Friday Fury - Game Concept

Concept Statement

It's a rainy Friday night, your apartment building has been overrun by an evil gang of frogs. Move from hallways to rooms unleashing carnage and your full fury to eradicate your enemies.

Note: No frogs were harmed during the production of this game.

Genre

Top Down Shoot em Up

Friday Fury will be a shoot 'em up high octane action game filled with raw and intense combat. The 2D top-down display of the game will show all of the carnage you create as you move from level to level.

Roguelike

Friday Fury will also be under the roguelike genre as there is no progression in the game and saving. The player will be sent to the start of the game every time they die with only the base array of weapons. 

Concept Creation / Inspiration

The process of creating this concept came from various sources such as films like Drive and Hardcore Henry, existing video games like Miami Hotline, and the music genre of Synthwave.

Drive starring Ryan Gosling is one of my favourite films, it has a scene in the second half of the film that completely changes the tone of the film as the character snaps and goes after the bad guys. Hardcore Henry was another film that inspired the idea of Friday Fury. The film is completely shot in the first person point of view and filled with a lot of action. 

The visceral feeling of Drive and the fast-paced combat of Hardcore Henry are what I want to capture in Friday Fury. 

Despite its controversial reception, Miami Hotline had good player movement and combat that kept players engaged. These satisfying mechanics are what I want to put into Friday Fury, good movement and gunplay rather than the brutal combat the game is known for.

Synthwave as a music genre also became an influence on the mood and setting of the game, similar to the film Drive. This music genre is based on the action, scifi, and horror soundtracks of the 1980s which creates a really interesting and captivating atmosphere for the player to move through.

Audience and Competitor Analysis

It is aimed at people who have an interest in synthwave and fast pasted games like Miami hotline. The game will cater for both casual and hardcore players where the simple gameplay will be easy to pick up, however, trying to get through all of the levels faster and faster would appeal more to hardcore gamers.

The game will be directed toward audiences that are aged 15+ due to its violent nature and visceral visuals. The game is fast-paced and full of action where players need to think and react fast to each encounter they face as they move through each level of the building.

Friday Fury will feature a completion timer that records the fastest run the player has completed. The simple mechanics of the game will appeal to more casual gamers whereas the timer gives another level of repeatability for more hardcore and competitive gamers looking for that fast run.

Game Treatment and Concept Art

Setting

It’s a rainy Friday night when you find out the city has been infested by an evil gang of frogs. Explore the hallways and lobbies of your apartment building going room to room clearing this infestation. Can you survive and unleash your full fury?

Gameplay

This will be a top-down shooter rogue-like where the objective is to get through all of the levels and eradicate the evil gang of frogs! The frogs will become tougher and tougher…

In terms of the number of guns available to the player, the player will start off with a basic handgun and progress to unlock around 3-4 weapons that can be unlocked with each of the levels being cleared.

Mechanics

Movement: The player will have eight directional movements which are controlled by the keys WASD.

Combat: The player will be shooting an array of weapons using the player's mouse.

The evil gang of frogs will spawn on each floor, progressively becoming stronger and tougher to deal with. Once the player enters the level or room the enemies will seek to attack and damage the player, which will be dealt with when the frogs make contact with the player. While the player has limited healing opportunities they must try and make their way through the building and clear it. 

Weapon Concepts:

Baseball Bat: For basic close-quarters melee. 

Handgun: A basic single-fire weapon with a small about of damage.

SMG: A rapid-fire weapon with the same amount of damage as the handgun.

Assault Rifle: A full auto rifle capable of significant damage.

Double Barrel Shotgun: This shotgun does massive damage obliterating anything in front of it, but limited to two shots with a reloading cooldown. 

Design:

Friday Fury will be a 2D tile-mapped world that aims to keep things simple and focus on the core elements like movement, combat and hardcore vibes. The player and frog enemies will have animated sprites and change depending on the direction and velocity of the player and frog.

Player:

Here you can see the concept for the player's sprite. The main character is a reference to the film Drive which is one of Friday Fury’s main inspirations, where the character can be seen wearing a white bomber jacket with a golden scorpion on his back. The outfit of the main character in Drive.

Frog enemies:

Source: Chaos Engine, thespritersrescource.com https://www.spriters-resource.com/amiga_amiga_cd32/chaosengine/ 

Main Menu:

The main menu of Friday Fury will aim to instantly put the players into the atmosphere and vibe of the game. With an abandoned and damaged hotel entrance at night with rain landing on the sidewalk. 

Map Concept:

The map for Friday Fury will be made from an asset pack by LimeZu called modern interiors.

Audio

Audio will be a strong focus in Friday Fury because of its strong relationship with the synthwave genre. As well as immersing the player with gun sounds and sound effects. The main menu theme for Friday Fury will be a custom-made song whereas the rest of the game's soundtrack will be from White Bat Audio, a copyright-free music service that focuses on synthwave music. 

White Bat Audio: https://www.youtube.com/c/WhiteBatAudio 

References

Drive. 2011. [film] Directed by N. Refn. Hollywood: FilmDistrict.

Hardcore Henry. 2016. [film] Directed by I. Naishuller Hollywood: FilmDistrict.

Miami Hotline. 2012. [video game] Developed by Devolver Digital

Spriters-resource.com. n.d. Amiga / Amiga CD32 - Chaos Engine (Amiga CD32) - World 1 - Frogger - The Spriters Resource. [online] Available at: <https: www.spriters-resource.com="" amiga_amiga_cd32="" chaosengine="" sheet="" 38051=""> [Accessed 26 August 2022]. </https:>

itch.io. Modern interiors - RPG Tileset [16X16] by LimeZu. [online] Available at: <https: limezu.itch.io="" moderninteriors=""> [Accessed 26 August 2022]. </https:>

Youtube.com. n.d. Before you continue to YouTube. [online] Available at: <https: www.youtube.com="" c="" whitebataudio=""> [Accessed 26 August 2022]. </https:>