Game Idea

Description of the game

My idea for a RPG where you play as a solider, starting off as a private and progressing

through ranks unlocked new weapons, equipment and customisation options with each rank.

The RPG aspect comes from being able to choose your class of solider and what path you

want to focus on some paths could be.

Sniper

Heavy Gunner

Scout/Spy

Explosives expert

The game would be open world but have a main story and side missions much like the setup

of a game like Skyrim or Fallout. The story could be about a lone solider (you) who is part of

a secret team who were sent to the region to carry out an assassination behind enemy lines,

the game would be the lone soldiers journey across a war stricken country trying to get back

to their team and regroup. You would meet mercenaries along the way who can get you

supplies or aid you in combat, and various other characters.

Because of the environment you are in supplies are limited this would make the player

conserve ammunition and supplies and not just go in and shoot everything.

Because your unit was on a secret operation you can’t radio for help because as far as the

rest of the military knows the mission you were sent to carry out doesn’t exist.

I would like the game to have a conspiracy story running alongside the main campaign, this

could be achieved by finding out various bits of information about the people in your unit and

make you question if you should trust them if you find them.

Levelling & Unlock System

Because of the games military nature I’d structure the levels as military ranks the actual rank

would have no effect apart from being a name for your level in the game. At each level the

player would receive a skill point to spend on upgrades such as:

Shooting skills (Better aim while shooing, control recoil, reload speed)

Health (take more damage, regenerate faster)

Armour (increases armour rating, armour takes more damage before breaking)

Movement Speed (run and climb faster, take cover quicker)

Stealth (make less noise when crouched, less visible in shadows)

Apart from these upgrades the player would unlock items such as new combat equipment at

each level and then have to find the money to purchase them from mercenaries of combat

shops throughout the world items would be:

Helmets (Decrease weight of the solider for faster movement)

Night vision goggles (Aid you in the dark and seeing heat signatures)

Combat Jacket/pants (Armour rating)

Backpack (increases amount of items you can carry)

Weapon (add camo, upgrade sights, barrel, stock, etc. )

Setting

I picture the game being set in a desert war zone, with abandoned buildings and vehicles

scattered about the world. I would put some supplies it various houses to aid the player on

their adventure. Apart from abandoned places in the world I would also have populated

areas where the player can buy equipment and meet key characters for progressing through

the story.

Below is an image representing the setting for the game I picture

Image link here

Character Design

Below are some images from the game - Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Solider. This

game is set in a similar environment to mine and the characters in the game are part of a

team like the one I imagine my game character too be part of, I feel like this would be a good

place to start on character design for the game.

Image link here

Image link here

Backstory

Set in modern day Iraq, you play as Sgt Jackson “Jacks” Smith, a soldier who is part of a

secret team of highly trained soldiers who’s assignments are unknown to the majority of the

military apart from a few high ranking officers,––– because of the secretive nature of your

missions, no mission has backup or any help if something goes wrong.

The game starts with the team flying into Iraq behind enemy lines with instructions to kill or

capture 3 high value targets, during the mission things go wrong and you are captured

alongside your partner and split up from the rest of your team.

During your captivity you partner is killed leaving you captured alone with no partner and no

one else coming to help you, your new mission is to regroup with what’s left of your team

and find out how the enemy knew what your mission was.

During your journey across the war stricken desert and towns you encounter a lot of people,

some are there to help you some aren’t, use your military training to gain levels, new

weapons and character customisation upgrades.

During the game you will find out secrets about the soldiers in your team and the high

ranking officers that are in charge of your missions, piece together all the information to find

out who it was that leaked the mission information to the enemy and get revenge for the

death of your partner, and for your capture.

Influences from other games

I would like to use the levelling up system from games like Fallout new Vegas & Skyrim, Like in these

games killing enemy’s and completing missions would reward experience towards your next level,

each level the character would unlock a new perk, every 5th level a piece of equipment such as a new

helmet or new combat gear with better stats, and every 10th level a new weapon would be unlocked

the weapons will be split into tiers and differ depending on the class of solider you have picked. So

the higher levels get better weapons and different classes get different weapons.

In terms of graphics I would use the engine from a next gen open world game, a good choice would

be Infamous second son, which allows for amazing graphics and a huge open world. As well as lots of

enemy’s on screen at the same time and destruction of the area and vehicles, I feel this would be

key in main story missions with big fire fights in my game.

For the interface I would create a new unique one but take inspiration f rom games like Call of Duty:

Ghosts, where you can see a preview of what your character will look like on screen and make it fully

customizable by changing helmets, combat gear, colours and weapons. I would like to add more

customisation to the weapons by adding things such as text, a kill counter scratched into the gun or

maybe have a slot for adding rewards from missions that are hard to obtain such as a medal of one

of the enemy bosses you killed.

End Game

The problem with many RPGs is that once you complete the main story and get to the maximum

level (50 In my game) there is little left to do, I would get around this by adding content for players

who have finished the game.

The content would consist of mercenary contracts such as extracting high value targets or killing high

ranking members of enemy forces, by doing this and adding new missions with things such as DLC or

monthly updates I think that it would keep the game feeling like there is always something worth

doing and it is worth playing after getting to max level.

Multiplayer

I don’t think that adding a multiplayer like Call of Duty or Battlefield would do much to help the

game as there are already so many it is almost impossible to become the next Call of Duty, Instead I

would have a multiplayer like Pay Day 2, a team of 4-6 people would do missions together much like

the mission the story mode of the game is based around, It would require team work and people to

play different classes. Some missions may require a sniper and a ground team of 5, whereas some

missions may just need a full team to rush an enemy camp and kill everyone.

As for progression in multiplayer I would have a separate levelling up system in it and different perks

to help with the missions, but I would add cosmetic rewards from the campaign such as player skins

of medals on player profiles, this would make some people want to complete the story to unlock the

extra rewards rather than just play full multiplayer.

Below is a screenshot from a game called Sniper Ghost Warrior 2, this is what I imagine the

multiplayer missions to be like, in this game you play as a sniper who often covers ground units as

the progress through the mission.

Image link here

Unlocks

Perks

Quick Reload (Make reloads on all weapons faster)

X-Ray Vision (See damaged enemy’s through walls)

Quick draw (Faster aiming down sights)

Ninja (Quitter footsteps/more hidden in shadows)

Steel Skin (Take more damage before death)

Backpacker (Double Grenades/Ammo pickups)

Sprinter (Run & Climb faster)

Hand to Hand (More damage from melee attacks)

Quick Leaner (Improve weapon skill faster)

Scout (Best vantage points are marked on the map)

Haggler (Stores sell equipment at discounted prices)

Flat Jacket (Take less damage from explosives)

Nevers of Steel (Hold breath longer when using a sniper rifle)

Forgiveness (People forgive you for crimes quicker)

Fast Hands (25%-50% Less chance of being caught stealing)

Musclebound (Use two, two-handed weapons at once)

Swordsman (Knifes do more damage and throwing knives are more accurate)

Tech-man (Equipment e.g. UAVs, Scanners, Lasers last longer)

Quarterback (Grenades can be thrown much father)