Game Concept

Emanon » Devlog

2 years ago by watto_a

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Devlog

The Working Title

Emanon

Concept statement

Fast paced action space shooter that is every bit as competitive as the original arcade games like Galaxia and space invaders. Immerse yourself and help save the planet Emanon from the alien hoards.

Genre

Top down space shooter

Concept Creation

The idea came from the original space shooter called Galaxian which was released in 1979 by Namco(wikipedia 2022), with a release of a tabletop version in 1981. This is the version I spent many hours on whilst waiting for a train to and from Victoria Barracks in Sydney on weekend leave from the Army, way back when they were first released, and my hair wasn’t grey.

Spaceships emerge from the top of the screen and swoop downwards towards the player in a series of set patterns akin to Pleiades(retroGamingLoft 2021) which was released in 1981. There were 4 levels in this game where all the enemy ships had to be destroyed and the final level the player had to land in a landing dock collecting flags on the way.

Emanon is akin to all the early space shooters and the gameplay will be similar except for a few nostalgic quirks along the way.

Audience

The game is for all ages and prior gaming experience is not required. However, the quest will become frantic as the levels progress. The game will also be available for phones and tablets therefore making it portable and more accessible, especially whilst waiting for public transport

Game treatment and concept art

Setting

You are the commander of a spaceship that is guarding the planet Emanon from the alien invasion.

Gameplay

It is a top-down shooter with the objective to get the highest score by destroying the alien spaceships and collecting bonus points along the way. Points are gathered by shooting the enemy spaceships which are valued according to their colour and shape.

Mechanics

The game will start of on a title page with menu choices for

playing the game

settings

high scores (This is the one you want your name on).

The background

The background will be very similar to all other space shooter games and will be the same between the title page and the first level.

Background

The Player

Movement – up, down, left and right

Shooting – single shot projectiles with the ability for multiple rockets with power ups

Health – using a health slider from 100 % down to zero

Additional lives – up to 3

Sprite -

Source: www.kindpng.com/imgv/TohbJo_enemy-spaceship-png-png-download-sprite-png-space/

Other possible sprites sourced from Kenney

https://www.kenney.nl/assets/space-shooter-redux

The enemies

The enemy movement will spawn from the top edge of the page then follow a pattern down towards the player. It will be mirrored so they spawn from both edges. There will also be powerups that the player has to fly over to gain points or lives (up to a maximum of 3 lives).

The enemies will be valued according to their type and colour

Red = 50 points

Purple = 30 points

Green = 10 points

Additional enemies will appear as reconnaissance flyers prior to the main body spawning and they will also be of a different colour and size and have a higher value if hit.

Additional sprite sheets for enemy swarms