Create basic game loop for a vampire survivors inspired game

Kuckwarst GameDev DK30 New Year 2022 0 0

Description

Vampire Survivors has hit like a bomb among me and my friends as well - but right now there is not as much content as we would like. As the game is fairly simple mechanically, I want to create a Vampire Survivors inspired basic gameplay loop intended to be a proof of concept within the next 30 days and see where it goes from there.

Estimated Timeframe

Jan 31st - Feb 28th

Week 1 Goal

The most basic features - a basic map / movement / 1 auto-firing weapon / gaining xp and levelling up / 1 simple sprite for the player and the enemies. After week one it should be possible to run around a map, kill enemies, gain xp and level up

Week 2 Goal

implement weapon upgrade system -> pick upgrades on level up (weapon upgrades and passive stat bonuses) Expand on weapons (implement a variety of weapons to choose from, including upgrades for each one) Implement consumable system (powerups dropped by enemies / objects)

After week 2, there should be different weapons with basic upgrades for each one, as well as simple, passive stat upgrades that can be picked on level up. If there’s time, try to implement the first version of a simple, dynamic spawn system for enemies, where the amount of enemies spawned scales with time.

Week 3 Goal

Dynamic enemy spawn system ( if not finished in week 2 ) Simple meta progression between runs, hopefully a bit more interesting than just stat increases, but if there are no good ideas, these will do as well for a POC. Minibosses / a beatable boss at the end of a run. Random ‘events’ in a run (like the plant circle, but different ones, and not fixed to a timestamp)

After week 3, there should be a dynamic enemy spawn system that scales difficulty with time spent in a run, minibosses that appear during a run and a boss at the end of a run. It should be able to buy upgrades between the runs. Try to make each run feel unique and more chaotic by adding random ‘events’ to a run, which can be anything from enemies spawning in some kind of pattern to map modifiers like fog that hinders your vision, (some brainstorming needed)

Week 4 Goal

Expand, finish, polish what was implemented before. Possible additions, depending how everything works out by now, would be: Creatable characters instead of premade ones. ( stat-wise, optical changes with configurable sprites will take longer than that ) Simple particle effects for weapons / blood and blood splatter on ground sound effects and simple soundtrack if somehow possible More enemy variety (including sprites and simple animations) anything that increases the ‘slaughter’ feel