Game Concept - Gloaming Emanations

228 days ago by utas_ty

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Working Title

Gloaming Emanations

Concept Statement

Steel yourself, Dusk approaches, as do they. Defend your people with sword and shield in hand. Dispel the darkness with holy magic and welcome the break of dawn.

Genre

This game is a 2D hack and slash inspired by games like Castle crashers and Full metal furies. In either single player or 2 player coop, Players will control a knight/paladin character and utilise melee and magic in combat to defend against waves of enemies who aim to either kill the player or break down the walls/gates. Your goal is to hold out until sunrise.

Influences

Castle Crashers

Castle crashers is the main inspiration behind this game. It's a 2d coop hack and slash game where players can use a variety of combat methods including melee, ranged and magic to fight.

Full metal furies

Another game which was clearly inspired by castle crashers but leaned more into a techy theme and unique characters.

Kingdom Two Crowns (Or any kingdom game)

The Kingdom series are 2D tower defence games that have the player build up a kingdom and defend it against manifestations of greed when night falls. This game heavily inspired the themes and art direction of the game instead of gameplay.

Concept Creation Process

The idea for this game came from me wanting to create an experience similar to castle crashers. Originally I had planned on potentially making a level for the player to traverse through and then a boss fight to conclude, however after some planning and consideration for the timeframe I decided it would be better the flip the game into a defensive story rather than an offensive one. Instead of going out on a journey to defeat an evil to stop it for good, players would instead be defending against hordes until dawn. This would lessen the need for extra resources and assets while allowing the game to have its own twists on the genre. The reason why i was so heavily inspired by castle crashers in particular was because I feel there are very few games which utilise this form of movement and combat. Castle crashers and full metal furies are also quite cartoonish and comedic, I wanted to change it into something a little more serious and remembered the kingdom games which I adore for their pixel art style, atmosphere and enemy design. As such the concept of this game became a mashup between the core gameplay of castle crashers and the artistic + story direction of Kingdom.

Audience

The intended audience for the game would be people who have played 2D hack and slash games and horde games likely between the ages of 10-30 years. Difficulty wise it will likely be harder than its competitors as it will scale in difficulty much more rapidly than its competitors. However it is still intended to be approachable as the controls and gameplay will be relatively simple but with enough variety and nuance to make allow for meaningful skill expression. It's not expected for players to achieve victory on the first attempt, but the constant ramping difficulty will force players to learn quickly and allow them a sense of progression and growth without the need for an upgrade system as they continue. Due to this its more likely to appeal to people who are already gamers and enjoy overcoming challenges and mastery over a game.

Competitive Analysis

Castle crashers and Full metal furies are the 2 games with the most similarity's and as such are competitors. This game aims to differentiate itself by maintaining the core gameplay but switching up the gameplay loop. The change to a defensive format allows for players to use their skill obtained from other similar games in new and unique situations while still maintaining familiarity. Castle crashers remains the top game of this niche and while full metal furies did attempt a similar game, I feel it fell flat because of its theming.

Treatment

You stand guard at your post, leaning with your back against the stone walls of the kingdom. As you watch the sun dip beyond the horizon, You know they are coming and you know what you must do. You pickup your sword and shield and brace yourself. The horizon becomes dimly lit with a purple hue. Do not let fear take hold. You are the peoples last bastion, their light and hope. You recall your training, you have everything you need, all that's left is execution.

Mechanics

The gameplay consists of relentless waves of enemies that will either aim to kill the player or break down the gate that the player is tasked with defending. Players with control their characters with mouse and keyboard. The tools you have at your disposal will be light and heavy attacks with your sword, light attacks will be faster but less effective as damaging and staggering enemies while heavy attacks will be slower but deal more damage and stagger. Will likely be bound to left and mouse button respectively. Blocking will also be available by holding down a button to prevent incoming attacks/projectiles from damaging the player. Magic will be available by holding down a key and inputting another key/mouse button. This will be used to cast offensive or healing magic at the cost of the players mana, spending mana should be a meaningful choice as players will not be able to regain health through other methods. Waves of enemies aim to be frequent but short because waves will continue regardless of if you have defeated the previous wave. This combined with the health system should encourage the player to play more offensively and stay engaged at all times. Hoping to add 2 player coop but aim to complete the core game first.