Prototyping
I have started the prototyping phase after finding inspiration from other games in the genre like Lethal Company, REPO, and Phasmophobia. I have decided to create a Cooperative Horror game. This genre has been incredible to play over the last several years, and the extraction version of the genre specifically adds an easily repeatable goal. Along with the procedural generation, the genre can draw a lot of similarities to Roguelike, adding a ton to the replayability.
This is my first prototyping panel shown above. I have categorized the game into three primary groups, which break down how the game will need to be created and who these actions will be designed for.
The Player category is to distinguish the actions the players will take within their environment to survive until extraction. There are two main talking points within player actions. I thought it was a good idea to consider fighting as an option for the players against enemies. Second, I wanted to bold the “Use Class Abilities” section, as I believe this is what will cause the game to stand out from the rest of the genre.
I saw Enemy behavior as a top priority, as if our AI behaves poorly, is there any sense of danger or fear? So I thought it would be necessary to mark down most of the possible enemy states for the AI. As these are behaviors all of the Enemies will follow, they are generalized. I will go into the specifics of the enemy's behavior in our next blog.
Class Fantasy
As a long-time fan of the RPG genre, the concept of class fantasy is near and dear to my heart. As well as a system that I don’t believe has been experimented with enough within the Horror genre. Living in a world with horrifying power should not be exclusive to living in a world with incredible power. World of Warcraft has always been a great inspiration to me towards what class fantasy should feel like, everyone fulfilling a role within a team to create a more powerful whole. So I wanted to try to bring this same philosophy into a horror environment.
A Screenshot of my Miro board with basic class descriptions
Here are the game actions, a category to distinguish actions that players and enemies will have no control over. I thought it was important to bold “Prod Gen Rooms” as I want the level design to be a huge part of what makes the game unique.
Photo From my personal copy of World of Warcraft
Here are the basic models of the classes that I wanted to create to fulfill the teaming up philosophy. And just like World of Warcraft, these classes are not mutually exclusive, so you could play as 6 mages if you want to. None of these roles are directly capable of damaging enemies. Other than one intended interaction with a certain shadow enemy. The goal of their design was for them all to be good at dealing with certain enemies and horrible at dealing with others. With this added level of interaction from the players, I hope it will maintain the same level of fear from the enemies you’re less powerful against. In another blog we will go further into depth on each of the individual classes as well as their intended strengths and weaknesses.
Gameplay Loop
A Screenshot of my Miro board Gameplay Loop
Above is the gameplay loop, which I hope to have the players will go through. There are currently three sections leading off, which are still subject to change and will be spoken about in future blogs. These sections are Classes, Enemies, and Purchasable.
To summarize the Loop, Players will start the game and load into a lobby, from that lobby, they will select their class. From there, players either spawn into a saved or a new world and begin exploring. In the exploration phase, a large number of things can happen to the player, such as finding loot, finding a monster, or finding a dead player. When a player has found loot, they will collect it and bring it to a collection point. When a player has found a monster, they will try to run/hide or fight(Use class abilities) it causing the player to face a death condition. If the players end up dead, then they can be found by another player. When these dead players are found, they can be revived using the healer class or by completing the stage. Once enough loot has been collected, players will go to the extraction point. The goal will get harder next time. From there, players will have the option to buy items based on the value of the goods they extracted. Finally, they will be loaded into a new world with a harder goal, continuing the loop.