Game Concept

Title:

Attack of the Tachobytes!

Concept Statement:

Place turrets and use your special abilities to defend the city of Eden (The last vestige of civilised life) against invasion by the Savage, Tachobyte Syndicate along a long narrow canyon.

Genre:

Genre: Tower defence – Player defends against waves of enemies.

I wanted to make a game that would appeal to lots of people, especially myself. I decided on a 2D tower defence game because of the genre’s historical successes. Tower defence games have an ability to interest large number of potential players into beating countless rounds of enemies and providing hours of entertainment.

Concept creation process/area:

I have always enjoyed any tower defence game where you can sit back and let your skilfully placed towers win the round. Tower defence games have been well received in the past. For example, Plants Vs Zombies is a hit game/app which took audiences by storm on its release. Games like Canyon Defence, Age of War and Bloons Tower Defence (BTD) have become well enjoyed classics in the tower defence genre. It is hard for a tower defence game not to be desirable for any gamer, since it can be a fun experience for casual gamers who enjoy a defence-based game as well as hardcore gamers who just want a break.

Attack of the Tachobytes takes inspiration from 2D top-down tower defence games such as Canyon Defence and BTD. It will feature a game track, enemies and towers based on what is seen in Canyon Defence and BTD. Like BTD, the game will complete after a certain number of designated rounds are won, to officially mark you as the winner. After this point, you will get to play more rounds with ever increasing difficulty with each round.

Just like the two game examples above, Attack of the Tachobytes will allow access to new and exciting turrets as the game progresses and achievements are met. Unlocking new towers makes the player feel like they are going to get the upper hand on the enemy because the enemy won’t see the newest/more powerful turrets until it’s too late.

Audience and competitive analysis:             

This genre of tower defence caters to a large range of audiences such as competitive and casual gamers. The art, violence levels, difficulty and dialogue of any game can be scaled to fit any age range. Before Abdobe flash player was discontinued, many games existed on online game platforms (e.g., Miniclip, Kongregate) for anyone to play. So many games had to target a large demographic of children as well as young adults.

The art direction in the BTD franchise (created by Ninja Kiwi) is colourful and bright which caters to children 6-12+ years old. The franchise was easy to understand and also exhibited no violence or gore but also had an infinitely increasing difficulty with each round. This is a good strategy to target an older audience too, who wanted more of a challenge since. Since Flash’s discontinuance, BTD and other Ninja Kiwi games are available on stream for free to an audience just as wide but more mainstream.

Another Tower defence game from Ninja Kiwi is Zombie trailer park. Which displays graphic game art and violence levels which would be more desirable to an older audience, even though it was available online for everyone including children.

Attack of the Tachobytes will target a large percentage of interested audience perhaps in the age range of 13+. Low to no levels of violence with visuals which encapsulate a wide range of people who would enjoy a classic and easy to understand tower defence game. There is some backstory to Attack of the Tachobytes, which does not primarily affect the age range but may affect gamers who would like a backstory and/or a continuous story to their game.

Tower defence games have no real need for over-the-top violence since it may detract from its core principles as a defence strategy game. A tower defence game like plants vs zombies shows slightly more violence when the zombies body parts start falling off after a few hits which show a shift towards an older audience. However, unless the gore is extreme any tower defence game will be applicable to audiences of all ages. Attack of the Tachobytes will not display any gore to apply to all audiences.

Game treatment and concept art:

Story

In Attack of the Tachobytes, your city is about to be invaded by the savage (but organised) desert tribe known only as the Tachobyte syndicate (Figure 2). They want your city (known as Eden (Figure1)) and the water reserves inside it for themselves so you must fight them off. 

The city is well defended by a narrow corridor through a desert canyon, but is still vulnerable. Place selections of turrets (like those seen in figures 7 & 8) to destroy the Tachobyte’s many advances in their Mobile Attack Rigs (Figure 3) and Airships before they reach the end of the canyon and take the city of Eden.

The Tachobyte Syndicate is a large tribe with many warriors and Mobile Attack Rigs. Their strategy to invade Eden is to send countless waves of attacks which become tougher to destroy with each round.

Game Treatment

Scene setting basic round mechanics

Attack of the Tachobytes is a 2D top-down tower defence game (Much like what is seen in Figure 5 and 6) set in a canyon not far from a vast barren desert. The many rounds of enemy attacks are begun by the press of a button, the round can be paused. However, you must rely on your turret strategy to save Eden.

Turret placement

Select and place turrets on the sides of the canyon with the mouse movement and buttons. You cannot, place turrets so that it blocks the track.

Once a turret is placed, it cannot be moved but it can be sold for a lower price. So, the player must be careful with the turrets they choose to build or they might find that they cannot afford more turrets when they really need them.

Special abilities

When unlocked and engaged using the mouse, the special attack will need time to recharge. So, use only as a last resort.

Key features:

• Have a selection of turrets at your disposal, placeable with the mouse movement and buttons (An artistic example of an Eden city defence turret in Figure 7 and an in-game example in Figure 8)

• Earn money from destroying the enemy to buy more turrets
• Upgrade your turrets with the money you earn
• Unlock turrets as you progress and earn achievements
• Play to win the game after a fixed number of rounds then play on “Infinite Defence mode” where the enemy will continue to invade round after round until, they overwhelm your defences!
  • A great opportunity to earn more money and max out every turret for fun
• The Tachobytes will roll out even more hard to kill Attack Rigs and AirShips with game progression (In-game examples of different enemy craft: Figure 9)

• Earn special attacks like a tactical explosion to wipe out all enemy vehicles on screen or even an attack which can even tear apart the fabric of space and time.

References

ArtStation. (2021) ArtStation - Explore.  Available at: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/528258231270831470/ (Accessed: 21 August 2022). 

Brian T. (2013) Brian Terrill’s 100 Film Favorites - #38: “StarWars”. (Episode IV: A Hew Hope).  Available at: https://earnthis.net/brian-terrills-100-film-favorites-38-star-wars-episode-iv-a... (Accessed: 21 August 2022). 

BuzzFeed. (2020) This Early Concept Art For “Mad Max: Fury Road” Is Incredible. Available at: https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/121526889929813637/ (Accessed: 21 August 2022). 

MrCynai. (2020) Fantasy City.  Available at: https://www.pinterest.es/pin/721279696544548505/ (Accessed: 21 August 2022). 

theawesomer. (2022) Flash Game: Canyon Defence.  Available at: https://theawesomer.com/flash-game-canyon-defense/2927/ (Accessed: 21 August 2022).  

Miniclip.com. (2022) Canyon Defence.  Available at: https://site.miniclip.com/games/canyon-defense/en/ (Accessed: 22 August 2022).