Prototype (Interactive) Context
During my research I have found that there are several mechanics found throughout stealth games, the mechanics present within a stealth game that make it a stealth game are some form of movement such as directional movement, jumping, crouching/crawling, ect as players need control over the character they are playing as since its important to give players a sense of intractability within games which for stealth games is one of the minimum requirements that is needed to create a stealth level/game. Other mechanics present within stealth games are some form of enemy that the player must avoid or else there will be some negative consequence as that is what adds the challenge and makes it a stealth game as without anything you need to avoid it isn’t a stealth game, Another mechanic within stealth games is some sort of detection system which could be many different things for example the player could cause enemies to go alert by being seen by them or they may be some suspicion meter that rises when the player is in an enemies line of sight and then causes an alert stage however there are still lots of other detection systems that can be used such as in Payday 2 once the player is seen they have a brief window the escape the guard cone of vision before being seen and if they do not escape the cone of vision in enough time then the player is spotted and all guards become hostile forcing the player to go with a more loud approach. Another primary mechanics of stealth games is some form of punishment for being seen such as guards hunting down the player, more guards being spawned or guard patrol routes changing so the player has to adapt these elements can be found within the Metal Gear Solid series. Some stealth games contain some form of player attack such as a stealth take down on a guard from behind or a silenced firearm so that the player has a way to partly fight back however its important that its a risk reward system or else it can ruin the entire point of the game an example of this is that after eliminating a guard the player then has to deal with the body of the guard so that the player has to make a decision on if eliminating a guard is worth doing which can be seen in the Hitman series as in those games if the body is found then it causes the guard to go into an alert mode and will sweep the level looking for the suspect and if the player is seen near the body then the guards will grow suspicions of the player and if the player stays near the body the guards will eventually blame the player and attack them. Most stealth games have a primary goal which can vary greatly as sometimes it may just be to reach the end of an area/level (and perhaps get out without being seen), or get to the end of an area after certain conditions are met such as how in Hitman you can only escape after having eliminated your targets or it could be related to the games story but there is always some goal for the player to reach.
Appealing gameplay mechanics found within stealth games for the players are mechanics such as a good and fun/enjoyable stealth system as since its the core of the gameplay its important to get it right so that the game is fun and satisfying to play as if the stealth system feels unfair and broken then players will find the game frustrating and not fun to play, A good stealth system also allows for it to be built upon and other mechanics to be added that add more depth and replayability to the game and help it stand out from the crowd and make the game more unique. An appealing gameplay mechanic is a score system or timer since players will most likely not get the best time/score on their first attempt it adds replayability to the game and gives a sense of improvement to the player and also can appeal to the speed running community, for example Hitman has a points system that awards points when the player does certain actions such as how killing civilians causes a penalty or how making the targets death look like an accident gives more points that just shooting them. Another appealing gameplay mechanic is disguises as if done right can be very fun to make use of in stealth games and if not required helps give the player multiple options on how they want to tackle the challenge ahead of them for example in Hitman disguises can be completely ignored however still have several important uses such as losing heat gained in a different disguise, allowing access to certain areas and allowing the player to wield certain items without raising suspicion. Another appealing gameplay mechanic is stealth eliminations which gives the player more options on how to tackle the challenge ahead of them however it usually comes with a downside such as how you are getting rid of a guard in your path but you then have to deal with the body and adding a finite number of stealth eliminations makes the player think if it is worth using it or saving it for later, for example in Payday 2 you can take down 3 guards before the alarm is sounded however after doing so you must deal with the body.
Graphics (Visual) Context
Graphical Conventions
One of the graphical conventions of 2D top down stealth game is using pixel art due to its easy to produce nature in comparison to other graphic styles and good appearance, it also allows for the style to be taken in many directions too such as a sci-fi theme or horror theme .One of the graphical conventions of stealth games is a realistic or stylized graphical style as they tend not to use a cartoon style since usually it wouldn’t work as well since stealth games are usually too serious for a cartoon aesthetic to work, in modern stealth games a more realistic style is seen such as for example the Payday series or Hitman series however that is due to them being 3D where as 2D stealth games tend to be more stylized and the game I am heavily inspired by, Hotline Miami uses a stylized art style and abstract colours. Another graphical convention of stealth game is to use 3D Graphics since most AAA stealth games are usually in 3D since AAA companies tend to have the resources to create such a large task and it makes the game look really good and stand out compared to other games which can be seen in Hitman 3 which looks absolutely amazing however Indie titles can still be 3D but tend to be more linear and on a smaller scale, this makes 2D stealth games more common among Indie developers as they are easier to produce and allow them to make their game a lot bigger due to having more time to focus on other elements. Another convention is a unique and distinct character design as it makes the character/characters very memorable and identifiable to the series they are from for example agent 47 from Hitman is a very distinct and memorable design, this can also be seen with the Metal Gear Solid series as Snake is once again distinct and memorable in his design.
Why have you chosen this style of graphics?
I have chosen to create pixel art graphics because its is the style I am most experienced creating and I have very little experience using any other graphical style and I have developed my skills using pixel art in my previous projects, Pixel art is also the easiest type of graphics for me to create given that I am not very good at creating artwork. Using pixel art will also make creating my animations for my game easier since I have created pixel art animations in the past so I know how to do so. I have also decided to use pixel art because I am doing a top down perspective which I have not done before(which could cause some issues however I feel I have done enough research so that creating top down graphics should not be too challenging for me) so choosing a graphical style I am not confident in would made creating my artwork to challenging and time consuming for me to do which would have caused my production time to not be spread as equally as it should be. I will be using a standard colour pallet for most of my game but since it is set within a science facility for the environment I will have to use a sterile colour pallet which should mainly consist of whites and blacks since that is what a stereotypical science lab is depicted as. I will go for a stylized graphical style since its what I am best at creating and would fit me game very well.
What I Have Considered With Representation
Given the top down perspective none of my characters faces should be visible within my game and while I will have story elements I will focus on the gameplay so character development and personalities will not be heavily seen/featured and so I will let the player choose most of what each character will be like themselves as leaving it up the player allows them to create their own unique characters that they can like and relate to and the characters personality and appearance isn’t vital to the story so I will leave it blank. Using this method it is up to player and can. The only parts of the protagonist I have decided myself is that it will be a British male since the science facility the player is infiltrating will be within the UK.
Sound (Audio) Context
Audio Conventions
An audio convention of stealth games is making sure that the sounds fit with the style/theme of the game as to help enhance the games experience, A lack of audio can be quite damaging to a games environment and mood however having bad audio can be worse and even more harmful to the environment and mood which its why its important that careful considerations are taken when designing sound as to make sure that it fits the style of the game such as how in stealth games the sound is quite minimalist and most sounds are diegetic, it is also important that the used audio will fit with the games style for example a stealth game based in a sci-fi setting wouldn’t make sense to be using medieval sounding sounds . Another convention is using sound to indicate an event such as when the player does something such as picking up loot which can be seen in Payday 2 as a sound effect plays upon picking up some loot, as well as indicating that an event happened the actual sound itself can be used to signify if the event was positive/negative, my previous example is a good thing that can happen to the player a positive sounding sound is used however for a negative action such as death being indicated by a scream or sound effect that conveys how the action that occurred was bad such as the Hitman death sound.
What Are My Aims With My Chosen Style Of Audio
The aims with my chosen audio style is make sure that my sounds are recognizable and help announce actions occurring in my game so that players recognize a sound and can use that to help them, which then rewards the player for remembering what each sound means however it is important that I sure not to make sounds too similar or it could cause confusion for player. Another aim is to make sure that my sound design fits with the style and mood of my game and so because of this my sound will be minimalist with most being diegetic and I will try my best to make the music give a sense of stealth and sneaking around since that is what the player will be doing the entire time however its also important that the music doesn’t get annoying since its something that will be heard consistently. Another aim for my audio is to make sure that its pacing is right since I don’t want it to be fast paced however while I do want it to be slow I have to make sure that I don’t make it too slow paced which could ruin the atmosphere of my game.
What I Have Considered With Representation
Due to my game being set in modern day Britain I could try and incorporate that into the music somehow however that would be challenging to do while maintaining the stealth element to the music but it is something that I will mess around with and see if I can get the idea to work so that I can represent the games setting via its music. Other than that I cannot think about others ways to do representation by my sound design.
Potential Problems
While creating my demo there are some issue I may face such as getting my detection system working as I have not created anything like this before and could have problems with the detection value going above the threshold or going into negative as well as other issue such as a way to lower the players detection, but I am confident in my ability to create this mechanic and so if I do encounter any issue I should be able to overcome them quite easily. Another problem I may encounter is getting the checkpoint system working as once again it is something I have not tried to create before and so could have issues resetting the enemies while respawning the player at the checkpoint rather than the start of the level, but is it something I feel I should be able to create with enough time since it seems like a simple thing to code. I could also encounter issues with the audio such as it not played at the time it should or the audio looping which would cause my game to sound terrible however I have had this issue occur in the past and so I know how to fix it.
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