Phase 3

Game Ideas:

• robot management game
• Robot survival game
• Robot handler game

3 initial game ideas all closely related to my previous presentation topic, robotics.

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Game Idea 1: Discontinued Management Game

Overview: 

A robot stranded on a foreign planet, manage your resources and build up your base.

Core Mechanic:

• Collecting scrap 
• Upgrading base
• Upgrading robot with modules (e.g. speed module)
• Limited energy 
• Set up charging towers to adventure further 

I wasn’t too excited about this idea, so I decided to drop it. Letting it go allowed me to focus more on my other ideas, which I am more passionate about.

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Game Idea 2: Robot survival game

Overview: 

A wave-based survival game where a tank endures increasingly harsh storms and hostile machines on a desolate planet. 

Core Mechanics:

• Movement & dashing: ps remote controls, r2 forwards l2 backwards, like a car.
• Combat: Shooting energy beam, uses up energy/ health. Melee is ramming.
• Wave progression: Increased difficulty the more rounds/ days you survive.
• Shelter / Bunkers: There to shelter from hazardous storms every few rounds, low mobility and increased enemy count in them.
• Environmental Hazards: Acid rain, Heat storms, Meteor shower… player takes damage when in these conditions, must go to nearest bunker for shelter.
• Resource Management: Rover must charge, battery getting drained by gun, movement and damage taken. Recharge points around map

Core Game Loop:

I didn’t know if I wanted to make the core game loop maintenance or combat. I wanted to do rounds with increased difficulty the higher you got, but I still wanted it to be slightly maintenance.

After more research into similar games like BO3 and Nier decided to do combat with environmental danger every few rounds (e.g. 5 rounds).

I want the movement to be like driving, for example controls on a PS remote can be L2 and R2 for acceleration and deceleration, whilst circle can be a dodge mechanic maybe like thrusters.

Moodboard:

 

I did a moodboard for a concept design I would make in blender, this will act as my prototype for this game, the point is to show people the look I’m envisioning.

Design:

I sketched out a design for the look I was going for, I wanted a bulky tank, but I also wanted it to appear functional.

I had a bunch of reference images for the suspension since the suspension was going to be a major part of this model.

3D Model:

I began modelling it, it was all fairly simple except for the suspension set up.

After the modelling was done, I unwrapped the model and imported it into substance painter where I textured it.

This is the final render, I tried messing around with the lighting to improve the overall look but I wasn’t too happy with it. Setting up the lighting in a scene is something I want to improve on.

Overall its a successful prototype. I think that through this design I can show the type of movement I was thinking of, a smooth and fluid movement. This is thanks to the suspension since it will allow the tracks to have a wide range of motion.

Developing Game:

This isn’t my main game idea but if I were to take this game forward I would look to team up with a programmer. I would also do some programming in engine but my main concern is that I have a lot of elements that will require a good understanding of programming since I’m going to have wave and weather systems.

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Game Idea 3: Rover Handler Game

Overview: 

A 3D narrative driven sci-fi tragedy where the player remotely operates a rover across a devastated colony during a nuclear holocaust. As the last functional handler, the player guides/navigates hazardous terrain to retrieve a critical package from City 103, where his family once lived. Subtle clues hint at the handler’s failing health, and the true nature of the package is revealed only at the end, delivering a powerful emotional impact.

Aiming for game to be 20-30 mins long like carbon steel.

Core Mechanics:

Player Control:

• Communication radio ( could be way of finding out what happened to planet, player and handler would be finding out slowly through gameplay)

• Coordinate based movement + manual movement during events

• 2d radar/sonar ( zoomed in section of map, shows rovers location)

•  3d map scanner (wireframed 360 image of rover and surroundings)

• Physical map to see overall map without rover location

• Foam gun to repair radiation leaks into room/ repair

Automatic:

• Photographs won’t be controlled by player, rover send images throughout game by itself showing tragic scenes 

• Weather forecast (scan if a environmental hazard is coming – could be automatic) won’t be controlled by player

• Rover diagnostic (secretly baby’s health) – won’t be controlled by player, could be on a timer, must reach you in a specific amount of time.

• Warning system (shows when player need to manually control rover)

• Repairs around room ( event system)

Narrative mechanic:

Have small moments which give character depth e.g. handler is looking at teddy bear, player tries to look away but has a rebound/ stretch effect implying the handler cares deeply about the object, creating a moment where the handler breaks the 4th wall and defies the players control.

Narratives:

Throughout the last two weeks I’ve been changing the narrative of this game since I couldn’t quite find a suitable one. I was set on the objective and certain aspects of the narrative like the handlers child being the mysterious package.

Initial Narrative 1:

A 3D narrative driven sci-fi tragedy where the player remotely operates a mining rover across a devastated colony after a cataclysm. As the last functional handler, the player guides/navigates hazardous terrain to retrieve a critical package from City 103, where his family once lived. Subtle clues hint at the handler’s failing health, and the true nature of the package is revealed only at the end, delivering a powerful emotional impact. 

The package is his child, this will be hinted throughout the game making the player question why the character they are playing is so emotional and panicked.

Initial Narrative 2:

You are working for a company that is researching the effects of nuclear detonation. Explore a devastated city controlling a rover remotely. You are in a contained room doing research on nuclear effects, various task include photographing, collecting samples and documenting radiation levels in different areas. The main objective is to retrieve a piece of the nuke that will help the company create more.

Ending leaves player to choose between retrieving the nuclear sample and contributing towards future nuclear war or leaving it and halting the advance of nuclear technology.

Initial Narrative 3:

A narrative-driven sci-fi tragedy where the player remotely operates a rover across a nuked colony world under orders from a research corporation. As a volunteer handler, the player is tasked with gathering post-detonation data and samples through the rover while storms and radiation close in. Unknown to the player, the handler secretly redirected the rover earlier to retrieve a personal “package” from the destroyed city. Small emotional reactions and environmental clues hint at deeper stakes as the player’s objectives from the company clash with the handler’s growing desperation.

The ending reveals the package is the handler’s child. Follow the corporation’s tasks or focus on recovering the package. The rover will have a health bar which i want the player to mistake as energy / battery. It will reveal in the end that the health bar was actually the child’s, if you spend too much time on the company missions and let the bar drop to a certain point the baby will die.

Alternative idea to beginning of game is that it shows the handler volunteering for this dangerous job of going down to this highly radiated nuked planet. The package will be retrieved by sheer force of the character. Character completely overrides controls of player when near the strange package that isnt part of company mission. Collecting it but never showing player what it is. From that point rover get mysterious health bar that is going down.

Final Narrative:

A 3D narrative driven sci-fi tragedy where the player remotely operates a rover across a devastated colony during a nuclear holocaust. As the last functional handler, the player guides/navigates hazardous terrain to retrieve a critical package from City 103, where his family once lived. Subtle clues hint at the handler’s failing health, and the true nature of the package is revealed only at the end, delivering a powerful emotional impact.

Reflection:

Half way through I wanted my game to cover nuclear war as a theme so I tried implementing that and abandoning the original idea completely. However many people that already new about my game told me they preferred the idea of the child being a package. I went back to the package being the child idea but added a company as explanation for some things. Ultimately I removed that idea since it was over complicating the story. My final narrative is very similar to the first where the handler is retrieving a package but through a nuclear wasteland.

Tragedy:

Once player reaches the end the package is revealed to be the handlers baby, this twist will change all the vague messages and logs the players has been receiving. 

Ending 1: Baby survives and handler happily hold his child, ending with a black screen as radiation warnings go off, implying they both die.

Ending 2: Baby did not survive the journey, leaving handler to express raw grief into a black screen as radiation warnings go off, implying he dies.

The player experiences the feeling of loss and helplessness through the tragic story of a handler who loses everything in a single day. 

I don’t want there to be full immersion more like spectating what happens to handler with some control. Thinking of doing this by creating moments where handler defies player movement but instead of locking controls I want there to be resistance, like a stretch or rebound effect.

Inspiration:

Grave of the fireflies – Two siblings struggle to stay together and survive during the outbreak of World War II. I watched this movie and it left me destroyed, it is a tragic story. I thought of ways of capturing that same feeling in this game, however it would have to be very different since the reason I reacted so strongly to the movie was because of how attached I got to the characters throughout the movie. This would be difficult for the game since I have to hide the fact that the package is the handlers child, however I still believe I can create a connection through flashbacks and hints.

Game Inspiration:

Inspiration:

• Iron lung 
• Observation
• Inside
• Duskers 

Mike Klubnika:

• Control room alpha
• Carbon steel

Mike Klubnika is a solo game developer I found on itch.io, Carbon steel is a big inspiration to my game.

Planet Lore:

The planet is destroyed by a nuclear war, causing a nuclear holocaust. Radiation storms, fire storms, smoke storm. 

All this information will be told throughout game on radio channels, it’s up to player to try and find out more. If player doesn’t interact with radio then no information will be gained.

Prototype:

Prototype 1:

I did a Inkle game to try and capture the narrative and see if the major reveal makes sense. I was originally going to do a twine game but after feedback week, Adam recommended Inkle since I could implement it into unity. I tried doing this by adding faint details throughout game before the end. It wasn’t the best but it worked with most people that play tested it.

Prototype2:

This is a movement prototype I made in unity, this was to test if the text based input could work. It works really well but I’m unsure if this would be a fun mechanic in actual gameplay.

Conclusion:

This is my main idea, I feel like its a very strong narrative game with unique gameplay. Hopefully I can get 1 or 2 people on board with this idea and develop it for my end of year game and portfolio.