Game Concept

Overview

The working title: Cave Rescue Run

The concept statement: You are on a rescue task, but the cave entrance has collapsed, trapping you inside. Three Explorers are missing, and there are rumours of evil creatures lurking in the cave. Find the Explorers and a new way out before the storm floods the entire cave system.

Genre or category of game: 2D action-adventure shooter, single player game.

Concept creation process/area (e.g. subtractive design, anti-game, mashup, etc.) and influences: This will be a 2D top-down game with scenes that resemble a cave environment, which will suit the game style and concepts. The environment will include enemies that attack the player. Having various enemies occasionally attacking the player will keep the player engaged as they navigate through the cave environment.

Natural hazards such as water and volcanic lava in certain areas will be dangerous to the player. Lighting will be setup to bring darkness to the scenes, and the player may be able to hold lighting to illuminate their immediate surrounding area. Music and suitable background environment noise will assist in bringing the cave environment scenes to life.

A feature to the game is an approaching storm that will eventually flood the entire cave system, it will be a kind of game over mechanic. Either as a countdown timer and or the levels could gradually become more flooded by increasing water levels over time.

My inspiration for a cave style game comes from playing 2D side scrolling platform games, which often feature cave levels. I have watched many YouTube videos about cave exploring and cave diving which I find interesting and entertaining. The situations and danger people put themselves in for the exploration and the sport is amazing at times.

I also have been inspired by recent games, such as Icarus (RocketWerkz, 2021) and Sons of the Forest (Endnight Games, 2023) which both have some cave exploration, enemy encounters and survival elements to their games such as the need to escape the cave to get food or water before your health gets too low. Although my game will be a 2D top-down experience, fighting enemies within caves, exploring, getting lost, and a countdown timer to complete the objective before it ends are similar themes of inspiration.

Audience and competitive analysis: The target audience for the game is casual and indie game players, for all genders and ages 15 and above who enjoy 2D action-adventure games, with some exploration and shooting. Players who are looking for a game that is quick to download or browser based, and or can play directly through the itch.io site.

Audiences may like the concept of the cave exploration, rescue mission, and fighting off the enemies in the cave environment. The competition is from casual 2D games of similar themes of cave exploration, or top down 2D action-adventure shooter style games, both on PC and mobile.

Unique selling points of the game is the combination of the story of rescuing the explorers and fighting off the evil creatures within the cave, the environment itself. Other selling points are features such as the storm countdown timer that threatens to flood the entire cave and cause game over if the player doesn’t complete the objective and find a way out before the timer runs out.

Game treatment and concept art: As mentioned briefly in the game concept statement, the Player is on a rescue task and will begin the game being trapped inside the cave.  There are three explorers to find and rescue, there are rumors of evil creatures lurking within the cave system.

The game setting will be a top down 2D view of the game, most scenes will present a cave like environment with sound and music that suits the environment. The player will be able to move with 8-way directional movement, a dash sprinting option to evade enemies. The player will also be able to shoot enemies with mouse aiming control. The Enemies within the cave will seek and attack the Player, and wander around the cave areas.

The cave scene levels will have maze like levels in particular areas, but not overly complex mazes. The player must rescue the three Explorers by finding them while avoiding hazards such as water and lava and surviving the enemies. The Player must find a way out of the cave by finding the exit. 

Area effectors may be applied to the water and lava hazards to make it more difficult to escape those and the threat of enemies attacking will persist at times. A clock countdown timer may be setup to represent the storm that is flooding the cave system. At the end of the countdown timer if the player has not escaped the cave, then it is game over.

The concept art is attached above for viewing, each image source is referenced below for images 1 to 5. The last two images are a quick sketch and paint image drawn by me for a draft scene layout concept to further develop.

References List

RocketWerkz, 2021, Icarus, Steam, https://store.steampowered.com/app/1149460/ICARUS/

Endnight Games, 2023, Sons of the Forest, steam, https://store.steampowered.com/app/1326470/Sons_Of_The_Forest/

Microsoft Copilot, 2024, Concept Art 1, Generated using  DALL-E 3 with plain text prompts, Viewed: 7 September 2024, https://www.microsoft.com/copilot

Microsoft Copilot, 2024, Concept Art 2, Generated using  DALL-E 3 with plain text prompts, Viewed: 7 September 2024, https://www.microsoft.com/copilot

Microsoft Copilot, 2024, Concept Art 3, Generated using  DALL-E 3 with plain text prompts, Viewed: 7 September 2024, https://www.microsoft.com/copilot

Microsoft Copilot, 2024, Concept Art 4, Generated using  DALL-E 3 with plain text prompts, Viewed: 7 September 2024, https://www.microsoft.com/copilot

Microsoft Copilot, 2024, Concept Art 5, Generated using  DALL-E 3 with plain text prompts, Viewed: 7 September 2024, https://www.microsoft.com/copilot