High Concept:
Genre: top-down shooter
High Concept Statement:
Choose your unique fruit synergy and save the world from vitamin deficiency with your gun and spells.
Player Motivation:
Players have to try their best to survive this game with unique mechanics and procedural content generated world, protect the whole world with nutritious and fruity salvation. They will act like a world-savior through the fruit gun with various fruit bullets. They can cast spells using fruit energy to cure zombies with malnutrition and vitamin deficiency.
Genre:
Top-down cooperate PVE shooter game prototype developed with Unity.
Inspiration:
The game is inspired by Fruit Ninja and Plant vs. Zombies.
Target Audience:
The target age rating of the game is E 10+ based on Entertainment Software Rating Board. The game might be well accepted due to the fantasy cartoon art style and in-depth mechanics.
Unique Selling Points:
Unique, in-depth skill system: players need to customize three fruit energy types, thus creating a unique role. e.g., Three are three energy slots. The player can put three apple energy to do the maximum damage or choose three different energy types to create synergy buff and different skill combinations.
Procedure-generated content ensures each run will be different, and each game will cost less compared to MOBA and more endgame content compared to Role-play games.
Absurd and comedic world setting: In the world of nobody is eating any fruit, the lack of vitamins and minerals sabotaged the whole human being's immune system from a deadly zombie virus.
Target Hardware:
The target platform is mobile + PC + consoles based on mobile devices' performance restrictions as it will bring better performance on other platforms.
Design Goals:
The primary purpose is to provide a relaxing and soothing game for submission, sensation, and fantasy. The game also advocates a healthy and balanced diet through an absurd and comedic approach. Players will learn how various fruit contain certain types of vitamins through information implemented into game mechanics, which will build an applicable conceptual model of how to live a healthier life in the future.
Prototype showcase:
Game systems
There are nine major systems in the game.
Player controller - controls the movement, attributes, input of the player
Enemy controller - controls the navigation logic, attributes, and behavior of enemies
Spawner - controls the functionality of spawning enemies and props on the map
Game manager - manages the current game state such as winning, losing, level change, and level stream
Procedural map generator - controls the rules and functions of procedural map generation
UI manager - gets essential information such as health points, damage dealt from the player controller/game manager, and show/hide to players
Combat system - controls the projectile targetting, skill casting, energy accumulating mechanics
Skill system - controls how a skill behaves with set attributes, functions, and effects
Player growth system - controls exp growth, attributes growth of the player
The main gameplay loop of the game is illustrated:
Combat system
The combat system contains three major interactivities:
switch bullet: Players can switch between three bullets representing a type of energy they choose before they start the game.
shoot bullet: Players shoot the bullet to accumulate the expected energy points
cast skill: Players use the energy points to cast the skill
Each energy type will bring a unique ability and utility. e.g., mango: deal more significant bullet damage with a cast-able laser skill, apple: deal moderate bullet damage but can cast a buff to increase movement speed, kiwi - deal minor damage but can cast a buff to increase attack speed, during the buff, the player can change to another bullet for faster ability cast time. Players can choose their customized energy to customize their roles. e.g., the player brings mango only to obtain the maximum damage or watermelon (summon a fellow companion) + kiwi + mango for a speed skill caster who summons an army.
Three are three energy slots at the maximum. Players can cast the primary skill for only one energy or a strengthened ability with two energy of the same type. e.g., spend two apple energy to cast an extended movement increase buff which lasts longer than cast with only one apple energy.
Players can also combine three different types of energy to cast an ultimate skill. e.g., one kiwi + mango + apple energy can cast the ultimate that grants movement speed, increased attack speed, and a laser that deals a certain amount of damage.
Rational:
Maximize the fun of expression
After playing a vast amount of RPGs, it is always bothering me that the game always provides fixed characters with limited skill sets. This might be the cheap and easy way to put everything under control and ensure the balance scale and difficulty are at their minimum. However, it dramatically reduces players' choices into fixed and limited patterns. RPG is embedded with the fun of expression. However, the expression should not be limited to the aesthetic outfit, gears and builds, and their choice of deciding how their character should stand out differently.
Fruit Battle provides the player with the freedom to customize their playstyle by introducing fully customized energy types that synergize and diverge into various and unlimited possibilities.
2. Create an in-depth combat system
The Invoker from DOTA inspires the combat system. The hero also uses three elements that combine and synergize differently to create a new spell. Thus Invoker himself already has excellent playability. What if players could choose whatever elements that they prefer?
For high-level players, they really can be the wizard playing the keyboard and cast spells fluently. The practice process of changing one element is already fun enough. For starters, they can choose to bring one or two elements to lower the difficulty.
Procedural content generation
Rational:
1. Mitigate recourse waste for online games
Another massive problem with the current MMORPGs is that the company costs so many resources on early game content, which leads to generic tasks and plots that no one reads; tons of assets are sitting there untouched after a player gets through the stage. It's a massive waste of resources, and because of this, there's not much left for endgame content which is critical for MMORPGs.
2. Untouched field for online games
Procedural generation solved the problem, game like Hades provides players a solid fantasy world depiction while spending the vast majority of resources on level, combat, and replayability. Since replayability is crucial for online games, introducing procedural content generation might be optimal considering the characteristics of procedural content generation.
Skill system and procedural content generation system are combined mainly to create an Emergence experience. The skill system only requires fundamental interactions such as switching energy type and cast spells, but three energy synergizes created hundreds of skill combinations which makes emergence experience. On top of that, the procedurally generated level created both progressions with pre-designed maps but with an emergence approach that they combine to create a unique dungeon every time.
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