05 July, 2012 エスピオン developer diaries, games
Hello and welcome to the work in progress blog post for The Pixel Issue's multi player vs player point and click adventure game in Unity 3D! Throughout this article, which I will be updating as development unfolds, I will detail the steps involved in bringing my concept from paper to publishing – everything from a logo animation, to character designs, 3D modelling, social network integration and monetization!
Recommended reading is "Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity: All-in-one, multi-platform game development" by Sue Blackman.
About this project
Hide and Seek Mansion (working title) is a real time and/or turn based point and click adventure game, mixing elements of hidden object games and hide and seek for two or more players!
The game is inspired by Day of the Tentacle, Spy vs Spy and Haunting Starring Polterguy, and I plan to combine these genres, to bring a new kind of point and click adventure game to the social game space, by creating a fun and addictive game for all ages, playable over 3G, wifi or online.
I will be working with experienced game designers, artists and composers to create a game that we hope will reach the top featured games lists across all digital platforms!
Design Goals
• To be developed in Unity 3D
• Fun and funny, suitable for all ages
• Cartoon violence and booby traps
• Exciting player vs player gameplay
• 3D characters with Toon/Cell Shading
• 'Pixeley goodness' retro mode!
• Midi based music reminicent of the days of DOS!
• Plan for sequels
The Setting
The first game will be set in a mansion, with several different household rooms; living room, kitchen, basement, attic, surrounding garden area, including a maze, statues, pond, etc. Each room will have a number of places that the players can interact with such as cupboards, lockers, behind the coat rack, under the bed, a knight of armor, in a bush, up a tree, yada yada..!
1-4 players will choose to be on the hider or seeker team, the hiders can hide in particular areas, and their goal is to eliminate the seekers with traps, while the seeker can set countertraps and alarms to help them find the hider.
Both sides will be able to explore the environment in a point-and-click adventure game style, pick up items, combine some of them and set traps around the environment against the opposing players. The players will also be able to carry a limited number of inventory items that will disarm certain traps that have been set by the opponent.
Findable objects will be spawned in locations randomly so that all players start at the same level, regardless of experience. Some objects will need to be unlocked by a series of actions or by finding secret areas, whereas other objects will be able to lock doors and hiding places!
Sequels and addons will be in different themed environments, such as a pirate ship, Halloween haunted house, ancient tomb or a Christmas themed Santa's grotto!
The music
After contacting several artists, I felt that Francesco D'Andrea's style worked best. Here is a quirky, jazzy and energetic playlist from his website..
Customiseable Playable Characters
Players will be able to choose from a variety of customisable options, from hair colour, style, glasses, facial hair and clothing, to create their own avatar that they can play in-game against their friends!
After receiving some concept art from , I decided to use the nerdy princess and action nerd to move forward with for further development.
● character sheets (full color) with the characters facing front, side (either right or left), back and 3/4, plus an extra "pose" referring to the character's personality.
● 1 body expression sheet (full color – number of expressions may vary but would be between 4 to 6 full body poses)
● 1 facial expression sheet (full color – number of expressions may vary but would be between 4 to 6 facial expressions – only head)
● 1 clothing sheet (full color) showcasing the full body character with 3 clothing variations
I'm going to approach games companies to request playable versions of their trademark game characters, so players can purchase Premium Playable Characters and play against their friends!
Design Style and Inspiration
The game will draw inspiration from graphics and gameplay elements from Lucasarts style games such as Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Day of the Tentacle
Spy vs Spy
and Haunting Starring Polterguy
Platforms
Primarily Facebook, iOS, Android. Possible Windows, Mac, Linux, PSN & XBLA – it all depends on popularity and budget!
Business Development Goal
To create a company with infrastructure consisting of graphic artists, server developers, unity 3D programmers, user acquisition specialists, QA and localization teams, to develop sequels and addons, and maintain the community without the need for a publishing partner.
It is impossible to be serious about making games and making an impression without the right artists, programmers, and music composers, plus we need to localize the game into other languages so everyone can join in the fun! We hope to raise a decent budget to really make an impression on the market.
Advertising
Several promotion methods: Google Adwords targeted directly to board games, banner ads on multiplayer and similar online sites, multiplayer gaming forums, press releases, newsletter announcements, major review sites, article writing, community forums, blogs and entering the Independent Games Festival.
Target audience
We aim to target casual gamers, players that enjoy playing online multiplayer games, and look for games where they can challenge their friends. Target demographic is males and females, aged 10+.
