Steve the Farmer Game Treatment Document By Mind Palace Table of Contents Game development process ...................................................................................... 3 Title ......................................................................................................................... 3 Format .................................................................................................................... 3 Genre...................................................................................................................... 3 Summary of our market research ............................................................................... 4 Which platform do we wish to release on? ............................................................. 4 The games that influenced our game design .......................................................... 4 Which features we plan to include from our research ............................................. 5 What is the target audience of our game? .............................................................. 5 Language ................................................................................................................... 5 Territories ................................................................................................................... 6 Content of the game ................................................................................................... 6 Overview of the game ............................................................................................. 6 Objective of the game ................................................................................................ 6 Theme ........................................................................................................................ 7 Structure..................................................................................................................... 8 Features ................................................................................................................... 10 Characters................................................................................................................ 11 Mechanics ................................................................................................................ 11 Points and rewards ............................................................................................... 11 Completing Levels/Waves .................................................................................... 12 Controls ................................................................................................................ 12 Story ......................................................................................................................... 12 Prologue ............................................................................................................... 13 Environment ............................................................................................................. 17 2 Game development process Title We have decided to name our game ‘Steve the Farmer: Chav Nightmare’ due to the fact that our game features Steve the Farmer who is out to take his revenge on the ‘chavs’ that have stolen his tractor and have committed the crime of tipping his cows, and from this we have got the title for the game ‘Steve the Farmer: ‘Chav Nightmare.’ Format The format for ‘Steve the Farmer: Chav Nightmare’ will be featured through a web based format through the use of the Steam gaming platform and through websites such as the Yorkshire Tea website, we also intend to release a physical retail disc based version of the game that will allow players to use the disc based version on multiple PC’s. The reason to why we want to release our game through the PC format is that it will be available all over the world ready for download upon launch of the game, we have also found out that a large percentage of gamers prefer the PC platform over the console platform as games tend to be cheaper and will reach a wider audience. Genre ‘Steve the Farmer: Chav Nightmare’ will be a hack & slash survival game. Some reasons to why we wanted the game to be a hack & slash is because of the fact that this genre is incredibly popular amongst our target audience and will be successful if we stick to what makes a hack & slash game great such as the fact that we are including fighting mechanics that are typically found in the hack & slash games as we are including melee weapons that would be used in the same way a hack & slash game would and we think that because we are sticking to the essentials that make hack & slash games good then we think that the game should be successful to fans of the genre. We have also gone with the survival genre for the game as this is an aspect that will be featured in the game as the main goal of the game is to eliminate the enemies and to survive without dying so we have incorporated survival elements into the game as this is a popular genre and is popular amongst the gaming community. The survival genre is popular for the pure reason that it’s all about skill and it requires the player to think about what they are doing in order to survive. 3 Summary of our market research Which platform do we wish to release on? The chosen platform that we intend to release our game on is PC via a download format, a web based format and a comparatively small amount of physical copies, the web based format will take the form of a demo version where a user can try out the game and if they wish to purchase it then they can download it at a price from Steam or buy a physical copy from video game retailers. The web based demo version of the game will also contain advertisements for products that are featured in the game such as Yorkshire Tea and the web based version will also be exclusive to the Yorkshire Tea website. The reason to why the PC market is the platform we have chosen to feature our game on is the fact that it will be able to reach a wider audience and there will be no fear of running out of stock when the game becomes more popular. The games that influenced our game design The games that have influenced some of the choices that we have made for our game are: Umbra – Top down survival game in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. You play as one of the last remaining humans trying to survive in this world. We took inspiration from the top down element and the feeling of survival in an unforgiving world. Trollkin invasion – Side scrolling Hack ‘n’ Slash for the App Store. You play as a soldier trying to defend his village from Trollkins. We took inspiration from the idea of defending your home that we incorporated into our game but we turned the idea around to a game where you go and kill the enemy to defend your home. How to survive – Real time, Hack ‘n’ Slash, Survival RPG. You go out into the world of zombies in search of loot and food, while creating a book on how to survive. We took inspiration from the idea of going out to kill the enemy in search of something, in our case, a tractor. Hack, Slash, Loot – Turn based, Dungeon Crawler, hack ‘n’ slash, RPG. You venture into dungeons and kill monsters in search for loot. We took inspiration from the top down, Hack ‘n’ Slash play style and the idea of bonus things in the play area, in our case, upgrades. Grim Reaper – This is a Side Scroller, Hack and Slash game for apple app store. In this game you play as the grim reaper collecting the souls of the dead and defeating monsters. We took inspiration from the scythe weapon and the idea of progressing towards a goal rather than simply surviving. 4 These games have influenced the choices we have made for our game in the way that they are action/ hack and slash games which is what we wanted to do for our game as this is a genre that is popular towards our target audience and looking through the ratings and reviews for these games in our market research this genre is one of the most popular genres in gaming. These games are quite similar in the sense that they are of the same genre but also feature mechanics that we will implement into our game such as the hack and slash elements; overall these games have indeed helped us decide on the details for our game. Which features we plan to include from our research The features that we have chosen to include for our game are that it should include typical hack and slash elements such as fast paced gameplay as this is a style that would make our game a lot more enjoyable, from our research we have also chosen that we should have expansive areas with dungeon crawling elements as this will allow players to enjoy the different areas and encounter the different characters/enemies and weapons that the game has to offer. These concepts have been sourced from various action/hack and slash games that we have researched. What is the target audience of our game? The target audience for our game is 16+ as it features aspects of violence throughout the game and this target audience will enjoy that style of game, the reason why we have chosen 16+ because any younger then there may be some concerns about the game due to the violence and use of weapons in the game so we have ensured that a suitable age rating has been applied. Another thing about this target audience is that we have discovered that this age range is quite popular amongst the action/hack and slash survival genre, we have also discovered that this particular age range use the PC as their chosen platform when it comes to gaming. Language We have chosen English as the primary language for the game because of two key factors; English is the second most common language on the planet and most of the jokes and references wouldn’t translate as well to other languages. However, should the game become successful we would go back to the story and change a few of the jokes and references to relate to other cultures, such as the chavs speech. 5 Territories As the game will be released on Steam for the digital copy, the regions that Steam is useable in will be the regions that our game is released. However, the game will be limited to certain areas in the regions, and that is also the areas that the hard copy shall be released in. These areas would be Europe, US, Australia and New Zealand because these are countries with a large section of English speaking people in the population, this is important for the reasons mentioned above. Content of the game Overview of the game Steve the Farmer: Chav Nightmare is basically a game that is being developed for the PC platform and contains different aspects from different genres, those genres being hack & slash and survival and these really give off the effect of the game being the type of game that will require the player to understand what it takes to survive but still having fun at the same time. The game also contains multiple game modes that a player can choose to play, those modes are the story mode but also a unlimited wave mode that will be unlocked after each story mission and will allow users to take on unlimited waves of enemies and this is where the survival elements comes into play. We are also going to include a leader-board that will allow the player to compare their scores to other people and not only that we are also creating achievements which can be unlocked after doing various tasks, earning these achievements will allow the player to have some form of bragging rights. The core game will include different environments for the player to explore but we are also including different weapons that can be used throughout the game as well as upgrades for the weapons which will make playing the game a lot easier but the only way to obtain upgrades is to take on stronger enemies and earn the upgrades, we are including a wide variety of weapons in to the game for the player to use. Objective of the game The objective of the game is to take the role of Steve the Farmer and must take out his revenge on the ‘Chavs’ that have stolen his tractor and tipped his cows, so the player must go through different environments to and take on any ‘chavs’ in the area 6 and then work onto the next stage of the game fighting bosses with increased health and strength, the player will have a choice of weapons to use throughout the game and can gain new abilities for the weapons and take on the enemies. One the player has travelled through the different areas of the game they will arrive at a final boss and will have to take them on to finish the game. There is another aspect to the game and that is the survival unlimited wave mode which has no real objective to it other than the player must survive as long as they can and the game will track their score for use on the leader-boards. Theme The theme of the game is that the game takes place in Yorkshire which is known as a place where farmers tend their farmland so this was a good setting that we wanted to incorporate into the game. The overall theme of the game is that it is a journey through Yorkshire through Steve’s farm, a village and then to the final location encountering different enemies and bosses along the way. The theme of farmers and Yorkshire has been integrated with the weapons that the player can use such as the melee weapons which are farmer related (pitch fork, rake) but also the range weapons such as a double barrel shotgun which has been seen as a farmers weapon of choice. The GUI has also taken the farmer theme as the health bar and wave counter are farm themed such as the health bar being a piece of wheat and the wave counter being fences, we have made sure that the theme of the game has been incorporated across everything in the game so that we don’t deviate from what the game is about. The theme of the game will also incorporate the use of large landscapes to really give off the feel of the farmland being really open so that the player will have to look in all directions as the enemies will be attacking the player from all directions. 7 Health bar Wave counter Structure The following flow charts show the flow of the game and what happens throughout the game. The first flow chart shows the flow of the story. 8 The second flow chart shows the flow of a particular level. 9 Features In the game there are a number of objects and items that can be used in the game. There are a few items that Steve will use on his journey, of murdering Chavs. We continued with the farmer theme through most of the game and the items are no 10 different. We use eggs and milk as health based items and the flat cap as life +1 item. The Yorkshire Tea increases the speed of Steve to allow him to kill more Chavs in a shorter time. The items are mainly generic except for the Yorkshire Tea item as that is one of our links to Yorkshire Tea in game. We have a few more references to Yorkshire Tea in the cut scenes. There are a few weapons that Steve will use when Chavs try and stop him. Continuing with the farmer theme, the weapons are actual tools that a farmer would use, if not on a day to day basis then fairly often. This explains Steves’ deadly proficiency with these weapons. The weapons have various positives and negatives. The scythe is a slow weapon but has a wide attack area and reach, the rifle can kill multiple Chavs at once as the bullet passes through them but needs to be reloaded after every shot, and the shotgun is a shotgun – 2 shots but a scatter range of death. The rake and pitchfork are the balance between speed and murderability. There is also another item and that is the radio, we want there to be a radio in every level that blasts Chav-favoured music and the player needs to go to the radio, destroy it and change the radio and music for his own. As it fits in with the farmer theme we looked towards older radios for Steve. Characters The main character of the game, and the one that you play as, is Steve the Farmer. Steve the Farmer is a typical middle aged farmer and as such has the knowledge and ability to use farm tools as weapons and how to use guns. When Steve has finished his farming for the day he likes to kick back in his favourite armchair by the fire, listen to some classical music on the radio and have a cup of Yorkshire Tea with his dog, Cookie, who loves Yorkshire Tea as much as Steve. Disrupting Steve’s peaceful existence is the chavs. There are a wide range of chavs and they have different abilities depending on their rank in the gang, which is indicated by their tracksuit designs and colours. There are also the leader chavs who are in charge of different factions within the gang, each of the leaders is stronger and faster than the others chavs with the final boss being the strongest in the gang. Mechanics Points and rewards On a level to level basis in the story mode there is no scoring system, however in the endless wave mode you are scored by how many kills you get (special chavs count as 2 kills and boss chavs count as 5 kills). You are also scored on how many rounds 11 you survive meaning you can get high scores for bragging rights while also testing how good you are at the game. We added a built in achievement system to the game that allows you to get special unlockable content like the golden pimpfork, concept art images and special soundtracks to be added to the levels to add a new feel to the game to add more replay value. The achievements link in with your windows live account meaning they are added to your overall Gamerscore for your windows live account, there is also a steam version of the game which the achievements also get added to your overall achievements on their. Completing Levels/Waves To complete a level you must survive all the waves contained in a level. The chavs get harder every wave meaning throughout the level it gets more challenging to complete. Certain levels have special chav waves where there are different types of chavs that are a lot harder to kill meaning it’s a lot more challenging, there are also boss waves at the end of each level and all the bosses are tricky and if you die, you have to start the level all over again and that makes our game a lot more challenging and that’s what hard-core gamers enjoy. Once completing a wave you get about 20 seconds to prepare for the next wave grabbing the remaining power ups and finding weapons around the level because it’s hard to hunt for these things while killing the chavs at the same time. Controls You move using the “WASD” keys to move like in most pc games, this will allow the player to be semi use to the controls when first picking the game up allowing them to jump straight into the game. You will be able to walk in eight different directions including “UP, RIGHT, DOWN, LEFT and DIAGONAL” allowing the maximum amount of movement for a game like this. The weapons will bind to the 1-0 keys to allowed multiple weapons at one time and allows the player to save the better weapons for more vital moments in the game, for example a boss wave. The weapons will automatically bind themselves to the number keys in order of pickup. You can change the direction your character faces by moving your mouse in the direction you want the character to face, this allows the place to attack while moving in a different direction to where they are facing allowing more flexible gameplay and allowing the player to have more free control over the character. Story The Tragic Story of Steve and his stolen tractor. *Cue crying people as this is so sad and tragic* 12 Prologue Steve was an ordinary man who just happened to be a farmer he did his job, he didn’t complain about it, he just did it. He enjoyed his job it was something that he enjoyed, he had his pigs, Cow and chickens to look after. There was only one problem with Steve, and that was where he lived, which was near Yorkshire, this meant that the local expected people to wear the Yorkshire hats, and drink their teas. Yorkshire also has Chavs and a few of them, and they were not really that friendly, nice or kind to Steve. This was because he lifted in the quite countryside and they lived in the urban city. The chavs had done a few annoying things to Steve before including, stressing out his cows, stealing his chicks and destroying one of his farm gates. None of this really annoyed Steve, until one dark night in 1999 they stole the only Tractor he loved. At this time he did not know who did this to him or where they lived to track them down, but he still remembered the rough idea of their faces. Fourteen years have passed and Steve has grown old, but he still did his work. But he could not forget about his older tractor, it never broke down or let him down. He tried buying other tractors but they were not like HIS tractor. One night the Chavs where going round looking for something to do, and they just happened to stumble across Steve’s field of cows. They thought it would be fun idea to try and tip over one of his cows. As they hopped over one of his gates, as they did it made a screeching sound. Steve’s female Yorkshire terror “Cookie” heard the screeching sound, and went outside to investigate what was going on. As Cookie started barking about what was going on outside, it woke up Steve as he was sleeping. Steve jumped out of his bed to see what Cookie was barking at, as he looked outside the window he saw a group of chavs trying to tip over one of his cows. Steve reacted quickly as he ran downstairs grabbing his rake and the keys to his combine harvester on the way down, as Steve shake(d) his rake at the Chavs he Got into his combine harvester, to chase the Chavs down the road. As he burst through his Gate and chases the Chavs, there were two police officers that were not far down the road. They were talking to each other about what to do, and one of them said “leave him alone, he is doing us some public service.” The Chavs stopped in one of Steve’s fields, Steve found them there. The Chavs just stood there, staring at Steve as he jumped down from his combine harvester. As Steve’s boots hit the ground and he grabbed for his rake, one of the Chavs said something, as he stepped forward. As he took one step forward and said “YOU What MATE?” Then begins the start of the first level of Steve the Farmer. Once Steve had killed the unknown number of Chavs that were in the field and hiding behind the bushes, a familiar face came from behind one of the bushes. As he 13 stepped forward, Steve could see his face as he walked out into the moon light. It was a face that he could remember, as a little while he realised, he was one of the chavs that stole his tractor in 1999. Steve heard one of the Chavs say something to him, “You get him Jake, he’s one a farmer Mate”. Steve now knew the name of him Jake, well at least this helped as at least he did not have xs’ in his name as Steve was led to believe. As Jake ran towards Steve with anger in his face, Steve readied his rake to fight as he knew that it would not be as easy as some of the other. After Steve’s battle with Jake all of other Chavs that were watching ran off in fear of ending up like Jake. As Steve saw the Chavs run back the urban city of Yorkshire Steve said, “And You better Stay out.” As Steve started to make his way back to his house and barn, he saw another group of Chavs trying to tip over his cows. As Steve started to run up to the group of Chavs, he saw that they were using something to tip of the cow, and he got close he could see that it was his tractor that they stole in 1999. As Steve was running to the Chavs, he could see his Dog cookie running past the front door of the house, barking at the Chavs and sprinting at them. At Steve just stood there and watches his dog cookie running toward the Chavs. As in a moment of shock Steve turned his head to look over at the Chavs, as he saw they managed to tip over the cow. As he was falling cookie was getting close to the Chavs, and then in load screech and then it ended. Steve stared at the chavs over the Small fence. He saw his turned over Cow on the ground which has landed over his flattened Cookie, with all of the anger and rage going through Steve, started to chase the Chavs as they ran into his barn. As he follows the Chavs into his barn, he grabs another rake that was outside his barn, and closes the barn behind himself. Steve uses one of the rake to block the doors so Chavs could not get in, and it would not give the other chavs a chance to get out. Steve turns around to look at the Chavs at the other side of the barn, which are now regretting what they did. Steve stares at them for a little while, and then gives a little grin. The start of Barn level. Once Steve thought he had taken out all of the chavs in the barn, one more stepped out from behind one of the hay bales. As she stood up to look at Steve, she said “What did you do that for kidda?” Steve knew that she would not be one of the once that would back down, Begins that Paula the Chavette fight. As Steve took the Rake off the door, as he slowly pushed the door open he saw some of the Chavs taking his tractor and driving it back down the country down. Steve dropped his other rake on the floor, and ran towards his combine harvester. As Steve sat down, turned the engine on and started to drive down the road to Chase the chavs to get his Tractor back. 14 Once Steve was driving down the road in his combine harvester, he was passing by his car, but only to find his car on fire. Steve got out of his combine harvester to find 3 chavs by his car starting on Steve saying things like, “You mad Mate?”, You what mate?” and “Are you starting kidda?”. With Steve’s Anger he picks up his spare pitch fork from his combine harvester, he threw it with burning rage at one of the chavs, as it prerace through his neck, and fell on the ground. The other two chavs ran away in fear of what Steve could, but only to come back later to bring in more backup. This is the start of the Country Road Level. After the feeble attempt of the chavs taking down Steve, as the eventually stopped appearing out of the bushes, Steve turned away to get back into his combine harvester. But as soon as Steve put his first boot onto his combine harvester, he heard the snap of a branch coming from the bushes, at first Steve it was just an animal hiding in the bushes, but as soon as he saw the human figure he knew that it was something bigger than that, something more dangerous. As the big Human figure got closer and closer, Steve became more ready to fight whatever or whoever it was. Once the person was on the road and Steve could see them properly he looked up at Steve and Said “My Name is Azza Laaa, and I’m going to take you down.” Steve knew by his size that this wasn’t just another Chav, so got ready to fight him. This is the start of the Azza Boss fight. After Azza fell onto the ground with a big thud the Chavs in the field knew that they had no chance of being able to defeat Steve by them self, as they ran into the nearby corn field. Once Steve Chased the Chavs out of the corn field maze, he found his little hunt outside which he used to relax, and there he found his scythe. When Steve picked it up after the longest time of him not using it, he knew that this could be his favourite tool to use against the chavs. As Steve bursts out of the Corn field he sees the group of Chavs talking amongst themselves about something. As the one of them turned around and saw Steve with his Scythe, he said “Look mate, is that Farmer guy” as another one shouted “get him”. This is the start of the corn field level. As Steve cut up the last chav that tried to challenge him around the corn field, he saw … another big chav come round the corn field. As Steve sighed he said “Not another one of you big guys, When will you ever learn, don’t be stealing peoples Stuff. Mainly MINE”. Steve charged at the big Chav, as the big Chav replied back with his name in a deep, cheerful voice saying “I’m Big Dan”. This is the start of the big Dan Boss fight. After Steve chopped Big Dan into a few pieces, he fell onto the ground with a big thud, as dust gathered around his body. As Steve looked into the distance he say the previous group of chavs running into the city, then Steve said “Well I have started this, so I might as well finish this”. As Steve walks back through the corn field to get back to his combine harvester, he just hopes to find his tractor again. 15 As Steve enters the town the Sun is starting to rise and soon the people will be out. As Steve looked around the town he found the group of chavs that were running from the corn field before, just outside the Spar smoking. As Steve pulls up by the side of the Spar he walks up to the chavs and says “Did you miss me?” The town level begins. After Steve defeat that stupid number of Chavs outside the Spar, the main leader of the Chavs Swagmeister Kevin comes round the corner. Saying “Well you are the one who has been pissing of my Mates, well … MATE. You are going to regret even stepping into my Town Kidda.” Kevin Puts arm over his head and then points at Steve, then about 50 Chavs come streaming around the corner to attack Steve. Kevin pre Boss fight. After Steve had taken down all of those Chav Kevin applauded Steve for how good he was, and saw why their chavs had little chance of beating Steve. Then but as you could guess as I better then all my... Mates put together. Kevin’s says “and I just think that you are going to have no chance AT ALL at beating me, Mate” As Kevin Taunts Steve. This is the start of the 1 vs. 1 Fight of Swagmeister Kevin. After Steve’s brutal beating of Kevin, he picked him up by his throat and then threw him into the ground. Kevin lifted his head up and with his breath of energy he said, “LOL Mate, I’m not the tractor thief. That is Blaze he is in the junk yard mate.” After Steve thinking that he had defeated the Chavs he realised that he had one last thing to do and that was to find and beat Blaze to get his tractor back. So Steve got back onto his combine harvester and headed out to the junk yard to FIND BLAZE. Once Steve had made his short journey to the Junk yard, he also ran along a small group of chavs on the which, which is used his rake while leaning out of the side of the combine harvester, to get them. He felt extremely satisfied about himself, as he bursted through the junkyard gate with a big grin on his face. There was Blaze with a mean look in his eyes as he saw Steve jumping down from his combine harvester. Steve started to walk towards Blaze, while he question Blaze. Steve said “So YOU were the one that stole my tractor”, Blaze replied “Yeah Mate, and What are you going to do about it?”. “Well for first I am going to take you down so low, that when you look all you will see are dinosaur bones” Steve said, Blaze Replied “You what mate, You’re going to put me below the dinosaur in the museum?” “Oh never mind” Steve Said, as he started to sprint toward Blaze. Begin Blaze Boss fight. After Steve had beaten blaze down to blood, broken bones and bruises, Blaze was lying on the ground, as Steve was about to finish him someone’s head popped 16 around the corner of the Junk Yard Gate. She started yelling at Blaze saying “Joesph!!, Come home Right NOW! You little shit. It is well past your bedtime.” As Blaze struggled to get up, he replied with “yes mum”, as his head was hung as he hobbled over to his mother to head home. When Steve looked over at the other group of chavs they just had sudden fear in their eyes as they ran away. Steve started walking around the junkyard trying to find his tractor, once he did he quickly found his keys to the tractor later in the little hut next to the gate. As Steve sat down in his tractor after the longest 13 years that have been for him, he heard the engine roar as he turned it on. Once he started moving he felt the largest about of happiness he has felt for a long time. Then Steve started to drive into the distance. *Credits (maybe?)* When Steve was driving back to his house in the country side, he saw a weird sight when he was pulling into his driveway; he saw pigs on the pillars and turrets around the house. He was begging to question this but it had been a long day so he just accepted it, as one of the pigs saluted Steve when he was driving in. When he got into the house he turned on the kettle, and then sat down on his chair to put his legs up. Steve let out a sigh of relief and said “Man, It is good to be home”. Environment The game is set in the county of Yorkshire and starts a little outside of the city of York on a farm that belongs to Steve and progresses through 5 other locations; a barn that’s on the farm, a country road, a corn field, a small town and then a junkyard. These locations were chosen as the natural progression of the game and also give a sense of moving forward to the end. The locations we have chosen are also general enough that we don’t need to put in any iconic landmarks from the real world environment. The levels are boxed off and non-destructible to prevent the player from walking off screen. 17