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SUMMARY
Produced Spring 2021-ongoing. FireFight is a 3rd Person Action Sim Shooter revolving around advanced transforming firefighting mechs called Air Tankers. I directed three concept artists; Ray Cotton, Allie Airwin, and Wilson Huang to help me produce a visual bible to inform the aesthetics and visual themes represented within gameplay and mechanics. Join the Fire Brigade and save humanity against fire starters called Arsonals. Get immersed in the World of Fire fighting, utilizing air and ground tactics.
CONTRIBUTIONS: Developed and pitched the FireFight Intellectual property, Designed and built the World and Narrative story, Game Design Document, and Technical Design Document. Developed and made several prototype versions of the game including level design and combat encounters. Lead a group of concept artists to produce an Art bible.
SPECIFICATIONS
TEAM: 4 - Lead Game Designer
GENRE: 3rd Person Action Shooter
DURATION: 14 Weeks
SOFTWARE: Unity, C#, Confluence, Gethub, and Photoshop.
GAME PILLARS
Captivating World Ablaze
Present a fascinating world that captivates the audience’s attention. Immersing players in a world ablaze, illuminated by raging fire starters called Arsonals that wage war against humanity. Our story world is fabricated not only to combat a new threat to humanity but to also echo the very real global threat and consequences of ignoring climate change. Firefight is a world that takes its conflicts seriously, allowing players to enter an immersive state and remain captivated.
Future FireFighting
Immerse players in the future of firefighting tactics and equipment, utilizing new innovative gear and tactics to immerse players in a new age of combating fires. Air Tankers once used to combat wildfires are now used to combat a new lethal threat to humanity, called Arsonals. Coupling the thrill and action of both air and ground combat Air Tankers transform between modes enabling players to decide. Fight or flight?
Fires and FireStarts
Objectives and enemies are keystones to game progression and gameplay. Players battle to bring honor to the Fire Brigade, facing fiery foes in high-stakes battles for territory and survival. Eliminating all foes and protecting the vital logistics of the city and its inhabitants is a heroic and honorable duty. Defending humanity from waves of enemies while protecting a flammable world and important objectives creates a dilemma for players on how to prioritize whats worth defending and what can burn.
GAME OVERVIEW GROUND MODE
Players have the ability to switch between Air and Ground mode apart from a fight or flight mechanic that enables players to pick and choose their battles. While in ground mode players can target the weaker parts of Arsonals and deal more damage however this leaves the player to be more vulnerable to hordes of enemies and other hazards on the ground.
GAME OVERVIEW AIR MODE
Air combat is meant for players to cover wide areas and long distances in a short amount of time while also providing players with information and insight as to the whereabouts of both fires and Arsonals are present. Players utilize this mode to quickly collect water and diose areas with large amounts of water to extinguish fires and enemies to have a large area effect. This however makes the player vulnerable to attacks as air mode is slightly weaker to attacks than mech mode.
LEVEL OVERVIEW
The process behind the level is to make sure that players have access to large bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, icebergs ext to allow them plentiful resources. On the other side, Arsonals need to have designated lanes or paths to allow them to travel across the map to the designated Refinery location the player must defend. this creates a map that has two to three climates and or terrain. The scale of the map is also important as there needs to be enough space for flight mode while also not having too much space between in case populating the terrain is an issue as the player can transform between air and ground mode. The boundaries of the level are encapsulated in electrified smoke clouds that prevent players from entering them. This is also used to enclose parts of the level as well as open up parts of the level to simulate levelution and dynamic changes to the level to allow players more access.
META GAME LOOP
The gameplay loop is meant to create an endless cycle of motivation to continue playing and fighting. The game is meant to create a dilemma for players as they prioritize the most important objectives to save and the order in which they save them. This is also enforced by the fact that players can run out of ammunition, requiring the player to leave the combat zone to collect more. This creates a level of anticipation, as players are aware that the fires will continue to burn if they are not quick to quell the problem. When the player finishes the level they are rewarded, allowing them to spend their rewards on upgrading and bettering their mech for the next fight, thus motivating them to continue playing.
Walk Through
The Narrative Characters, within FireFight are meant to convey to the player information and show the human side of the war. motivating the player and acting as an information mechanic. ➤
The 3rd person perspective was tricky and we wanted to showcase not only the mech but the world in which it exists. This brings agency to players and allows them to see their customization, i.e. Skins and weapons. ➤
A lot of the combat isn't just on the ground but also in the air. We wanted to differentiate between the two modes and have players have roughly the same view. It also needed to showcase the scale and what type of action the player would encounter. ➤
Much of the Art style was informed by National park posters as well as using geometric style to convey the environment and assets. We needed to truly showcase a world ablaze and primarily use only warm colors to convey that. ➤
A lot of the environmental flora is based on strange and bizarre plant species found on Earth. This helped inform the team on creating plants that look as though they are alien but originate on earth.➤
Again the goal was to develop creatures that are of an Earth origin, however, have strange and unique attributes➤
Here are some of the first iterations for the Arsonals. We wanted to have a creature that looked like a combination of molten ooze and hard rock. This also informed gameplay as the Arsonals are well armored on the top, which makes mech mode easier to defeat Arsonals one on one. ➤
Another mechanic we wanted to showcase was the dangers of fires and temperatures utilizing a full spectrum of colors based on temperature expands our pallet and world illumination. ➤
Again we wanted to showcase the tough hard shells on the surface of the Arsonals and the squishy more ribbon-like bottoms to help inform players of their armor and defense. ➤
We resulted in a creature with dark gradation to vibrant warm colors to showcase how the creature not only cooled but how it's protecting itself from the player. ➤
Artys are the tanks of this realm, slow large creatures which are weak to Air drops making them better targets while in flight mode. We came up with a few variations. We really liked the lumination from the stomach to indicate that its going to huck a large fire projectile.
This led us to develop the Arty further, refining the creature's design to fit our armor mechanic while indicating to the player that the glowing orange spot is its weak spot.➤
The art style of the Arsonals is meant to complement their game assets as the plan to use lower poly models is a must when producing a game with a large map, that allows both air and ground movement. It was imperative that we try and showcase this with the concept art to best inform others.➤
The Arsonals themselves are subdwelling species that have live-in Earth for as long as humans have existed. The Creatures burn everything in their paths and erupt out of large tunnel systems. ➤
A lot of the environmental flora is based on strange and bizarre plant species found on Earth. This helped inform the team on creating plants that look as though they are alien but originate on earth.➤
Our final design landed on a version of the plants that showcase their angles and sharp edges, while also presenting interesting and unique shapes that are not commonly present in most native species of flora. ➤
The Aronals themselves are fire starters and attempt to burn all plant life it can reach. The Creatures leave a wake of smoldering carnage in their wake while targeting important logistics such as refineries and agriculture. ➤
All of the Flora within the world is flammable, creating a moral dilemma for players as helping and retaining plants helps their score. the more surviving foliage the better.
however, some of the flammable flora can ignite, and detonate. This was to create more hazards for the players within the world that are more passively activated.➤
Some of the early designs for the mech were to showcase the airframe's ability to not only transform between ground and air mode but also have aquatic buoyancy so they can land in water and collect it for ammunition against the fires and foes. ➤
Showcasing the transformation process we soon realized it was best to have a design that could easily transform and not become a technical bottle neck for the team.
The world of Firefight is greatly invested in developing prototypes to find the best Fire fighting mech suit, and so did the team. Luckily all versions of the model could be utilized due to the extensive history of the Fire Fight World. ➤
Our Final design landed on an Airtanker called the Hopper, a fast agile craft that would allow players to move quickly and feel like they had alot of mobility. This allows for a higher skill ceiling for players.
Showcasing the water drop the aircraft carries water within the leg water tanks and can be evacuated for quick airdrops to extinguish wide areas effect by fires. however, due to Arsoanls having most of the armor on their backs it's not as effective as combating one vs one. But this increases the risk of damage to the player. ➤
Customization is one of the primary motivators for players to continue to replay the game. this creates retention within the game and creates long-term goals.
Weapons are a key part of the game as they are centralized around combat. All weapons operate with water and or ice. This creates an effective loop for players as they balance their fire power and ammunition with a resource not commonly used. ➤
Of course, players can select emblems that best represent their identity and add flair to the Air tanker's design and asthetic.
REFLECTION
Development for this project was fast-paced, much of what went into this project goes unseen. I worked with concept artists to develop a visual bible for my personal game. Much of my contribution comes from the systems, design, and concepts that you’ve seen. The primary goal for this project was to create a game that encapsulates an experience never seen before. Joining flight-simulation games with mech games, to create a fast-paced action experience. The core message of the game focuses on climate change. Bringing awareness to the environmental impacts humanity has on the environment. A lot of inspiration for this project comes from the Cal Fire, since I was a child I’ve looked up to the skies to see heroes ensuring the safety of our communities from wildfires.