Trajectory

Retrieve your enemy's flag before they shoot from beyond the horizon

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Kindly refer to the document whose link has been shared for a better-formatted document with all the images)

The Universe of Trajectory

Table of Contents

  1. User & Needs
  2. Benchmarking
  3. Opportunity Statement
  4. Solution Statement
  5. Backstory
  6. General Competitive Gameplay Description Objective
    Lobby and party forming Play area
    Pregame Gameplay
    Projectile mechanics
    Reward system vs In-app Purchases
    Socialization Aspect

1. User & Needs We started off the exercise by looking into the user group we should target and what are their specific needs. Though the design challenge asks us to build an e-sports game suitable for a mobile platform, we wanted to keep an open mind and start by looking at how the current mobile gaming market is, what kind of games users like and what are the preferred theme of the games among current users. In general, gamers are categorized into four different types; among which, socializers take up the significant portion of 80%, the rest are divided among achievers (10%), explorers (10%) and killer (<1%).

As the largest segment, socializers are mostly casual players who are in the game to experience the fun through interactions with other players, collaborate to attain greater achievements than they could do by themselves. Socializers share somewhat the same characteristics with achievers, only that achievers are more ambitious to go up to the top ranking. Once the users are examined, we wonder whether the current offerings are designed to offer this huge segment.

Source: Interaction Design Foundation. link

2. Benchmarking The top ranking e-sport games are currently in the form of either real-time strategy or battle arena game. These games are designed specifically for esport enthusiasts who are in for the fantasy and action plot. Examples include Dota 2, VainGlory, League of Legends. These games, however, sort of exclude the casual players since the battle are quite complicated to follow.

Sports games have always been one of the most favourite themes, which we confirmed with our user research as well; however, the market is quite saturated with a diversity of sports theme designed for niche sports fans such as football league FIFA or basketball league NBA. The newcomers ino the market has approached the problem in a more novel, by not going to the niche market of fantasy lover of sports fans but more towards the mass market. Examples can be Clash Royale or Clash of Clans. With excellent graphics that everyone can relate to and exciting combat battles. We learnt that although they enable players to play with or against one another friend or strangers, there are improvements in terms of socialization aspects; for example, achievements can be done in a team and resources can be divided after successful battles.

*3. Opportunity Statement * From needfinding & benchmarking, we decided to target towards the mass market where little offerings have been designed to dedicate to the socializers (mostly casual players). We learn that going towards fantasy or sports might not be the best themes to make these casual players relate with the game. Perhaps, we learned that a sports-themed or fantasy themed approach might prove to be futile, given the numbers of games available in the market in each genre).

We also want to emphasize the socialization aspect even more; specifically, winning and sharing experiences as a team. This is especially important for our target users - the Socializers.

4. Solution Statement In our user research, we found out that space is the 2nd most prefered theme for games for casual users but this theme was completely missing in the field of e-sports. So, we propose space themed games that would cater to casual players and is competitive enough for to have a potential e-sport games.

Trajectory is a game where there are two different modes: 1) Exploration mode 2) Combat mode.

In the Exploration mode, is created to bring in new players. It caters to socializers, and explorers. In this mode, players can travel along their own journeys to explore the backstory of the trajectory universe. This also helps to improve the player’s understanding and partially functions as a tutorial for new players. To emphasize the socialization aspect, the story mode can also be explored with your friends. Prizes and experience gained are divided among the participants. By doing so, levels can be overcome quickly and together as a team, learnings and resources are accumulated more quickly. These resources could then be used to boost certain parts of the player’s ship. Certain parts of the exploration mode would force the players into the combat mode, to ensure the transition towards the competitive aspect of as many players as possible, thus catering to the achievers, who will likely become the esports players. Additionally, the reward in the combat mode would be greater than playing in the exploration mode and will be shared among team members.

In the combat mode, there will be two teams of 3 pilots battle on an empty planet. The team that captures the flag is deemed as the winner. The playfield is spherical, and the player fly around the planet with relative speed, making it easy to complete an orbit. To join a team, you must be part of the team fleet. The team fleet aspect is described in the socialization aspect section. To ensure fairness, a matchmaking system is implemented to ensure approximately similar levels can be on the same team and compete with teams with equal experience.

5. Backstory Trajectory is based in the outer fringes of our universe. Giant multi-planetary corporations, Loose bands of space pirates, Space gang-bangers and Loose-knit adventurers all battle for control of valuable resources such as Helium3 (a futuristic fuel), Adamantium and other rare minerals, and esoteric alien tech present in different planets. Example of corporate backstory - Gigacorp. Gigacorp. Started out as China's largest ball-bearing and ice cream manufacturer, but they have now branched into mining on asteroids and interplanetary shipping. Specialities - Battle Gigacorp. Squads have access to a wide array of earthling technology - Missiles, mines, and armour plating. Specialities - "Mining company" Gigacorp. Squads gain +1 bonus from any metal-ore mines under their control. Example of Pirate backstory - The Jolly Ranchers. The Jolly Ranchers are one of the oldest and best established Pirate crews in the galaxy. Tried and tested methods of tribute collection have given them a measure of steady income and "legitimacy??". Specialities - Battle Jolly Rancher Squads have access to a wide variety of ship hulls (including some from all other entities?) Specialities - "Tribute" Jolly Rancher squads get +5 Cash (or fuel or Helium3) at the start of every (year, month, some time measure) per every 3 planets under their control. Example of Gang-banger backstory - Los Meteoritos Los Meteoritos started as a street gang in the rough barrios of San Salvador, El Salvador. Their consistent recruitment policies and taste for brutality quickly made them a force to be reckoned with, even in space. Specialities - Battle Los Meteoritos ships can have "Uzis" or "Mac-10s" in place of normal autocannon, These guns have a high rate of fire at the cost of armour penetration. Specialities - Fear Any system that has been under Los Meteoritos control for more than 5 turns (years etc.) will need two turns the switch control instead of the normal 1. Example of Adventurer backstory - Void crew The void crew are a group of adventurers always aiming to venture to the deepest, darkest depths of space. They search for obscure alien tech and mod their ships with it. Specialities - Battle Void Crew ships take reduced damage from alien (ie. Not of earthly origin) weapons. Specialities - "Alien tech" Void Crew have a higher (+5-10%) chance of finding "rare" alien tech while exploring planets. General Competitive Gameplay Description

6. Objective Your objective for the game is to get rid of the opposing team by blowing them up, or by capturing their flag. Lobby and team forming You begin a game by creating a lobby. You can invite friends into the lobby, or get matched with random people of similar skill level from your team fleet (more in social section). With your teammates, you chose your roles (attacker, defender, healer, speedster, or support). These roles give you a boost in certain aspects of your ship. Defender gets a boost of armour Attacker gets more powerful weaponry Speedster gets a speed boost and mine resources to support others Healer regenerates health, supports and enhances other teammates’ properties.

Players can own multiple skills and play different roles in the games (note that they can choose their specialization or discuss with the team regarding the specific role). After you have selected your roles, you start matchmaking. Play area The Play area is spherical. Meaning, you can fly around and around orbiting the planet. This is also true for missiles that you launch. Such a feature creates a dynamic gaming experience where your own attacks could come back around and hit your back. The player must think whether their attacks will hinder them in the future.

Pregame Once matched with an enemy team, you are presented with a view of your hemisphere of the planet, with your flag at the centre of it. During the preparation phase, you and your team set up defences, i.e. barriers that affect the flight paths of the missiles that hit them, block players from passing through them, or altering the play area in other ways. The preparation phase is given a limited time, for example, 15 seconds.

Gameplay The general gameplay is from the third person perspective behind your ship.Once the game begins (after a countdown), your ship will continue to move at a constant speed. On the screen, you see your ship and buttons for the missile(which can hit your own ship) and short-range machine gun firing. Turning is controlled by tilting your device. Braking occurs by pressing the bottom of the screen. Braking allows you to slow down your ship, but not to stop it, therefore you must be constantly vigilant for stray missiles that may intercept you. On the top third of your screen, you see the convex horizon of the planet, your health and the ammo regeneration time. For players that are over the horizon, there is a glow to represent their position. Dodging is done by flicking up your device, this shoots your ship straight up off the general play area. Your ship turns in the air and lets you see a greater distance over the horizon, after which you have a short moment to decide the orientation in which you will land (what direction you will set off). However, beware, as players over the horizon will see you and can shoot missiles to where you might land. Projectile mechanics You have two basic attack options: missiles and machine guns. The machine guns are used for short distance aggression, they are effective only to the horizon and move relatively fast. Missiles orbit around the planet until they hit another player, missile, or obstacle. Reward system vs In-app Purchases After completing a match, you are rewarded with experience, which at level ups unlocks the player new graphics and features such as weapons and shields. However, to obtain (or ‘craft’) these, one must use collected resources. Socialization Aspect Your team fleet lets you connect with players around the world to share your resources. The bigger your fleet is, the more boost you get in certain aspects. By having your fleet contain certain types of ships (active types) they strengthen certain aspects of your team. This encourages players to connect with people and find a team with which they can easily change their active ships to suit the needs of the playing team.

The players in the fleet that are not as interested in the active or combat side of gameplay can still help their fleet by mining resources. Common meta-gameplay styles can be used for this; free daily collectables, opening “mystery boxes”, and setting up resource generating devices that have regeneration time. What is unique in this setup is that the resources are shared and can be used by the whole fleet. However, crafted features, weapons etc. can be assigned to help the whole fleet or individual players. This also demands a certain trust among the fleet so that the resources are commonly agreed for example to be used to aid certain active players, instead of one person individually using them selfishly.

Built With

  • rhinoceros-3d
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