Concept

Working title: Crystal Defenders

Concept statement:

Raise your shields in crystal defenders and protect your most valuable Treasure, the mana orb from the wicked hands of the very wizards you “borrowed” it from. Survive 3 rounds against magic spells and beams coming from all directions by blocking them with your enchanted shield and get back to your kingdom to cash in your newly found treasure.

Genres and Category:

The genres Crystal defenders aim for is action, strategy

The action part comes from the quick time projectiles approaching the orb which will come in the form of spells. Spells are single projectiles and beams are projectiles which will take longer to defend against.

The strategy genre comes from the planning the player must do to optimize and avoid as many projectiles hitting the crystal as possible.

Description and influences

The concept itself involves an orb or crystal that must be protected using two shields that rotate around the orb in a 360 degree direction as it is pummeled with projectiles and beams that give quick indications before approaching.

The orb itself will have 3 lives per round and each round gets progressively harder and introduces a new concept to the game.

Round 1: 1 shield no beams

Round 2: 2 shields no beams

Round 3: 2 shields with beams

 This idea was partially influenced by Undertale’s Undying fight in which the player must protect their heart from incoming spears

 a quick clip to show the general influence and design:

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jKof3S_IzoE ((Darkveon_)

though earlier concepts were more inspired by a combination of Undying’s fight and that of Muffet another boss from the Undertale franchise

https://youtu.be/udHfw4rx8SY?t=79 (Butler)

in which the player uses 3 lines to move between as a way to dodge incoming projectiles however this idea was scrapped as it would look weird graphically.

Additionally this game was intended to have upgrades and 10 rounds however, to simplify the game and make it more conventional the upgrades will be applied per round to reduce difficulty and ensure a player can always have a correct build for later rounds to avoid “sub-optimal” or “broken” builds

Audience and competitions :

Crystal defenders is a retro 2D game which aims to attract older generations who grew up with old retro classics such as Pac-man and Mario, however it also allows younger generations to gain an insight into the past of games by linking its style so close to them.

The difficulty in crystal defenders is static, meaning the waves aren’t randomized instead only jumping up in difficulty when the player progress to the next round. This consistency allows causal players to learn and beat the game whilst also allowing more hardcore players a chance to learn the patterns and commit to short no hit runs of the game.

 The theme entices players through its simplicity and overall short playtime that allows players to get a fun experience out of a quick time waster. Through its references mentioned above, it is believed that should Crystal defenders find itself a small audience, it will grow to be a fun game that potential players will pick up and enjoy for a bit to either complete, or master through personal set challenges such as no hits.

 Overall through ever increasing difficulty that stays static for each individual wave, crystal defenders is able to attract hardcore, casual players alike. It supply an overall satisfying experience when playing Crystal defenders and leverages nostalgic core memories for older users looking to re-immerse themselves in old 2D classics.

Game treatment

Game objects present to the users

The orb is the main game object present to the player. It also serves as an indication of a player’s life with 3 chances per round before the player loses.

The orb will have 3 different sprites depending on how many times it has been hit

A rough draft has been provided to illustrate an idea attached below.

Shields

The object that will act as the player itself. The shield will be controlled using inputs made by the player. The game will start out with only one shield to allow the player time to adjust to the conditions and general playstyle of the game. The number of shields increases to two as the game enters the second round, where the threat increases, and more projectiles will fly out.

Provided is an idea of what the shield will look like. This is simply an concept as I want the theme of the game to be centered around fantasy medieval. I would like to have a wooden/metal like shield, however a challenge that might come with this sprite is translating it into facing West and East directions and how that can distort what the shield is meant to look like.

(FadeyArt)

Spells

Spells are the most basic and first projectile a player is introduced to. By using an assortment of randomized sprites I.e., fire balls, mana balls and lighting sprites, I aim to give crystal defenders an immersive experience where the players get to enjoy multiple projectile sprites instead of one basic sprite repeated over and over again.

This will also give the player the feeling that they are being attacked by multiple spell casters and not just one repeated off-screen enemy.

Beams

The second attack type introduced to the player on round 3. This projectile type will involve the player having to quickly react to other incoming projectiles, as they must defend against it for multiple seconds before the beam lets up.

Besides challenge regarding implementation, a major challenge will come from making sure beams are balanced enough. This would involve allowing the player to react to other spells that may come at the same time as the beam. This may mean slower projectiles and faster beams, or lower pause times on beams.

(Foozle)

Other game objects include basic quality of life improvements to give users a general idea of their progressions.

This involves:

• A timer that tells the player how long the game still has left using a timer script.
• A text box telling the player what round they are on.
• A text box pop up that informs the player of changes made per round.
• Menu buttons to allow the player to pause, retry a level or return to the main menu screen.
• Main menu screen  that the player will first be introduced to upon loading the game.
• Game over screens should the player either win or lose.

Audio

Crystal defender’s audio has not been designed yet; however I would preferably be aiming for a fast paced “crystalline” audio that loops with instruments such as flute, clarinet and triangles being heard clearly throughout, a few examples would be castle crasher's world map music and undertale's waterfall

https://youtu.be/GmJEXOQ_BSQ?t=171

(F4m1LyGuy10)

the above clip shows the intended feel of the audio given its general theme and action genre

( Misaki)

the above clip doesn’t quite have the theme crystal defenders aims for but I aim for that triangle like crystal effect to match the theme

Overall, a combination of these two would be the intended audio Crystal defenders will have.

References

Darkveon_. “Undyne the Undying with Real Knife.” Www.youtube.com, 27 Nov. 2022, www.youtube.com/shorts/jKof3S_IzoE. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

Butler, Geoffrey . “- YouTube.” Youtu.be, 18 Sept. 2024, youtu.be/udHfw4rx8SY?t=79. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

FadeyArt. “Try Our API - Shutterstock.” Shutterstock.com, 2024, www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/wooden-shield-pixel-art-animation-isolated-2034002885. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

Foozle. “Pixel Magic Effects.” Itch.io, 2024, foozlecc.itch.io/pixel-magic-sprite-effects. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

F4m1LyGuy10. “- YouTube.” Youtu.be, 2024, youtu.be/GmJEXOQ_BSQ?t=171. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

Misaki. “- YouTube.” Youtu.be, 2024, youtu.be/v712NiVK5uY. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.