Game Concept Devlog

3 years ago by Toey

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This is the first Devlog for this game which currently has the working title of: Time to Duel!

It is being developed for the unit KIT109 - Games Fundamentals at UTAS.

Concept: A floppy, chaotic, 2D physics-based game where you will participate in a gentleman’s duel against an opponent controlled by another player or AI.

Genre: Fighting/Simulation. It will share aspects of fighting games as it will be a 2D perspective game where the aim is to defeat a single opponent and aspects of simulation games as controlling your characters body enough to be able to take down your opponent will be awkward and challenging.

Concept Creation Process: The idea for this game came from Unity’s 2D physics systems and features and how a player versus player format could be affected or created from them. For example, what if the clumsiness of QWOP or Totally Accurate Battle Simulator was applied to a fast-paced 2D duelling game like Nidhogg? Part of the reason I believe these concepts could work so well together is that both the ridiculous, rage inducing controls of Bennett Foddy’s games and the speed of 2D fighting games both can have a fun and chaotic gameplay experience, and that by taking the usual precision that fighting games depend on away from this game could be an interesting and unique twist on the genre.

Audience and Competitive Analysis: The intended audience for this game are people who enjoy local multiplayer or fighting games, as well as people who enjoy hard to control games like QWOP. The gameplay will be simple, including the controls, which while intended to be clumsy will be easy to understand and remember. This is with the intent that people who aren’t avid gamers are able to sit down and learn how to play within a short amount of time, similar to many other party games. While local multiplayer games in the style of fighting games like this are fairly popular, I believe that the players controls being limited by physics will set it apart enough from those games while still maintaining the aspects that are most enjoyed by them, such as the ability to quickly drop in for a fast and fun round of the game at any time.

Game Treatment: As a distinguished gentleman, it is of utmost import to preserve and maintain one’s honour. Thus, when another such as yourself with social distinctions often difficult to measure throws their glove down before you, you have no other choice but to accept…it’s time to duel! In this game, you will play as an esteemed marksmen against an opponent controlled by either the AI or another player, where the goal is to defeat the other in a pistol duel with your honour intact. The twist being, that both you and your combatant have terrible motor control and hand eye coordination and can hardly keep your pistols straight. The game will be played from a 2D perspective similar to fighting games, and will be played through short, fast paced rounds. Each round will start with the combatants attempting to walk ten paces away from the centre of the duelling ground, and then turning to fire at their opponent. Maintaining your floppy limbs will be paramount when trying to land the decisive shot against your opponent. It’s up to you if you want to try to expend all your ammunition as quickly as possible to try to land a hit, or if you want to take your time to aim for just the right shot. Below is some incredibly beautiful concept art to show what the game may look like mid-round.

Incredible Concept Art