I have hired a concept artist to help me with keyart and logo design, then I made this onepager to introduce the game to potential publishers.
Blog on game design and empathy
Category: Dog game
This week I have worked intensively on my indie game, Pawtners Case. You are a police dog and you have to help your colleagues to solve cases.
The first level I am prototyping is a medium one. The goal is straightforward, you need to reunite with your colleague, Agent Quinn, and escape a warehouse. There is a bomb to dismantle, too.
This week I have implemented a lot of features, and a blockout. You can see the result here:
For the blockout, I started by looking for references and setting up a moodboard:
Then, I proceeded to create a notepad where I defined my goals, the sequence, and so on. Later I created a map:
Then, in Unreal Engine I set up the level, iterating on the concept. I have to say that I find Unreal Engine versatile for a game designer. It has integrated a gameplay framework that makes things easier. I am happy with my choice!
Today I have completed a set of new mechanics which will be useful for the very first prototype of my game. You can watch here:
I have also changed the name of the game, after listening to the first feedback on a Discord server. The game will be called Pawtners Case, I am studying also layouts for a possible capsule. This is what I got so far:
I am impressed by Unreal Engine. I don’t know why I didn’t use it until now. It has a whole gameplay framework already implemented, you can set things up very easily. And placing object in the level is fairly simple. It doesn’t have the huge community that Unity has, but it’s a powerful tool.
Now I need to focus on the level for the first prototype, and double check which mechanics I am missing.
I discovered that AEVI, a local association that helps game developers in Spain, activated a help plan for independent developers. They help you financially with the development of a prototype.
My first solo dev game in Unreal Engine is taking shape! I am excited, and I am willing to keep things very small and doable. I want to make a complete game in 6 months, and I can add 2 more for QA and debugging but that’s it.
My intention is to keep things fairly simple:
- You control a police dog and your goal is to help your human companion solve a case
- No dialogues, just emojis to express emotions. I want to avoid too many terms to translate. You can develop a relationship with your human colleague which will help you during levels
- As a dog, you can find valuable items (+$) but also damage the environments (-$) and this will influence the economy of the central station
- Everytime you perform some action you will learn more abilities during the level which can be useful to solve the case, so you decide
- No violence, PEGI 12, E10+ game. Explosions and shots will be funny using ragdolls and silly animations
When I was younger I was addicted to TV shows with a policeman and a dog. The most famous one was called Tequila & Bonetti. I still remember that piano music that Bonetti played at night, recalling his dark past.
I am studying Unreal Engine and I had an idea: an action game with a story where you are the dog and have to solve situations to move forward with the story.
For now it’s called simply “Dog game”, I am implementing the first mechanics.