100,000 per year we will be using the Indie version of Unity. If sales do exceed, these cost

predictions will have to be redone to reflect the Pro version of Unity. The Indie Unity Engine is free to

export to PC and Mac but in order to export to mobile devices we require an iOS and Android license.

These cost $400 apiece. Also, in order to create 2D graphics we also require a single license of Adobe

Illustrator. The minimum licensing period is one month at $19.99.

$400*2+$19.99= $819.99

TOTAL- $4852.67

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Promotional Material

Pitch Blurb: Country life isn’t what is cracked up to be. Sick of being a crop duster you decide that it is

time to live out your dreams and become more. Become Jet, a fourth generation farmer with high

ambitions. Prove your worth at crop-dusting and see if you can earn your way up the ranks to become a

fire-control pilot, an Air Force Pilot, or even an Air Force Bomber. Just be careful, a hero’s life may sound

glorious but you never know what toll it will take.

Rise through the ranks and become the hero you were born to be.

A unique take on the side-scrolling plane genre

Level up your plane to unlock more intense missions

Go from crop duster, to fire fighter, to combat pilot

Play to the end to gain a new perspective on what a single person can do

Can a lifetime of good redeem one horrific act?

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Market Analysis/Target Demographic

AGE: 14-22

Gender: Male

This game will target a specific demographic, Males, ages 14-22. The reason for this is that the game is

not meant to convey a very specific message about the glorification of warfare and murder. The age that

often trivializes/glorifies killing are males age 14-22. Since this game is meant to be as far reaching and

as easy to play as possible, the mobile platform is the best option. Due to the graphic and contemplative

nature of the end-game, this game is not appropriate for players that cannot put the game into context.

For example, if a player plays the final level, burning the Vietnamese alive, and misses the idea that they

should feel guilty about the atrocities that the United States committed on the nation of Vietnam, then

the game is actually hurting its cause. For this reason, the game will not target children under the age of

14. It will, however, encourage parents to play the game with their kids to put it in the proper context.

The potential audience is much larger because of the easy pick-up-and-play nature of the game.