Game Concept Overview

Game Title

‘Into the Mist’ is the game title.

Game Concept Statement

Scrap for gear to survive as you navigate through the misty halls of a forgotten dungeon. Who knows what lies beyond the thick fog of the dungeon?

Genre(s)

Into the Mist is a turn-based roguelike game set in a medieval fantasy world. In this section, genres of the game concept are thoroughly discussed and justified with an example of the game concept and mechanics. The genres are as follows:

• Singleplayer

The game can only support one player.

• Player vs Entity (PvE)

The player will only be able to fight other non-playable entity.

• Roguelike

Into the Mist is an RPG with a fantasy narrative. With turn-based gameplay, the player can endlessly crawl through the dungeon. Each run is permanently finished when the player dies (i.e., permanent death). There is no game progression outside of the run. This concept is what makes this game a Roguelike.

• Turn-Based

With each turn, the player can move, attack, defend, or heal using their ‘play point’. After the player finishes, it will be the enemy's turn, where each enemy can move toward the player they see, attack the player in range, or use their abilities, and this will continue to loop. This combat system concept makes the game a 'Turn-Based' game.

• Strategy

The Strategy genre comes from the fact that the player needs to correctly use their 'play point' each turn and what items to pick and use. These two aspects are why the Into the Mist is a Strategy game.

• Grid-Based Movement

The dungeon design follows a square tiles system where players and enemies move in a grid-like manner to the left, right, up, down, or diagonal tiles. This movement mechanic makes this game have the Grid-Based Movement genre.

• Top-Down

The camera is set on top of the character, looking down onto the playing field.

• 2D-Pixel Graphic

The style and design of the game are set to be two-dimensional with a pixel art style. Which categorized this game to be a 2D-Pixel Graphic.

Game Concept Derivations Process

Into the Mist concept design is derived using subtractive design method, it is inspired by multiple roguelikes, turn-based, strategy and board games. With all of the combination of ideas and mechanics from different games, we form our game design. In this section we will explain how the game concept is developed and what games influenced its creation.

• Map Design

The dungeon design follows a square tiles system which is inspired by Dungeon and Dragons (D&D) map design [1]. There will be a ‘fog of war’ mechanics where players can only see some tiles around them, this idea is inspired by MOBA games, namely, DOTA 2 [2], League of Legends [3], and a roguelike game called Noita [4], where the player has limited field of view as the dungeon level, or area is surrounded by darkness/fog.

Killing enemy or finding an item chest will give the player a random item. This idea is inspired by games with loot/item drops mechanic, an example of a roguelike game where you gain items from finding a chest or killing a monster is Backpack Hero [5].

At the end of the boss area, there will be a random relic (that give perks) drop and a portal that leads to the next level. This idea is added to give some excitement and thrills as you approach the end of a level.

• Movement Mechanics

The player and enemies traverse the dungeon in a grid-like manner, moving to the left, right, up, down, or diagonal tiles similar to how a king in a chess would move.

• Combat Design

The core idea of the combat design is inspired by chess simple turn-based system and a similar roguelike game called Shotgun King [6]. With each turn, the player has a limited ‘play point’. Which can be used to move to adjacent tiles, or use items to attack, defend or heal. On the other hand, enemies will move toward the player they see and attack the player in range.

• Famine Feature

We introduced a famine feature/mechanic to multiple aspect of the game. An example would be, durability on items, this means, after a certain amount of usage, item will be unusable, this aspect of the game is inspired by the Minecraft item durability system [7]. We will further discuss this feature in later section.

Targeted Audience

The targeted audience for this game will have gaming preferences in common. In this section, we will provide detailed description of the targeted audience gaming preferences and justification to why they would be interested in the game concept. The targeted audience description are as follows:

Player Characteristic and Preferences

• Player Age 

The majority of targeted audience are young adults, spanning from 17 to 27 years of age. This came from the fact that the game is designed to be challenging which requires more playtime to understand and master the game.

• Player Life Style and Gaming Habits

Audience who has flexible amount of time to play games are the target. As each run of the game can be short or long depending on how serious a player willing to play.

• Hardcore Player 

Hardcore player, speed runner and diehard fans of roguelike are likely to enjoy the game. Into the Mist have difficult mechanics that requires a lot of tactical planning, such as ‘fog of war’ mechanic which limits the player view of the map, items durability mechanic which challenges player to think before using them.

• Tactical Thinkers 

Those who enjoy strategic planning will likely enjoy the game. As in Into the Mist, each turn, the player needs to use their 'play point' wisely. Strategic movement planning can be the difference between life and death, as the player can ambush enemies first, avoid enemy attacks, or run. Another thing is that players need to adapt and make decisions on what items to pick up since each chest drop has random items, and items have durability/limited amount of usage. 

• Player who Seeks Challenges

Those who enjoy the thrills of challenging games are likely to play the game. In Into the Mist, the players have limited health and resources; in contrast, enemies will scale indefinitely.

• Explorer

Those with curious mind who enjoy exploration will likely to enjoy the game. In Into the Mist, there is a fog of war mechanics, which compels the player to explore the dungeon thoroughly to find new items, relics, different areas, and the boss area. 

Technical Requirement

The targeted audience devices must be able to access and run WebGL to play the game. The game will be uploaded and playable on itch.io, a place to find, download, and distribute indie games online [8].

Competition Analysis

Multiple Roguelike games have similar concepts to ours. This section will discuss which games are identical to Into the Mist and their differences. 

Shotgun King is a roguelike game with similar movement mechanics (chess-like movement) [6]. The difference between Into the Mist and Shotgun King is the game's premise and how a level is designed. In Shotgun King, the level/map design is on a chess board, while in Into the Mist, the level/map design is in the dungeon surrounded by thick fog. Another key difference is that Into the Mist has an exploration and strategy type of gameplay, while Shotgun King is just pure strategy on a chess board [6].

NetHack: Legacy is a classic of traditional roguelike games [9]. The difference between Into the Mist and a game like NetHack: Legacy is the concept art style. In NetHack: Legacy, the art style follows a text-based concept [9]. On the other hand, Into the Mist follows a 2D-pixel Graphic art style.

Game Treatment

You are an adventurer who explores dungeons for treasure and glory. Inside the dungeon, you have a limited view of your surroundings. Traverse the darkness/fog, find items, collect relics, and exterminate all enemies you see.

Details on Gameplay

In Into the Mist, you will traverse dungeons to find items and relics. At the start of the game, you will get a regular sword, shield, and a minor healing potion. With each turn, you can choose to move to adjacent tiles or use your items to attack, defend, or heal. Navigating through the dungeon's fog is crucial to your survival as danger lurks around. After your turn, dungeon denizens will move and attack if you are in their sight. Killing your enemies rewards you with a random item. As you explore the dungeon, you will find item chests that might give you rare items. At the end of each level, you will find a boss area where you will fight the boss. Defeating the boss will give you a random relic, and a portal to the following location will spawn.

Exciting And Compelling Features

In this section, we will discuss and explain the exciting key features of the game.

• Fog of War Mechanic

As a new adventurer, you are on a journey to find relics in the magical dungeon. The dungeon you enter is surrounded by some weird fog that disables all your light sources. You can only see a couple of tiles in front of you, and you try to create light, but to no avail.

• Famine Mechanic In Player

You will have to be careful when exploring the dungeon, as you cannot regenerate health. Making one rash decision can lead to fatal consequences.

• Famine Mechanic In Items

Each items have durability and limited usage. After you use an item for some amount time, it will break and become unusable. But fear not, as you will find more items to help you along your journey.

Game Concept Art and Style

The game art style will follow a 2-dimensional, pixel art design as mentioned in the genre(s) section. In this section, we will discuss and give an illustration of the concept art of the player and enemies.

• Player Concept art

The player concept art is a character with a piece of hoodie and nothing more. The art style follows the 2D-pixel graphic as the targeted art style in the game (Figure. 1). This concept art is chosen because it illustrates how you, as the player, are still a novice/new adventurer with no fancy equipment (Figure. 1). All credit for the design and art of the hooded protagonist goes to Penzilla Design [10].

• Enemies Concept Art

The enemy's concept art follows the 2D-pixel graphic as the targeted art style in the game (Figure. 2). We pick a couple of enemies' example art designs that would fit the theme of fantasy, such as a floating skull, a vampiric bat, a slime, rat, and a mystical golem (Figure. 2). All credit for the enemy’s art style and design goes to Admurin [11].

References

1. Wizards of the Coast. (2019). D&D Official Homepage | Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards.com. https://dnd.wizards.com/
2. Dota 2 on Steam. (n.d.). Store.steampowered.com. https://store.steampowered.com/app/570/Dota_2/
3. League of Legends. (n.d.). Www.leagueoflegends.com. https://www.leagueoflegends.com/en-au/
4. Noita on Steam. (n.d.). Store.steampowered.com. https://store.steampowered.com/app/881100/Noita/
5. Backpack Hero on Steam. (n.d.). Store.steampowered.com. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1970580/Backpack_Hero/
6. Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate on Steam. (n.d.). Store.steampowered.com. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1972440/Shotgun_King_The_Final_Checkmate/
7. Mojang. (2020). Minecraft official site. Minecraft.net. https://www.minecraft.net/en-us
8. itch.io. (2018). Download the latest indie games. Itch.io. https://itch.io/
9. NetHack: Legacy on Steam. (n.d.). Store.steampowered.com. Retrieved April 18, 2024, from https://store.steampowered.com/app/837200/NetHack_Legacy/
10. Hooded Protagonist Animated Character by Penzilla. (n.d.). Itch.io. https://penzilla.itch.io/hooded-protagonist
11. Enemy Galore 1 - Pixel Art | 2D Characters | Unity Asset Store. (n.d.). Assetstore.unity.com. Retrieved April 18, 2024, from https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/characters/enemy-galore-1-pixel-art-208921#content

KIT 109, Assignment 2 Game Concept

Student ID: 584774