Dead in the Dark (working title)

Community Showcases
1

Hey everyone! I’m starting this thread as an area for me to keep on track with my game I’d like to develop. It will serve as:

  1. A working GDD that others may read and give input on.
  2. A timeline of work goals.
  3. A ongoing log of my progress.

Please bear in mind that I do work at a sporadic job so there may be large breaks in between updates. Also, if this game does come to fruition it would be my first proper release. Often I start thing then let them fall apart, but this game is going to be the break in the habit (hopefully). That being said, I would LOVE any and all input. So if you do follow this at all please, please, please! share any thoughts you may have.

Thanks!

2

Working GDD

my elevator pitch: Think the movie Pitch Black, but with zombies and you can’t win. You can only hold out as long as possible.

More Detailed Description

Dead in the Dark is a zombie game with a simple premiss, darkness is closing in and zombies are going to eat you. It’s a “hold back the flood” FPS where you are placed next to a light source while zombies are randomly generated in the pitch black dark. They try to kill you as the spawns increase in frequency and difficulty, while the light dies off and your ammo and health run out. As the clock tics, you gain points at an increasing rate and you also gain points for ever shot and every kill. Once you die and get a game over that score will go on a score board, kept for each level.

The first release of the game will gear towards a simple concept and easy to understand game mechanics.

Random Junk to be formed into a more coherent document later.
Everything here is just random thoughts and ideas for future development.

-Tid-bit notions and brain food

-Destructible light sources
-Life regen factors in proximity to light source
-Use zombie bodies to throw and eat
-Slippery and/or sticky surfaces
-How to get more fire?
-Resurrecting Zombies
-Health types (Halo, slow regen, pot-pie drops, none)
-Ammo types (Finite, Regen, pot-pie drops)
-Armor?

-Potential Survivors This obviously would only come in after customizable characters for multiplayer

-Bimbo/Bro
-Hipster
-Jersey Trash
-Gangsta
-Gangsta wanna be
-Poser Punk
-Emo
-Goth
-Raver
-Sports Nut
-Right Wing Nut
-Left Wing Nut
-Mexican Priest/Nun
-Office worker
-Tweaker
-Retired
-Bum
-Wasp
-Construction Worker
-Indian
-Biker
-Cop (ha ha, get it?)
-EMT/Nurse
-Firefighter
-Waitress/Bartender
-Librarian/Professor
-Soccer Mom/Sports Dad

-Potential Zombies

-Flea- Small and round, constantly jumps randomly and moves with little hops.
-Undying- When shot to pieces the limbs still keep coming and must be eradicated to kill.
-Thrower- Large and tank like, throws zombies at you and throws you back away from it.
-Cannibal- Eats other zombies to heal and gain their abilities.
-Armored- Has armor that needs to be shot around.
-Infested- Crawls slowly and spews out deadly rats and bugs. Pops when killed and spews more.
-Pack Leader- Spawns with several other zombies and rounds up others. Zombies leave when he
is killed.
-Dog- A dog zombie. Duh.
-Dimmer- Dims the light source and causes all sorts of area effects.
-Roller- Similar to L4D2’s charger, but rolls.
-Caller- Skidish, stays on edge of the light calling in other zombies.
-Wall Crawler- Climbs walls. Or something.
-Resurrector- Brings back dead zombies and heals others.
-Devourer- Eats you whole and damages you until you break out.
-Tetsuo- Is a pile of guts and organs (see Akira) that shoots extremities towards you.
-Pile- A walking mass of zombies working as a single unit.
-Master/Blaster- A brute zombie led by a small midget one. The brute is useless after the small one dies.
-Buffer- I wrote this down and forgot what it meant.
-(WIP) Blind Zombie
-(WIP) Flying Zombie

-Potential Weapons

-Melee

-knife
-metal bat
-Frying Pan
-Guitar
-2x4
-Pipe
-Shovel
-Machete
-Wrench
-Chain Saw
-Skill Saw
-Drill
-Blow Torch

-Guns

-AK-47
-Uzi
-Desert Eagle
-Sawed-off Shotgun
-Saw Machine Gun

-Thrown

-TNT
-C4
-Gas Tank
-Propane Tank
-Mine
-Pipe Bomb (possibly offensive)

-Other

-Grenade Launcher
-Areosole Can Lighter (possible lawsuit issues. kids, don’t try this at home!)
-Bow
-Crossbow
-Laser
-Plasma
-Lightning
-Rail

-Potential Levels and Settings

-Mall
-Church
-Amusement Park
-Naval Ship
-Ball Park or Stadium
-Casino
-Zoo or Aquarium
-School (probably not)
-Museum
-Hollywood
-Hospital
-Beach/Resort
-Prison
-Asylum
-Carnival

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Development Timeline

Alpha Goals Ready by 4/21/12

-Functioning GUI (Start, quit, options, high-score)
-Functioning HUD (Life, score, bullets)
-Game Cycle
-Representative Art
-Walker Zombie AI
-AI Director
-Basic gun with no model
-Basic Campfire stage

Beta Goals Ready by 5/31/12

-Find an artist to collaborate with(?)
-3 Zombies (walker, runner, exploding)
-Models and animations
-Particles
-Flickering Campfire Light
-Dying light source
-Polished GUI
-4 weapons (axe, shotgun, smg, grenade) with models

Version 1.0 Ready by 7/31/12

-Weapons affect run speed
-5 complete stages (Campfire, Cabin, Woods, Two Way, Dead End)
-4 Melee Weapons (Bat, Katana, Axe, Sledge)
-4 Guns (9mm, Magnum Revolver, Spas Shotgun, M16, MP5, Hunting Rifle)
-2 Thrown (Maltov, Grenade)
-2 Special (Flame Thrower, Rocket Launcher)

Possible Version 1 Updates Continue until 1/1/13

-New Weapons
-New Stages
-New Zombies
-Challenge Modes
-Co-op
-Versus
-Refine Graphics
-Custom Characters
-Expand Platform Market

Version 2.0 To be seen

-RPG Engine similar to Diablo
-Inventory similar to Diablo
-Story Mode
-Quests
-Situational Animations similar to Left 4 Dead

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My first incredibly lame screen shot!

Not much to show, just giving an idea of what the pitch black levels will look like. By the final release I’d like the fire to die off slowly while the light shrinks and dims. And of course give it a flicker and other various effects.

Believe it or not, that is also one of the stages I want included with maybe the addition of some debris for visual reference. Maybe a car. Maybe.

Okay, enough screwing around. Next task, main menu with a working start and quit! Whoo!

5

I’m not quite sure I like the idea of not being able to win Q.Q

6

It’s an arcade style game. Can you beat Pac-Man?

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I hope to have zombie walking around the fire and between the letters. Then have the camera move for each setting to face that screen. Finally when you hit start, I want the camera to spin around and to face a zombie lunging at you.

8

Hrmm… Having some issues.

The 3d text doesn’t stay red when I save.

Also, the stage doesn’t load right when I hit start.

9

could u make a web player version i would love to test the game. :slight_smile:

10

well, the Idea is just epic! waiting for a webplayer too :slight_smile:

11

I fully plan on making a web play version since. It’s my target market actually. But I just learned a hard lesson about not importing assets until I try it on a blank project. Total wipe. I’ve got to redo EVERYTHING.

Oh, well. Should be faster this time around.

12

Yeah, stuff like this just happen.

Good luck tho.

13

It’s like Mass Effect 3

14

Okay, one new career, a major death in the family, and five months later Dead in the Dark is back online. I had to start from scratch, but with a lot more momentum and a lot of improvements.

1141358--43238--$deadinthedark.jpg
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The title is now my own image and not a licensed font.
The title also falls into the shadows.
The type writer font is public domain.
The fire now has five different particles.
The light flickers and shrinks over time.
The terrain has slight imperfections so its not weirdly flat.

To do this weekend:

-Shift the camera to alternate menus upon clicking an option
-Enemy movement AI
-Have the particles of the fire dwindle down over time
-Have the score count up over time and increase increments with time
-Have the zombies move faster over time

Hopefully I’ll be able to do more but these are the definite, must finish, goals.

15

Nice, if you need anyhelp with coding im available!

You should add like ability to find a friend/an ai character stuck in a corner that you help out and he help you demolish zombies untill you die.