Codename: 7up
Game Overview (Focus):
Codename: 7up is a simple side scrolling shooter. This game aims to capture the feel of old school side scrollers such as Contra but with some updated graphics and game play. Codename: 7up will focus on game play as its number one goal, graphics have become an important part of games today, but most games focus on graphics over game play and Codename: 7up aims to counter that. Since Codename: 7up is a fast paced game, it should keep the player on the edge of their seat with action while keeping the over all feel of the game light-hearted and fun. There is no deeper meaning to analyze in Codename: 7up - as the overall goal of this game remind the players that games should be fun. The unique factor to this game will be because it is essentially a classic side scrolling shooter but in a new game-play package.
Target Platform:
Codename: 7up is broswer based game created using the Unity 3D engin. The target platform is for the PC and possibly the Nintendo Wii in the future.
Appeal/Target Audience:
The target audience for Codename: 7up will be for everyone ranging from kids the age of 6+ to adults the age of 60+.
Art Style:
Technology:
Codename: 7up will utilize the Unity 3D engine created by Unity Software. Codename: 7up aims to recreate the old fashioned side scrolling shooter in both game play and appearance. As far as hardware goes, Codename: 7up will require a PC that has a web browser and can run graphical games such as World of Warcraft.
Gameplay:
Gameplay for Codename: 7up involves the player trying to get from point A to point B while defeating enemies along the way. For example, level one requires the player to get from point A on the most left side of the screen to point B on the most right side of the screen. Enemies will pop up along the way and attack the player. The player will then have to either escape the enemy or defeat them in order to reach his designation. (for a more in-depth look at the controls, please see the Controls/Interface section). An amount of points is awarded to the player if he/she defeats the enemy. It the enemy hits the player with their weapons or physically, the player will lose hearth. If the player loses all of his/her hearth, a loss of a life will result. The game is over when all lives are lost. The player will move on to the next stage when they have reached the end of the current stage.
Characters:
The Good Guys:
Winston Valentine (player one)
Charlette "Charlie" Clemens (player two)
The Bad Guys:
The Wild Aces - this is the name of the bad guy group. the idea is taken from poker where there are 5 cards in a hand. in this case, the 5 cards are 4 aces and 1 wild card (the joker). of course there are henchmen that follows each main bad guy. the group will consist of the typical architypes of bad guys.
the big guy
the ghoul guy
the machine guy
the explosive guy
the joker
World:
Codename: 7up takes place in a steam punk meets western world setting. The player will only be introduced to 4 levels in this world. Each of the levels will feature some aspects and themes of both steam punk and the wild west. The player will be able to clearly see the theme of both steam punk and western through out the game from the enemies to the weapons.
Story:
The story of Codename: 7up will be very simple.
Controls/Interface:
The controls of Codename: 7up is designed for both keyboard play and a controller (either a game pad or a Xbox 360 controller which can be used on the PC via USB connectors). For keyboard play, Codename: 7up will us the WASD keys to control movement, the space bar to jump, and the arrow keys to control main and secondary fire.
Basic control scheme for Codename: 7up should look something like this:
-Keyboard
W – makes the player move up (this is not the jump, it just makes the player move up stuff such as a ladder).
A – makes the player move left.
S – makes the player move down or crouch (hitting the jump key while holding down the S key will make the player do a slide – the direction of the slide will be the direction the player is facing).
D – makes the player move right.
Space – makes the player jump up (hitting the space while the player is in a jump makes the player jump again – performing a double jump).
Up Arrow – secondary fire (same function as the Y button on the Xbox 360 controller).
Left Arrow – main fire (same function as the X button on the Xbox 360 controller).
Down Arrow – another jump (same function as the A button on the Xbox 360 controller).
Right Arrow – no function (same function as the B button on the Xbox 360 controller).
Esc – brings up the game menu.
-Game Pad
The left analog stick will serve the same functions as the D-pad while the right analog stick will not be used.
Up - makes the player move up (this is not the jump, it just makes the player move up stuff such as a ladder).
Left - makes the player move left.
Down - makes the player move down or crouch (hitting the jump key while holding down will make the player do a slide – the direction of the slide will be the direction the player is facing).
Right - makes the player move right.
Y – secondary fire (same function as Up Arrow on keyboard play).
X – main fire (same function as Left Arrow on keyboard play).
A – jump (same function as Down Arrow on keyboard play).
B – no function (same function as Right Arrow on keyboard play).
Start – brings up the game menu.
The interface of Codename: 7up consists of different screens.
The game screen:
This the main screen where most of the game takes place. Players will be moving either from left to right, right to left, top to down, down to top, or any of the combination in order to reach the end of the stage. Enemies, weapons, everything spawns in this main game screen this is where all the action is.
Game Mechanics:
Weapon damage, speed, and range:
Double Pistals
-travels half way across the game screen
-standard fire rate is fast
-double pistals can travel all the way across the game screen (available at max upgrade)
-double pistals is the only weapons that can fire "rapid fire" if the player holds down the fire button
Power
normal - 5 damage
level 1 - 10 damage
level 2 - 15 damage
level 3 - 20 damage
level 4 - 25 damage
level 5 - 30 damage (bullets travel all the way across the game screen)
Shotgun
-travels one-third of the way across the game screen
-standard fire rate is medium
-shotgun is the only weapon that can shoot multiple shots up to 5 (available at mx upgrade)
Power
normal - 10 damage (shoots 2 ways)
level 1 - 20 damage (shoots 3 ways)
level 2 - 30 damage (shoots 4 ways)
level 3 - 40 damage (shoots 4 ways)
level 4 - 50 damage (shoots 4 ways)
level 5 - 60 damage (shoots 5 ways)
Rifle
-travels all the way across the game screen
-standard fire rate is slow (can be upgraded to medium)
-rifle bullets travels across the across the screen the fastest
-rifle is the only weapon that can shoot bullets that travels through multiple enemies up to 5 (availble at max upgrade)
Power
normal - 15 damage (travel through 2 enemies)
level 1 - 30 damage (travel through 3 enemies)
level 2 - 45 damage (travel through 3 enemies)
level 3 - 60 damage (travel through 4 enemies)
level 4 - 75 damage (travel through 4 enemies)
level 5 - 100 damage (travel through 5 enemies)
Steam Gun
-travels all the way across the screen
-standard fire rate is slow
-the steam gun is the only weapon that can hit an enemy multiple times (the amount goes up with upgrades)
-the steam gun can also stop bullets by the enemy (available at max upgrade)
Power
normal - 5 damage
level 1 - 5 damage (hits twice)
level 2 - 10 damage (hits twice)
level 3 - 10 damage (hits three times)
level 4 - 20 damage (hits three times)
level 5 - 20 damage (hits three times and stops bullets in its path)
Enemy health count:
Grunt - 5 health
Shooter - 5 health
Brute - 100 health
Mini-Boss - 360 health
Boss- 700 health
Sound:
Remix of midi like music loops will be used for most of Codename: 7up’s level. Examples of the music type includes Bionic Commando Rearmed. There will be different music at different points. For example, boss music will be a different music from the stages themselves.
Reference Games:
Games that have a similar feel to Codename: 7up and/or have design concepts that will influence Codename: 7up includes: Bionic Commando Rearmed, Contra, Batman, Metal Slug, Metal Storm, Strider, Shinobi, Ghoul’s and Ghost, and Joe and Mac.
Development Team:
A development Team of 8 to 10 members will be needed to complete Codename: 7up. One member of the team will be the lead game designer. Two members will be used for character concept design and modeling. Three members will be used for level designs and assets. Two members will be used for programming and script writing. One member will be used for sound design. Once the game is finished in the development stages, a group of alpha and beta testers will be needed to report in glitches and bugs.
Schedule/Budget:
A complete schedule for Codename: 7up’s development time from start to finish should run at about one year to one year and a half. This will be broken down to farther details once the project is underway. A playable demo will be set to be ready at about six months once the project is underway.
copyright 2009 Tony Wu
