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IGB400 Project

/ overview

Dungeon Tempo is a multiplayer turn-based rhythm game where players battle it out by creating tracks for each other in time to a consistently accelerating beat. Each player will get a turn to attack, where they can press any of the four directional buttons to send the corresponding note at the enemy player (which need to be timed to the beat) as well as defend, where they must react to the other player's notes as they appear, playing the tune perfectly in order to maintain their health bar.

After each player has had a turn attacking and defending, the tempo speeds up and the game becomes slightly faster. This continues until one player makes enough mistakes to completely drain their health bar, in which case they lose.

The only other major mechanic present are special moves, which can be used by pressing a combination of the directional keys at the same time, and require management of a simple resource meter. These would have various effects, from increasing the damage of the next attack, to automatically defending a certain lane, or even just restoring some health.

UI Mock-up

PaRappa the Rapper, 1996

Friday Night Funkin', 2020

Although it is a simple game with a small number of button inputs, it should be an effective demonstration of the core outcomes I hope to achieve: shipping, multiplayer, and genre variety.

Gameplay Protoype

/ outcomes

The core outcomes that I would like to achieve with this project include:

1. Shipping a finished title: Learning to ship a game is an important skill for every game developer, and the primary goal of this project. Working on marketing, promotional materials etc. as well as managing deadlines, pushing a game to completion and presenting it on a digital marketplace are all key areas of game development that my portfolio could be improved in.

Out of a handful of job listings I had researched, six had listed "shipped at least one successful game", "ability to work with deadlines" or some equivalent as a key qualification, (Deca Games, 2024, Daybreak Games, 2024, Climax Studios, 2024, etc.). As it stands, due to the limited time frame with which to develop polished games at uni and the limitations surrounding my capstone project, I think it is important to allocate time to learning these processes, so that I can properly demonstrate my knowledge of them to potential employers.

2. Learning to set up multiplayer systems: Multiplayer is an obvious addition to any game developer's tool set, and with the consistent growth of the online gaming market, it is a clear outcome to focus on, especially given the lack of any multiplayer games on my portfolio. A study conducted by Precedence Research predicts a continual increase in the online gaming market, with an estimated growth rate of 7.97% compounding annually (Precedence Research, 2023).

Likewise, of the ten top sellers on the popular digital marketplace Steam (as of 22/08/2024), nine incorporate multiplayer elements. It should be clear that multiplayer is not only currently massively popular but a constantly growing market, and demand for skills surrounding setting up multiplayer systems would understandably be in high demand.

3. Exploring new genres: The last reason this concept is effective at filling a gap in my portfolio is due to the excess of genres that I had not had a chance to make games for in the past. My portfolio does have some variety in this regard, roughly covering platformers, first-person shooters, puzzlers, comedies, educational games etc. but is lacking in a few distinct areas such as fighting, party, horror, management, rhythm, survival and mystery games.

I decided to combine a few of these (namely rhythm, party, and fighting) into this concept to cover a broader range of genres. My main reason for choosing these genres in particular is because I believe they not only mesh well together but also compliment the multiplayer systems I hope to implement, and due to the overall success of recent indie fighting games likeYour Only Move Is Hustle, party games like Duck Game, and rhythm games like Rhythm Doctor, even despite their simplicity and generic art styles, makes this blend of genres an ideal choice.

/ industry

My ideal profession in the industry that I'm aiming for would be a Lead Designer or Game Director, and so a core focus of mine is to be able to manage most of the processes of game development and have a large impact over the outcome of a game. Even acknowledging that a lot of entry level jobs don't have some of these requirements, I feel that learning every process in the development cycle is a pivotal stepping stone in the industry, and justifies the shipping outcome.

Based on the jobs I've identified, some examples of other skills that I'd like to work toward that were listed include "understanding client/server architecture", "implementing online features" (Gameloft, 2024), "remain current on new game genres" and "ability to design for a variety of audience types" (PlaySide Studios, 2024). Reflecting on these industry requirements, it is clear this concept is the most effective at achieving these outcomes and contributing the identified skills to my portfolio.

/ scope

This game concept should be effective at meeting the desired outcomes within the allocated time period, due to the following scope considerations:

Two players: Limiting the number of concurrent players to two should decrease the amount of set up required and testing for a multiplayer system.
Simplicity of core concept: The core gameplay systems in this concept are relatively simple, not requiring any complex collision, physics interactions, etc. and will use a simple 2D art style which should be easy to implement within the given timeframe.
Realtime player sync not required: There will never be an instance in this game where players need to be perfectly synced with each other in real time. The beat and timings will be tracked locally, and the game will queue up the attacking player's moves so that they always appear on beat for the defending player. This should facilitate an easier and more reliable set up for my first attempt at a multiplayer system.
External assets: The game will make use of external music and SFX, and will make use of some external textures, models and VFX where required.
Fundamental content only: The game will only feature the minimum amount of content to comprise an initial release (e.g. only 1 level, 1 character, 1 track etc.).

Overall, these scope considerations will be effective at facilitating the desired outcomes by allowing me to focus primarily on learning and setting up the multiplayer systems required, as well as adding polish and refining the core experience for eventual shipping.

/ summary

To conclude, due to the importance of the skills identified, how the outcomes facilitate learning these skills, and the potential for this concept to fill the listed knowledge gaps in my portfolio, Dungeon Tempo is an effective project to continue with, especially given the considerations to scope and the large market for multiplayer games within these genres.