Crystal Massoglia
Nic Fosdick
Kyler Schmidt
Christina Anderson
Andrew Merdzinski
Ryan Cote
Glitch Breaker is a top-down stealth game where the player must identify an android amongst a group a humans and discreetly kill the android. The player will progress through a series of levels that are populated with many human NPCs and an android that blends in with the crowd of humans. The player must stealthily navigate the level while searching for the android. The player will detect the android based on its actions or clues given during the level. The android has a "fear meter" that causes it to go out of control and start attacking civilians or the player. The fear meter is increased over time or by certain interactions between the android and the player or map. The player can use a variety of weapons, such as knives, guns, and traps, to take down the android while minimizing the casualties caused by the android. Based on the difficulty setting of the level, the player must limit the deaths of civilians to a specified number.
"Operative:
"We are getting word from one of our...um….more reputable sources, that a particular batch of our androids is…...malfunctioning. We need you to enter the slums and find and neutralize these androids. You mustn't cause a panic! This is absolutely essential! The general public doesn't need to know about our….investments. We will be sending you our most recent invention, the Alluminating Seeling Encapsulyte, or All Seeing Eye. It will ensure that your actions don't cause us any unfortunate business.
"Our source has found five such androids. They have hidden themselves away in various populated locations. As I'm sure you're aware, our androids can change their appearance, but the malfunctions seem to have inhibited this utility. Therefore, they won't be changing their appearances readily. This should make finding them easier. We recommend asking around about someone with suspicious behavior and observing people for odd glitches. Be warned, though, there are many characters in the underground. The Eye is watching.
"We also have word that someone you know has learned about our little...operation. This loose end will be dealt with later. Fortunately for him, he knows someone whose cousin is an expert dealer in the Black Market. He can get you what you need for the right price.
"One more thing. The main side effect of the malfunction is that the androids will become more and more unstable. Each has certain "Fears" that will cause their behavior to become increasingly erratic. You must neutralize them before they starting rampaging. Once the slaughter starts, there's no stopping it. Remember, the Eye sees all.
"Good luck, Operative."
Missions begin with the player spawning in a party (building with many rooms) in order to look for the android. The party could take place in bars, restaurants, or clubs. The game is in 2D top-down format, so the player can see into all of the rooms. It will be PC-supported only, so they move around using the WASD keys. The player strikes using the weapons by left clicking, and interacts with their environment by pressing E. They can hit ESC to pause the game and pull up the controls screen, which gives the option to quit the game, go to a help screen, or return to menu (see Mission Mechanics for specifics). The player will traverse the rooms via doors and interact with the environment (for example, by locking doors with findable keys) and other NPCs (via conversations or killing).
The player must identify which person is secretly an android based on their behavior and clues from other NPCs during conversation, which will be shown via popup textbox and can be seen by either being in close proximity to other NPCs or initiating a conversation. Examples of clues may include "I asked that guy by the bar for a drink, and he just walked away!" "I'm worried about that striped pants guy over there," or "That orange top man is creeping me out." Another technique the player can use to find the android is watching for a "glitch". Androids will "glitch" when exposed to their "Fears", such as water, broken wires, or certain weapons. The "glitch" is defined as the android very quickly transforming back into its robotic appearance before returning to its human appearance. Once the player finds the android, they must sneak up behind and stab the android before the android realizes it has been identified. If the android realizes the player is targeting it, it will panic and start killing others. If the player accidentally kills a human, the android will become aware that the player is after it. The game is lost if the player is killed, the android kills a certain number of people, or the player kills a certain number of normal people (more on this in Rules).
The player will kill the android using a weapon. The initial weapon will be a knife; additional levels will unlock resources, such as bear traps and guns, to take out the android more efficiently and technology, such as sonar, to trigger glitches without the android realizing it. The screen will display a "stealth meter," in the form of an Eye, alerting the player to whether others around them and the android are suspicious of the player's movements. The Eye being closed means that all are unaware of what's happening. If the Eye is slightly opened (10 - 15% of people suspect something is up), there is suspicion among the crowd. If the Eye is halfway open (15 - 25% of people suspect something is up), the other people will start realizing what's going on and the android may begin to figure it out as well. If the Eye is mostly open (25 - 40% of people suspect something is up), a public panic may start. If the android freaks out and starts a slaughter, the Eye will open all the way. These changes will be noticeable in NPC conversation and movement (e.g. staying away from the player). These changes will be initiated when the player kills a civilian, sneaks around, or follows someone for too long. How wide open the Eye is when the player finally kills the android affects whether the player succeeds, how many points they earn, and how alert other characters will be in subsequent levels.
Points are converted to money, which can be used to purchase traps and weapons for additional levels. This will be a one-to-one conversion between points and money. The "store" will be in the form of a recon menu before the level begins where the player can purchase new weapons, traps, or intel about your target and the environment they are in. The traps and weapons range in both lethality and stealth. Throughout the game the player will be forced to choose how they want to play based on the types of traps and weapons they purchase. In order to prevent the player from gaining too many unlockables all at once, the unlockables will be level based and the price will be scaled (to be determined). The more civilians the player or android kills, the more points the player loses. When the Eye is opened too widely or enough time passes (predetermined level based time limit - to be determined), the android is alerted to the player and starts killing civilians. Our goal is that levels shouldn't last more than ten minutes and to make five levels.
A few extra details include:
- All kills are one-hit kills
- If the player dies, there will be a Game Over screen with options "Restart" and "Quit"
- If Restart is selected, the player will be immediately respawned at the start of the level. We want to minimize time between retries.
- WIN
- Android is killed, player gets away discreetly.
- LOSS
- Player killed by android or other force (such as by guards, accidental trap explosions, etc.).
- Android killed 25 - 50% of civilians
- Player killed 5% - 10% of civilians
- Player attracted too much attention (level based)
The player has basic movement controls along with contextual interactions with the civilians, android, and overall map depending on the situation and the currently equipped item (see below).
The player can pause the game to restart, quit, adjust options, or just to take a quick break. When out of missions, the player has menus to navigate through various aspects of the game. This includes mission selects, new games, possibly loading games (second semester), and options to modify things like volume and similar effects.
Movement and controls
- WASD (up, left, down, right, respectively) movement from the top-down view.
- The player attacks with left click and talks to other civilians with E for clues towards the identity of the android.
- Player has a toolbar that holds all tools/weapons/traps that they've picked up. This includes a dedicated "unarmed" slot and a dedicated knife slot. Weapons are selected via the number key row.
- Pause game with ESC, can resume or quit game.
Equipment
- The player by default is given a knife that can be used next to the android for a stealth kill. The player must approach the android unseen (must be behind android), and there will be consequences if noticed by civilians.
- Other weapons that deal mortal damage may be used even while noticed by the android, but will be highly panic inducing to the public depending on stealth level and where traps are located (crowded or not crowded room).
- Traps can be purchased and placed around the map to either cause the android to "glitch" (based on fears) or cause mortal damage. The Eye will open wider if the player is seen setting up a trap by the NPCs and can cause panic if the android sees this.
- (Power-up) Sonic pistol that emits a high frequency pulse in a predetermined radius around the player that causes the Android to "glitch" without opening eye wider
- (Power-up) One-shot gun to stun android for a free knife kill from any angle. Stagger time for 1-2 seconds (depends on balancing)
- (Power-up) Device to give player invisibility for a short period of time to move around. Cancelled by contextual actions (e.g. talking and killing). Can only activate when completely unnoticed.
Recon
- Recon menu is activated before entering every level; this gives the player the opportunity to find out intel about their environment and target.
- Intel can range from the androids fears to different built in environmental traps that previously would not have been accessible to the player
- Can purchase environmental effects to help maintain stealth or to create lethal situations against the android. (e.g. placing heavy weapons, rigging a chandelier, camouflage).
The in-game interface shows a floor layout with multiple rooms populated with civilians, an operative, and the android. There is also an Eye that represent a stealth indicator to show how alert everyone is to the operative's presence. An inventory will show what weapon is currently selected (or unarmed). If the player is holding a gun, a target will follow the mouse to show where the player is aiming. Some civilians may give the player a hint, which would display a textbox on the screen above the NPC.
The menu will have options to start the game, level select, credits, and exit. We may add saving/loading games if time permits.
The artstyle will emulate the futuristic, slum party feel of the game. The art will also be heavily influenced by "Party Hard," with very detailed background art and less detailed characters, with the main player character being differentiable from the rest (he'll be wearing a brown trench coat) and the android blending in with the civilian character models. Between 6 and 10 distinct character models will be created. In each level, character models will be repeated with different colored clothing. The characters will be drawn in GIMP and animated in Unity. Our assets will include character models, background, and background assets such as furniture.
The levels will mainly take place in a party atmosphere. Therefore, futuristic pulsating music will be the main background tracks to the levels.
Other sounds will include knife sounds/weapon switching (player pulls out and puts away knife or other weapons), miscellaneous combat (player finds and fights android), grinding metal (android glitch when it encounters a "Fear"), and door sounds (opening/closing/locking).
Player: The "Glitch Breaker", an unnamed agent sent to kill rogue androids.
Android: The target of the player. At first it will appear identical to the civilians around them, unless it's exposed to "Fears" that will cause it to reveal it's true nature (see Gameplay). Once it realizes it's being targeted, it will panic and start stabbing other people. It will try to be stealthy and only kill civilians who are alone in a room, but if faced with too many "Fears," it may snap and start killing openly.
Police/Guards: Appear when the Eye is too widely open, and can generate in subsequent levels if the Eye is too widely opened when the player kills their target. They can shoot and kill the player. Their existence will be a later addition.
Civilian: Every other NPC in the game. They will move randomly around the area. When they observe the player killing someone, they will panic and call the police. If the player is caught killing a civilian, the level is lost instantly. If the player kills a civilian stealthily, a certain number of points are lost, and if a certain number of civilians are killed stealthily, then the level is lost (see Rules).
Mission Control: The tutorial NPC who walks the player through what to do for the first level, gives them unlocked weapons/traps before additional levels, and rewards/punishes them at the end of each level. They do not show up inside the rooms themself.
The extent of police and mission control involvement will depend on how much time we have and how much we get done, and will most likely be implemented in Semester 2.
Glitch Breaker will be made for PC, targeting 16:9 aspect ratios.
Glitch Breaker will be developed using Unity C#, and the artwork will be done with GIMP.
Timeline:
Sprint 1
- Menu (~ 3 hours)
- Start game
- Level select (lists completed levels)
- Credits
- Exit game
- Level 1 layout
- Artwork for first level implemented in the game (~ 2 hours)
- Player and Android artwork (~ 2 hours paper drawing main model and idea specifics)
- Implement player sprites (~8 hours GIMP + animations)
- General player movement and collision (~4 hours)
- Move player with WASD, collides with wall (can't phase through level)
Sprint 2
- Player attack action ( ~ 5 hours)
- Add mechanics for player attacking and killing NPC
- Civilian artwork and spawn (~ 2 hours)
- Implement artwork for NPC and spawn on map (no movement)
- Stealth indicator (detected/undetected) (~ 3 hours)
- Two indicators, one for android awareness of player and one for civilian awareness of player.
- Indicators are binary: Player is visible, player is not visible.
- Implement Eye sprite
- Background art (~ 2 hours)
- Add more artwork
- Basic android movement (~3 hours)
- Spawn android and implement movement between set points on map
Sprint 3
- Sound Asset Placement (~2 hours)
- Music
- Attack sound effects
- Various environmental sound effects
- Environmental interactions (~3 hours)
- Traps to kill android
- Talking to civilians
- Civilian movement (~3 hours)
- Make civilians move between rooms and converse with player
- Improved android movement and attack actions (~6 hours)
- Android moves more freely
- Attack the player or civilians
Second semester
- At least 4 more levels
- Power-up weapons and weapon targeting
- Tutorial NPC (Mission Control)
- Police/guards
- More environmental interactions (locking doors, water, broken wires)
- Glitch in proximity to environmental "Fears"
- Full alert level implementation
- Another alert level to show civilians are aware (weapon drawn) opposed to detected state when the player attacks someone
- NPC reaction to detected alert level
Our goal for the end of the semester is to have menus and one playable level set up. The player should have movement, attack mechanics, and interaction mechanics implemented. The civilians should be able to move around, talk to the player and each other, detect the player if they aren't being stealthy enough, and react to seeing the player attack someone. The android should have all of the civilian abilities plus be able to "glitch" based on environmental interactions, as well as attack civilians. The background and stealth mechanics should be fully implemented, and we should also have a menu screen, a pause/controls screen, a help screen, and credits. Art and music should also be implemented.
- Team Leader
- Artwork
- Level design
- Keep track of other's work in order to help with coding bugs or adding to code
- Player movement and actions
- Android mechanics
- Combat for player and android
- Level initialization
- Player movement, interactions
- AI movement, interactions
- Stealth mechanics
- Layout design and mechanics
- Stealth mechanics
- Menu design
- Global variable storage.
- Starter level artwork
- Combat interactions (NPC vs Android) vs (Player vs Android)
- Equipment and Weapon design and interaction