Concept Statement
The narrative follows the quest of Ordinous, who sets out to find the cure to his wife's illness, whilst sparing some of his time to aid the nations' fight against Malum. The gameplay of The Cure is centred around the unravelling of the story narrative which achieved by the player through NPC interaction. The player progresses through the game by partaking in speechcraft with NPCs, allowing them to gain information depending on how successful the interaction is (matching speech patterns to NPC personalities and situations). The Cure follows a mostly linear story narrative, but branches off with multiple endings that are determined by how well and how much the player interacts with the game world. The world is set in a fictionalised medieval Britain that airs elements of fantasy with the exploration of witchcraft and mythical creatures. It'll be stylised in such a way that the graphics look hand-drawn, giving the feeling that the player has stepped into a storybook. The game strives to increase immersion by optimising realism in terms of the gameplay - time affecting NPC interaction and gaining information through physically listening (diegetic sound).
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Unique Selling Points
Diegetic SoundThe sound in 'The Cure' will be entirely diegetic to help to fully immerse the player into the environment. The game consists heavily on NPC interaction for the player to gain information and progress through the narrative. NPCs will talk to the player to deliver the necessary information. However, there will be an accessible option to add subtitles for players with hearing difficulties. |
Charitable DonationThanks to the aid of our primary platform 'Humble Bundle', 10% of our sales will be donated to charity. We aim for this to appeal to players as they will be giving back to the community as well as gaining an enjoyable product. This goes hand in hand with the player experience as we aim to create a sense of heroism for the player, through the gameplay and their interaction with / purchase of the game. |
New Game +Due to the nature of the ending and players needing to follow a specific route / complete certain tasks to achieve the 'Golden Ending', we intend to introduce a New Game Plus option. This will allow players to replay the game with more ease, introducing features such as pre-unlocked areas, easier speech-craft with NPCs, and a following companion to aid with quests. |
Player Experience
Throughout the gameplay of The Cure, the player character is fixed as Ordinous - a regular villager exploring a fictional medieval Britain. There will be approximately 11 hours of gameplay in total, which can be reached should the player choose to explore all possible elements of the world and narrative. However, the critical path through the game will only consist of approximately 8 hours. Through this game, the player is able to escape reality and step into a semi-familiar world with fantasy twists. Player's are able to become heroes in their own right by setting out on a small, personal, yet noble quest that arguably mimics real-life personal quests for cures, such as charity runs in aid of cancer research. Moreover, the player's personal sense of heroism can be reinforced through our main platform 'Humble Bundle', as their purchase will support charities like JDRF that aim to cure Type 1 diabetes. The aim of the game is to make the player feel heroic, without the need for a knighthood or years of combat training.
Key Moments
Initial Experience:
Within the first 5 minutes of the gameplay, the player is rewarded on their learning of the skills and mechanics used in the game by receiving initial funds/in-game currency by locating and talking to the banker. This sets up that good interactions with NPCs lead to rewards, as well as setting the premise for how the player will move forward in the game world.
Key Struggle 1:
The first key struggle that the player comes across is trying to locate and interact with the Witch Doctor. This is a struggle as the challenge is raised through the added time element. So, not only does the player need to call upon their new skill of NPC interaction, but they must also bear in mind the time. Additionally, the Witch Doctor's speechcraft mini-game will prove harder and lengthier than previous ones. This struggle introduces the time mechanic to the player.
Key Struggle 2:
The second key struggle is to acquire the aid of the Healer. This is a key moment as this is the first time the player is made fully aware of their actions impact the long run of the game. Thus, the ease of recruiting the Healer is dependent on how many "good-will" points the player has and their reputation in the game world. This moment subtly sets up the premise for the endings - introducing the fact that individual NPC interactions have a larger-scale impact.
Major victory:
This key moment is the 'golden ending' that is achieved when the player has successfully built themselves a good reputation within the world and has contributed to the fight against Malum during his quest. This moment sees to the cure being delivered to Celest and the King, and the player has gathered enough allies and resources to defeat Malum once and for all. It is this moment that players will strive to achieve, which can be aided by the use of the New Game+ option if not achieved during the first play-through.
Within the first 5 minutes of the gameplay, the player is rewarded on their learning of the skills and mechanics used in the game by receiving initial funds/in-game currency by locating and talking to the banker. This sets up that good interactions with NPCs lead to rewards, as well as setting the premise for how the player will move forward in the game world.
Key Struggle 1:
The first key struggle that the player comes across is trying to locate and interact with the Witch Doctor. This is a struggle as the challenge is raised through the added time element. So, not only does the player need to call upon their new skill of NPC interaction, but they must also bear in mind the time. Additionally, the Witch Doctor's speechcraft mini-game will prove harder and lengthier than previous ones. This struggle introduces the time mechanic to the player.
Key Struggle 2:
The second key struggle is to acquire the aid of the Healer. This is a key moment as this is the first time the player is made fully aware of their actions impact the long run of the game. Thus, the ease of recruiting the Healer is dependent on how many "good-will" points the player has and their reputation in the game world. This moment subtly sets up the premise for the endings - introducing the fact that individual NPC interactions have a larger-scale impact.
Major victory:
This key moment is the 'golden ending' that is achieved when the player has successfully built themselves a good reputation within the world and has contributed to the fight against Malum during his quest. This moment sees to the cure being delivered to Celest and the King, and the player has gathered enough allies and resources to defeat Malum once and for all. It is this moment that players will strive to achieve, which can be aided by the use of the New Game+ option if not achieved during the first play-through.
Art | Sound | Music
The game makes use of three visual styles: pop-in character busts for dialogue and interaction sections, using caricature or more realistic renderings of the characters; semi-realistic stylised character models for general gameplay, striking a balance between realism and economy; and more stylised cartoon-ish background art with outlines, allowing the characters and foreground to take visual precedence while providing an artistic ambience to scenes.
The soundtrack of the game is fully diegetic, with the bustle of townsfolk going about their business offering an acoustic backdrop in the cities and towns of the land, the ambient sounds of nature in wilder areas giving the player a sense of tranquillity or isolation depending on situation, and the music of birdsong and travelling minstrels brightening up the soundscape here and there.
The soundtrack of the game is fully diegetic, with the bustle of townsfolk going about their business offering an acoustic backdrop in the cities and towns of the land, the ambient sounds of nature in wilder areas giving the player a sense of tranquillity or isolation depending on situation, and the music of birdsong and travelling minstrels brightening up the soundscape here and there.
Genre
The Cure is an adventure role-playing game in a medieval-fantasy setting following the journey of an ordinary citizen thrust into a world of chaos and intrigue as he works to find a cure for his ailing wife - and perhaps save the kingdom too. The gameplay focuses on socialising and investigating, with many people in the world to interact with and many quests to take up, and the protagonist is joined by allies he recruits during his adventure working to aid him through difficult challenges and dangerous situations.
Competition
Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the lost Realm
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Moonlighter
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Hyper Light Drifter
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Target Audience
Male | Aged 16-25 | Educated | Student | Lovers of of history, art and fiction
Current Target Platform | System Requirements
(In order of release)
Humble Bundle: We believe that The Cure would best debut on Humble Bundle due to the platform having a decent customer base of approximately 12 million. A contributing factor to this decision is the fact that it is free to publish games and will, therefore, be a cost-efficient start to publishing the game on various platforms. Alongside this, there is a generous revenue split with 10% of revenue going to charity, which can be a selling point for many individuals.
Itch.io: Another platform specifically for indie developers. Publishing The Cure on this platform will allow us to compete with suitable games. It is also free to publish games on this platform. A great selling point is that players can choose how much they want to pay for the game (a minimum price can be set by developers). This will further allow us to market to an audience which is primarily students as many cannot afford to buy full-priced, expensive games. It will also allow the admirers of indie games to give extra money to support us as the developers. Revenue split can be adjusted to our liking.
Steam: The largest PC platform for game distribution with approximately 100 million people in the Steam community. This will ultimately attract a larger general audience than any other platform, and therefore we have chosen to publish our game here. However, due to the limited budget of our small team, we have chosen to publish the game on Steam whenever we have earned enough money through other platforms as there is a price to publish games on this platform.
Itch.io: Another platform specifically for indie developers. Publishing The Cure on this platform will allow us to compete with suitable games. It is also free to publish games on this platform. A great selling point is that players can choose how much they want to pay for the game (a minimum price can be set by developers). This will further allow us to market to an audience which is primarily students as many cannot afford to buy full-priced, expensive games. It will also allow the admirers of indie games to give extra money to support us as the developers. Revenue split can be adjusted to our liking.
Steam: The largest PC platform for game distribution with approximately 100 million people in the Steam community. This will ultimately attract a larger general audience than any other platform, and therefore we have chosen to publish our game here. However, due to the limited budget of our small team, we have chosen to publish the game on Steam whenever we have earned enough money through other platforms as there is a price to publish games on this platform.
System Requirements (Minimum):
OS: Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5 / Ryzen 5
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: GeForce GTX 660 / Radeon R9 270
Storage: 4 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX compatible
* Subject to change upon development
OS: Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5 / Ryzen 5
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: GeForce GTX 660 / Radeon R9 270
Storage: 4 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX compatible
* Subject to change upon development
Price
Team O.N.E intends to sell The Cure for approximately £5.39/$6.93/€6.29, which will include the full story and a New Game Plus mode for returning players. We've decided on these prices as they include the magic 9 which makes the price look/feel cheaper to the buyer. Additional content, such as story expansions or bonus features, may be offered at a later date. The Cure may potentially lay the groundwork for a series set in the Kingdom of Brittonia in coming years, depending on demand.