🟡Nanomachines/Micro Mayhem (temp)¶
1. Concept¶
In this document we combine the aesthetics of Marwan’s Nanomachines concept with the gameplay direction of Benjamin’s Asteroid Crash, Stef’s Airspace Invaders and Valentijn’s Military Surge.
This concept is a top-down 2d shoot’m-up/bullet hell that takes place in the human body.
A briliant doctor has created a nanomachine that can be injected into the bloodstream to fight bacteria, viruses and repair failing organs.
In this game the player will face waves of enemies. They will have to survive the whole wave, or kill every enemy on screen (which gives them more points).
The nanomachine is equipped with a small laser blaster that can fire unlimited bullets. Stronger weapons with limited ammo that can be obtained from enemies by killing them.
The player can also charge a power up meter by near-dodging projectiles. They can “cash out” that power up meter to upgrade their weapon or get other benefits, such as healing.
Moodboard¶
Below are moodboards illustrating the style and gameplay elements that we imagine would be present in this game:
2. Game rules¶
The player starts with 3 lives and a finite amount of health. Getting hit by enemies will make them lose health. When their health goes below 0, they lose a life. If they do not have any life left, they get a game over.
Score¶
The player has a score value, which can be increased in several ways:
- Killing enemies
- Near-dodging
- Clearing power up bar when it is set on “score”
- Killing all enemies in a wave
Power up¶
When near-dodging an enemy projectile the player’s powerup meter will progress. Once the meter reaches a certain threshold the player can either pick it and deplete the bar, or let the bar fill up further to claim another stronger powerup. This power up is permanent.
Power-ups include:
- Damage
- Fire rate
- Speed
- Healing
- Score
- Life
Strong weapons¶
Some enemies will drop weapons with limited ammunition, the player can only have one of these weapons at a time. If the player loses a life, the odds of getting a strong weapon increases until they get one.
Last ditch effort¶
When the player has low health, they deal slightly higher damage. Players are not notified of this feature, but it makes the game more thrilling that way and allows them to clutch the game. Similarly, the health bar is not completely linear, so when they look like they are low on health, they will still have some left.
3. MDA¶
Mechanics:
- Powerup meter
- Lives
- Multi-shot
- Laser
- Rocket
- Bomb
- Shield
- Near-dodge
- Score
Dynamics:
- Flying
- Shooting
- Choosing powerup
- Using powerups
Aesthetics:
- Challenge (With challenging content we hope to excite the player and keep them coming back)
- Fantasy (We paint a futuristic world that has nanomachine that destroy microscopic threats)
4. Formal elements¶
- Player
- Bullet
- Powerup
- Enemy
- Obstacle
- Passive object
5. Level design¶
6. Feedback loops¶
Positive feedback loops¶
Defensive power up¶
The better players are at dodging the more power ups they can get. If they take speed, they have more mobility that allows them to near-dodge more. If they take health or life, they can be more aggressive and thus near dodge more.
Strong weapon loot¶
If the player kills a lot of enemies, they will statistically get more weapons and thus have an easier time clearing enemies, and get these weapon. This has a limit, as the amount of enemies that spawn is finite.
Negative feedback loops¶
Low health boost¶
If the player has low health, they deal more damage so there won’t be as many enemies present, and thus less danger and less health lost.
Strong weapon chance¶
If the player loses a life, they are more likely to get a strong weapon that will help them clear enemies and take less damage.
Offensive power up¶
This one is a bit of a stretch, but the more offensive power ups (like damage) a player takes, the less enemies there are and the less bullets there are to dodge and get power ups from. The player can work around this by intentionally not killing enemies too quickly.
7. Difficulty control¶
Low health¶
Aforementionned loop affects difficulty, as the game gets easier for players that take damage.
Manual difficulty¶
Most of the difficulty will be manually controlled in the level design.
8. Game phases¶
9. User interface en transitions¶
Ideas¶
- Ammo refresh powerup