Good Enough Games
Escape Area 51
(working title)
Created by Caitlin Mallen, Jayden Tactay, and Rob Godfrey
Concept
Escape Area 51 is a 2.5D game based in Area 51 where the player is an alien escaping captivity. The player will attempt to avoid getting caught by Area 51 guards as they make their way to an exit to meet up with an alien rescue squad. The player has the ability to transform into guards or objects to help escape detection.
Emotion/Mood
A fun and lighthearted game with (maybe) comical violence
Goals
- Make it to the exit without getting captured
- Avoid detection (or kill/disable once detected)
- Solve puzzles to access certain areas (make use of guards and items)
Obstacles
- Guards chase the player (line of sight, proximity for hearing)
- Security cameras
- Impassable checkpoints that the player normally can’t get through
- Puzzles
Rules
- Guards patrol on set path and will chase the player if detected
- Checkpoints save player progress
- Use transformation powers to avoid or trick guards, or access other areas
- Start with limited transformation abilities, gain more each level
Level Progression
- Each floor is a new level
- The player will start at the bottom and work their way up to the top, where the exit
- The closer to the exit, the more difficult the puzzles and obstacles will become
- Each floor will favor a different transformation to solve puzzles, avoid detection, and advance to the next floor
Interaction/Feedback
- WASD to move
- Other forms of movement for each object
- Guards chase when hearing/seeing the player
- The player is required touch an object for a few seconds before gaining the ability to transform into that object
- Health system
Suspense in Achieving Goals
- More guards the longer you take?
- AI gets harder the more you progress
- Cooldown in alien powers
- Can only stay transformed for a limited period of time
Rewards
- New objects to transform into
Initial Concept Art and Storyboard Sketches
Alien character concept art (Caitlin)
Guard characters concept art (Caitlin)
Concept for the first level, where a guard carries the alien (transformed as a food tray) to the kitchen (Rob).
Concept for the kitchen level. The player must navigate through the kitchen without being detected, find a screwdriver, and escape through a vent.
Main Character Design and Animation
The final character design for the main character
The final main character is an alien who appears as a light green amorphous blob with two large eyes.
Main character movement animation
The character has a simple idle animation and can move in all four cardinal directions. The character’s movement is controlled by the player using the W, A, S, and D keys. The player can also press the Space key to jump.
Alien transformation animation
Level Design and Gameplay
Initial prototyping of the guard AI
Guards patrol on a set path and will chase the player if detected. If the player evades a chasing guard, the guard will eventually return to their patrol area.
Mid-semester prototype showing character movement/animation, basic level design, and guard AI
Final Game Demo
Development
This game was developed using issue-driven project management: we leveraged Trello to track project to-dos as cards in our Trello board. Each card was assigned to one or more project members.
Team
Art
Coding
Coding