Game Vision Statement

 My Game Concept Idea: Game 4 (Name not decided yet)

"Game 4" is a 3D third-person, stunt-car platformer for PC that is based on the very first Unity tutorial we finished and the success of other stunt car games such as Riff Racer, Hot Wheels Unleashed and the award winning Rocket |League.

Introduction

Game 4 will be a fun addicting platformer in which the game tasks the player with the goal of racing to the goal as fast as possible in a multitude of levels requiring precise jumps, fast driving and quick instinct-based decisions. Armed with abilities such as jumping, wall running, boosting and drifting, players will jump from platform to platform, planet to planet in hopes to memorise level structure and make it to the goal, signified by a finishing line, in as quick as time as possible.

The game has no plot, instead playing more like an arcade-based experience, substituting time to complete values for points on the high score board, and on provoking an accomplished feeling in players upon completing levels.

(Links to Sources)Background 

This project is based on a series of ideas shared in games such as;

• Riff Racer: A stunt car racer, featuring a mechanic in which the player as a car can roll down tracks that twist and turn and flip upside-down, however gravity is always acting down on the car. (example below) Link
• Rocket League: A competitive stunt car-sports hybrid in which a mechanic where cars can leap into the air is present. Link
• Hot Wheels Unleashed; A stunt racer kart game, in which players must race to reach a goal. Link
• Mario Kart 8: A game in which karts defy gravity and race on surfaces not usually accessible to karts, spitting in Isaac Newtons face in the process. Link
• Super Mario Galaxy: A platformer in which the player must jump, run, spin and ground-pound their way from planet to planet, platform to platform with gravity in mind. Link
• Geometry Dash: A 2D obstacle course clear game in which the player jumps from platform to platform with a set movement speed and a reset mechanic upon hitting an obstacle. Link
• Running Fred: A 4th generation iPhone era mobile game, where the player must run endless or arcade levels and jump, turn, flap, wall run and skydive to the end/as far as possible for tokens. Link

Riff Racer Gameplay, the car never falls into space but constantly is falling or under the 
gravity tied to the track it is on.
Link- https://steamcommunity.com/app/351990 

(Gameplay)Description:

You, as the player, take control of a little blue car. This car is able to move in two controllable directions, left or right. The car however is automatically moving forward at the beginning of any level and cannot be toggled to a stop or reverse. You see the back of the car and all environment in front of you with a third person perspective, the level starts off with a long stretch of flat land with walls on either side to top you from driving off the side. After a countdown of 3, 2, 1 you are able to take control of the already forwardly moving car. You follow the stretch of land approx. 4.5 cars wide for a further 2 seconds before the walls disappear. The land ends up ahead, signified by multiple amber X's banding along the ground across the road at the end of the platform, like a zebra crossing running along the edge of a cliff. The world around you is empty all except the platforms ahead of you and the skybox of a sunset. You can use your jump ability, informed to you by a pop-up in the lower right part of the screen. There's is ample amount of time before the jump and also another platform exactly the same as the one your currently on in front of you, within what can be assumed jumping distance. You press spacebar too early and barely land on the platform ahead, you now know the height and distance you can jump normally, had you fallen through the gap between platforms you simply would have respawned at the beginning of the level minus the initial countdown. You now see there are other platforms ahead, you continue this trend of jumping from platform to platform. The player is told holding the jump button will make the player jump again immediately after landing on a new surface. You suddenly find yourself landing on a platform with a repeating green arrow pattern, upon landing you are propelled forward faster then when you were before. A similar jump to a new platform is up ahead, you jump and realise while this boosting is active, you indeed jump further at the same height, upon landing on the new platform without the green pattern your speed gradually reduces back to normal after 3 or so seconds. With a legible and non-distracting pop-up on screen the player learns they can boost with a press of shift, they are instructed to boost past the wooden box obstacles up ahead. Upon boosting the player learns they need to let this ability recharge over time and they can destroy this obstacle with a well timed boost, if the player fails to boost in time they learn that obstacles lower forward momentum and if momentum is lowered too much it results in a reset at the beginning of the level. A follow-up pop-up instructs the player on the reset mechanic if passed successfully and also instructs the player to boost before jumping to jump across large gaps- marked with red X's across the ground like before. The road continues to corkscrew, demonstrating the gravity mechanic, the road ends with a new jump, except the platforms moving forward are not all parallel to one another and instead are at angle, allowing the player to learn more about the boost jump tactic, the way gravity works, the way boost can plough through certain obstacles and finally how the end of a level is signified by a finish line, in which the last stretch of road/platform pipelines then into crossing with the walls returning on either side of the road.

With this basic mock-up level/ tutorial the player has been thought all major mechanics of the game and how mechanics link into one another (jump, boost, boost into jump, jump button held jump from platform to platform, obstacles, boost into obstacles, turning, reset, gravity).

Key Features:

The features are as follows:

• Arcade Based Gameplay: A simple and addicting gameplay style that doesn't necessarily have to dabble in plot or story aspects.
• Jump: A simple and fun mechanic, not one used in conjunction with cars much outside of certain games.
• Boost: Another simple mechanic that can be linked with other mechanics to create brand new tactics.
• Obstacles: Game objects for the player to avoid or destroy if possible, can create artificial difficulty in levels and instances.
• Wall Driving/Running: The ability to drive on walls opens up possibilities to create more complex platforming challenges for players, it is also very fun and feels good to navigate between two different walls to an end goal or new area.
• Gravity: This is the hard part, gravity will not be the same across all platforms but individual between them, similar to how gravity fluctuates in Mario Kart 8, Super Mario Galaxy and Riff Racer.

(Game)Genre:

The genre of this kind of game is Platformer, which can include the likes of Super Mario, Sonic, Mega Man and other such classic games and franchises, the thing that makes my game stand out is it's premise of also being a car game, as well as a third person Obstacle Course Clear game, the niche genre of a plastic/simplistic art style on top. I believe I can make an enjoyable, addictive and fun experience that stands out from the crowd, from all games in the platforming genre and with it's own twists that separate it from the specific platformers mentioned throughout this project. 

Resources Required:

This game will require a lot of time and dedication to Unity tutorials to do with platforming, driving, jumping, driving mechanics, gravity, third person camera control and level design. 

It will also require follow up studies on what games that have come before have done right, what they have done wrong and where I can improve. 

A royalty free soundtrack is most likely the path I will have to take, however if it could be possible to create tracks or levels around individual songs that would be very much a boost to the overall experience had in the game.

No AI or network features are required but could be appreciated perhaps, a high score leader board can be local to devices at the very least.

Concept Art: