Game Concept

Dungeon Cleanup » Devlog
2024-04-18 by Utas-Sky
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Working Title

Dungeon Cleanup

Concept Statement

I’m intending to make a side-scrolling game about a skeleton wizard whose home has become overrun with out-of-control evil spirits. The skeleton must use their magic to destroy the spirits and collect their corrupted souls in order to reclaim their home.

Genre

Fantasy, side-scroller, dungeon-crawler, platformer

I am choosing these genres as 2d games are at their best when they are side-scrollers and the mouse aiming mechanic works well with this format. When side-scrolling there is almost always an element of platforming, as otherwise the game world can become boring to player

Concept Creation Process and Influences

I’m going for a minimalistic approach, aiming to make a simple game with basic and enjoyable mechanics. This is to reduce risk of wasting time fixing bugs. During the game, the player will aim and shoot with the mouse and may expend souls collected for bonus actions, possibly a healing mechanic.

I’m drawing inspiration from a flash game I once played called Gun Run, where the player character runs through a side-scrolling level, using the mouse to aim and shoot at robots. This game featured a non-descript avatar running through levels shooting enemies, gaining points and collecting power-ups)

(Reidl, F. (2005), GunRun [Game]. Freex. Available at: https://www.addictinggames.com/action/gun-run)

Audience

My target audience is primarily people who enjoy the fantasy genre and side scrollers, as well as millennials who crave nostalgia for the games of the 90s with their pixel-art graphical style and simple mechanics. Such people are highly invested in retro-style indie games and should appreciate this game for that reason.

Treatment

The game features Skele-Tony, a crumbling, osteologically-challenged skeleton wizard who “lives” in a “dungeon”. Their experiments in dark magic have lead to corrupted spirits escaping and now they roam Skele-Tony’s home. Skele-Tony must now reclaim the dungeon and clean up these unwanted spirits. 

Skele-Tony can aim their staff in any direction and shoot fireballs to destroy evil spirits. When spirits are defeated, their souls remain. Being the powerful wizard they are, Skele-Tony is able to repurpose these souls to strengthen their magic. Once Skele-Tony has collected enough souls, they are able to expend them to regain a portion of their health.

Skele-Tony will be able to jump or fly in order to traverse the crumbling ruins they make their home in. 

Concept Art

Following sprites made with Piskel.

Skele-Tony the skeleton wizard.

what they lack in a humerus they make up for with humour.


Evil Spirits like this one were released following a failed wizard spell. They now infest Skele-Tony's home.


Evil spirits drop corrupted souls when destroyed. Skele-Tony can make use of these.

Assets Required

Game Objects

Player

  • RigidBody2D
  • SpriteRenderer
  • PolygonCollider2D
  • Animator
  • Movement Scripts
  • Press space to jump Script
  • Player Increase Score Script
  • Player Pickup Script
  • Player aim and shoot script
  • Player Health Script
  • Player Staff (as a child of the player to allow for rotation)

Enemy

  • RigidBody2D
  • SpriteRenderer
  • PolygonCollider2D
  • Animator
  • Movement Scripts
  • AI Chase player Script (link to Player RIgidBody2D)
  • Die when shot script
  • Drop pickup script (link to soul prefab)
  • RigidBody2D (static)
  • SpriteRenderer
  • BoxCollider2D

Souls

  • RigidBody2D
  • SpriteRenderer
  • PolygonCollider2D (trigger)
  • Animator

Platforms

  • RigidBody2D (static)
  • SpriteRenderer
  • BoxCollider2D

Background

  • SpriteRenderer
  • Dungeon Tilemaps

Prefabs

Enemy (as described above)

Soul (as described above)

Dungeon Cleanup

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