Bible Dave
From WorkCDN
Bible Dave is a CCN community project. It is a Christian-based side-scrolling platformer that runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Bible Dave:Level Creation Tutorial
Contents |
History
Bible Dave originally started out as a Two Month community game project in October 2005 for the Christian Coder's Network (now the Christian Developer's Network). After two months, the game had some playable elements but wasn't completed to the extent that the creators wanted it to be.
The developers decided to continue development. Several developers stopped working on the project and others replaced them. After a year it was mainly a one-man job with occasional batches of help from members of CCN. Bible Dave went through several art improvements in 2006 with a few extra additions in 2007.
In 2007 development went through periods of inactivity due to the sole developer's limited time. Almost eight months passed between the 0.7 and the 0.8 (beta) release. In 2008 the second beta version, 0.9, was released. Development is scheduled to be finished near the end of the summer.
Development has been rescheduled to end at the end of August 2008.
What's needed in the Beta Release
The beta release needs a few improvements. All known bugs have been fixed, the only thing that the game lacks are improved levels. The current levels lack instructions that correlate to the levels themselves. The game could use puzzle levels as there are only a few of them. A good example of a puzzle level can be found in Chapter 4 (the Ruins/Temple), Level 3, where the player must step on a series of touchplates to open a "gate".
New levels would be cool, but fixing the level editor just to add a few more it a little to much work. Maybe edit existing levels to make them more puzzly? The level editor works fine with existing levels.
The original (now lost) design docs had the work between BD 0.9 to BD 1.0 set to level tweaking and finishing the story line. Non-important bugs (like the level editor, since it's not supposed to be used by the general public) don't need to be fixed. Mainly work on usability polish. Try to touch the code as little as possible.
BD is basically a hack. Fixing it will take too much effort, so concentrating on finishing it by touching the code as little as possible is the highest goal.
New Plan
Priority refers to the order it should be done in. Not if you can cut it or not.
Level Tweaking
- Test level playability make sure they're not too difficult.
- Priority: High
Assigned People
Storyline Cleanup
- There's not much of a story line.
- Priority: High
Assigned People
Player Introduction
- Right now there's very little info on how to
play. Don't write a help page, teach the player while he's playing the game. (Like a tutorial level, I actually found this in the game...)
- Priority: Medium
Assigned People
Vista Binary
- Working Windows Vista Binary (anyone with vista and py2exe knowledge
and is willing to help, would be great!)
- Priority: Low
Assigned People
Linux RPMs and DEBs
- Make one for Fedora the other for Ubuntu. Try to get the Ubuntu one to work on Debian.
- Priority: Low
Assigned People
- Mene-Mene (DEB for Ubuntu, i"d like to try.)
Storyline
Bible Dave might not have a storyline for this adventure, but there is certainly a scenario. We've tried to keep it at least somewhat realistic, and giving players a somewhat reasonable situation as far as how real-world Christian missions is done with organizations such as Wycliffe Bible Translators and Missionary Aviation Fellowship.
The general story arc is fairly agreed-upon, but there are many holes and details that need to be filled in, as well as dialogues and cutscenes that need to be written or refined.
The work that needs to be done on the story presented in the game is to present the player with some of the backstory in a progressive and interesting way. It should fill in interesting details and dialogue in some of the duller levels.
Example questions to answer in the game: Why is Dave collecting the Bibles? Why are they so important?
Backstory
Dave is a missionary pilot who is flying the first shipment of freshly printed New Testaments to the Kilopowa village somewhere in South America. This village has had a Bible translator missionary working there for a number of years, and has been working hard with the villagers to translate the Bible into their native tongue. After several years of hard work on the part of the missionary and the villagers, they have a New Testament translation ready for print. They send the master copy to the home mission, and the mission printed up enough for each of the villagers to have their own copy. The mission then sent Dave to fly the New Testaments to the village deep in the jungle.
Initial Game Setup
On the way to deliver the New Testaments, (perhaps as he's flying wide circles to search for the landing zone) Dave's plane has trouble (of what sort has never been terribly clear -- in some versions it's engine trouble, in other versions he's shot down by unfriendly rebels) -- and his plane starts to go down. Dave fights to keep his plane aloft, and as he is doing so, the notoriously-faulty back door of the plane pops open and begins spilling the New Testaments all across the jungle. Finally, Dave crash lands, and realizes that not only does he not have a working plane, but also that the Bibles are all gone. He spots one not too far off, and is encouraged that he may be able to recover some on his way to the Kilopowa village. Once at the village, he can then make radio contact and arrange for transport out of the dangerous jungle (either by boat or plane). Thankfully, the New Testaments came from the printer individually shrink-wrapped in plastic, and so it protects each Bible from the harsh elements of the jungle until Dave can find and collect them.
Generic Gameplay Story
Dave treks over a variety of different jungle regions on his way towards the Kilopowa village. He encounters trees and vines, rivers and waterfalls, ancient ruins and towering mountains. He also is in danger from various jungle denizens -- guava-throwing monkeys, vine-climbing yellow tree snakes, venomous tarantulas, falling rocks, and among others, the dreaded black jaguar. He learns about perseverance and Providence in this epic jungle adventure.
Game Conclusion
Dave finally enters the village, and the happiness of the villagers in the final cutscene is partially dependent on how many of the Bibles he was able to recover along his way.
Story "Board"
Chapter 1:
Level 1: Crash. Introduce player to basic game controls and mechanics. Give a few bibles.
Level 2: Introduce player to jumping mechanic, have player practice on non-fatal sections before jumping over a pit. Introduce player to (safe) vine climbing.
Level 3: Give a little background on why he was taking bibles to the Kilapowa village.
Level 4: Talk about dangers, and overcoming them with God's help
Chapter 2:
