Project Overview
ShopBot is a non-violent third-person game created in Unreal Engine 4. Using an Xbox One/Xbox 360 controller, the player must coax customers into their shop and hit the sales target by the end of the day.
Taking inspiration from Remember Me (2013), the game takes place in a futuristic-altered state of a referenced area from the the city of Manchester. Machines and robots have taken over menial tasks, which is where "Shopbot" comes in. Cover your daily target or be sold for scrap.
Design Objectives
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Create gameplay in a real world environment.
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Gameplay must offer something other than the usual FPS project.
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Player progression must play a part.
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Use all available space from referenced area.
You can find Shopbot's design document here:
Platform:
Windows/PC
Engine:
Unreal Engine 4
Scripting Language:
Unreal Blueprints
Pipeline:
Unreal Engine 4, Maya 2015, Photoshop CC
Project Completed:
June 2015
Team Size:
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2 Designers
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2 Artists
Personal Role:
Mechanics Design, Level Design, UI Design, Design Documentation, Scripting (Blueprints), 3D Prop Modelling
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Initial Concept
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Using the futuristic state opened an avenue for non-violent gameplay.
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In-turn this allowed the side alleys and main courtyard spaces to be used.
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Gameplay was simple but challenging.
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There was room for progression with the increase in challenge.
Customer Design
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Clothes based on the colours of an Xbox 360 controller for readability.
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Different colours offered different sale values and spawn rates.
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Once-a-day "Whale" customer would rush through offering a large sale.
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Randomly spawned rain would slow customer spawning.
Player Design
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Movement tied to transmitter range and battery power making the player keep track of themselves as well as their sales - upgraded through progression.
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Abilities to coax higher paying customers unlocked through progression.
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Risk taking with the Whale coaxing ability - one use per day to catch the Whale or a mob of surrounding customers.
Upgrade System
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Simple in keeping with the game mechanics.
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Each round awards one upgrade point as opposed to using sales money as the challenge proved too much without the ability to get upgrades.
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Upgrades are available after the day's business hours providing the player met their target.
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Players are timed using business hours and these hours change depending on the current in-game day.
Narrative
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Also kept simple but left open enough for the player to use their imagination.
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Initial matinee sequence sets the scene of a futuristic Manchester and the related hardship of the main character.
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Environmental storytelling also played a part in telling the player a story.
