Game Concept

Scunthorpe Specials - Overview

Concept Statement:

In a dank pub, a stone’s-toss away from Scunthorpe, England, a young pizza delivery driver by the name of Carter crosses paths with an ill-intentioned horse, leading to a mysterious potion disguised as a beer fuelling a thrilling brawl, where pool balls are his friends, and everyone else is foe.

Genres:

Shooter - top-down – action – horde – single player - casual. This game will be a top- down shooter because it best suits the gameplay I intend for it, and it is also where the majority of my game-making experience is. On top of that, top-down shooters are a game genre almost everyone is familiar with and/or have played. They are also incredibly popular. This game will be single player because it will help me create a simple and polished game without too much complexity in the development process. I’ve decided to go with a casual gameplay model as it grips players much quicker than other types of gameplay and the player can begin enjoying the game immediately without the need for too much explaining or practicing of mechanics.

Concept Creation Process and Influences:

My concept has been heavily influenced by the tutorial content. I enjoyed making the top-down tile-map scenes over anything else by far. I also think these scenes turned out to look the cleanest. I also have been influenced by some games I’ve recently played such as the Binding of Isaac series and Vampire Survivors. There are also many other mobile games that have a similar design and gameplay; I find these tend to be some of the best mobile games I’ve come across. The simple gameplay of Vampire Survivors, for instance, allows you to easily determine the amount of time you are going to play in one sitting, with the short rounds allowing you to easily end a session without disrupting a round; as well as a pause option that is always available whenever you need to stop playing abruptly.

The simple design of a game like this is comparatively easy to execute to other games I’ve played, where the relationships between objects is more complex than I have the current experience to recreate. My limited experience making games in general is also taken into consideration, and I think something in this scope is where I’ll be most competent and produce the best game (although I’m sure my skillset will expand throughout the process).

I intend to create a very casual game where you pick up the gameplay almost immediately but there are some skills you will most likely need to evolve if you want to get through the entire game (learning how to avoid enemies effectively, controlling the horde, chasing the 8-ball etc.). The difficulty will be intermediate, and the overall game will likely be quite short, allowing you to finish it relatively quickly on a good run.

I also want to focus very heavily on a clean art style, where the game looks polished and it’s incredibly easy to tell what is going on and differentiate yourself from the environment to avoid confusion. This is key to a horde game, as the screen can become quite the bonanza. A nice-looking game will always draw more players than one that looks sloppy too, of course.

Audience and competitive analysis:

There is a large market for casual pick-up and put-down games like this where the little time dedication and shallow learning curve grip players very quickly. It’s no wonder this genre of game has become a mobile staple so naturally. All genre-related advantages I’ve mentioned are what Scunthorpe Specials aims to capitalize on, and to do so well.

Games like this are playable and suitable for practically any age, though younger gamers such as kids to young adults would likely be the main age group.

Unfortunately, with a popular genre like this, there will always be plenty of fierce competitors who offer polished and incredibly enjoyable games in the same vein. Some competitors, to name a few, would be the creators of The Binding of Isaac or Vampire Survivors, which I mentioned earlier. Naturally, the same games that have inspired Scunthorpe Specials will make for natural competition.

In order to stick out from the crowd, my game will have audio mostly recorded vocally. This will lend some extra flavour. In addition, it will make the game more memorable by adding to the atmosphere in an unconventional way. My experience of sound design is extremely limited and I haven’t used audio in Unity yet, so this will be a challenge, but a rewarding one.

Beyond this particularly unique feature, my goal is to keep Scunthorpe Specials simple and easy to understand, as well as maintaining a polished game, giving it the feel of a one that gives more of a professional feel. Taking the cheap feel and look away from a game is difficult to do without a large team, but I believe it can be done by polishing up the simple things.

Game treatment and concept art:

Plot:

The story of Scunthorpe Specials begins when Carter is at the pub playing a game of pool. A horse gracefully trots into the bar and pulls up beside him, “Would you like for me to purchase you a beverage, bruv?”

Carter, thrilled, exclaims, “Oh, boy, would I ever!”

The horse then attempts to purchase a drink, clumsily knocking glasses over and causing general mayhem atop the bar, “These hooves ain’t good for nothing but trotting, galloping and kicking!  Come help me get this, bruv!”

Carter makes his way to the bar to retrieve the drink and notices it has a strange purple tint, “What is this, sir? What concoction have you purchased for me?”

The horse abruptly proclaims, “It is a beer as regular as you have ever seen! I promise!”

Carter then raises the glass and has a swig, it tastes of horse dung and trash (Carter is familiar with these flavours), “This drink tastes evil, but it is free, so I can’t complain. Thank you, Mr…”

"Hays,” the horse calmly answers as Carter hastily polishes off the brew. “Also, that’s not beer - more like a little Scunthorpe Special of mine. It’s just a little bit of brawl juice mixed with some other rubbish, I didn't read any of the bottles to be honest with ya! With that big glass you just gulped down, you’ll be brawling for a long time! Well, I'm off, bruv!” The horse gallops out of the pub at what seems like lightspeed, leaving Carter to battle the onslaught of effects from the devilish bevy.

Gameplay:

For the design of this game, I want to go off the plot and give it a similar feel to the story, which is obviously not particularly serious. The main character, Carter (who you will play as), will have to defend himself from an onslaught of various enemies. The method of defence: 8-ball balls. There will be an assortment of 8-ball game objects, which you will be hurling at the attackers to knock them back. A random ball will be chosen each time giving the game a little extra colour and variety. The 8-ball will be a little different to the other balls, dealing enough damage to kill an enemy in one hit (except for some). The 8-ball will then stay wherever it has landed, and you will need to venture over to pick it up in order to continue using it to hold off the mob.

There will be a few different types of enemies, some harder than others. They will slowly encroach on Carter and will damage his health if they manage to touch him, so killing these enemies before they get too close is key to survival. If the player does manage to defeat all the enemies, a victory message will be displayed, announcing that you have defeated all of them and the effects of the beverage Carter drank have begun to wear off. Here is a picture of aforementioned Vampire Survivors and The Binding of Isaac respectively, two games which have heavily influenced the gameplay of this game: 

Vampire Survivors Gameplay – Reference (a)

The Binding of Isaac Repentance – Reference (b)

Game Environment:

Scunthorpe Specials will be set in the same pub that the backstory takes place in. It will be implemented as a tile-map, with a low-detail, pixelated graphic style. The detail will, however, be sufficient in making sure the player can easily tell what everything is. The map will be relatively large so that the player has some space to move around and run from the enemies, but this will also add to the difficulty because the 8-ball will end up further away if it misses a target. The map will be made out of a series of areas that look very loosely like this:

The Bar Place of my Game – Reference (c)

Sound Design:

The sound design in this game will almost entirely be done vocally by me. This decision will have a massive influence on the atmosphere of the game, lending to its tongue-in-cheek nature, following in the footsteps of the introductory plot. There will be a basic musical track in the background (not made by me) during combat, with the vocalised sound effects of battle overlaid.

My experience in game sound design is virtually nil, but it is a skill I would like to develop as it is crucial to the feel of a game. The sounds of the balls hitting the enemies, the balls hitting the walls and the player being hurt or even killed by the enemies will all be recorded and implemented to appropriately contribute to the desired feel of the game.

Level Design:

Scunthorpe Specials will consist of a single level where the player will battle through a pre-determined number of enemies. The level will become increasingly difficult the longer you survive, and upon defeating all enemies the game will be over and the player will have won.

References:

(a) Poncle. (12/12/21). Vampire Survivors by Poncle. https://poncle.itch.io/vampire-survivors (accessed: 16/04/24)

(b) Bieniek, C. (04/11/21). Repent, for the Binding of Isaac is at Hand. https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/11/04/repent-for-the-binding-of-isaac-is-at-han... (accessed: 16/04/24)

(c) Unknown author - listed on r/PixelArt and later deleted. (at least 1 year ago from access date). The Bar Place of my Game. https://www.reddit.com/r/PixelArt/comments/yzff9p/the_bar_place_of_my_game/ (accessed: 16/04/24)