Pre-Production Devlog
Memories Of Flesh
Zeth Y Harmonson
GAME 301 Video Game Design
Outline
Core Concept:
An augmented human sent by an unknown company to explore a chaotic liminal space populated by entities, once humans now twisted and mutated beyond recognition.
Intended Platform: PC, PS, Xbox, Nintendo, possibly VR (I want to make a VR version)
Genre: Horror
Target Audience: Adults. Liminal space and body horror fans.
Basic player experience will have lots of intense moments, some combat, and constantly getting lost and turned around. Realistic darkness for atmosphere, IRL blinking influencing game play and IRL noises and in game noises attracting entities.
Game Play
- Survive as long as possible, preferably in higher danger rating levels to earn maximum amount of points.
- Kill entities to obtain samples or harvest samples from entities.
- Destroy walls and furniture to obtain building resources (can be used to build labs, terminals, depos, and barriers.)
- Build or find labs, terminals, and depos.
- Study samples at labs to be rewarded with data (& occasionally points.)
- Data can also be rewarded from scanning artifacts and mapping structures
- Upload data at terminals to be rewarded with datums — this also commits points so they won’t be lost upon player death.
- Use datums at depos to purchase: medicine (to reduce mutation,) health kits (to keep health high,) ammo, and weapon upgrades.
- Can trade with certain entities — they do not take currency only items and each one values every item differently — most items they can give are not available at depos.
- Find augmentations and weapons from others (can equip them assuming they have an open slot for it.)
Game Mechanics
- Procedural generation such that nothing is constant, the map changes constantly.
- Mutation providing buffs, but also hinder the player, too much ends the game
- Samples → Data → Datum → Purchasing items
- Danger Rating, Points, & starting Loadout
- Augmentations, weapons, and weapon upgrades
- Sounds (both in game and IRL)
- Blinking/Eye dryness resource
- Combat system (not turn based)
- Darkness and hiding
- Interference and company providing information
Prototype:
Core Game Play Mechanic: Procedural Generation
Design Question: How do I get the player to feel as lost as possible?
Features to leave out:
- mutations and mutation buffs
- points
- augmentations and weapons
- building
- sounds (IRL and In-game)
- blinking/eye dryness
- realistic darkness
Key to success: Getting parts of the map that the player cannot see and not immediately impacting the player to be “forgotten” and regenerated when it makes sense.
Development Resources
Platform for making the game: G Develop
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Camera Viewpoint: First Person
Player Controls:
- Keyboard & Mouse
- Controller
- Camera (blinking)
- Microphone
User interface ideas:
- Load out menu for starting gear
- Inventory and equipment menu
- Health Bar
- Mutation Bar (and buff tracker)
- On screen text based on information the company provides along with audio of the company giving them information and audio sound along with visual indicator of interference
- Menu for labs
Initial Asset list:
- Entities
- Building materials
- Resources
- Health
- Mutation meter
- Augmentations
- Weapons
- Weapon Upgrades
- Bullets
Planned Scenes:
- Terminal cut scenes
- Transitioning from one level to the next
- Entering level 0
- Dying
Development Roadmap
Prototype & Play testing
Foundation for the game from combat to world generation.
Production
Ascetic and mutation. Properly playable game. Point system may or may not be implemented. Darkness should be implemented at this point.
Launch
Finished ascetic, completed point system, IRL noise and IRL blinking fully implemented.
Reflection
What part of planning your game was the most challenging?
The most challenging part of this was creating deciding which features to prioritize. I knew world generation would need to dealt with first, but beyond that, I didn’t know if I wanted to focus on the ascetic and atmosphere of the game or the actual game play. Seeing as how this is a more of a open world game that I can always add more too, I decided to prioritize the game play.
What are you most excited to begin building or prototyping?
The part that excites me the most is going to be the darkness. Getting the darkness just right to feel realistic and add to the atmosphere.
How has your game changed since your Greenlight Proposal?
From my Green-light proposal, I feel like I have fleshed out some more of the intricacies of the actual systems and how they would interact with one another.
What questions do you still have about your design?
What if their isn’t enough motivation to keep the player exploring?
What did you learn about the importance of pre-production?
It helps to ensure that I have a plan for what I am going to be doing.
