Game Concept

Game Concept DevLog

Working Title

Agent X

Concept Statement

In Agent X, the player is a parkour expert trying to escape from hostile enemies by evading obstacles and killing mobs that stand in their way to reach their extraction point.

Genre

Agent X is an action and adventure game. This is because it features physical challenges such as obstacles that require the player to exercise their hand-eye coordination and motor skills to overcome them (Next Generation, 1996). Agent X is also an action-based game as the player can get hurt by enemies and die when they lose all their lives, which is a common theme among action games. It also allows the player to shoot and kill enemies, which is often seen in action-shooter games.

Besides that, Agent X is also an adventure game as it incorporates a storyline by which the player is an agent trying to escape a certain environment to reach an end goal whilst being hunted by hostile mobs.

Concept Creation Process/ Area and Influences

Figure 1: Vector (Nekki, 2012)

The concept creation process of Agent X started with the idea of a well-received arcade-like game that was easy to play and compelling. The game Vector was then decided to be an appropriate basis and main influence for this game. Much like Vector, Agent X takes on the role of a player that has to escape from a certain game world to reach a safe point while dodging and vaulting over obstacles (Nekki, 2012). It is a game that was designed to be addictive and actioned packed (Woolsey, 2013).

As shown in the picture above, Vector consists of two main characters – a player and their pursuer, both black silhouettes running across a platform. This free-running platformer depends on the skill of players to nimbly time their jumps to vault over obstacles and leap over gaps, all the while being chased by a single hunter. Similarly, Agent X would implement comparable gameplay, with the addition of certain features to make Agent X unique. Besides that, this game paves opportunities to use many of the KIT109 Games Fundamentals tutorials and scripts which can be expanded to make the game fun and intriguing.

After the basic features for the game were decided, ways to give Agent X a novel twist from Vector were taken into consideration. Firstly, where Vector features a player who only ever runs from a single enemy pursuer, Agent X consists of multiple enemies hunting after the player and allows the player to carry a gun, enabling the player to shoot and kill the chasing enemies. The player collects points based on the number of enemies killed. Additionally, the player is also able to collect powerups that can heighten the player’s performance such as running faster and being able to shoot quicker.

Following these extensions, a final product of how the game would look was established. Agent X would be a multiple-level game whereby the player needs to reach the end of a level to progress on to the next one. Each successive level increases in difficulty as obstacles become increasingly difficult to circumvent, with more enemies spawning.

Audience and Competitive Analysis

This game aims to target casual skill and score-obsessed players. The style of Agent X also caters to players aged 10 to 40 years old, who fancy shoot ‘em up games.

This game attends to the interests of young players and those aged 10 years old and above because it is fast-paced, allowing for multiple attempts to be made in a short period of time. It is also action-packed with multiple enemies chasing after the player while they try to overcome obstacles, inducing thrill as players strive to beat the game.

This game also addresses non-avid gamers as it does not require much skill to play. This is because the objective of the game is clear whereby the player has to reach the extraction point or end of a level. Besides that, the controls are simple as they are limited to a running direction of left and right, a jumping key, and a shooting key.

Agent X is a fun game that although requires average skill to play, will also appeal to players with an analytical mind as they have to time their jumps to avoid obstacles and apply hand-eye coordination skills to shoot enemies and collect points.

The competition this game will face is similar games such as Vector, which consists of the same basic game objective and concepts. However, what makes Agent X unique is its original nature for players to shoot back at enemies and use power-ups, which is not a feature in other games alike. Agent X sits alongside Vector – a game that has been well-received by many critics and players (Woolsey, 2013), in the market.

Game Treatment and Concept Art

Setting

You are Agent X, a spy carrying valuable knowledge regarding the whereabouts of the enemy base. But you have been caught! Using your amazing parkour skills and agent training, you have to avoid obstacles, kill enemies who stand in your way, and try to reach your extraction point to safety. But beware, as you move on through different levels, more enemies come after you to try and stop you. To assist you on your mission, your superiors have supplied airdrops that provide power-ups that allow you to shoot more rapidly and run quicker!

Overview of mechanics

The key controls of the player are the A key to move left, and the D key to move right. Besides that, the player has to use the space bar to jump. The player is able to shoot by using the left-mouse click and aim by pointing the mouse towards the intended direction. To collect power-ups, the player has to run into the power-up icons.

Enemies will run towards the player and hurt the player on touch. They can hurt the player and will appear faster and quicker the more levels the player plays.

The player has to navigate their way through numerous obstacles such as wrecking balls, gaps between buildings, and vault over barriers, all the while being chased by enemies.

Key features:

• The ability for players to shoot at enemies.
• Multiple-level game, where the difficulty increases as the player progresses further.
• Moving and stationary obstacles for which the player has to avoid or overcome.
• Collectible power-ups that give the player special abilities.

Concept art:

Figure 2: Basic game art design with background (Alekei, 2015 and Alucard, 2013)

The art style of the game is illustrated in the picture above. The basic design depicts a player sprite standing on a platform. Besides that, the background scenery includes the black silhouette of distant buildings (Alucard, 2013) and a night sky with a full moon (Alekei, 2015).

It is intended for the background scenery to repeat as the player progresses through a level, although the background may vary across different levels. Besides that, there will be multiple platforms that the player has to leap across with obstacles and barriers to avoid.

Additionally, there will be a number of visual indications at the top of the screen including a "Health" text that specifies the amount of health the player has, a “Level” text that represents the current level the player is on, and a “Score” text that records the number of points the player has collected for each enemy killed.

Figure 3: Enemy sprite (Anonymous, n.d.)

The picture above represents the enemies that will spawn and pursue after the player.

Bibliography:

Imagine Media, 1996, ‘The Next Generation 1996 Lexicon A to Z’, Next Generation, no. 15, pp. 28–42. 

Nekki,  n.d, Nekki - game publisher, viewed 13 August 2021, <https://nekki.com/>.

OpenGameArt.org, 2013, City Background Repetitive, viewed 15 August 2021, <https://opengameart.org/content/city-background-repetitive>.

OpenGameArt.org, 2015, Background Night, viewed 25 August 2021 <https://opengameart.org/content/background-night>.

Woolsey, C., 2013, Vector Review, GameSpot, viewed 13 August 2021, <https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/vector-review/1900-6415596/>.