So, my goal is to make a game invoking the fantasy (aka making you feel) like an amateur paranormal dispatch squad, kinda like phatasmaphobia but less gay and not multiplayer.
It would be great to give off an analog horror vibe, something about comfronting unseen monsters and slowly going into insanity as you lose your crew to posessions and dark hallways.
I am mostly inspired by games like duskers and darknest dungeon, I think they do a good job of instilling the sense of dread that every mission your party can get TKO'd. But I sadly struggle to come up with good mechanics which I can deliver on.
I can do both 2D, 3D and Doom-style raycasting but I'd preffer 2D as I am a super-shitty artist and inept at modeling.
The requirements are as follows:
>I am but one man
Don't get too high-concept, I am quite literally a single dude trying to prototype this
>Be precise
Describe not the general idea, but mechanics and moment-to-moment gameplay. Is it going to be Top-Down? Are you going to control pawns individually? How is the UI layed out? The more specific- the better!
>Fit the fantasy
Try to come up with mechanics which instill the core idea into the player best.
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wait I don't get it. what's all about?
Mostly I am trying to make a "playable version" of analog horrors like mandela catalogue or gemini entertainment.
So mostly the game is about being a amateur paranormal investigation squad and comforting different horrors of the darkness as you slowly lose your innocence and turn your recruits into deraged jaded husks.
sounds good. make it 3d
"Sounds good", buddy, I don't know how it will actually play.
That isn't half bad. That doesn't per say fit the idea of a plucky paranormal investigations team but I'll definetly consider it as it's own thing.
Yeah it's more of a plucky paranormal "make fricking dosh" team
make it about exploring a area and found some shit there while being attacked by ghosts
Yes, but how?
Is it gonna be top-down? Is it gonna be a raycast game?
Do you control people directly or via some indierect command system?
Turn-based? Real time?
Not that anon, but raycasting is not really the best way to go about handling graphics unless you're going for top quality stuff. Basic 3d rendering with billboard graphics would be good. Essentially you make a flat mesh with the sprite and have it constantly face towards the camera. It'd look just like Doom. 3d low polygon models are also more than fine, here's a channel with tons of indie games to take inspiration from too. https://www.youtube.com/c/AlphaBetaGamer/playlists
Yes but the actual game?...
I can do billboard graphics, I am mostly looking for gamedesign suggestions.
I made one earlier about a point and click style of game(Something like Fran Bow was what I was imagining). What kind of game do you want though? Something with a lot of action or something that tells a story? You can do both too but different styles of gameplay work better depending on what you want as far as action and story are concerned.
I do wish to make generally a mission-structure type game akin to duskers or darknest dunegon.
Aka you lead a party of mostly amateur "dude ghosts lmao" volonteer ghosthunters through a house which slowly becomes more and more hostile while you frantically attempt to accomplish your objectives and get out.
I have honestly little respect for non-mechanically heavy games and walking sims the horror genre is infested with, and I can definetly take a stab at coding something more hands-on.
However I am a bit lost on how specifically is it best to accomplish that sense of creeping fear.
I did have SOME cool mechanics:
Have your squad be controlled via slightly delayed commands, and have them act out and run akin to being afflicted when coming to face with something creepy.
Also maybe make no real "monsters" (because drawing isn't my strongsuit) and instead make it about not being isolated or in the dark, so you won't be mauled by something or posessed.
However I struggle how specifically to tie all these mechanics behind a main loop/mission structure.
What do you actually.. do on a per mission basis?
What should be the eqvivalent of clunky RPG combat from darknest dunegon, but for my game?
Or the closing/opening doors in duskers?
Honestly from what you're describing top-down, turn based strategy sounds like the go-to for a mission-based game with squads of paranormal hunters. 2d raytracing for what is visible, lights, etc, are all also pretty nice and should be easy to handle. If it's top-down too then you can have simple dots with an arrow and fov indicator for each person and keep the art to UI elements. Minimal enough and if you want you can commission an artist to draw still images of the entities in your game and maybe even specific characters.
As far as a game loop goes since you were mentioning Darkest Dungeon then you could always go with that set up for the missions. Plenty of small, randomized missions for getting progression through the story, training your guys up and then finally unlocking missions that unlock more of the story.
Alternatively you could design the game so that your operatives have their own AIs and you act as the commander giving orders. You order them to sweep the house and it's all done in real-time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBzbcD-ej0E Noct might be a good game to take inspiration from in that real-time style of play. If you stylize your game then you can get away with less fidelity in your art and if you have lines of sight and such from your troops then there can be added tension when your units go to sweep a room you have no vision of. They slowly turn the corner, revealing more and more of the room. Most of the time they'd just reveal nothing special, but as you move through the level you as a player know that the odds of not encountering the enemy is going down. Plus, with that line of sight mechanic there's also the possibility of something coming up from behind, where your men have already checked.
Thanks anon, that looks indeed very much like the idea I had.
I'll probably stick with that one.
Glad you like it and I really do recommend learning GLSL or HLSL for nice effects for your game. Hope it all works out well.
I am an amateur at best, this is mostly a neat impulse project, but I'll make sure to look into it.
real time
I think you should brush up on your English, first.
Anon, did you know that non-English speaking countries make games in their -own- languages? I know, bizarre.
I am Russian, sorry if I make some typos and spelling mistakes, as long as it's intelligible..
Don't worry the game's gonna be in english.
I am a notoriously horrible artist.
I was specifically inspired by duskers for it's minimalist graphics.
You give solid advice, what specific games do you think could be a good inspiration?
That's the issue, I am kinda stuck on the whole "gamedesign" part.
>Specific games
Moriai is the farmers horror stuff , really simplistic and absolutely lovely
Nightshift and the convenience store are both lovely at setting the silent hill type vibe while being somewhat at a somewhat normal setting which is what you want if you're going for the amateur paranormal hunter type story.
I'd look at 2d horror stuff too , 1001 ways to die and Lakeview cabin are great.
Oni is awesome too.
Don't use modern ghost hunting games they're pretty garbage , like Bigfoot and all those others they're absolutely cringe puzzle copy pasted games with no depth whatsoever.
I'd also use non horror games like Stanley parable and papers please for the indirect uneasiness that I can't really explain in words.
Hope it helps
What I specifically struggle with is coming up with a.. format.
What is the moment-by-moment gameplay?
How are missions layed out?
literally worst place you could ask this
Is it?
Last time I asked for an antagonist idea here I got pretty good suggestions, better than Ganker anyway.
https://www.shadertoy.com/view/ldjGzV
Well this'll hopefully help you. Learning shadercode is useful for 2D or 3D with any game engine. You can run something like link related as a post-processing effect on either. I think 2D would work best as a sort of story game, maybe point and click adventure.
>I am but one man
Paranormal business tycoon
>Mechanics
2D pixel side scroller with mouse to click on things. Just look on youtube to get an understanding of what I'm talking about.
1) Corporation Inc. (flash game) (15%-)
2) 10-103 vs paranormal and non-paranormal threats (vast majority of gameplay 80%+)
3) Lobotomy Corp (5%-)
To unlock new "offices" you need to make ventures into the unknown and make dialogue and gameplay choices (10-103).
More dialogue and gameplay choices on how the entities are monetised and how the clients and detractors are engaged.
Reading lore must be very heavily incentivised or punished.
>Fit the fantasy
You are the beginnings of Marshall Carter and Dark hence the business/management focus.
OP how good are you at drawing? If you're good enough at drawing then you could make character sheets for your 3d modelling stuff.
If you're one guy and you're serious I'd value quality of story and dialogue/text over complex gameplay mechanics.
The thing that gets the scary in me when it comes to the Mandela catalogue and stuff like that is the eerie loneliness and cold you feel when you're in these things.
I'd recommend something along the lines of that farmers pixel horror game and the eerie vibe Stanley's parable and papers please give you something.
Horror often comes from simplicity anon and these games Excell at that , try and capture that. Also see those old 2d pixel horror games that came out from Japan back in the day something about pixel stuff is terrifying when done right.
OP, make a mod first. Copy paste as many assets as you can so you can focus on game design as much as you can. Ktnxbai
i would set in an abandoned hotel where but the hotel is haunted and the rooms are traps designed to rob those who enter of their sanity, but they also contain save points and are your only respite from the main boss (darkness) that stalks the corridors
as the darkness approaches you would see the lights going out and have to run to the nearest room, you can use the peephole to check if its safe
aside from the corridors there would be secret passages between room, clues to the hotels sinister past (two way mirrors windowless soundproof rooms cctv cameras etc)
ultimately your aim would be to contain the darkness using drawn runes and physical barriers so you could reach the exit
the mandela catalouge and analog horror aren't scary because le scary monster with le scary face (that too, to an extent) but because it twists the mundane
it corrupts your everyday life, your childhood memories, humanity itself (asking the question: what does it really mean to be human? when does someone stop being human?) and i think you should include this into your game.
What engine are you planning on using?
Godot.
I've considered unity but it is very bloated and generally a pretty bad choice for smaller projects.
Also I work off a principle called "Frick licensing", where I use nothing which can remotely, at any point, bite me in the ass as far as legality of use is concerned, because I hate giving a shit about that.
I write my own music, draw my own shitty sprites, and make my own SFX.
nobody's talking about Maple County yet so i'm gonna suggest you look at it to get some ideas
that shaky-cam broken VHS tape footage is still some of my favorite effects ever
SHIT, HOW DID I MISS THAT?!
thank you anon, I was not aware someone already made a game like this.