Pizzocalypse - Devlog Update -June 26 - July 26, 2023

This is a dev-log post for the game Pizzocalypse. Pizzocalypse is a 2.5D top down mobile shooting game where a badass delivery guy risks his life to deliver the pizza to the doorstep of every hungry survivor during a zombie apocalypse. 

The game is currently in production and is being developed as a part of the Gamer2Maker Game Design and Production mentorship program under the guidance of mentor Rahul Sehgal. The post records the work during the period of June 26 - July 26, 2023.  This month was spent working on the following things - 

Shooting Mechanics

The game was decided to be a twin-stick shooter - Left joystick to move around, right one to shoot. But, there were deliberations on the need for a right joystick - Should it just be a fire button? But then the team realized if there is only one joystick {left one for player movement}, the player will be robbed off the choice to stand in one position and shoot in any directions. The player will have to use the left joystick to move and choose the direction they want to shoot in. This was not an optimal choice. So we decided to implement the right joystick as well. This was a good learning experience on how the twin-stick control design is popular.   

Character Design - Zombie Types and Player Character

The player, as a post-apocalyptic pizza delivery person, will encounter various types of zombies. We decided to give each zombie type a unique look and design. The initial design parameters were as follows - 

1. Strollers - Classic slow zombies. Short, rotund. Primary shapes - Circular/spherical. (torso, eyes mouth) signifying a low level of threat. 

2. Tempers - Faster zombie who pounces on you. Chimpanzee/ape-like features. Think if people devolved into ape-like creatures after turning into zombies. Arms longer than the torso. They move like a monkey who has gone crazy (think those monkeys from Rise of Planet of Apes climax) Major shapes - triangles, edges. Signifying a high level of threat.

3. Spitters - Blind zombies that shoot projectile vomit from their mouths. Tall and lanky. Mutated with bat/insect-like characteristics after turning into a zombie. The mouth is like that of an archer fish, which shoots a jet of water to attack its prey. Arms shorter than the torso. Legs become wider/ bigger down the knee. (suggesting slow movement, but steady stance to aim and shoot with the help of echolocation). Major shapes - triangle, edges ( forehead, torso) - suggesting higher threat, oval (mouth) - suggesting non-human character.

4. Boss Zombie - Tall and fat. Huge and size-wise intimidating. But also derpy, zoned out/dazed facial characteristics. Balding/ thinning hairstyle. Boss Zombie is the former favorite customer of the month/year. He had a favorite pizza and his photo hangs in the kitchen of/outside the pizza outlet

5. Player Character - action hero physic - broad shoulders, leaner waist. Protective wear/gear on arms to avoid zombie bites. Dilvery bag on the back, torn delivery uniform, possibly with a logo of pizza outlet. Smug facial features. Major shapes - square, rectangle (suggesting main hero vibes.)

Please refer to the attached rough sketch showing all the zombie types and player character, as well as, a video link showing a stroller Zombie model. 

AI Behaviour

Each type of zombie will have its own specific type of AI behavior. We devised the following table with pre-iterative numbers for each category. {‘pre-iterative’ - subject to change over iterations}

Please refer to the video link of work in progress Enemy AI/detection video attached. The zombies will have additional sense to detect if the player is standing too close to behind it. 

Main Screen UI

Following games were referred for Main screen UI- Fruit Ninja, plant vs Zombies, Brawl Stars. The final idea was the player character standing by a pizza, ready to deliver it. One could choose the weapon of choice and the level they want to play. The level selection UI was represented as slices of pizza as individual levels that can be picked up. A pizza slice also could also double as a play button, as they have similar shapes. 

Reworked Boss Zombie Powers

As originally decided, The Boss Zombie, When killed, would split into 2 tempers. After the tempers are killed, each temper splits into 2 strollers. Similar to golems from Clash Royale. The player character would comment on the absurdity of these splittings and resurrections. But, our project management mentor Harish Chengaiah suggested that this might result in needless grinding. 

The powers were then reworked into two stages of boss battle as follows 

Stage 1 -  Spread out projectile of an atomic burp. After stage 1 Boss Zombie would appear to be dead but then would get resurrected with a new set of powers. 

Stage 2 - Atomic burp, but It also leaves gas clouds behind, upon colliding with the clouds, the player loses health.

The boss zombie can vomit Pizza chunks projectile. The players can shoot this projective as the Boss Zombie is shooting them and can cause damage to the boss instead, stunning him for a limited period. Stomping/ jumping on the ground sends a 45-degree shock wave. {causing screen shake}

This concludes the dev-log for the period of June 26 - July 26, 2023. Watch this space for more!