Basically I am just going to be storing all my ideas, concepts arts and other wumbo-jumbo (maybe even prototypes if I stop being lazy and learn to code
) in relation to a game I've been brainstorming recently.
Anyway, what is this game about, you may ask?
I tried to make this post like 5 times before, but something kept distracting me.
For those who care, this game ain't be dead yet.
Granted, it didn't have a life to begin with, but it is not to be forgotten. Not now.
And it has a name now, too!
Gentleladies, men, dwarves and everyone else, I totally present to you...
GUN FRANCISCO
Why Gun Francisco, you might ask? Why make fun out of one the bigger cities in North America and turn it into a title for a video game that may not even come out within the next 5 years?
Well, let me give you a little bit of an insight into the game plot...
After the Nuclear War, Earth was left in a state of chaos, destruction and anarchy - mutants roaming the frozen and dry wastelands alike, fighting for supplies, land and power.
In the wastes of North America, three races fight among and within each other for dominance of the continent - the mighty Frogs, the crafty humans and the elusive Birdfolk, are all locked in a bloody war stretching over the entirety of the United States and Canada (or what's left of them).
The war seems to have reached an ultimate stalemate when great amounts of energy, radiation and other suspicious anomalies are detected in the ruined San Francisco - and everyone is willing to do everything to get there first to claim it, turning the war into a deadly race to the city that knows how.
Gun Francisco is waiting. But your enemies are not.
So there you have it, Gun Francisco in a nutshell - follow the story of humans, frogs or birds in their hard struggle to reach San Francisco, in one piece, and conquer it for yourself.
In essence, it's a 2D retro-styled (read: pixel art) sidescrolling shooter set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans, frogs and storks try to fight for the domination of the dry, frozen and sunken wastelands, using a (not-so) wide variety of weapons, equipment and mutating new powers on the fly. In storks' case, literally.
Jumping, running, gunning, wall-jumping, crouching, dashing, it's all here to spice up the gameplay.
While ideally it would be a mostly online game, a singleplayer campaign may and probably would happen first.
Before the game starts, the player can customize their loadout that they're going to be heading out into battle. The customization options are as follows:
- race (human/frog/stork; more info about them below)
- primary weapon (dual SMGs/shotgun/sniper rifle)
- melee weapon (shovel/knife/spear)
- explosive weapon (grenades/cherry bombs/mines)
- utility (not guaranteed - teleporter/health pack/sentry gun)
As well as 3 primary weapon upgrades, 3 melee weapon upgrades, 2 explosive weapon upgrades and 5 character mutations. (numbers not final)
After the player has chosen their loadout (possibility of a save system for quick loadout management) they can then head into battle against other players online or play a mission in the campaign.
The campaign would follow the fates of the three races in the struggle for survival in the harshest times the Earth has been through yet.
What are those races you might ask?
HumansThe few remaining homo sapiens that haven't killed themselves during or after the war that turned Earth into the world it is now, the humans dwell on the surface of the ravaged Earth, scavenging what they can to survive and have been seen to ally with the frogs and storks alike or fighting on their own. Humans usually live in heavily-defended city states, made on the ruins of the biggest pre-war cities.
Gameplay-wise, humans are average in both health and speed, lacking the durability of the frogs or the swiftness of the storks, but they also have no particular weaknesses. Their special boots allow them to double jump, giving them an edge in terms of mobility.
FrogsFrogs were the first new race to emerge during the war. Being very cautious to not get their thick, protective skin dry they mostly avoid the surface and instead live in vaults and fortresses deep underground, away from their nemesis, the storks.
Frogs are slower than humans and storks, but are also smaller (therefore harder to hit) and more durable. Their jump is a single high jump, letting them get to most places easily.
StorksOriginating from the white storks, the avian post-apocalyptic race of storks believe that the nature will recover from the cataclysm, and are hellbent on driving the industrial frogs into extinction. Storks live high up in the sky on giant airships, flying above the human city-states and frog fortresses.
Storks are considerably faster than both humans and frogs and possess the ability to fly, giving them an edge in combat with other races. However, they are more fragile than humans, much less the frogs, forcing them to rely on their speed and agility to take out the opposition.
There are also stories of other mutants living in remote locations of the irradiated planet, but so far they are just stories.
Now that you know the general overview of the post-apocalyptic world (sorta) and how each of the races plays, I can get into more specific regarding gameplay.
Remember when I've mentioned weapon upgrades and mutations?
Before you start a game/mission and pick a weapon, you'll be presented with a list of upgrades that you have unlocked (by playing through the campaign/completing achievements/playing online) for that particular weapon. You can then choose a few specific upgrades and see their overview, which will be then available for you to purchase in the shop/find once the game starts. All upgrades would be equally viable and not mutually exclusive (although each weapon has a specific set of upgrades that cannot be used on other weapons), letting you mix and match to suit your playstyle.
Want to run and gun and not have to worry about anything but making sure that your enemy stays dead? Pick SMGs with Extended Magazines. Too many enemies, not enough bullets? Explosive/Piercing Bullets, yo. Want something fancier? How about Homing Bullets?
Or maybe combine all of those and become a killing machine...Assuming you have the money for it. And how do you get money? You can find some randomly in the maps, by killing enemies and capturing objectives.
What about mutations, you ask?
Well, you might already be a mutant (unless you're a human), but that doesn't mean you can't be changed further. By collecting Radiation (which you a gain a small amount of passively) from killed enemies and also certain areas of the maps, you'll be able to choose one out of 5 mutations you have picked before the game. (Mutation = Experience)
Those mutations can vary from increased movement speed and health to gaining an ability to stick to walls to gaining health back when attacking enemies.
Now, onto some weapon stuff!
Do note that there is an ammo system, and each weapon uses a seperate ammo type (bullets for SMGs, shells for the shotgun, sniper rounds for the sniper rifle).
Sprites coming soon.
--PRIMARY--
Dual SMGs
High fire rate, large magazine, easy to reload. What could possibly make a submachine gun better?
That's right, another submachine gun!
Fires a double stream of mostly inaccurate bullets that deal low damage per hit. Reloads using a magazine system. Designed for mid-range combat.
Pump-Action Shotgun
Packs a punch mightier than the bombs that have been going off during the war! Sounds good? It should!
Fires a spread of pellets that deal large amounts of up-close damage, but are very weak on higher ranges. Reloads using a shell system. Designed for close-range combat.
Sniper Rifle
Look into the pretty light...BOOM! Headshot!
Fires a very accurate, single, fast-travelling bullet after a short delay, delaying huge damage. Has a very low fire rate and a laser sight. Uses a bolt action, loading single bullets. Designed for long-range combat. (no actual headshots are involved)
--MELEE--
Combat Knife
Stab, stab, stab, chop chop chop!
Has the shortest range of all melee weapons, but is also the fastest, dealing moderate damage. Attacks cause the target to bleed, dealing extra damage over time.
Shovel
Useful both for smashing people's heads in as well as digging yourself a hole. Hole-digging not included.
Slowest melee weapon, with medium range and high damage. Can reflect bullets if timed correctly and knocks the target back (if it doesn't outright kill them).
Spear
Normal people would ask you why are you running around with a blade attached to a long stick. Except that normal people don't exist anymore, and now everyone is running away from you in cower instead.
Faster than the shovel but slower than the knife, long (but still melee) range and average damage. Can be thrown and picked up again.
--EXPLOSIVE--
Hand Grenade
Chuck Norris threw a grenade and killed 50 people, then the grenade exploded. - Chuck Norris fact #425
A grenade that flies in an arc and explodes after a short delay, dealing heavy area of effect damage.
Cherry Bombs
Ha! CHERRY bombs? What are you gonna do, place them on my cake?! - A stork bandit before being blown to pieces
3 small grenades that explodes on impact, dealing low damage per grenade (overall damage total would be higher than a hand grenade, though).
Anti-Personnel Mine
What's that beeping sound? - human soldiers before the destruction of their fortress
Places a mine on the ground which arms itself after a short delay that has to be manually detonated, dealing the highest damage of all explosives.
And now, a lot of concept art, some of which you might've already seen.
Keep checking back for more! (in fact, I'll be adding some extras today, since most of those were made at school)
Yes, this is all very conceptual right now, but I don't think I have a clear enough vision yet to start a reasonable gameplay prototype yet (I probably should though), but I dunno.
I'm a one-man company, its head developer and simulatenously its Idea Guy. (well kinda, at least I can art semi-properly)
Well, at worst I have Game Maker Studio license that I have never really bothered to use (last time I used GameMaker it was v7, lol), but apparently this thing is getting a shitton of flak, so...