Beans on the Block: Summer Break Windows, PS4, PS3, VITA, WiiU game

The Story The story revolves around the actions of an evil Mayor who has decided his legacy will be the lengthening of the public school year for his city, which means doing away with Summer Break forever. The main characters (who are also Beans) of Joshua, Cody, and Malena have taken it upon themselves to save Summer Break. With little to no help the beans will go on an Epic journey through the various parts of their diverse city, to the Underworld, into various real life video games, and more as they do everything in their power to Stop the Mayor!

The Mashing of Genres
So we started to come up with ideas for both gameplay and storytelling. We have three main characters which help tell a broader story. But those Characters need levels that bring out the best in both gameplay and story situations. Once we got the different abilities of the players and the character’s personality correct. Then came upgrading abilities and weapons. Then came to enemy design that felt organic and that matched up with a certain character really well for combat. Then came sound effects, soundtrack, and environment structure. THEN, We started placing it all within the bullet points of our story. Some of our favorite games are RPGS, they inspire us with their stories and with the progression in their games with weapons, unlockable abilities, story decisions, ECT. We have incorporated some of our favorite things about these games into our own. With earning extra abilities and upgrades, doing quests for certain groups to create allies or new enemies, as well as alternate endings, we believe we have infused RPG gameplay with our story driven platformer and the results are a much better game.

Our Health System (Short Breakdown)Our game runs on a health system shown through emoticons. Our Health System is more of a mood system. 3 hits and you're dead. Start out happy, become disinterested, then mad, then you rage quit. To manage your mood there are Self Help books to collect throughout the level. They act as hearts but will be few and far between so do what you must to grab them when you can!

The Characters and AbilitiesThe Trinity is made up of the three main protagonists. They all have different abilities to solve different puzzles, fight different enemies, and fit different playstyles. These three teens are friends because they are all outcasts, they rely on eachother because that is all they have. It helps that they compliment eachother very well.

Joshua the Knight
The leader of the group, you know him well. That may have been the DK rap coming out, but you will hopefully get to know this character well. He shares his part of the trinity well. His love for what’s right and for Malena drive him to his actions. He may not be the smartest, or the most powerful, or the funniest, or the most popular……..But what he lacks in any mainstream successful personality trait. He makes up for with his trusty LARPING SWORD! Also you can earn the ability to use a STUN ATTACK which will give you a very short time frame to get past hoards of enemies or one gigantic would-be boss fight. His gameplay is an equal mix of strategy and straightfoward attack. Choose your play style!

Cody the SorcererDefinitely the uncontrollable part of the Trinity, Cody has a play style that is all about destruction. He is as verbally abusive as he is physically. Not always a team player, but definetly one when it matters, Cody would do anything for Joshua which means he also would for Malena. He has a great ranged attack which is the most powerful of the three, the Flamethrower empowered by the NECRONOMNOMNOMICON! Have an Enemie that is resistant to fire or is a little out of range but too dangerous to get close to? Luckily Cody carries around a metal hammer said to be linked to the Gods (So Metal!) which can land a strike down to the Earth to make a path for Cody or simply take out some poor soul who opposes him! Cody proves also to choose your playstyle! (But this time it’s ALWAYS destructive)
Malena the TacticianThe stability of the group and the voice of reason, Malena is no damsel in distress or princess waiting to be captured towards the final chapter (Spoiler Alert: This girl has POWER) Intelligence trumps a lot of things, which is what Malena brings to the table. She always has the best plan for the team, which may not always be the one they go with. But she has the ability to do the hard stuff, the missions the boys won’t go on. She is both the counter to Cody’s fire and the natural enemy of all things electronic, thanks to her underestimated WATER GUN! Ever the embodiment of underestimated abilities and looks, Malena not only can fight off enemies from all angles and destroy electronic alarms and turrets and robots (Oh MY!) But she also can choose the smart option, or the option which will find hidden items. Levels become a lot bigger with exploration thanks to her BALL ability! Again, albeit the most diverse way to, CHOOSE YOUR PLAYSTYLE! ThemesOur game grew organically into what it is both with the characters and the overall story. There is no coincidence that Joshua and Malena are also the names of two of our 3 team members. Everyone has been an outsider. No matter if you were “cool” in school or not, if you entered the real world, then you probably felt at one time or another what it is like to be an outcast. Well our 3 main characters are outcasts and are written very well because their creation was a collaboration of outcasts. This story is about how much can get done with outside thoughts and feelings. Being “Mainstream” is Overated.Art Style and MusicOur Art Style will be a custom toon shading style mixed with realistic natural elements such as Water, Fire, Smoke, and ECT. As people born of the internet, most of our inspirations are pop media and very important to us. Which is why we rely so much on Pop Culture references scattered throughtout our world. So in the extremly likely instance that you die in a level and must replay it or if you want to explore for hidden items, take a look at the scenery and see how many you references you can locate and identify!Our Music will also hold the same inspirations as the art, and will be handled by several people. Our Art Director is also our Composer which helps bring a cohesiveness between the two. But we are getting a little help. A fantastic composer, ToddSchultz, who has done theme songs for many cartoons. He will be helping us with music that includes a special credits song intended for anyone who backs our project!Todd Schultz is a fantastic musician and writer who has actually made the theme songs for many cartoons including some on Nickelodeon! He will be writing and performing our credits song that features the names of any of you who pledge a tier $5 or above! That’s right! Your Name, in song!Lee Dunnam drops by as well in the music department to help with creating a masterful soundtrack. Combining his talents with Our Composer Malena Wilson and the stylings of Todd Shultz makes a wonderful cocktail of audible goodness!