Pre-Production & Research

For my Final Major Project, I wanted to make a 2D pixel art style platformer inspired by these indie games I've seen popping up these last few months.

I chose to do a Miro board, a sort of mood board, web diagram, etc. This has board contains all of my research, plans, concepts, etc. such as character, enemy, and level design inspiration, gameplay inspiration, target audience, and more. Most of these are also elaborated on through text.

Since this image is pretty low quality, I suggest viewing the full Miro board through this link:

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVMarGjeU=/?share_link_id=619905447922

Close-up Screenshots

Though I posted a link to the Miro board to allow for easier viewing, here are a few screenshots of some of the more important sections in this board, like inspirations for the gameplay, protagonist's design, art style, and target audience.

Trello

For this project, I've decided to return to Trello. A web-based, kanban-style project management tool which I've used for my previous project, REPAINTED. This will help me keep track of progress, what needs to be done, priorities, and the scale of this project.

Research Conclusion

The games I'm taking the biggest inspiration from here follow a very common theme.

Gameplay is often fast paced, loud and explosive, with many obstacles blocking your path which you're gonna be barrelling through and destroying as you play the level.
The character designs, as well as their personalities, aren't what is traditionally heroic or expected from a protagonist. In the case of Warioland and Antonblast, the designs are big, aggressive, stocky, they look more like antagonists than protagonists, and they act it too. In Pizza Tower's case, this is the opposite, as the protagonist looks perpetually anxious and nervous, he's a balding, anxious, short, chubby middle age Italian man who is carried by outbursts of rage.
The stories of these games are also not what is traditionally expected or heroic. Wario Land 4 has Wario hearing about rumors of legendary treasure and seeking it out, Antonblast has Anton seeking revenge on Satan for stealing his prized Spirit collection, and Pizza Tower has Peppino rushing through the titular Pizza Tower to prevent the destruction of his struggling pizza business.
Death usually isn't important, and the environment usually causes transformations, almost like powerups.
These games usually have a more crude sense of humor, which appeals to a more older audience.

With this, I'll be applying these common patterns to this project as well, but I will be altering some aspects to differentiate it and simplify it as I'm not yet very experienced with programming.