Cloud Design - August 27, 2005

"Focal Point"

Free fly experience

Cloud Painting - Gathering and release clouds

Cloud Fight �C Transition between different cloud types

Create Weather - Thunder Head

Definitions, Rules & Action

Puff: One cloud particle in the simulation

Cloud: One or a group of Puffs sticking together as a whole

Cloud Power: Each Puff from the same Cloud contains a number which represents its power and visually indicated by transparency and brightness

Dark Puff: Puff that has negative power is regarded as Dark Puff, and visually seen as grey and black, the darker it looks the bigger its negative power could be.

Cloud Owner: Each cloud Puff has an owner. It can be cloud boy or neutral.

Layer: Cloud can exist in multiple altitudes. But one specific cloud can not stay in other altitude. So we divide cloud into different Layers by their altitude. Puff can only interact with other Puffs from the same Layer.

 

Cloud Attraction Rule: Every Puff in the game has potential to attract each other when they are close in the effective range. A Puff can attract equal or less powerful Puff, but not the more powerful one. When it comes to Dark Puff, the system will treat it as if its power is positive.

Cloud Collide Rule: When two Puffs collide, they will change their owners and transfer power little by little till it's evenly spread. For example, 90 + 30 => 60 + 60.

Cloud Owner Rule: As soon as two Puffs collide, depending on their power, both Puffs will belong to the stronger one's owner. The Dark Puffs never belong to cloud boy.

Cloud Fight Rule: Cloud fight starts when a normal Puff collides with a Dark Puff. Due to the Dark Puff's negative value, they will consume each other. The power that is consumed will turns into Rain and Lightening. For example 30 + -100 => -35 + -35, the consumed 60 will translate into equal amount of Rain. When the consumed power is very high it triggers Lightening

 

Cloud Consume: Cloud boy can perform an action that sucks all the clouds he's dragging and consume them into his own power

Cloud Release: Opposite effect of Cloud Consume, cloud boy will release his power and form cloud. He can not only create powerful puff by releasing all his power onto one, but also a nice trail of less powerful puffs by releasing and moving.

Cloud Drag: Similar to what we have currently, cloud boy can drag his clouds to pick up more clouds.

Level Design

Day Dream 1

       Intro: Intro animation based on storyboard

Exposition: Yun flies for his first time

Map: There are very limited clouds with low power on layer 1 and one powerful cloud puff for player to pick up.

Goal 1: Find and capture a Powerful Cloud

              Learning 1: 360 flying control + camera control

Goal 2: Use the newly captured cloud to collect the rest clouds and create a big cloud

       Learning 1: Cloud Drag control + camera control

       Learning 2: Understand Cloud Attraction Rule, Cloud Collide Rule

Dialog / Instructions

"Find the cloud that belongs to you"

"Space Bar Symbol" appears at bottom of the screen

When cloud boy gets close to the purified cloud, "LMB Symbol"

"Guide it and make it bigger"

After cloud boy collects half of the cloud, "Isn't this fun? Let's do more"

Nearly collected all the cloud, "Wow, that is a big cloud"

After collected all the cloud, "That has been fun, but you need to go back"

Day Dream 2

       Intro: Yun plays chess with the mysterious girl at hospital

Exposition: Yun needs to create a checker pattern (indicated by ghost) on the sky

Map: There are two layers of clouds with high power

Goal 1: Fill in at least half of the checkers

Learning 1: Cloud Consume, Cloud Release control

Learning 2: How to use Cloud Consume, Cloud Release to create a powerful Puff

Learning 3: Understand Cloud Owner Rule

Goal 2: Bring clouds from layer 2 to layer 1 to finish the rest checkers

Learning 1: Understand clouds in different layers can not be dragged vertically but possible to transferred by consuming them into power

Learning 2: How to use Cloud Consume, Cloud Release to create large but less powerful cloud

Dialog / Instructions

"Let's make a TBD on the sky"

"TBD shape's silhouette" appears on the map

When cloud boy lost clouds to the more powerful clouds, "Be careful"

"Those clouds are stronger than yours"

If cloud boy still has clouds or if he has picked up a new cloud, "Your clouds can be stronger. First gather them up"

"Consume Symbol" shows at the bottom of the screen

After consume, "Now release them and make a stronger one"

"Release Symbol" shows at the bottom of the screen

If none of the clouds at the higher layer are moved down and all the clouds at the bottom layer have been moved into the target area, "There are more clouds above"

"Gather them up and bring them back"

After fills up the target area, "How beautiful!"

Day Dream 3

       Intro: A hot summer afternoon, a heavy industrial cityscape, dark clouds appear

Exposition: Dark clouds keep spawning from the city island and move towards Yun's island. Yun has to stop them before they reach the island.

Map: There are three layers of clouds on the sky with different size and powers. On top of the city island, there will be a dark cloud generator which spits out dark clouds moving to Yun's island. As time passes, the dark cloud will become stronger and stronger and appear in multiple layers.

       Goal 1: Stop Dark Clouds

              Learning 1: Understand Cloud Fight Rule, Rain, Lightning

              Learning 2: Become comfortable to manipulate clouds in different layers

Dialog / Instructions

"They are coming"

As dark clouds approach the volume of BAD music and wind gets stronger

When dark clouds come from multiple layers "There are more coming above"

"I like sleeping in on a rainy day, don't you?" with rain SFX?

Day Dream 4

       Intro: Polluted city, building, plants, irrigating flowers with spray

Exposition: Create a huge storm to wash the polluted city. A huge storm is literally a cloud pyramid formed by clouds on multiple layers (area indicated by ghost)

       Map: Five to seven layers of clouds, occasionally spawns some dark clouds

       Goal 1: Create a storm

              Learning 1: How to create a Storm

              Learning 2: Storm generates Rain, Lightening

       Goal 2: Drag and grow the Storm to clean up the rest area

Learning 1: Once the Storm is formed, cloud boy can drag the entire Storm from the top layer, and the rest part in other layer will move together.

Dialog / Instructions

"The city needs a shower, let's make a thunder cloud"

The ghost of the thunderhead appears in multiple layers

When one of the layers is filled with clouds "Let's make it really big"

When the storm is complete, the ghost disappears. It starts raining."This is going to be a nice storm."

After it rains for a while "Now bring the rain to the city"

"Look it's a rainbow"

                      

Weather

Rain

Lightening

Storm