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GDD Rachel Menton

GDD Rachel Menton

Created by Rachel Menton

Game Introduction

I would like to propose a plan for an interactive project, which will be created using Unity. I would like to create an interactive gaming experience which sees the player immersed in a 3D environment through a first-person controller/POV. The player must locate and find the village, but not before searching for various objects needed to complete the game. They must then cross the river to the other side of the land where they can be rescued. The goal is to collect all objects on the map, once the player has done this, located the village and crossed the river, the game will be completed. I would like to fill my environment using surroundings like a river, swap/marsh, and a small village to create a dark and mystical look to my game, something along the same style as Resident Evil or Lord of the Rings and the likes.

Genre
Adventure
GamePlay
Interactive Adventure, Explore
Target audience & platforms
Anyone from the age of 7+ would enjoy playing this game.
Look and Feel
Dark and Mystical

Story

Ellis ends up washed up on shore after her boat sank at sea. She is alone and afraid in an unknown land. Upon arrival at the shore, Ellis finds a treasure map which points her to the village – here she can ask someone for help and be rescued from the land. The map has ‘hidden treasures’ which Ellis must search for first in order to help her locate the village.


Once the village has been located, Ellis will meet Darius. Darius is a local who lives within the village, and he can guide Ellis to the nearest bridge that crosses the dangerous river. Once Ellis has reached the other side of the river, she will be rescued from the island by helicopter.

How to Play

The player starts out washed up on shore of a mysterious land. They must first locate the map which will be within the immediate vicinity of the player upon starting, and then find the village, following a series of ‘hidden treasures’ which are scattered around the land.


These collectables (which will be stored in the inventory), will then lead the player to the village where they can ask someone for help, and be rescued from the land. The goal is to collect all objects on the map, once the player has done this, asked for help in the village and crossed the river to the end, the game will be completed.

Technical Aspects

This is defined as an interactive Adventure game. The game will focus on one main character, a girl  named Ellis who is on a journey to find help after being washed up on shore of an unknown land.

The game will be made on Unity using the 3D interface to create and modify the game and its environment. The main user controls will be the up, down, left & right keys on the keyboard. To jump up, you need to press down the ‘space bar’. I want to go with a simple user gameplay that will still be a lot of fun to play.

When the player successfully collects an item, they will be one step closer to finding the village, and completing the game. For the end scene, I intend to make a helicopter come in from a distance and that is the final scene. However, I will be using the sound of a helicopter more so than an actual object.


This is how the user can win the game. I have played around with the idea of adding a timer to the game, so that the purpose would be to collect the items within a certain timeframe, but I think this may take away from the ‘adventure’ aspect of the game in the long run and players won’t find it as enjoyable to run around exploring the world.

User Interface (controls)

Space - to jump

Mouse - move to look around

Left arrow - move to the left

Right arrow - move to the right

Up arrow - moves forward

Down arrow - moves back

Heads Up Display (HUD)

Main Menu - There will be options for Settings and to Quit

Inventory -  There will be an inventory that shows all the objects and 'hidden treasures' you have collected 

Level Design & Global Elements

I would like to aim for a dark/mystical feel throughout the games environment. Ideally the lighting or ‘time of day’ would be rendered to feel like dusk or early evening time and I might play around with different settings in Unity to add mist or fog. The beginning of the game will start on a small beach-like shore, as this is where Ellis has been washed up after her boat sank at sea. It will then progress into a swamp area containing trees and moss and other foliage – this will give the game is desolate/abandoned land feel. As the game progresses it will work more inland towards civilization, this will be in the form of a small village or camp site like appearance.

 

I have added some pictures from a brainstorming session that have inspired my vision for the game. Two of the images are inspired by Pripyat (After the Chernobyl disaster) and the other three are screengrabs from the computer game Resident Evil.

Characters

My game will contain 2 characters. The main person player, which will only be seen from a POV position on screen. Her name is Ellis, and you will be controlling her and moving her around the world. She will not have any weapons or items already in her inventory upon arriving, and so you will have to collect these various items along the way. 

The second character in the game, will be within the village once located. This will be Darius and Darius is the person Ellis will approach and ask for help and explain that she needs to be rescued. He will then point Ellis in the direction of a foot bridge which crosses a river, the is the point in the game where you have completed your mission and the game is over. 

Development

Collecting assets - For the player to progress they will need to figure out how to find the items needed to proceed to the village. There will be a map around the vicinity that the player needs to collect once the game starts. The player needs to collect the items and they will be stored in their inventory. Box colliders will trigger a score system for the item collection as once there is enough the player can move onto the village. Tutorials on how I intend to do this are here: 

https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/projects/roll-ball-tutorial/collecting-pick-objects

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv-c3-IOn

Arrival on the footbridge - Once the player collects the correct amount of items and finds the village, the scene will move immediately to the bridge. There will be 4 vertical length pieces of wood across the river that will appear. Unity will then load to the end scene. Here is a tutorial on how I will do this: https://forum.unity.com/threads/oncollisionenter-load-new-scene.342909/


Perimeters will not be passable to keep player in game play, as there is only so much of the world that can be explorable. I will use box colliders and uncheck mesh renderers to make barriers. They will be invisible. Tutorial here: https://answers.unity.com/questions/52283/invisible-walls.html

Global Elements

I also plan to add sound effects throughout different areas of the scene. Certain background ambient sounds, when picking up items, crossing the wooden bridge, etc. Sound effects I intend to add:

  • Footsteps through different terrain
  • Breathing when running
  • Picking up items
  • Dialogue
  • Ambient background tracks e.g river and woodland

Menu Fx

A sound will be played when selecting an option within the HUD menu