Zong Deng Christian Clemmons Jared Paquette Nam Nguyen Rachel Xiao

Overview

Theme / Setting / Genre - 1800s ~ 1900s theme - Dungeon setting - Horror survival Core Gameplay Mechanics (Brief) - Solve puzzles and obtain keys to progress through the stage(s) - One single enemy chases the player character throughout the map(s) at random point of the stage - Enemy noise signifies the distance from player character - Player character is able to run or sneak to evade the enemy - Player character is able to turn on and off light source - To sustain the use of light, fuel needs to be collected - Different dungeon layouts depending on how far the player character progress through the game

Intended Platform - PC

Project Description: Project Shadow is a 2D top down game mixed with horror survival elements. The player will be thrown into a dark dungeon, in which they must run, hide, solve puzzles, and use their light source efficiently to help escape the enemy monster chasing after them. The player can play as one character. They will then be placed in the same dungeon stage with increasing difficulty as they progress through the game. Each arena will consist of several puzzles, each of which consists of a certain number of keys needed to be collected. The lightsource the player possesses will slowly run out, thus, the player needs to collect fuel around the stages. Once the fuel runs out or the enemy monster catches up, it’s game over.

Story and Gameplay

Story (Detailed) The protagonist of Project Shadow is searching for their father who went missing after an accident ten years ago. The protagonist has been searching desperately for their father and has only managed to find one clue. One day, however, the protagonist is kidnapped and knocked unconscious. When they awaken, they find themselves in a dungeon with only a light source. They notice claw marks on the wall and theorize that they are not alone. The protagonist must use their wits and light source in order to escape and survive.

Gameplay (Detailed)

Project Shadow is a strategic game with horror survival elements. The player has to survive stages inside a dungeon, while escaping the monster who is trying to devour the player. In the beginning the player is dropped into a dungeon with only a light source. Within each stage, the player must gather resources and maintain the amount of fuel source. This is all while running and hiding from the monster. As the player progresses through rounds and racks up a higher score, the enemy monster’s speed with increase, increasing the stage difficulty. There is no end to the rounds, they simply get more difficult until the player fails. In order to escape the enemy monster, the player will have to run or hide from the chasing monster. The player will have to use these skills to overcome obstacles in the way. The player then has to complete puzzles that come their way, which incorporates strategic thinking. After the puzzles are solved, keys are dropped, which allows the player to progress to the next stage. The player must also maintain their existing light source from the lamp/torch. This is more or less the player’s life source because without being able to see, the enemy monster ends up killing the player. The player is allowed to gather fuel in order to increase the amount of light source, however, there is a limited amount of fuel within each level. After the completion of each stage, the difficulty starts to increase and makes it harder to escape the enemy monster. The puzzles will increase in difficulty. In addition, the further the player progresses in the game, the speed of the monster increases and gives the player a limited amount of time before the game is over.

Influences - Amnesia - Survival horror - Dungeon theme - Creatures that will kill you - Resource management

- Aliens Isolation
	- Survival horror
- Resource management
- Unkillable creature that kills you
- Can only hide from creature
- Creature learns while play

• Outlast - Survival horror
  • Uses a camera as main light source
  • Light source requires batteries
  • No fighting, can only run and hide
  • Enemies will kill you if caught

Team Member Management

4 programmers and 1 artist on our team - Programmers: -Zong - Team Lead - UI Specialist -Nam Nguyen - Player Development Specialist -Christian Clemmons - Enemy AI Development Specialist -Jared Paquette - Level & Environmental Interactions Specialist

• Artist: -Rachel - Player, Enemy, Stage Design Artist

*Note that all programmers will be doing a little of everything and that the listed jobs are their main focus.

What sets this project apart? - Combination of gameplay elements - Strategic and Horror Survival - Game based on critical thinking and resourcefulness

• Gameplay depends ability to use resources efficiently and critical thinking to solve the puzzles
  • Unique horror pixel art style

Core Gameplay Mechanics (Detailed) - Player Actions - Walking(sneaking) - Running - Hiding - Turning light source off and on - Puzzles - Lighting certain torches - Moving boulders

• Memory based puzzles
  • Resources
    • Fuel
      • Player needs to collect to increase light source
      • Slowly decreases as the light is on
    • Keys
      • Player needs in order to unlock the next stage
• Enemy AI
• One enemy throughout all stages will chase after the player character - The enemy AI will run at a constant speed toward the player and will speed up toward later stages
• The enemy can hear the player character and start looking for them if it is close by and hears the player character running

Assets Needed

• Unity, Photoshop, Paint Tool SAI, GIMP, Logic Pro X, Wwise, Pro Tools
• 2D
  • Character list
    • Player
    • Enemy Monster
  • Environmental Art Lists
    • Dungeon Setting
    • Obstacles
• Puzzles elements
  • Items
    • Keys
    • Torch/lamp
    • Fuel
• Sound
  • Main title theme
  • Horror/intense track for each stage
  • Hiding and running sound effects
  • Turning light source off and on
  • Individual character and enemy sound effects to distinguish between
    characters
  • Menu screen sound effects
  • ”Game Over” music -User Interface
  • Font for dialogue implementation - Text RPG
  • Art for menus - Pause screen and main menu
  • Available light source remaining - Bottom left corner
  • Dialogue box - The dialogue

Plan for Implementation/Schedule - Sprint 1 -[x] Learning Unity -[] Basic UI -[] Basic Stage -[] Background -[] Possible positions for player -[] Player and enemy creation -[] Player creation -[] Enemy creation -[] Basic mechanics -[] Movement of player -[x] Basic movement -[]Interaction and lamp on/off -[x] Movement of enemy -[] Player, enemy sketches & concepts -[x] Player and item concepts -[] Enemy concepts - Sprint 2 - Finalize player/enemy creation - Decide on desired speed of both player and enemy - Make it so player may switch lightsource on and off - Start to implement stage - Stage art - Start implementing puzzle mechanics - Incorporate decreasing light source - Sprint 3 - Finish stage elements - Include being able to collect fuel and keys - Develop scene of losing the game - Combine existing elements into one - Implement completed story script - Finalize all previous aspects - Finish anything not done in previous sprint - Fix any existing bugs - Implement finishing art & sound resources - Implement more stages (stretch)