Proposal Outline

1
Kumulipo
EGD-220-03 Project 2 Team 3 Milestone 4
Matthew Leta, Jeremiah Warm, Jack Storm

Concept:

Kumulipo is a single player educational balancing game. Kumulipo itself is the name of the
Hawaiian creation myth following the story of the male Hawaiian god Kumulipo which means
The Essence of Darkness and the female goddess Poele whose name means Darkness Itself.
While the story follows the path of both the male and female gods, the myth itself is only named
after the male god Kumulipo. Together this couple created all of the creatures of the Earth over a
cosmic night. A cosmic night is not one night but in fact a series of nights over time. The gods
began at the darkest depths of the ocean with small creatures slowly advancing upwards creating
bigger creatures to fill the earth. The players job is to help Kumulipo and Poele create these
creatures. The goal is to balance the levels of nature at each stage reaching equilibrium; once
equilibrium is reached the stage is completed.

Target Market:
Kumulipo will target an audience of boys and girls ranging from the ages of 6 to 9. Aiming at
this audience we must be careful on what they are capable of. For example, reading levels of
children at this age can drastically range from being able to read to not being able to read at all.
To adapt to this we must anticipate that our players are at the low end of the spectrum. Adding to
these 6 to 9 year olds, Kumulipo aims towards 6 to 9 year olds located in both public and private
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Kumulipo

schools around the United States. Since Kumulipo is an educational/informative game schools
will be our main priority.
6 to 9 year old children are established in the grades 1
st
-3
rd
grade. According to PBS.org 2
nd

graders in Science classes learn about the Earth and its natural resources, and how people use
these resources to get energy. They look at how the Earth changes over time and how we learn
about the history of the Earth through fossils. They may do a deeper study of the life cycles of
plants and animals (PBS.org). Tying this to what 3
rd
graders in Social Studies classes are
learning, they are beginning to expand their view of the world. Students learn about the natural
environment and how groups of people have adapted to or modified the environment (PBS.org).
Making an educational game about a Hawaiian creation myth, while targeting 6 to 9 year olds
fits perfectly into the curriculum that these children are undergoing at these grade levels.

Content:
Kumulipo consists of a start screen, an intro cinematic, the main game screen, seven levels, a
pause menu, an ending cinematic, and the end screen.
Start Screen:
This is what the player is presented with upon starting the game. It contains the title along
with a tropical background and a play button. When the play button is pressed the intro
cinematic is played.
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Kumulipo

Intro Cinematic:
This cinematic introduces the story with traditional Hawaiian music and an animation of
Poele and Kumulipo with a short voiceover explaining who they are and what they are
doing.
Game Screen:
This is the screen the player sees while playing the game. It consists of an item selection
area, a main area for item placement, and an area for the levels of nature.
o The main area contains a background and any items the player places there.
o The levels of nature area show the levels of nature which are represented by
vertical bars that move up and down depending on what has been placed. This
area also contains a bar which tracks the resources the player is using to place
items. This bar decreases as more items are placed in the world.
o The item selection area contains all the items the player can place in the
placement area. Each of these items affects the levels of nature in different ways.
When the level is complete it transitions to the next level with a thematic wipe depending
on what level the player is in. These wipes include surf and bubble styles. When all the
levels are complete it transitions to the end screen.

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Kumulipo

Levels:
There are seven levels total in the game. All of these levels could potentially be broken down
into smaller levels if a longer player experience is desired. These seven levels match up to seven
stages of the creation myth. The seventh and the eighth stages in the myth are combined to allow
for more items to place. The creation myth contains sixteen stages in total but only the first eight
are concerned with the creation of the life in the world while the second eight are concerned with
the creation of the gods. We are not including the second eight because the content in them is not
appropriate for our age group (see the research statement for more on this decision).
Level 1
o This is a tutorial level. The player is guided through the first few moves then must
solve the rest of the level.
o This level is very easy.
o The items in this level are:
Sea Urchins
Seaweed
Sea Cucumbers
Level 2
o This level is fairly easy
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Kumulipo

Eagle Ray
Octopus
Sturgeon
Level 3
o This level gets into a moderate difficulty
Nene (Hawaiian goose)
Great Blue Heron
Red-footed Booby
Level 4
o This level is moderately difficult
Sea Turtle
Lizard
Jellyfish
Level 5
o This level is more difficult
Macadamia Tree
Taro
Pineapple Plant
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Kumulipo

Level 6
o This level is difficult
Fleas
Rats
Small Asian Mongoose
Level 7
o This level is very difficult
Dog
Bat
Human
Pause Menu:
When the pause button is pressed this menu appears overlayed on the gameplay screen. The
menu contains a button to resume and button for the main menu.
Ending Cinematic:
This cinematic shows the world that you have created and plays traditional Hawaiian music.
When it reaches the final stage the player has created a voiceover explains what the player has
created and wraps the myth up.
End Screen:
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Kumulipo

This screen is displayed once the player finished the game.
From here the player can restart the game or they can email an image of their world to
print out or print it out directly from the game if they are playing on a computer.

Monetization:
Kumulipo aims to gain revenue through marketing and selling a version of the game to
public and private grade schools around the United States. The game will be available on
the iOS app store along with a digital copy on our website. A physical book will also be
produced with help from Scholastic Books that explains the Hawaiian creation myth in a
very 6 to 9 year old friendly fashion. This means that the book will not be very long and
will contain more pictures than words to keep the attention of the children while reading.
Along with numerous pictures, vibrant colors will be used along with a cartoon drawing
style.
The book and the video game are both strong enough to not require one another. This
means if a school district decided to purchase only the physical copy or the digital copy
the children reading/playing will not learn less compared to a child that had both of them.
After a Kumulipo book has been printed, Scholastic will be contacted and a deal will be
discussed with them. This deal will consist of having our book/game combo on the
shelves of Scholastic Book Fairs across the United States. Scholastic CEO Richard
Robinson states that were (Scholastic) are in more than 90% of schools in the U.S.
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Kumulipo

and our partnership with educators is something that we cherish. More than half of the
teachers in the U.S. have an active account with Scholastic (Scholastic.com). We as a
team admire those statistics and believe that pairing with them is the most effective way
for us to distribute the book/game combo.

The video game itself can be obtained either through the book/game combo at a
Scholastic Book Fair, through a onetime purchase off of our Kumulipo website, or finally
through the iOS Apple app store. The combo pack contains the Kumulipo book as well as
a separate piece of paper containing a code for either an iOS app store download or a
PC/Mac download. Plastic wrap prevents the code slip from falling out as well as a
deterrent for thieves. It will be difficult for us to make a code that works on the app store
as well as our website so two different bundles will be created. When a child
accompanied by his/her parent or guardian goes to purchase a Kumulipo bundle at a
Scholastic Book Fair there will be a sticker on the plastic wrap saying either iOS
download code included inside or PC/Mac download code included inside. This will
aid the buyer to buy a bundle accordingly. Of course, both bundles will be the same price
of $14.99 USD and the code allows for a free download of the game. Next, iOS
downloads will be very straight forward. The purchaser will simply go the iOS app store
on an iOS supported Apple device and purchase Kumulipo for $4.99 USD. Lastly the
PC/Mac purchases will be just as simple. The purchaser goes to our Kumulipo website,
follows the onscreen directions and downloads our game for the same price of $4.99
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Kumulipo

USD. A secure money transferring program will be used on or website so that customers
can trust that their credit card information is safe with us.

As well as the book/game combo, individual codes and individual books can be
purchased separately, cheaper, for classroom use. To accommodate this codes and books
will be offered in bulk only for a reduced price. The books will be sold in bundles of
twenty, forty and sixty while the codes will be in bundles of thirty, fifty and eighty for
both the iOS store as well as the PC/Mac download. The idea behind the bulk was to
make it easier and cheaper for schools to purchase the book, video game or both.

World:
The game takes place in a variety of different locations from the bottom of the Ocean all the way
up to dry land. The entire spectrum is set in the Hawaiian Islands and contains the flora and
fauna of the area as described by the Hawaiian creation myth. Each level is at a different depth
and contains a different selection of plants and animals. The player progresses through the
different stages of the myth as they beat each level. As the player progresses the world also
becomes lighter because more life is being added to the world.

Story:
The game follows the Hawaiian creation story. I will explain the short version of the myth here.
Before the animals of the world were created it was dark and the gods Kumulipo and Poele
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Kumulipo

created the creatures at the bottom of the ocean. They gave rise to a new pair of gods who
created the next level and these gods gave rise to another pair and so on until all the creatures on
earth were created. While more creatures were created and the populations of those creatures
grew it brought light to the world. When men and women were created they were dark but
became lighter as they reproduced.

Beginning:
The player starts on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean around the Hawaiian Islands. They have a
limited selection of item to place in the level and the background is very dark. This level is very
easy as the player is just learning how to play the game. The player is guided through the
beginning of the level with glows around the items they should place.

Ending:
The player ends on land in the Hawaiian Islands after creating all the life in the surrounding area
ending with humans. The final level is supposed to be a challenge for the player. Once they have
beaten it they can email themselves a picture of their level to print.

Goal:
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Kumulipo

In each area or stage the players goal is to balance levels of nature by placing different creatures
into the level and moving them to balance the levels of nature with the number of pieces the
player has access to.

Challenge:
The challenge of the game is to find the correct number of each species that is necessary to
balance the levels of nature and place these species in the correct locations without running out
of power. This is difficult because each species affects the levels of nature differently and
depending on where they are in the level the balance of nature can be affected even more so.
Each species also costs a different amount so finding the optimal combination of species is
paramount. Each level also introduces new species that the player must place so they must learn
what affects each level of nature how during each level.

Mechanics:
The player uses a drag and drop system to add or remove different things from the level. This
may be with a mouse or with a finger on a tablet. When an object is dragged onto the screen the
levels of nature are immediately affected. There is an initial change because of the object
existing in the level and then there are smaller changes based on its position. As the object the
player is dragging moves closer to and further from other previously placed objects the levels of
nature will actively be affected. They player can add, remove, and move various different species
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Kumulipo

in the level in order to balance the levels of nature. Each object the player has access to costs a
certain different amount of power. When the player has used up all of their power they are not
able to place any more objects and so must move, or remove the existing ones to solve the
puzzle. When they are finished they continue on to the next level.

Reward:
When the player succeeds they may be rewarded one of several ways. When they balance their
current level they are rewarded by moving up toward land and getting new items to place with a
new challenge to place them in. This is accompanied by audio feedback and the level they just
created animating. When they beat the game they are rewarded with a congratulatory screen and
the ability to print their world out. We feel the reward of being able to have a physical world
after beating the game will be extremely powerful.

Failure:
There is no outright failure in the game. The closest a player can get to failing would be if they
run out of power and have not balanced the levels of nature. The only feedback that would
accompany failure would simply be the absence of progression. The player will be able to see
how out of balance nature is but the game will not punish them for doing this. If the player feels
that they are just too far off from where they need to be they can click a button to reset their
current level.
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Kumulipo

Game Engine:
We will be using an ActionScript 3 based engine, designed to run on most things that has Flash
Player. More specifically, we will be utilizing a set of ActionScript 3 libraries designed for 2D
games called FlashPunk. FlashPunk is a free framework designed by Chevy Ray that is fast,
efficient and clean. It allows us to swiftly prototype and develop our game. FlashPunks online
community is very active and supportive. Detailed documentation can be found online and many
people on the forums are willing to help out.

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Kumulipo

Works Citied
http://www.bigmyth.com/fullversion/password033/myths/english/2_hawaiian_full.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumulipo
http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/index.htm
http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/going-to-school/grade-by-grade/third/
http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/going-to-school/grade-by-grade/second/
http://www.useflashpunk.net/

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