Game Overview
Game Inspiration
For my Final Project, I initially took heavy inspiration from the following games:
Call of Duty Black Ops 3
Titan Fall 2
Mirrors Edge
Rollerdrome
I made this choice as a reference to inspiration because these games all feature gameplay that revolves around the movement mechanics that have been implemented. The movement mechanics featured in these games are also crucial to the gameplay experience of their target audience(s).
I mostly took inspiration from these games regarding environment design; they are all set in a futuristic timeframe; however, some levels within these games appear to use different time-periods as inspiration. This has led to my game environment revolving around a destroyed world; which explains why there are floating islands - the destroyed environment also allows the player to use the movement mechanics I have implemented in this game to traverse through the levels.
Genre
I have designed this game with three genres in mind:
FPS
Action
Parkour
Now that the game has been made, I believe that the work I have produced allows for my game to fall under these genres, though in some areas it may be a loose-fit. I chose these genres as inspiration because the action and parkour genres tend to go each with other rather well, especially showcased in other popular games under these genres. I also targeted the FPS genre because it is what I am personally most experience with regarding the production of games.
Narrative
Timeleap has a very basic narrative featured in the game. This is mostly due to me perceiving my projects from an almost truly technical perspective, which makes it difficult to come up with game elements such as a narrative or story.
The narrative featured in Timeleap purely revolves around the tutorial scene; as this is the whole premise / set-up for the narrative within my game. The tutorial scene teaches the player the basic controls and an introduction to the movement featured. The player then comes across a pistol that the game then tells the player to pick up and then shoot a non-hostile NPC, who is shown to be stood next to a campfire. However, upon shooting the NPC, a futuristic looking platform / island appears, carrying more enemies—this time they're carrying weapons. This acts as a way to indicate to the player that whoever the NPC was that they killed, was not the best person to choose to kill out of impulse. The player then defeats the hostile enemies, and the game tells the player to interact with the giant satellite at the end of the platform, which is highlighted using a red outline. Upon interacting with the computer, a portal appears and the player goes through it. The player then ends up on another floating island, but there is a different time-setting in this stage. Accompanied by this, there are also even more hostile enemies that are displeased with the player.
Unique Selling Points (USPs)
Unique Selling Point 1: Movement Mechanics
One of the main selling points for my game is that the game functionality revolves around the movement mechanics that are implemented within. This is because a lot of games that are advertised to be parkour-shooter games tend to focus primarily on the other mechanics in a game, making the game movement feeling like it was added as an afterthought. This is the main aim that I'm trying to prevent with my game.
Unique Selling Point 2: Cross-platform compatibilities
Another main selling point for my game is that it will be available on two desktop platforms; both Windows and Linux. This was designed mostly in mind with the increasing popularity of hand-held gaming devices running Linux, such as the Steam Deck. According to the Steam Hardware Survey, the percentage of gamers using Linux is steadily increasing, alongside the percentage of gamers using Windows slowly decreasing. By making this game both Linux and Windows native, it increases the availability of my game while making gamers on each platform more likely to consider purchasing this game if it was ever officially released. This has been further achieved by using the Vulkan Graphics API, with the same graphics front-end for both platforms it removes the limits of only having certain features only available on a single platform.
Unique Selling Point 3: Game Optimisation
The targeted optimisation of my game can be another unique selling point for my game. With upcoming newly released games requiring a more and more high-end computer specification to run the games smoothly, it's becoming increasingly difficult for gamers on older hardware to run newly released games at a smooth frame-rate. The optimisations in my game aim to alleviate this; I want anyone who is interested in playing my game, to be able to play my game at an enjoyable experience.
Target Audience
I have designed this game with a wide primary audience for this game. The ideal primary audience for my game would be gamers, ideally on the desktop platform, who have an interest in fast-paced movement mechanics within shooter games. As mentioned in my Unique Selling Points, I want to have as wide of an audience of focus as possible, as a way to extend the game outreach to potential players of this game.