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# System prepended metadata

title: <21302099>_1J5Z1019_journal

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###### tags: 'Uni Work' 'Games art'
# <21302099>_1J5Z1019_journal
[Public HackMD Link](https://hackmd.io/@v3Yb5OcTQ5CIYWJ-IjUjNQ/ryolVM4Xj)
### Production Pipeline (1J5Z1019)
### Games Art BA(HONS) L5
### Jack Furlonger

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## Initial Game Pitch
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### Welcome To "Condemned" (Elevator pitch)

Condemned is a competitive rouge like that pits 4 players against 1 player with all the power. The player on their own is known as the overseer, the warden of the underworld, & they have the ability to control the entire dungeon that the other 4 players are running through by utilising a grid-based building system. Within the dungeon, the Condemned play by the overseer's rules. The overseer can build rooms, summon creatures, create traps & grant rewards utilising a points & prefabs-based system for balancing.

Condemned is made to fit a pegi 16 rating and will be available on all main platforms such as Steam, Xbox, Playstation & Nintendo Switch & will come with an offline mode for those who don't have access to an internet connection.

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### Market research

![](https://i.imgur.com/STfP8Kg.png)

Various countries in Asia have the highest PC gaming demographic meaning consideration for these regions must be taken into account. This can come in the form of localisation but any game planning to go worldwide must also follow the strict government guidelines in these regions in order for the game to be able to go on sale in some of the biggest markets.

Some examples of China's restrictions include:
- Gambling-related content or game features
- Anything that harms the nation's reputation, security or interest
- Anything that harms public ethics or China's culture and traditions

[Source Can Be Found Here.](https://www.techinasia.com/china-doesnt-censor-skeletons-the-truth-about-game-censorship-in-the-middle-kingdom)

![](https://i.imgur.com/p0lQ2y3.png)

Utilising data on how many hours the average player puts into a game per week, we can calculate exactly how long an entire run of Condemned should be. Making the runs too long will impact players who have less time available for video games & if we take into consideration that a player could have a negative experience in a match such is the way with competitive games. A lot of players want to have a comeback experience where they try to end of their play session with a positive outcome such as a win. Matches can't be long or else players would not have the time or opportunity to get that comeback experience by playing another round. Based on the statistics an optimum match time would consist of around 10 to 25 minutes on an average game & at the worst a drawn-out match should last 30-40 minutes but no more. It would be best however to limit matches to 25 minutes as we want to maximise the number of rounds played on avarge in a play session per player.

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### "Condemned" In Depth

You play as a god/entity overseeing the underworld & managing its resources. Against you, A group of 4 players known as the Condemned. They escaped your wrath and are now trying to escape the underworld in a fast-paced rogue-lite style battle adventure. 

As the overseer, you have the ability to control what rooms spawn in the depths of the underworld. You can choose what enemies, traps and rewards await the Condemned, But time is limited. Each room has to be designed and prepped before the Condemned clear the room they are currently in & they have the ability to split up and go their own ways. Will they work as a team or be divided? It's up to you as the overseer to control where they go and what they do. Divide and conquer by separating them into weaker rooms that possess less of a threat or build fewer but more difficult rooms and focus your attention on keeping them together to annihilate them as a group.

After a select number of rooms have been overcome by the Condemned, the overseer will have the ability to create a miniboss or boss room which contains a powerful minion. After the Condemned beat 3 of these main bosses, they will progress towards the gateway out of the underworld and face off against the overseer in a final climatic boss battle.

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### "Condemned" Progression

In condemned there are two types of rewards for players. Overseer rewards & Condemned rewards.

#### The Overseer
The overseer will have the ability to unlock new types of traps, minions, room parts & room themes by completing challenges throughout multiple matches. They will also have the chance to gain unique rewards for a flawless victory.

The challenges may include but are not limited to :
- "Banish(kill) x number of players" 
- Keep players divided for x amount of consecutive time (keep them in separate dungeon rooms)
- Keep a player in a single room for x amount of consecutive time
- get x number of flawless victories
- kill x number of players within 2 minutes of each other

Any rewards the overseer earns from challenges are kept and can be used in future matches.

#### The Condemned
The Condemned have various styles of rewards. These can come in the form of abilities, items, offerings or cosmetics.

Items offer up an advantage but at a limited use & can be found within the dungeon.
- Med kits for healing
- One-time use Elixers of strength & speed
- Keys that can be used to unlock special rooms outside of the Overseers control 
- & more

#### Both Teams
A progression tree will be available for both sides which will include offerings, items for the Condemned & limited use traps for the Overseer.

Offerings act as a pre-match modifier that limits & buffs what the overseer or Condemned can do.
These can come in the forms of limiting or increasing how many minions they can place for a limited time, increasing loot luck or increasing/decreasing the distance in which traps can be placed by the overseer.

And then there are perks which give match-long unique abilities to both the Condemned & the Overseer. Each player has the opportunity to unlock and equip two before a match starts & some will come with unique synergies.

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### Competitors

![](https://i.imgur.com/IxDU83e.jpg)

Due to the rogue-like nature of Condemned, there is a sizable amount of competition to consider. Games such as Hades, Crawl & Cult of the lamb all have their own unique spin on what makes a rouge-like entertaining but none of them have doven into the competitive multiplayer market in the same way Condemned does. 

Crawl is the closest to Condemned as it allows one survivor to play against up to 3 players controlling monsters, but unlike condemned, you are not able to control the entire dungeon as that is pre-defined by the game. Crawl is considered to be more of a party game with a bit of friendly competition so the market of a competitive-based online matchmaking rouge-like is still up for grabs & since there is no sizeable game doing this, Condemned has a bit of room to breathe.


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## The project moving forward
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After being put in charge of a project team my initial goal was to set up a template for the GDD to allow my team to have a easier time following the documentation needed for this project. After spending a few days working on a template we started to fill it out as a team whilst utilising our sessions as a way to forumlate ideas into how the initial concept of the game could be developed further such as by changing it from a top down isometic game to a first person fps which still utilised the same mechanics.

Following these session I spent a lot of time writing up segments of the GDD along with the others. We had a pretty big team compared to most as we gained extra members as they joined onto the project late, meaning we had more artists than really needed for what we had planned. This left me taking a bit of a back seat role when it came to art & I ended up spending my time primarily managing how to keep the team organised and making sure the GDD made sense.

After spending weeks on just research for ideas, reviewing videos and gameplay concepts for our project. We decided our team was too indecisive with the overall games theme. Originally this game was planned to be based in the underworld & whilst that never really changed I pushed for our team to make this project their own by having each member design their own themed enemy types & characters. A small section of the team that were in on a select day worked with me to create a few template themes such as mechanical, demons, dragons & we later took suggestions for enemy types such as mutated plantations. I made sure everyone was happy with their chosen theme and left them to get on with their artwork.

In the meantime I continued to write up the GDD with a few of the others & worked on a prototype light enemy for the mechanical theme. A small light drone that would attach it's self to a bigger robot as a form of mini upgrade buffing that enemy in the process.

![](https://i.imgur.com/NyECW8l.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/gRDaLMl.png)
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Here is some of our reference material when looking at how we should design Condemned:
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King's Fall Raid Final Boss - Oryx, the Taken King [Destiny 2]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUxiiFtP2kg&ab_channel=Esoterickk

Dark Souls 3: High Lord Wolnir Boss Fight (4K 60fps)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCvbs3Xj8Ko&ab_channel=BossFightDatabase

[Dauntless monsters](https://www.google.com/search?q=dauntless+monsters&sxsrf=ALiCzsYI_y3Hc2QPse1CGsrUyiRvo-LM-w:1666179163571&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZu7SJmez6AhUF_7sIHdHlA_QQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=2560&bih=1329&dpr=1.5#imgrc=NvWGTuGYIhNyMM)

BPM: Bullets Per Minute (No Commentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUGhf0y9bWQ&ab_channel=ReaperPostAcid

Hades Review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDMXQo_LalQ&ab_channel=IGN

♪♫ Drill-X Boss "robot rap" | Skylanders Giants
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udu6T5mVJNs&ab_channel=TheGremlinKlown

Destiny 1 All Raid boss entrances and deaths
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PXNkY8vtns&ab_channel=NJB.

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## Condemned Group GDD: https://hackmd.io/@v3Yb5OcTQ5CIYWJ-IjUjNQ/Sk_0WfvNj/edit
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