KIT109 Assignment 2 - Game Concept

Road Rat: A game by Kaiden Olsen

Concept: You are a rat. With a gun. And a motorbike. The objective is simple: shoot anything that moves.

Out in the barren deserts of Arizona, there is a gang of weasels who don't take too kindly to rodents. Bad news: they also have guns. Good news: they aren't too bright.

The cops are even worse. They don't just chase you down, they will predict your moves and try to make you tumble.

Note: The decision to make them pigs is purely for comedic purposes, and does not represent the creator's view of the police force.

Concept Creation: To keep things as simple as possible, I chose to use an existing game as the basis for mine. In this case, the scrolling, top-down car shooting concept was inspired by a game called Spy Hunter. Although I haven't played it myself, I remember seeing some video footage, and the concept was what stuck with me.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_Hunter

I decided to implement a gameplay feature of my own, something that wasn't in Spy Hunter as far as I could tell. The player and enemies can shoot in all four directions - North East South West. This is intended to add a challenge, in which the player has to shoot down and avoid the enemies while keeping an eye on the road.

As you can see above, the game is intended to emulate an arcade look.

As for the location the game is set in, I decided to set the game in the deserts of the western United States, even through I never been there myself. I based my locale design on the motorbike levels in Crash Bandicoot: Warped, which are set in the same, generic American desert.

Source: https://crashbandicoot.fandom.com/wiki/Hog_Ride

I had originally wanted to call the game Gopher A Ride, but when I started to create concept art, the name escaped me. I then chose to name it Road Weasel, until I drew the poster you see above. To me, the centre animal looked more like a rat, and so the name was changed accordingly.

Audience Analysis: I believe the people who will appreciate this the most are the ones who have played arcade games in their youth. This will have a similar feel, both in its gameplay and its aesthetic. However, most gamers should be able to enjoy this game, due to its action-based, slightly strategic gameplay. I do believe males will be a primary target for the game, not only due to the gun violence, but also because I don't think women would dig a rat, even if he wore a jacket. Regarding said violence, however, it will be rather mild; that is, no blood or gore. I think the game is suitable for a child as young as nine.

References:

Spy Hunter image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_Hunter. Uploaded by McLoaf (original game by Bally Midway).

Crash Bandicoot Warped image: https://crashbandicoot.fandom.com/wiki/Hog_Ride. Uploaded by KrazyKat (original game by Naughty Dog).

All other images were made (poorly) by me in Paint.net and Piskel.