Hw #8: Game Analysis

Greenhouse Tetrad

Story: 
You wake up in a house and you quickly realize the town has been overrun by some sort of plant zombies. As you defeat the zombies you find some survivors who join you in your attempts to save the city. You are told the radio tower might have some information so you go to there and find it has been overrun with zombies and you find a few survivors tucked away safe from the zombies. They tell you that from what limited knowledge they have that they believe some type of spore is causing all of this and the spores appear to be coming from the mansion across the river. Upon getting to the mansion you must defeat the zombies and destroy the spore machine and the evil AI that is controlling it.

Mechanics: 
The player will begin the game in a run-down house with one character, the robot, and as you go through the game objectives you will find survivors who will become your companions. The game is mostly just an open city where you can explore different areas, but some areas are more difficult than others to get through. Each character will have the same health bar that will be affected by enemy contact. Throughout the game you will set up bases where you can heal you and your team, as well as switch out members of your team (maximum of 3 at once).

Art: 
The location of this game is a run down city overcome with the plantlike zombies. The roads are mostly covered by grass at this point and many of the houses are abandon. We are hoping to create a darker creepy aesthetic, but at the same time we are not trying to stay away from the horror genre.

Tech: 
We are using Unreal Engine and we are designing the game to be played on the PC.

Balance: 
To add balance to the game we want to give each of the companions different attacks and play styles, each one will be more helpful in certain parts of the game than others. For example, if you are fighting a lot of melee enemies you might want to use a ranged character and shoot them before they get too close, but if you are fighting weaker ranged enemies you might want to use heavier damage melee characters.

Emergent Properties:
 In addition to the choice of your team we are trying to give the player different options for most other things as well. A very skilled player may be able to end the game quickly by storming the mansion with just the robot you start with, or a player who isn't as good at combat could possibly stealth around the mansion at the end of the game, bypassing the hordes and cut all power to the mansion, disabling the AI.

Interest Curve: 
As the player progresses, the enemies will become relatively more difficult to defeat, and the missions will become more complex. Furthermore, more details about the AI, the scientist, and the android will be revealed throughout the game.