Game Concept

OVERVIEW:

Working Title:

Grazer (grid lazer)(cow joke)

Concept Statement:

Help the Lazer Cow protect his field! Fight through multiple levels as the enemies move when you do and use your lazer cannon to stop different kinds of invaders with differing movement patterns from taking your grass and your life! Use mirrors to bounce the lazer and earn bonus skill shot points and beat the final boss to scare all the enemies away forever!

Category/Genre:

Action adventure: Run around and shoot in a fantastic world! Every game has this its fine.

puzzle(?): Planning ones move ahead of time like in chess will help win levels.

arcade: Short levels with straightforward controls and a short gameplay loop.

Concept creation process:

I had played Crypt of the Necro Dancer and decided I also wanted to do something with the grid-based movement and music-timed movement. I quickly dismissed the music-timed movement because it was outside my capability and that left me with a simple grid-based movement start. I then decided I wanted to use lazers in the game because lazers are awesome and I thought I could add mirrors to bounce the lazers off like in Lazors (The game). I then needed a theme for the game which came when I ran the name “Grid Lazer” through my head a few times, eventually combining them into the working title “Grazer” which prompted me to use a cow theme for the remainder of the creation process.

Audience And Competitive Analysis:

The games that are similar to my idea in some ways are Crypt of the Necrodancer, Shotgun King, Wii Tanks, and Lazors. It is likely that audiences that were interested in these games would be interested in mine. I will not be able to outperform Crypt of the Necrodancer or Shotgun King in terms of features so the appeal of my game will come from a lot of short levels with different enemies that move and shoot in specific patterns like in Wii Tanks. It will set itself apart from Wii Tanks with the grid-based movement and the lazers instantly traveling to the destination with mirrors to reflect them. The grid movement and puzzle-like combat will likely attract people who liked the similar systems in Crypt of the Necrodancer and Shotgun King while the enemies will get people from Wii Tanks. The lazer reflection is unlikely to grab many people’s attention but it will be a fun mechanic to keep people playing on later levels and fill the connection to Lazors.

GAME TREATMENT AND CONCEPT ART:

Initial pre-workshopping game concept

I initially wanted to make a rhythm game but quickly scrapped that idea as it was outside of my skill set. I decided instead to have the enemies move immediately after the player as this would keep a similar feel to the rhythm game idea and allow the player time to think more carefully about their next move, creating a puzzle-like quality and making the game more attractive to a wider audience of players. The lazers traveling instantly will also make it so players don’t have to calculate semi-random movement patterns in the enemies and can just satisfyingly shoot them when they are able to and also easily calculate where the enemies can be shot, making the game less frustrating as if the lazers moved the same as players and enemies there would be a lot more for the player to keep track of making the game less fun. All lazers are instant kills so mistakes are costly as any misstep could lead to a restart.

A first draft of the player character

Once I came up with the name Grazer, I decided to make the player a cow that shot lazers. It was for the pun, but it should also give the game a good theme and endear the game to potential players. It is also a simple character to design, and have it look nice so it can be easily adapted to a different graphical style if the style does change. The circular design can also allow the cannon part to rotate around the central sprite to make the game look more fluid.

Wall and mirror block concepts respectively

The purpose of the walls and mirrors is to add more gameplay depth without directly attacking the player. They will do this by dynamically adding and removing vectors of attack from enemies and the player with the wall blocking movement and lazers, and the mirror blocking movement but reflecting lazers at a 90-degree angle, they will reflect both player and enemy lazers. I considered adding walls that can be moved through but not shot through and vice versa but chose to wait and see how progress on the rest of the gamer went before attempting this feature. If they are added, they could allow for more complex level layouts with “chasms” that entities can shoot over bun not cross.

Collider, Single-shooter and double-shooter concepts respectively

I will be creating multiple enemy types; these are the ones that are likely set in stone. The collider will constantly move towards the player and attempt to run them over, forcing them to leave safe spots or deal with the collider before it reaches the player. The single-shooter will move or fire in the player's general direction every other step. This is meant to get the player to dodge lazers and time their shot to hit an enemy in their downtime. It may also catch the player off guard with a reflected shot from a mirror. The double shooter won’t move and will instead rotate and then shoot every other step, effectively creating an obstacle that the player will have to keep track of while dealing with more active enemies. Any further enemies will use these elements of these enemies as a basis. The final boss will combine elements from all of these enemies.

The idea for the general look of the game board (colour will likely be inverted from what is shown)

The game field will be a grid where the player and enemies will move from space to space on while occasionally shooting at each other. The layout will not always be a square grid as that would get stale fast. Instead, the field will take different shapes and/or have the walls, mirrors, and enemies start in different locations to keep the player interested in the game. These levels will not be randomly generated as that would likely lead to boring levels so each level will be individually created to avoid this outcome. This will likely be done using tile sets.