Project: Vision Statement

 Game Vision Statement 

Introduction:

This week's blog post will be focusing on one game idea, which will be the original idea I had in my head when first thinking about this project which is the 80s themed racing game I had originally wanted to do. While thinking about other ideas I had, I kind of drifted away from this idea in favour of a 3D version of the childhood game Kerbs (or paths if you're wrong). I think this game will be a lot more achievable for my first Unity game and in the timeframe we have, because the kerbs game will need to have complicated mechanics that will let the ball bounce. 

For the racing game, it will be a lot simpler, the Unity tutorial for this week (week 5) actually covered one of the mechanics I will be using, which is a random and infinite spawn for objects for the character to dodge. Last week's Unity task went over moving back and forward and left and right which I will also be using. 

Genre:

The genre of this game will be a racing game, more specifically a top down, or 3rd person, I'm not sure yet which camera angle I'd like to use, and it would be an infinite dodging game, similar in vein to Subway Surfers. 

Theme:

Set in the 80s, and takes inspiration from classic 80s and 90s racing games. A big inspiration for me for this game would be the 1986 arcade game, Out Run, by Sega. 

Screenshot from Out Run via Wikipedia

I remember playing games very similar to this one when I was younger, although probably not this game exactly, but when researching ideas for this game this fit my aesthetic quite well. Set on a beach, and driving a Ferrari Testarossa is exactly what I have wrote in my original idea from week 3, as you can see here. It was coincidence that I had the same idea as this game, but with a few updates. 

Aesthetic:

Synthwave Style via Pixabay

The aesthetic of the game will be very retro inspired, I might even try and pixilate the graphics, which can be done in Unity by lowering the resolution, this will give the game a nice retro vibe, you can watch a tutorial here, which I will be using if I decide to go down this route. I do want it to have an 80s vibe so I want the start screen and the game over screen and any other text on screen to have a real 80s and retro/ synth wave style to it. There is actually a modern version of Out Run, called Cyber OutRun that is based around this synth wave style, which I had no idea about until I started researching this style, you can see gameplay on Steam here. The car that the player will be driving, will be a classic 80s sports/ supercar, either a Ferrari Testarossa, like Miami Vice, or a Lamborghini Countach, like the Wolf of Wall Street. 

Gameplay:

This game will start off at an idle screen with the car stopped at a red light, the player will be allowed press any key and the game will start. From here you must control the car with the up, down, left and right keys or WASD, you will need to move left and right to dodge oncoming cars and obstacles, and you will need to move forward and back so that the car doesn't fall off the bottom of the screen, which will end the game as will hitting any obstacles. You will be confined to 3 or 4 lanes depending on what I end up chasing but I think the 3 lane approach will be easier for me but harder for the player and the opposite way around for 4 lanes, so I might keep it to just 3 lanes. The car won't be fully able to turn and rotate, instead it will just be left and right, if you press left it moves over to the left lane and same for right, I think this will make it harder for the player as it forces them to chose a lane instead of being able to drive anywhere on the road. The game will track your score depending on how far you go and how long you last. If the player steps on the brakes too much though, the car will slow down and the bottom of the screen will catch up and that will result in you getting caught by the police, so the player will need to keep the car above the bottom of the screen. There will be no winning the game as it will go by high scores. When the player hits an object, there will be an explosion and the game will show you your high score as the camera stays on the wreck of the car, you can press any key and it will bring you back to the original menu.