Grind Craft: Digital Prototype Feature Treatment

     For this years GDW, the members of my group collectively decided that we were going to make a isometric 3D arena brawler.  We took a fair amount of the inspiration for this game from the old classic Powerstone.  Seeing as I was never familiar with this title, my group members explained it as though it were Super Smash Bros. in a 3D setting, with a health bar instead of arena knockouts.  I agreed that this game would be enjoyable to not only make, but also play so I agreed on the idea.  After laying down the basic concept of how the game would work and deciding on a name (Gamma Gears), we decided that since we only need to have a prototype of the final project for this semesters end, it would make sense for us to focus the majority of our efforts on the gameplay and the kinaesthetics.  We really hope that when creating this game, we can create an experience where the players really feel as though they are taking control of the characters and beating each other to a pulp!  

   

A screenshot of Powerstone for those who are unfamiliar with the Game.

     One of the most important actions in any type of fighter/brawling game is to make sure that the hit detection between player attacks is solid.  There is nothing more frustrating then launching your character in for the killing blow, only to have bad programming of hit boxes cause the characters attack to pass right through the opponent.  This is why we have labelled the hit detection in our game as the highest priority. Since we are using the Phyre engine, with the hopes of porting our game to the PS Vita as soon as possible, we will have an extremely difficult time trying to learn this new engine, while also trying to develop a prototype that gives of a promising feel for the final game.  Since we will also be implementing ranged attacks into our game, we will have to implement the hit box class with the ranged attacks to ensure that these have a fluid feel that seems real to the players.  Finally, with the game being an arena brawler, we hope to implement multiple levels and heights that the players can fight on.  This may seem easy, but a large amount of variables need to be changed when the game moves from a flat plain to multiple levels.  This can have not only an effect on the players movements, but also the ever important hit detection.  However, I feel we have a solid team that will be able to make it work by the prototype demonstration. 

     Another key factor that can ruin almost any fighting game on the market is the control scheme.  The kinaesthetics of these games are so import, as it determines what types of combos the character may attempt and how the general learning curve of the game can be.  For the controls of the game, we have decided to use the left thumbstick on the Vita to control the characters movement, while the right stick will be used to control the direction of the characters melee attacks.  All of the group members have played games with this sort of style and it is one that we found most fluid and natural in this type of isometric environment.  The face buttons on the controller will be used for certain character moves that will be unique to each character.  For example the main character Alex Hale, has a gap closing dash that we will assign to the square key on the handheld.  Bumper buttons on the top of the handheld will most likely be implemented as shields that the player can use to block all sorts of incoming attacks.  It seems like a fair amount of work to code, but once we get one thing fixed to the controller input, the rest will be easy to figure out.

    

We will have 360 shields, similar to Smash Bros.

     As for the aesthetics, we do want to create a game that not only plays well, but looks phenomenal as well.  However, for the prototype presentation, we will not be required to show off the looks of the game, so we will most likely use placeholder assets and focus more on animations of the characters for now.  In the case of the prototype, if either of the two elements listed above fail or do not function how we had hoped, the game will just feel sloppy and underdeveloped.  This is the polar opposite of what we want to happen, as we want to create a hype around our game and leave those who play it anxious to get their hands on the full release title.  Hopefully Gamma Gears will be coming to a GameCon near you in 2014!