For our final assignment in this module, we have been tasked with designing and creating a demo for a game. We had the choice of whether to do this in a group or independently. Although I have enjoyed working with my group so far on this module, I have decided to do this project alone. Group and solo projects utilise somewhat different skillsets and as I have several other group projects to develop my teamwork, communication and management skills. I am going to take this opportunity to do a solo project to give myself a greater workload, create a game from a singular artistic vision and stretch my design and programming capabilities.
The prompt for this project is "Impulse". For me this instantly evoked ideas of compulsions and erratic actions. This is similar to the psychological definition of the word. Impulse has a separate definition in the realm of physics however; force divided by time. I did attempt to come up with multiple ideas based on both definitions of the word, but my initial idea was too strong for me to ignore and so I committed to it. I have put together a preliminary game design document which explains my idea and the inspiration behind it. Rather than just posting a link to the GDD I will copy its contents below:
Impulse: A sudden spontaneous inclination or incitement to some usually unpremeditated action. A propensity or natural tendency usually other than rational.
Premise: An isometric, tactical, turn based RPG with a Gothic-Lovecraftian setting. You control a group of adventurers, each with a horrific affliction. A bloodthirsty vampire, a feral werewolf, a power-mad warlock, a flesh-eating zombie and a fanatical priest, these are your heroes. Throughout the story and during combat, they will be compelled to listen to their impulses. When this occurs, you can attempt to resist the urge. If this succeeds, you retain control of the character, but the next time their impulse is triggered, it will be even harder to resist. Failing to resist an impulse, whether by choice or by chance, causes the character to lose control and indulge in wicked behaviour. The vampire might the drain life from an innocent civilian, the werewolf may take on their bestial form and go on a rampage, the priest may turn on his accursed allies and attempt to smite them down, this is just some of the havoc that can be caused when our protagonists give in to their impulses.
Inspirations: Divinity: Original Sin, Tyranny, Bloodborne, Darkest Dungeon, HP Lovecraft.
I want to create an old-school feeling RPG, with tactical combat, an interesting story and in-depth character progression. The style of gameplay I am aiming for is best exemplified by the Divinity: Original Sin series of games. In combat, I plan to use a turn-based system in which characters can spend “action points” on their turn in order to perform actions. Faster characters will be given more action points per turn and so will be able to perform more actions in a given time frame. This is very reminiscent of Divinity.
Tyranny, is a similar game, but with the added twist being that you are playing as villains, something I will definitely draw on in this project.
Darkest Dungeon is a tactical RPG with a similar setting, to what I am aiming for. It differs from my idea however as it is 2D Rogue-likewithout in-combat movement. Darkest Dungeon features a sanity system which causes your characters to act erratically at times. This is somewhat like my idea of Impulses.
In terms of setting, I want to evoke a blend of Gothic and Lovecraftian horror, a style best exemplified by Bloodborne and Darkest Dungeon.
I am a huge fan of HP Lovecraft’s work and so I see a dark setting such as this as a perfect opportunity to draw inspiration from his stories. As my protagonists are monsters of Gothic fiction, they will require a reason that they are joining forces, a common enemy. They could unite to take on regular humans and monster hunters who seek to kill them, and this will likely occur in earlier portions of the game. This is insufficient however as it does not give the protagonists much of an end goal or a reason to resist their Impulses. If all the regular humans are your enemies, why not just let loose and kill them all? Lovecraftian monsters are cosmic beings who pose an existential threat to everyone and everything, so they will serve as a greater evil which our anti-heroes will unite against. With the threat of Eldritch horrors threatening all the world’s inhabitants, those who are often feared and reviled will be forced to use their powers for good in order to survive.
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