The Iron Chef
Linear Food Combat Narrative
Role:
Solo Writer & Story Creator
(Art collaboration by assigning briefs & high concept)
Assignment:
Narrative Course Assignment
Programs:
FadeIn, Twine & Miro
Narrative Design
A young, ambitious, wannabe food warrior uses her experience in cooking food weapons to chase her dream of becoming The Iron Chef, but she’s not the only one gunning for the title.
The Iron Chef follows a theme of ambition and willingness to succeed while employing a cozy sentiment of style to the world where the player can try many different ideas in order to overcome obstacles, whether good or evil, in an attempt to lead their character to achieving their dream.
Players will be thrust into a story that will question whether striving for a goal can be achieved through passion and the willingness to learn.
Disclaimer:
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Olivia Clarke has created all concept art for the project's visuals
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This is a live page as the title and documents are still a work in progress
Game Concept
Logline
A young, ambitious, wannabe warrior of a kingdom uses her experience creating weapons from food to chase her dream of becoming The Iron Chef, but she’s not the only one gunning for the title.
Summary
When the previous protector of the kingdom known as The Iron Chef ultimately retires, the Food Kingdom enters a scramble to claim the new title. Lily Comida jumps into action to achieve her dream; however, the journey is already fraught with peril, as powerful forces seek to claim the title for themselves and chase after a legendary weapon that will grant unfathomable and delicious power.
Purpose Statement
The Iron Chef is a linear single player action adventure game that follows themes of ambition and willingness to succeed while employing a cozy and comfortable playstyle that allows players to approach the game at their own pace. The player can try many different mechanics to overcome a variety of evil forces in an attempt to lead the main character to achieve their dream.
Players will be thrust into a story that will question whether striving for a goal can be achieved through passion and the willingness to learn. This pairs with a lighthearted tone that is sometimes challenged with topics of severity and sacrifice.
Engaging with this theme should have players experience a tasty coming of age narrative that will challenge their thinking in the theme of ambition, its cost, using it as a driving force to overcome adversity despite one’s background, and finally, the sacrifices that must be made along the way.
Experential Passage
The broccoli leaves bristle in the faint wind. Slowly, you steady your breathing and crouch silently within the red pepper bushes. Ahead, the spare rib tusked warthog grazes, unaware of your position.
“The animal must have crossed the boundary line recently looking for fresh greens” you think to yourself as you disengage your bow. The bended spaghetti held together by the candy string. It was made with base ingredients, but the design should still hold firm for this task.
You steady the bow in your left hand and grab the infected blue cheese arrow in your right. This should confirm the kill. Out of the corner of your eye, you see a plump gleaming red pepper. You pick it off the bush as silently as possible, and carefully insert it to the tip of the arrow, blending it into the poisonous blue cheese.
Quickly, you draw back on the candy string with the newly modified arrow. You take aim as the warthog looks in your direction with a sense of danger. Too late! Your aim is true, and the double elemental damage of fire and poison sees the animal go down swiftly. You stand with a smile at the triumph of your quick thinking and walk over to collect the prize that will ultimately allow you to craft the strongest sword you have imagined.
Character Sheets
Plot Description
The Journey Begins
The Iron Chef of the modern era, Tindall, retires. This leaves a gap in the world of the food warrior. Lily, excited by the prospects, leaves behind her food forge master to pursue the world of being a food warrior, but soon runs into many in pursuit of the same dream. Early on, she meets kind and adventurous characters in the Candy Kingdom that will help her along the path to becoming a food warrior and discovering secrets throughout the world.
The biggest threat to Lily: a black-hearted yet highly skilled warrior racing through the Food Kingdom at a rapid pace in search of the legendary Bacon Sword. When Lily finally learns of her intention to use her godly power, schemes, and the sword to achieve immortality, she springs into action to stop them from tainting her dream of being the powerful Iron Chef. All the while, the fauna and flora within the lands start to steadily decay.
Act 1
Escalation & Perseverance
Lily, using her profound ability to merge and cast food weapons, finds herself learning the ways of a food warrior as she proceeds through the various states of the Food Kingdom. To stop her dream, Ryn lures Lily to a one-sided fight in the Candy Kingdom, quickly showing her the difference in their abilities.
Badly wounded but still pressing on, Lily finds herself at the doorstep of the former Iron Chef who uses his plethora of experience and knowledge to heal Lily. Here she learns the difficulties and adversities that come with being The Iron Chef, as well as the power that can be acquired if The Iron Chef manages to wield the legendary Bacon Sword. On top of this, Ryn’s full plot of destroying the Food Kingdom comes to light as she has spoiled the lands which forced Tindall into an early retirement of his own volition.
Not deterred by this, she swears herself to the cause and to stopping Ryn from acquiring immortality but to do this, Tindall asks for her to beat him in a fight to know she is ready. Meanwhile, Ryn continues to intensify her search for the Bacon Sword while destroying the lands of the Food Kingdom, reaching ever closer to ruling the Food Kingdom with an Iron Chef fist.
Act 2
Act 3
End and Beyond
With word spreading that Ryn has found the location of the legendary Bacon Sword, the Food Kingdom enters a panic and blames Tindall for the events inflicting the land. Lily springs into action using her new knowledge, some help from Princess Nectarine and training to break through the Open Lands ruled by the bandits, and into the hidden catacombs of the Candy Kingdom where the past Iron Chefs now lay in rest. Entering the underground tunnels where the legendary Bacon Sword is kept, she finds it's too late to stop Ryn, however, Ryn’s blackness of heart and her lack of royal lineage make her unable to wield the Bacon Sword. In the final encounter, Lily manages to pull the Bacon Sword out of intuition and finds herself on equal footing with Ryn in the final showdown. Lily musters up every bit of courage she has to defeat Ryn and save the Food Kingdom. With the discovery of her royal lineage, Lily aims to uncover more about her background. Although powerful, there is still a long way for her to go with the Food Kingdom still in disarray as she becomes the newly recognized Iron Chef!
Design & World Documents
The design and world documents below are taken directly from the full Narrative Pitch Document which has been split to form the current web page
Cinematic & Gameplay Scripts
The scripts below are a compilation of narrative cinematics, gameplay cinematics, and gameplay scripts that are sorted in the story's chronological order
