Initial Game Concept

Initial Game Concept

Intro

Mario Kart; Both a popular kart racing game played by many casual gamers and a beloved franchise that continues to hold strong to this day. What is it about this franchise that attracts so many casual gamers? Is it the collection of hugely popular and quirky characters from Nintendo’s past? Is it the well designed power-ups and tracks? How about the effectiveness of its combined mechanics in offering a fun and accessible gaming experience towards players of all skill levels?

 

There is no right answer to this question, but the most probable one is that all of these different elements played a role together in contributing to its popularity. The Mario Kart franchise really defined and placed a hold on the niche market of casual kart racing games; it has become the essential casual racing experience for our generation.

 

The proposed game of Hell Racers will incorporate a lot of those elements that made the Mario Kart franchise a success. It will include a host of unique and quirky looking demons and souls; it will include fun power-ups and obstacles; and it will offer a fun and accessible gaming experience towards players of all skill levels.

 

So what will set this game apart from Mario Kart and all of its related clones in the genre? There is one key gameplay change in our game that will offer players of the genre a new and unique experience; the goal of the game will be to lose. Players do not want to reach the finish line first. The mechanics that players love from Mario Kart (such as power-ups) will be twisted to allow players to achieve this goal. Power-ups will be designed to help slow your player character’s kart down or to speed other karts up. Obstacles on the track will now be sought out by players seeking to slow down their karts in any way they can; however some obstacles will merely push the players forward and so must be avoided. Random events will occur during races that might potentially speed up or slow other players down.

 

These twists in mechanics and goals offer up interesting new paths in game design that ultimately will give gamers playing our game quite a different experience than something like Mario Kart. However our ulterior motive in design is to give the players a feeling very similar to Mario Kart; but at the same time, not Mario Kart at all.

 

 

Background Story 

 

 You are a recently deceased Kart driver who has been placed, along with other deceased drivers, on a one way trip down the highway to hell. However, you and the other former kart drivers are being driven there by demons; so you are merely passengers in each kart. No passenger wants to reach that destination soon, however, and so everybody panics.

 

Accentuating this feeling of panic, the devil (with a sense of humor) has announced that the driver who manages to come in last place would be spared this horrible fate and would then be sent to heaven instead. The rest of the karts will fall into a fiery pit upon reaching the finish and descend into eternal torment forever.

 

Passengers must hold off their inevitable doom by attempting to slow their kart down or speed other karts up. The Devil (in his mercy) has provided power-ups and obstacles on the track to allow players to achieve this goal. Also, passengers are allowed some small control over their kart, however this kind of power drains their stamina and must be used sparingly. Random events might also occur at any time to hinder or help players; even the Devil with his pitchfork might intervene. The road to hell spirals down and passengers must be wary of knocking their kart off the track in certain sections, lest they plunge into their horrible fate all the quicker.  

 

 

Demons

 

■     Racer P:

 

Full racing gear, including helmet. Gender, age, etc undetermined. (May drop hints that it is Persephone or some such). Engine of choice is a kidnapped ghost with a makeover. Racer P plans to use this ghost as her doppelganger as a way to avoid her next “underground vacation”. 

 

■     Reaper:

 

Outfitted in black racing gear, minus helmet and gloves. Car is black with one horse painted over each wheel (reference to the horsemen of the apocalypse). Rear seat is completely packed with souls.

 

■     Princess:

 

An eldritch style tentacle beast emerging from a pentagram spray painted on the driver's seat of a pink car. May play "Barbie Girl" from car radio depending on circumstance. Engine of choice is a kidnapped princely soul whom she will introduce to her family as her new boyfriend

 

■     The Twins:

 

A visual reference to the antagonists of The Ring, The Grudge, etc. Vehicle of choice has disagreements with the laws of reality. They move in unison with one another. The engine is one of the siblings. They have a lot in common, but do not greatly enjoy each other's company much anymore.

 

■     Nubs:

 

A large goat demon with very short horns. Vehicle of choice is heavily modified and covered with large horns. Very loud and is obviously overcompensating. Engine of choice is a demon with very large horns, which he plans to harvest upon arrival.

 

■     Ghost:

 

The driver and this car were the victim of a wrecking ball accident. Said wrecking ball is still lodged in the roof of the car. Is forced to be his own engine.

 

■     Snowball:

 

A white, fluffy cat in a blue car. He stands a snowball's chance in Hell. Engine of choice is a large, extremely muscular man whom he plans to use in his efforts to dominate Hell as its new king. 

 

 

Objective / Goal

 

The player must use any means at his or her disposal to lose the race (or cause others to win); this includes using power-ups to slow down the kart or speed others up.  

 

 

Gameplay Elements 

 

●     Karts accelerate at max speed down the track.
●     Aside from limited movement, karts are controlled by the computer.
●     Players can only turn the cart up to 45 degrees angle, the level will built to stop the player from turning around.
●     Players can also cause their kart to hop, move side to side, or brake; however this drains their stamina bar (which slowly regenerates). This is designed to prevent players from spamming movements in an attempt to slow their karts down.
●     The side of the track will accelerate the karts, they must be avoided.

 

 

●     Power-ups / Obstacles:

 

○     Demon Overdrive

                                   

Aimed at another kart’s demon driver. That demon gains a temporary adrenaline burst and drives super fast for 15 seconds.

 

○     Position swap:

 

The player fires a projectile, it will swap the player position of the first car it hits.

 

○     Hook and throw:

 

Hurls the target in front of the caster.

 

○     Stamina Pickup:

                       

                        Completely fills up the player’s stamina.

 

○     Stamina Drain:

 

                        Completely drains the player’s stamina.

 

○     Throwable Boost:

 

                                    Places a temporary speed boost at target location.

 

○     Sabotage:

 

                                    Removes engine parts, causes kart to stall temporarily.

 

○     Springboard:

 

                                    Throws your kart backwards.

 

○     The Devil:

 

Random event: will either knock players forward with his pitchfork or knock them backwards (upon the Devil’s whim).

 

Game Controls

 

○     Xbox 360 controller

 

■     RT - fire projectile

■     LT - Brake

■     Right Stick - Aim / look

■     Left stick - Move side to side

■     RB - Hop

■     X - Grab

■     Left/Right D-Pad - Cycle gathered powerups

■     Up/Down D-Pad - Cycle camera angles

■     Start Button - Pause menu

■     Back Button - Show scoreboard

 

○     Keyboard and Mouse

 

■     WSAD - Limited control movements

■     Mouse - control camera / free aim

■     Shift - Brake (limited)

■     Left click - fire projectile

■     Space -  Hop

■     X - Grab

■     Left/Right Arrow keys - Cycle gathered powerups

■     Up/Down Arrow keys - Cycle Camera angles

■     Esc- Pause menu

■     Tab- Show scoreboard

 

 

Art Specifications

 

○     Character models

○     Animations

○     Kart models

○     Tileable road pieces

○     Background lod

○     Miscellaneous assets

 

 

Concept Art

 

 

Audio Specifications

 

○     Character Sounds (Demons / souls)

○     Environmental Sounds (ambience, obstacles, environment…)

○     Power-up Sounds

○     Kart Sounds

○     Music

 

Ports to Multiple Platforms(optional)

 

○     To be determined.

 

Marketing Analysis

 

Hell Racers will be designed to attract the “kart racing” market, specifically to racing fans who desire more of an unusual experience, something outside the norms of the genre. Similarly to Mario Kart, this game will also be targeted to more of a casual gaming audience. Since Hell Racers will be designed to incorporate “losing” as a legitimate gameplay goal, the key factor that would help contribute to its success would be to incorporate fun gameplay not related to speed. Racing game fans usually play games in this genre so that they can drive fast and feel the thrill of speed; however our game will be designed to replace this thrill with other fun mechanics. Players who pick up our game for the first time should be able to jump right into the gameplay after they first get over their instinctiveness to win.

 

If we decide to incorporate a multiplayer mode during the later stages of our development cycle, there would be a couple design decisions that would have to be considered. Since casual multiplayer games are usually designed to allow multiple players to have a fun experience regardless of skill level, Hell Racers will need to incorporate mechanics designed to prevent players from getting too far ahead or behind; therefore achieving this goal. This is what a game like Mario Kart does so well: players never get the feeling that they’re ever out of the race or unable to catch up (or in this game falling behind).