Yes, thanks to the GMC's (Game Makers Community's) help, I've decided on a name suggested by one of the fans to be "
Meemo's Planet".
Then thanks to my good friend Nico Loubser whom helped me with conceptualising the game design specification better, I can now share my current thought in more detail where I think the game should go in this post. When there area alpha/beta/final keywords next to a paragraph heading it then means when I plan to implement the feature.
Please note that any of this can change at anytime, I will see if there are any wiki type addons for this blog, then it will be easier to keep an up to date design specification.
So here it is, be sure to let me know what you think?
Game Design Plans:
Meemo’s
Planet:
Independent game developed by Morne Booysen, Boysano Indie Gaming
From August 2013.
Goal
Idea:
Clean up the earth left behind by humanity. Restore the earth and maybe have life return.
In the beginning the robot itself is also polluting the environment. As a player improves the robot, and builds
units to recycle things he starts seeing the earth becoming clean, and life
slowly returns.
How to achieve this:
- Clean
up junk, recycle, craft into better items
- Defeat
monsters and bosses
- Improve
yourself by crafting and slotting better equipment
- Build
machines/tools to help you clean the earth
Biomes/Areas:
(alpha)
Currently the game can already create randomised world
maps based on a grid system, which then also easily allows for generating and
interacting on these zones or areas in terms of creating specific plants /
garbage / enemies / pollution levels /any objects…this creates a defined and
characterised biome.
The
Robot:
The players character in the game called Meemo.
Robot Abilities:
(alpha)
- Collecting
junk and cleaning:
This is mainly for
collecting resources for crafting.
- Crafting:
Create new items to
improve yourself and your base.
- Fighting:
Fight off enemies and
loot their corpses for useful items. A
player can take on stronger enemies as you improve yourself. Stronger enemies
will spawn depending on what player does in the game.
Robot
consumables: (alpha)
- Oil:
Oil is used
to lubricate the engine, wheels and gearbox.
Oil is used up when the player moves about. It becomes unusable and would cause a spill
if it is not recycled. Oil is in fact a pollutant so its use will be limited,
until it can be replaced it will probably be more a quirky irritation.
- Power:
Power is
supplied by batteries or later by other resources. The resource is not used up
but is rather depleted in most cases. A
player must then replace the item or recycle it, by recharging it or using it
in upgraded crafting. (Maybe: Un-recycled items would have to be
stored or discarded but this would cause environmental damage.)
Having fully
charged power (batteries health bar) will restore physical health (hearts
health bar).
Empty power
will reduce oil and then battery (health bars) over time, and when physical
health bar depleted the robot dies and drops its loot.
- Physical Health (Armour):
Armour is
your only defense against physical damage.
Improving your armour will allow you to take more damage before you are
destroyed. Heavier armour might give you
better protection but would in most cases be heavier so would cause you to use
more power. A force field would protect
you even more but would consume power.
Robot Components:
(Equipment major slots) (final)
1.
Armour:
This is your
main defense against attacks. In the
beginning it is physical armour like wood, metal, Kevlar, etc. Later a power shield could protect you for a
time until you run out of power or it gets destroyed.
2.
Engine:
The engine
is what gets you around and what powers your weapons and other on-board equipment. It can be upgraded to be more efficient. This uses oil to prevent engine failure. See Engine Upgrade for more detail.
3.
Power source:
Batteries,
solar, or nuclear, etc.
4.
Weapon:
In the
beginning this is a physical weapon that you hit an enemy with. With upgrades come more powerful weapons that
can be physical or energy weapons. See Weapon Upgrade for more detail. (some weapons is not effected against some
enemies. See Enemies
for more detail.
Robot Engine Upgrade: (Equipment semi slots) (Final)
The engine
is made up by different units.
·
Main engine unit
This is the
main engine that supplies power to the wheels, weapons and other
equipment. A more powerful engine would
result in more power to other equipment but it would need more power.
·
Oil filter
The engine,
gearbox and wheels need oil to function.
Oil is used up but becomes unusable, and since it has speed (agility) impact
it must be replaced eventually. If the
oil is not replaced or recycled it would cause a spill that damages the
environment. A better oil filter results
in a longer time the oil can be used.
·
Gear box
A better
gearbox will result in better engine efficiency and less need for oil.
Enemies:
(alpha)
Enemies are mostly area dependent. When the player moves to a new area (biome)
to get new ingredients by exploration, recipes and to clean up the rest of the
world, he is also faced by new enemies and challenges.
Normal mobs
hiding in piles of trash.
Type:
Physical
Strength: Up
to medium (depending on size)
Weakness:
Physical damage
- Oil
enemies
- Acid
enemies
- Electrical
enemies
Weapon Upgrade (final)
- Physical
weapons
Upgrade this to give
more physical damage against certain enemies.
- Energy
weapons
Some enemies are not
affected by physical damage. An energy
weapon consumes a lot of power but is more effective against some enemies, but
also more dangerous to others since it could charge instead of hurt the enemy
if you use it wrongfully.
- Projectiles
Sometimes it’s better
to stay away from enemies. Projectile
weapons might not be very accurate or cause a lot of damage but you stay out of
harms way.
The Base:
Base Abilities:
(beta)
The base components are crafted as normal and placed in a certain
location a Player selects as his base. Note these machines needs to be crafted
first. This can be for example:
- Storage
Facility & Base Power generation (beta)
The base can collect
energy and store it for later use. This
can be for example by solar or wind power.
- Recycle
Facility (beta)
As the player uses
resources he is actually also causing pollution to a certain extent. Improving the recycle capability to reuse
items such as batteries for example will eventually reduce this pollution
completely.
- Research
Center: (beta)
This computer
accesses fragment from the internet left behind. Because the data is so corrupt, it takes time
for the computer compile files. This is
where a Player can get new recipes.
Base Power
generation: (beta)
The purpose of this machine is to
supply power to the base. The more other machines there are the more
power they would require. Different types of power generation
should be made available with each one upgrade-able. Suggestions:
1. Steam
generation:
This is the first power unit you get. It needs to be close
to a water source? This causes pollution so affects the player
negatively. Junk collected can be burned here so a player must collect
junk to fuel this unit.
Level 1: Base unit that burns junk and cause pollution.
Level 2: Can use coal for more power generation, but more
pollution.
Level 3: Carbon filter makes it pollute less.
2. Nuclear:
If a nuclear source is available it can be used in this
unit. Last much longer than coal and once in a while generates a
concentrated waste that has to be disposed of.
3. Solar and wind:
This is the
only unit that generates power and no pollution. Is expensive and the
power output is low. Can be upgraded to be more efficient.
Risk: Maybe different power
generation and pollution attracts certain mobs. (beta)
Recycle
machine: (beta)
The purpose of the recycle
machine is to recycle unwanted material into useful material and to make dangerous
polluting waste material safe. The machine can be upgraded to be able to
recycle more advanced material or recycle things more times and faster.
Upgrade level suggestion:
Level 1: Normal junk i.e. unusable items collected
while “cleaning” is made into blocks or crafting materials that can be used to
build a base. Up-cycling…
Level 2: Oil and batteries can be recycled, back to
base components, or neutralised.
Level
3: Maybe some shells (ranged weapons).
Level 4: Nuclear waste management
Note: This machine can be
build early in the game but would take time to level up.
Research
Machine: (final – low priority, game
focuses on experiential research instead of forced research)
The purpose of this machine is to
give a player unique recipes. The more the machine is upgraded the faster
research will take place and the more advanced the recipes that can be found.
It is also could potentially help the player unlock recipes he/she has not yet
figured out. Upgrade level suggestion:
Level 1:
Recipes for example armour, basic weapons, etc.
Level 2:
Recipes for Power and Base units.
Level
3: Recipes for Advanced power and base units. Base defense units.
Level 4: Recipes for Robot helper units.
(NOTE: these recipes can still be
implemented without the research machine in any case.)
Area classification
/ Difficulty scaling ideas: (Final)
What limits a player going from
level to level? Maybe a Pollution Level? This can be an area which
is so polluted or contaminated that the player receives damage when he enters
the area. He needs to upgrade his armour, wheels and/or shield to go into
the area. In the new area there will be stronger mobs and higher level
loot which is required to build the higher level recipes.
- Areas pre-defined if fixed world size.
- If unlimited sandbox world, then distance from origin
increases difficulty.
- If tower defense game style, it can be level wave based
system.
- Combination of the top systems also possible.
