Onto GDD

INTRO

Today's opportunity to access free software that allows the creation of games as well as the ever growing community of artists and independent developers has led to a whole new era of games and gamming types. Different people look for different types of games and todays stress and lack of time gave developers the opportunity to create small but entertaining games that allow those that don't have time to enjoy a bit of action (the so called indie games)

So, as you probably already noticed from the previous post, I have established a Genre and Theme for my yet-to-develop game. 

Having in mind that I want to create a game for those that don't have time to play full-lenght content driven (time consuming) games, I have decided to develop an indie game. This week I'm going to write down the Overview and start working on the document itself, since I already have a clear vision of what it is that I'm after.

Since I've been a gamer for quite some time now I came to realize that more and more games are becoming one of two things: content driven and engaging stories; or pure out of the box entertainment with no story whatsoever (shoot to kill and have some fun, basically).

Having this in mind I want to create something for those that have little to no time in their lives but still want to be able to sit down for a couple of minutes and have some fun. So, I'm looking to create a simple game that can engage players by its action and frantic killing action. More like an Action Adventure Arcade Game with a Horror Theme, where players get rewarded with a score for killing zombies, monsters, strange creatures and level bosses (as the difficulty increases).

Having as reference games like Metal Slug:

Limbo:

Oddworld Abe's Odyssey:

The early versions of Sonic, for megadrive:

Castlevania:

As well as two of my favourite tv series, Supernatural:

And Grimm:

And many many others, the game will be 2D. The character will have to progress through the level killing everything that moves and, by the end of the level, will have to face the level's boss.
So, these are the elements that I will be working on the next couple of days and that will be included in the Game Design Document:

TITLE


The Dark Half of Madness


OVERVIEW


Having no memory of what happend and no clue of why there's a demon inside you, the name Lynch and being able to kill eveything that moves seems to be the only two things you can remember.
Play as the half demon half human Lynch, as you shoot, burn, and blow up all sorts of undead and supernatural creatures using yourself and a variety of weapons. Your goal is simple: to stay alive as long as possible so that you can find out who you are and who made your life a living hell in the first place!
Discover the true meaning of a killing spree in this unique stylized side-scrolling, arcade-style, run-and-gun shooter filled with supernatural frenetic killing action.


STORY


CHARACTERS


LEVEL DESIGN


GAMEPLAY


USER INTERFACE AND GAME CONTROLS


SOUND AND MUSIC

Developing the Game Idea

Genre: Action-Adventure


Theme: Horror


"As Leon turned the Jeep down Bybee, heading for one of the main north-south streets that would take him to the RPD building, he got his first hint that something was very wrong. In the first few blocks, he was mildly surprised; by the fifth, he found himself slipping toward a state of shock. It wasn't just strange, it was ... well, it was impossible. 
Bybee was the first real city street, coming from the east, where buildings outnumbered empty lots. There were several espresso bars and cheap diners, as well as a bargain movie theater that never seemed to run anything but horror movies and sexy comedies - and was therefore the most popular hangout for the youth of Raccoon. There were even a few generically hip taverns that served microbrew and hot rum drinks for the winter college-student ski crowd. At quarter to nine on a Saturday night, Bybee should have been teeming with life.
But of the mostly single or two-story brick shops and restaurants that lined the street, Leon saw that almost all were dark and in the few that still boasted some light, it didn't look like there was anyone inside. There were plenty of cars parked along the narrow street, and yet not one person that he could see; Bybee, the hangout for cruising teens and college students, was totally deserted.
Where the hell is everybody? 
His mind grasped for answers as he crept down the silent street, searching desperately for a reason - and for some way to alleviate the sweaty anxiety that had once again settled over him. Maybe there was some kind of an event going on, a church function, like a spaghetti feed. Or perhaps Raccoon had decided to take up Oktoberfest and tonight was the big kickoff."

I've always been a huge fan of horror movies and survival horror games. More than that, I always wanted to know how they made them, I wanted to be part of the people that made those amazing games that I would spend hours playing. 

So, for this assignment I went looking for those buried ideas and collect all those references that fill my subconsciousness.

First things first, the first survival horror game I ever played was Resident Evil 1, for the old PS1:

This was never seen before on a console, plus it was a completely new genre. I really enjoyed the game play, the physics and the puzzles that you had to keep solving in order to progress in the game.
So this game was not only about aesthetics, but also about game-play. Also, one of the things that completely caught my attention was the plot. Having zombies on screen was not something new for the film industry (City of the Living Dead - 1980)...

...but for games, having a game with this plot and so dam engaging was something new and fresh for the games industry.



(continues...)