Survival Game Notes
- Top-down camera, Monaco style, with a tile-based system.
- Buildings should be put together procedurally using user-predefined "blocks" chosen from suitable preset groups (warehouse rooms, hospital rooms, etc).
- Rooms should mainly be filled with rubble that can be salvaged by survivors, yielding materials.
- Type of salvage depends on type of the room. For example a warehouse might yield mechanical components, while an office might yield tech salvage.
- Generatd rubble should be randomly chosen from a set of suitable prests, just like rooms. For example -- broken desks, cubicle walls and office chairs in an office building.
- Clearing the room is a two step process. First, salvage usable contents. This recovers vast majority of usable materials. Next, clear the rubble. This yields a smaller amount of materials, and also clears the debris out of the way.
- Debris block path, impeding movement. Survivors can't cross debris without clearing it out of the way first, and rooms can't be designated to be something (workshop, hospital, etc) without being cleared out first.
- Images for rubble should also be chosen from a pool of suitable ones. For example, office desks in a warehouse won't make much sense.
- Line of sight based only on the room and distance from the survivor. No actual line-of-sight checks.
- If a survivor is in the room, the room's contents should generally be visible.
- Survivors have a "sight range" that's basically like a point light illuminating an otherwise dark map.
- The sight range should be based on the survivor's base sight (for example a sniper will have a longer sight), modified by the amount of light.
- This means that if the survivor is carrying night vision goggles or a light source, his sight should be greater.
Cooperative RTS Mode
- Players share control of all survivors, just like as if they were playing a single player game. Select a survivor, control them. Other players can do the same.
- This mode is meant for a more casual audience.
Cooperative RPG Mode
- Each player brings in their own survivor, and is only able to control that survivor, not others.
- This mode is meant for true co-op in an RPG-like setting, or hardcore players. Single player games with only one survivor are likely going to be very difficult.
FFA RPG Mode
- Free for all mode means each player controls only one survivor, and it's up to them whether to venture forth with others or not. Line of sight is not shared, and friendly fire is allowed.
360 Controller
- Left thumb moves the survivor, right thumb turns the survivor. Right trigger shoots. Left trigger takes cover.
Touch Controller
- Tap on the survivor to select. This brings up two joystick thumbs. Left one moves the survivor, right one turns the survivor.
- On-screen button to take cover / leave cover.
- Tap or hold on an enemy to shoot.
Mouse and Keyboard
- Click on the survivor to select. Mouse controls sight, WASD / arrow keys control movement. W/Up = +Y, not forward.
- Left mouse button to shoot.
- Right mouse button to take cover.
Combat
- Melee weapons are simple, powerful with the right attribute (strength for a baseball bat, dexterity for a dagger), easy to acquire and craft, but quite obviously can only be used when right next to the enemy.
- Melee combat is dangerous, as the survivor has a very strong chance of getting hurt in the process. The goal of melee combat is to kill the enemy faster than they can kill the survivor. Armor helps here (damage reduction). So does the defensive skill (damage avoidance).
- Ranged combat is far more preferable, and revolves around taking cover in order to avoid getting shot.
- Ranged weapons take time to aim. Press the trigger button, and the aiming reticle starts large, and gets smaller the longer the player holds the aim button. Release it to fire. Gun/bow skills helps here as they reduce the time it takes to aim.
- Some rapid-fire weapons such as flamethrowers have a "charge time" instead of aim time, but it's essentially the same, except that once they start firing, they keep going while the player holds the button.
Cover System
- Taking cover in the open should make the character crouch. Movement while in cover like that will be slow, but will reduce the chance of getting hit from distance. If the target is close, taking cover this way won't have any positive effect.
- Positioning the survivor behind an object such as a table reduces the chance of getting hit from distance by 50% (partial cover).
- Taking cover next to an object such as a table or a window reduces the chance of getting hit from distance by 100%, but only if the fire comes across the object behind which the survivor is hiding.
- Aiming makes the survivor leave cover (or enter partial cover if behind an object), which is dangerous, so flanking the enemy with another survivor is very important.
Inventory
- Each survivor should have an individual inventory.
- Items can be given to nearby survivors or placed into containers.
- All items should have a size they take up in the inventory. Small items should take only 1 cell, and larger items can take a grid, for example 3x5.
- Item icons should reflect this as well. No point in making large items with tiny icons. Calculate the item size based on the icon size.
Construction
- Crafting items requires a room to be designated a workshop, and a survivor to be standing in that room.
- Survivor with an appropriate skill set standing in a workshop should bring up a new button -- Craft.
- Crafting recipies should be done minecraft style (but since items can take more than 1 cell, it's more complicated).
- Draw the item by placing items in a pattern, and this will offer an ability to craft this item.
- Crafting should take time. While the survivor is crafting, he can't do anything else.
- Crafting can be put on hold at any time and resumed later.
- While crafting, the survivor can't be moved. On mobiles, the thumb sticks will not be visible. With a 360 controller they won't do anything.
- Once crafting begins, the items for crafting are removed from the stockpile and become "locked".
- Canceling the crafting process refunds the items.
- Many items should require multiple crafted components. For example, can't build a gas generator without first building a gasifier.
- Crafting raises the survivor's skill.
- The higher the skill, the faster the survivor is able to craft the item.
- Certain items require a certain skill level, or even multiple skills. For example a solar array requires both electrical and mechanical engineering, and both should be at mid-level before this even becomes an option.
- Crafting recipies should be randomly hidden all over the map, and should show the item's crafting diagram in addition to the skill levels required to craft it.
- Once a recipe is found, it becomes permanently unlocked by the player. A recipe is not required in order to craft something. If the player already knows the recipe, and his survivor has the needed skills, he can craft the item. Once an item is crafted, it becomes unlocked as if the player found the recipe.
Replay Value
- Majority of the professions should be locked from the get-go, and should be unlocked via playing.
- For example, can't unlock "Sniper" profession without having a survivor that's skilled in guns and has some combat experience.
- Profession unlocks happen on the account, and allow the player to choose this profession for his survivors on the next play-through.
- Combo professions, such as "electrical engineer" provide bonuses to multiple skills, as opposed to just one skill (example: engineer -> engineering).
- Crafting recipies that the player finds also unlock per-account, being added to the player's journal, and are available on subsequent playthroughs.
Monetization
- Lock multiplayer and only allow lower tier crafting recipies in the Free version?
- It's probably better to sell packs of credits, and credits can then be used to unlock things, rather than having individual IAPs for things.
- Full game can be an IAP unlock on Android/iOS.
- Optional: Unlock a profession IAP.
- Optional: Unlock all recipies IAP.
- Optional: When a trader comes by the player's outpost, the player can choose to use credits to purchase items instead of trading what he has.