Korona Kablam-i!

My very own shoot 'em up game! Youtube trailer, Click here to play!

Game Design Document

1. Overall Vision

   • Write a short paragraph explaining the game Korona Kablam-i! is a COVID-19 themed shoot 'em up arcade game. The player controls a tiny space craft and shoots at viruses. The game speed increases until the player dies. Kill as many viruses to get a highscore.

   • Describe the genre This is a single-player shoot 'em up arcade game.

   • What is the target audience? The game is appropriate for all ages and is only thought to be enjoyed by casual gamers. The target platform is Android phones, the game might also be available for free on desktop.

   • Why play this game? This game is progressive-paced with gameplay sessions only meant to be a few minutes long. The simple gameplay is easy to get in to, and offers quick gratification and is harder to master. A parallaxing background and other effects will be used for visual interest.

2. Mechanics: the rules of the game world

   • What are the character's goals? The goal is to survive and shoot as many viruses as possible for the highest score. If the player collides with a virus the game ends. Player shooting frequency will be restricted insentivising a tactical approach.

   • What abilities does the character have? The player will be able to move left and right by tilting their phone, and shooting a laser every so often by touching the screen.

   • What obstacles or difficulties will the character face? A progressively faster pace and spawn of more viruses. Also the fire rate frequency will be capped.

   • What items can the character obtain The player may obtain no items.

   • What resources must be managed? The player must manage their position and rate of fire avilability.

   • Describe the game-world environment. The player will be depicted by a small spaceship at the bottom to the screen, being able to move left or right up to the very edges. viruses will spawn on the top and move at a constant rate towards the bottom and beyond.

   By game-over and first entering the game, a simple touch-to play overlay will be shown, also depicting the overall highest score.

3. Dynamics: the interaction between the player and the game mechanics

   • What hardware is required by the game? Android devices will be required to have a functional touch screen. Desktop will mainly be mouse clicking. The control scheme will be available through exploration only.

   • What type of proficiency will the player need to develop to become proficient at the game? The player needs to figure out how to best manage time and fire rate in order to secure as many kills before their enevitable death.

   • What gameplay data is displayed during the game? Always at the top of the screen, the total amount of virus kills, misses aswell as thei total session play time.

   • What menus, screens, or overlays will there be? A splash screen showing the author of the game. An overlay showing the highest score and a click-to play prompt. Lastly the game itself. (Possibly a small intro video will be created)

   • How does the player interact with the game at the software level? There is no pause button. The player may only quit the game or control its audio by the operating system's controls.

4. Aesthetics: the visual, audio, narrative, and psychological aspects of the game

   • Describe the style and feel of the game. The game has a fun and casual atmosphere. The action takes place inside a bloodstream with parallax effects and other visual interests. From the top notorious COVID-19 viruses appear with cute angry faces. The music will be somewhat action based and fast paced.

   • Does the game use pixel art, line art, or realistic graphics? The graphics will be in a pixel art style.

   • What style of background music, ambient sounds will the game use? The game will feature background music, ambient music, and various effects for different actions and happenings.

   • What is the relevant backstory for the game? The background story is that the player is in a shrunk spaceship travveling inside someones bloodstream, erradicating COVID-19's.

   • What emotional state(s) does the game try to provoke? A sense of satisfaction by destroying viruses. A sense of urgency hoping not to be killed. The emotional state aims to be curiosity, a sens of achievement, and stress to not be killed, aswell as humor and sillyness over the theme of the game.

   • What makes the game fun? Exploring and optimising the core mechanics of surviving, killing and achieving the highest score possible. Also the humor of the theme and easiness of the game-play

5. Development

   • List the team members and their roles, responsibilities, and skills.
     This project will be completed individually; graphics and audio will be obtained from third-party websites that make their assets available under the Creative Commons license, and so the main task will be programming and creating some graphics.

   • What equipment is needed for this project?
     A computer (with keyboard, mouse, and speakers) and internet access will be necessary to complete this project.

   • What are the tasks that need to be accomplished to create this game?
     This project will use a simple Kanban board hosted on the project's GitHub page. The main sequence of steps to complete this project is as follows:

     • Setting up a project scaffold
     • Programming game mechanics and UI
     • Creating and obtaining graphical assets
     • Obtaining audio assets
     • Polishing
     • Deployment

   • What points in the development process are suitable for playtesting?
     The main points for playtesting are when the basic game mechanics of the level screen are implemented, and when it is visualised. The questions that will be asked are:

     • Is the gameplay and UI understandable?
     • Is the gameplay interesting?
     • How do the controls feel?
     • How is the pace of the game?
     • Are there any improvement suggestions?

   • What are the plans for publication? This game will possibly be made available for free on desktop. It will be deployed on the Google Play store for 10-15 NOK and advertised to various indie game-portal websites (LibGDX, r/incremental_games). Gameplay images and a video will be posted and marketed via social media.