Splice Game Pitch

SPLICE Game Pitch

Nathan Stead L1088509

Nathan Stead L1088509 Splice Game Pitch

Table of Contents GAME OVERVIEW .................................................................. 3 What is this game about? ........................................................3 GAME DETAILS ..................................................................... 5 Game genre ..........................................................................5 Is this single-player or multiplayer game ..................................5 Is this 2D or 3D? ....................................................................5 Where does the game take place? ............................................5 What do I control? How many characters? .................................5 What is the main focus? ..........................................................5 Comparisons .........................................................................5 What is unique? .....................................................................6 FEATURE SET ........................................................................ 7 Gameplay Mechanics ..............................................................7 THE GAME WORLD .............................................................. 23 Overview ............................................................................ 23 Key locations ....................................................................... 24 CAMERA .............................................................................. 25 Overview ............................................................................ 25 SINGLE-PLAYER GAME ........................................................ 26 Gameplay Overview ............................................................. 26 Victory conditions................................................................. 27 MULTIPLAYER GAME ........................................................... 29 Gameplay Overview ............................................................. 29 Max players ......................................................................... 29 Saving and loading ............................................................... 29 Scores ................................................................................ 30 Chatting.............................................................................. 30 RESOURCES & LINKS .......................................................... 31 Links to related resources ..................................................... 31

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GAME OVERVIEW What is this game about?

Splice will follow the story arc of four young strangers, who after escaping from an experimental facility, group together to take down the corporation that took them away from their families and experimented on them.

The corporation works on ways to advance the human species by experimenting with splicing Human DNA with Animal DNA; they believe that human kind needs to be bettered or enhanced as what nature has given us isn’t worthy by their standards. As a cover they spin lies about only using samples taken from human and animal cadavers, but little do the public know that they actually use live experimentation on both subjects. To get their human subjects they take homeless of the streets and kidnap sick children from hospitals whom they create fake records about their deaths to cover their tracks.

Three of the four characters we follow were taken from their families whilst the other one was homeless. None of the four know each other and are held in separate areas of the facility.

Each area of the facility work with splicing human DNA with different Species of animal DND, for example on area solely work with human and Canine DNA whist another area works on human and Arachnid DNA. What the corporation hopes to do is give humans some of the abilities that belong to the animal kingdom, they envision a future where humans can simply morph into a human animal cross in order to complete and task laid before them.

Unfortunately not all subjects take well to the DNA splicing and are permanently stuck in human/animal form and become feral. The characters were fortunate in that their bodies accepted the change that has been forced upon them; they however have had enough and plan to escape using the new found abilities they have.

The four characters are Roland, Molly, Dexter and Izzy. Roland was been spliced with a Wolf, Molly with a Cat, Dexter with a Gorilla and Izzy with a Hare. All four manage to break out their cells on the same night and bumping into one another they Nathan Stead L1088509 Splice Game Pitch 3

decide they would be better off working together. They then make their way out of the facility encountering security and feral creatures. Once free they are then permanently on the run trying to keep away from their captors whilst trying to somehow find their loved ones and explain what has happened to them.

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GAME DETAILS Game genre Action/Arcade/Platformer

Is this single-player or multiplayer game This game will hold both components, as the story can be played alone or in Co-Op

Is this 2D or 3D? 2.5D with 3D section (Boss Fights)

Where does the game take place?

The game takes place on Earth in the year 2112. Much of Earths geography hasn’t changed and many of the architectural wonders of today’s time still stand, with many new styling’s added into the landscape.

What do I control? How many characters?

All four characters can be controlled but not at the same time, the three not being controlled will be running behind the main character (they will however be on a different plane to the main character do they are not in the way). The player can switch between characters as different scenarios will call for the use of different characters.

What is the main focus?

The main focus for the first 5 minutes of gameplay is using and getting to know the abilities of the individual characters. Acting as the secondary focus is getting to know the characters personalities. The tertiary focus is the escape from the facility.

Comparisons (How is Splice Different?)

Shadow Complex- rather than controlling one character you can switch between 4 Trine- a difference for both trine and SC is that Splice will switch between 2.5D when going through the level to a 3rd person game for boss battles.

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Altered Beast- different as you can shape shift whenever you want but it has a limited time on it.

What is unique?

The skill to combine characters abilities The switch of perspective Time limit on transformations (50 seconds to start with)

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FEATURE SET Gameplay Mechanics World Navigation: As splice will be set on a 2.5D plane the mechanic for the world movement will be very simple and will involve few button presses. Most of the navigation will revolve around the player moving from the left side of the screen to the right and so the left control stick pushed to the left and right is all that would needed to make the character move.

Nathan Stead L1088509 Splice Game Pitch

The player will also have to jump up to and from platforms, over obstacles and traps. This will involve a simple press of the A button to initiate the characters jump movement.

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Swimming will work in much the same way as walking and jumping. The player will use the left control stick to swim right or left with the added use of the A button simultaneously in order to rise up in the water (letting go of A will result in diving down).

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Throughout the course of the level the player will be able to interact with objects such as levers and switches in order to active bridges, lifts, doors and etc. Pressing B will allow the player to interact with an object when it is within touching distance.

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At the end of the level the walking mechanic will change. A boss fight will be incorporated at the end where the camera scheme will change from a 2.5D perspective to a third person perspective. Due to this the movement controls will change slightly, rather than just being able to move in a 2D plane the character can now move in a 360 space. Using the left control stick the player will now be able to in any direction that the Left stick is moved. The player will now also be able to move the camera with the Right stick on the controllers.

Eventually all 4 characters will be available to the player so a mechanic is needed in order to switch between the characters. To do this the player can press the RB button which will switch to the next character in line.

Pressing it numerous times will cycle through the characters.

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With this being a platformer I don’t want the combat to over complicate matters so it will be very simple to accomplish. When a Player comes across and enemy they can react and fight in real time to take the enemy down.

Combat will work with the use of the left stick and the X button. The X button will initiate attack strikes and with multiple presses perform a combo, if the left stick is added to the mix it will create different combos. It is advised to engage in combat as with enemies in the Animalistic forms that the characters have, they can however fight in their human forms but they are much weaker and more susceptible to death.

Much the same as when the movement mechanic changes for the third person boss battle the combat mechanics will change also. When the Boss area is entered and the camera switches to 3rd person mode the combat controls will change to involve the use of a second button. The X and Y buttons will be used in combat and will create Light and Heavy attacks respectively. They can used in a number of combinations to make different attack combos.

Another element will also change here, that is the combat in human form. As the bosses will be harder enemies to face the characters will not be able to defeat them in human form and must avoid the Boss at all costs. They can however defeat them in their animalistic forms.

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Character Abilities: Each character will have two of their own abilities that can be used when in their animalistic forms.

Roland’s Wolf abilities are the Sonic Howl and Heightened Senses. The Sonic Howl allows the Player to disrupt any cameras that are within its radius, it can also disrupt any equipment enemies are carrying with them if they are near. The Heightened Senses allow the player to see the scent of enemies so the player can see the route they take, this works by displaying the enemies scent trail for the player to see. The player can also use the Heightened Senses to make hidden traps visible.

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Molly’s Cat abilities are the Claw Dart and Agile Movement. The Claw Dart is the ability to shoot the characters claws from her hands. They can be used offensively to attack enemies at a distance or defensively to knock out cameras or any other security measures in place. The Agile Movement ability allows the player to get through smaller spaces and jump from obstacles much quicker whilst it is activated.

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Dexter’s Gorilla abilities are Immeasurable Strength and Enhanced Climbing. The Immeasurable strength ability, as you can guess by the name, Enhance the characters strength. It can be used in two ways; the first use is to interact with heavy objects such as moveable obstacles to open up a path, or to left heavy objects to throw at enemies. The second use it to enhance his hitting power making his attacks stronger. The Enhanced Climbing ability simply allows the player to clear climbing obstacles much quicker and also allow the player stay stationary on a climbing obstacle and interact with an object at the same time.

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Izzy’s Hare abilities are Quick Flash and Enhanced Jump. The Quick Flash ability heightens the characters speed allowing the payer to run on water and to hack mounted consoles quicker. The enhanced jump ability will allow the player to reach higher obstacle with a single leap and to also clear larger gaps between obstacles.

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Pairing Abilities Mechanics All the obstacle puzzles for the initial section of the gameplay (where the 4 characters are separated and alone) will be easy enough to solve with the use of their abilities. However once all 4 character are together some of the obstacles will be tougher and will require the use of two characters at once in order to get past the obstacles To do this the player will hold the RB button on a Xbox 360 controller, this will bring up a radial menu displaying the three unused characters allowing the player to press a directional button (on the D-pad) that represents one of the other characters that they wish to use. Once a character has been selected the paired ability will initiate.

An obstacle type that may come up would be a high jump that even the Hare abilities could not achieve alone.

To get past such an obstacle the player will have to use the Hare and Gorilla abilities in tandem to overcome it. This is because the Gorilla has the Strength ability and the hare the Jump ability. Once the Gorilla has been selected to help the Hare character an animation will play showing the Gorilla throw the Hare character to reach the high obstacle.

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Another pairing would be the Wolf and the Cat. The Cat can take out cameras and other security measures with its Claw Darts but not all will be taken out so easily. Some will be heavy versions so a stronger attack would be needed to take them out this is where the Wolfs Sonic Howl come into play. Once the Wolf and Cat have been paired together the ability will activate. This ability will throw out the Cats Claw Darts at an object, the Wolf will then use his Sonic Howl to increase their velocity and power allowing them to take out heavier objects.

Time Limits & Cool Down Mechanic: Allowing the player to stay in animal form would makes this game way to easy to accomplish so I suggest using time limits and cool down periods. When a Player is in animal form a time limit will appear on screen, this is the max amount of time they can stay in animal form. Once the time limit is up they will morph back into human form, this is when the cool down period activates. The cool down period is the time the player must wait before they can either switch to another character or to morph into animal form again.

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THE GAME WORLD Overview All of this first level is to take place within the boundaries of the DNA Splicing Facility as the Protagonists make their daring escape.

Many of the areas will be in doors giving the player the chance to see all the cruel experimentation that has been going on. The inside of the facility will look ordered and logical and will have colour coded markings to distinguish between areas.

Areas such as the holding cells will be full of cages for animals and glass cells for humans and will look pristine and clean. The experimentation rooms will split into two types , ones for humans and others for the animals.

For the outside area it will be a vast open space where the captive are able to exercise and stretch their legs after being cooped up in the experimentation facility.

As the facility is staffed by a number of people there is a parking zone for workers (this is where the characters flee to, to get out of the facility). This will be like any other car park and will be quite open to allow a number of cars to fit in; there will also be numerous cars there when the characters make their escape.

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Key locations For this level the Key locations are all in the DNA splicing facility and are as follows: Canine wing holding cells Ape wing holding cells Feline wing Holding cells Hare wing holding cells Miscellaneous corridors of the facility Outdoor Holding Pens Experimentation rooms Facility parking zone

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CAMERA Overview The camera will have a fixed view that will follow the players movement in a two dimensional plane. It will only move when the player does i.e. if the player move to the right or left then the camera will move horizontally with the character, if the player is to move up or down then again the camera will follow them only in the vertical plane this time. Think of games such as Mario, Shadow Complex and Trine.

The camera will however change to a different view during boss battles. Before each boss battle a cutscene will play showing it appear, as many other games do. Once this scene has finished and it switches back to gameplay the camera will have changed from the 2.5D side scrolling camera to a 3D 3rd person camera. This is to make for a more even field of play when it comes when it comes to boss battles as I have notices when trying to complete a boss battle in the 2.5D perspective and can be quite easy to get trapped by the boss and this ruin some gamers experiences.

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SINGLE-PLAYER GAME Gameplay Overview The bulk of the gameplay involves the player moving from the right to the left side of the screen; however it will be not as simple as that as there will be doors, platforms and obstacles that the players must find ways around. The player will also have to contend with enemies attacking them and must fight back in order to get past them. The 1st level of gameplay will be split into 6 different sections, 1-4 giving introductions to the 4 characters and allowing the player to use them separately, the 5th grouping the 4 characters together teaching the player how to use all 4 characters in a level and the 6th and final one being a boss battle.

In the first section of level 1 the player will take control of their first character (Roland) and get to know all of their abilities, this is to allow the player to understand and remember what specific things this character can overcome. During this time tutorials will appear explaining to the player how to move the character, overcome obstacles as a human, fight as a human, morph into animal form, overcome obstacle in animal form, fight in animal form and finally how to use the animal forms abilities. Once a player completes the first characters section by reaching the objective at the end the game will automatically end that section and switch to the next character.

This will happen 3 times to allow the player to play as the 4 individual characters separately. The next three character section will work much the same way as Roland’s in that tutorials will appear to inform the player of each characters abilities and what they can accomplish with them.

Once all 4 introduction sections have been completed the game will move onto the 5th where all 4 characters are now grouped together. In this 5th section the gameplay will follow the same structure as the first 4 but now rather than only having one character to play as the player can switch between all 4 (this will be the structure for the rest of the game). A new mechanic will be added in the 5th section and this is the ability to use a character combo. This mechanic allows players to use two characters abilities in tandem to clear obstacles or reach platforms that would not be accomplished using only one character.

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Finally the 6th section will incorporate a boss fight. During this section the game will change for a 2.5D game to a 3D 3rd person game. In the boss fight the player will have to use their animal forms to fight the boss, this is because whilst in their human forms they are too weak and must avoid conflict with the boss. This adds another level to that game as players are forced to think of strategies to take down the boss, they must not charge in as that will result in defeat. The player must realise that they simply cannot just take the boss on, they must morph into animal form and use the time they have correctly and then retreat once in human form. Once the Boss has been defeated, as this is the last section, the 1st level is now complete.

Boss Fight Cont‌ Here I will go into further detail about boss fights. As mentioned before the boss fights will take place in a 3rd person perspective that differs from the 2.5D perspective or the rest of the game.

Bosses can only be harmed by the character attacking them in their animal forms, whilst in human form the player must avoid the boss at all costs as a few hits from it will result in death.

When a characters animal from times out the player cannot simply switch to another character and use their animal form.

This is because of the cool down period that is mentioned in the mechanics section of this document.

This adds a sense of strategy to the game as the player must pick the correct moment to morph into animal form and attack the boss. The player will be able to do this by watching the bosses attack patterns and then strike during the bosses’ defensive phases.

Victory conditions There are two different victory conditions in this game, one is for the 2.5D perspective sections of the game and the other in the Boss fights.

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For the player to succeed in the 2.5D sections of the game the player must keep all characters alive through all the enemy battles, obstacles and traps and reach then end of the section.

To succeed in a boss fight again the player must keep all 4 characters alive and they must defeat the Boss of that level.

Saving and loading The game will save automatically when the player reaches set checkpoints in the levels. The checkpoints will be represented by control rooms.

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MULTIPLAYER GAME Gameplay Overview Players will be able to drop in and out of their friend’s game at any point in the game if they have been invited to do so. As a player waits for a friend to accept game invite they can continue with their game, once a friend accepts the game will automatically save and will change to a character selection screen. The players in the lobby will then be able to choose which characters they wish to control. The multiplayer game will follow the same story as the single player, however when a player finishes the single player a secondary multiplayer story unlocks and is available to play. All players taking part in the secondary multiplayer story must have completed the original first, so if a friend tries to join your game who hasn’t completed the original story then they cannot take part in playing the secondary story.

If 2 people are playing the character are shared out evenly with each player being able to choose two characters each, once chosen they must stick with those characters. If 3 people are playing then the 3 players get to choose a character each with the 4th being AI controlled. If the players need to switch to that AI character then the first use the switch out character button will now control that AI character (with their previously controlled character now switching to AI mode). When 4 people are playing they are able to again pick amongst the 4 how they wish to play as, once each character has been assigned the game will begin with the player controlling one character each.

Max players 4

Saving and loading The game will automatically save whenever a player joins or leaves the multiplayer game. Checkpoints will also save the game and these will be represented in the same way as the single player game.

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Scores The players are scored in much the same as in single player, i.e. how much health their character have left, the amount of enemies they have beaten, and the time it took them to complete the level. All scores will be posted to a leaderboards so players can see their friend’s scores and compare them to their own.

Chatting Players can converse with one another using the Party systems that vary on Platforms. If one I not available and they have a headset the game will have an in-game chat function that will allow players to converse with one another.

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RESOURCES & LINKS Links to related resources Shadow Complex info - http://uk.ign.com/games/shadowcomplex/xbox-360-839087 Shadow Complex Review http://uk.ign.com/articles/2009/08/17/shadow-complex-review Trine info – http://uk.ign.com/games/trine/pc-14304232 Trine Review - http://uk.ign.com/articles/2009/10/23/trinereview Altered Beast info – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altered_Beast Altered Beast Review http://uk.ign.com/articles/2009/06/10/altered-beast-review

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