Summary

Overview

The Conceptualization phase of the game development process is the first stage of the project, where the initial ideas and concepts for the game are developed and refined. This phase involves brainstorming, research, and planning to establish the foundation for the game's design and development. The goal of the Conceptualization phase is to define the game's core concept, target audience, and high-level design goals, setting the stage for the subsequent phases of development.

Key Deliverables

During the Conceptualization phase, the following key deliverables were completed:

Game Design Document

A comprehensive document outlining the core concept of the game, including the setting, story, characters, and gameplay mechanics. This includes media assets such as concept art, character designs, and video clips to illustrate the game's vision.

Project Silence GDD.

Character Models and Designs

Many of the character designs were planned to be simple 2D concept art, but due to the distinct art style and a new base mesh workflow, we opted to create 3D concept sculpts to better visualize the characters in the game world. These sculpts were created using ZBrush and Blender, and are intended to serve as a reference for the final character models.

Protagonists

  • Dante - 3D Game-ready mesh, textures, procedural rig
  • Johnny - 3D Concept Sculpt
  • Teresa - 3D Concept Sculpt
  • Jackie - 3D Concept Sculpt
  • Layla - 3D Concept Sculpt

Antagonists

  • Stone - 3D Concept Sculpt New
  • Vinny "The Butcher" - 3D Concept Sculpt New

Environment

  • 3D Concept - Greybox Blockout (In-Engine)
  • 3D Concept - Visual style proof-of-concept for the game

Animation

  • Character Movement System (in-engine) - We created a WIP demo of the character movement system in Unreal Engine 5 that allows for smooth and responsive character movement, including walking, running, crouching, and climbing animations.
  • Facial Animation Tests - We were fortunate to be accepted into the Early Access program for the new facial animation tool, and were able to create a test scene with facial animations for one of our main characters using Unreal Engine 5 Metahumans. Which gives cinematic quality facial controls for our stylized characters.

Puzzle Mechanics (text documents)

Outlined in the online GDD, the mechanics are a key part of the game's core gameplay loop. For Project Silence the main mechanics are:

  • Stealth Combat - Hide in the shadows and take down your target (based off of intel gathered)
  • Plan The Heist - Steal from high-value targets
  • Intel Gathering - Learn about your target and prepare your route entrance/exit strategy

Narrative Design

  • Demo Script - Outlining the game's intro/tutorial quest
    • Dialogue Options - The written/spoken dialogue in the scene
    • Interactions - Possible interactions with the non-playable characters (NPCs) in the scene
    • Branching Paths (Narrative and Gameplay)

Additional Documents

The following documents were created during the Conceptualization phase that were not outlined in the original application. Whether from new tools used, or new ideas that were generated during the process.

Presentations

Presentations created to communicate the game's vision and design goals to stakeholders and team members. These presentations include slides outlining the game's concept, target audience, and high-level design goals that were used over the last few months in live presentations and meetings.

Video Clips

Project Silence - Character Movement System (with Soundtrack)

Project Silence - Face Anim Test 01

Project Silence - Face Anim Test 02

Audio Clips

All music featured here were composed by Dillan Schmitz, our Lead Composer, and are intended to give you a sense of the tone and atmosphere we're aiming for in the game. These tracks are early demos and may be subject to change as the project progresses.

DEMO 1: Project Silence Pitch

Created: Sept 28th, 2024

DEMO 2A: Project Silence (no melody)

Created: Oct 1st, 2024

DEMO 2B: Project Silence (with end)

Created: Oct 1st, 2024

Invoices

Work completed by the team members during the Conceptualization phase.

  • Michael Brandt - Lead Producer
  • Satomi Brandt - Project Manager
  • Dillan Schmitz - Music Composer
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