Weekly Dev Diary #8 - Tech Gun attachment concept

Hi, another week has passed. Our team is growing and with that so is the amount of time needed for production and design work. Its been a hectic few weeks, but I would like to take some time and introduce to you our concept ideas for gear and weapons in Deicides.

DESIGN AND STYLE

There are a few basic rules which we have to setup straight from the start.

• How big on the screen will you see weapons and gear?
• Is there any close up view like character selection menu, inventory, cut-scenes or just general presentation purposes?
• How much "power-fantasy" we want to bring in to the game?

Like most Top down ARPGs our camera angle is quite high up. It will give us better game overview and also means that our gear does not need high level of detail like for example First Person Shooters. Having loads of details might even  be worse for overall form and shape readability. However we still need a more detailed version for close up shots like Character selection screens as well.

    Regarding the style, one of our major inspirations is Ghost in the shell and the way they sell slightly over sized yet functional looking weapons. "power fantasy" works really well here, you dont have a feeling that they are defying laws of physics most of the time, it feels believable. 

Ghost in the shell - gun examples above. ^^

TECH AND BIO MODIFICATIONS

In the world of Deicides you will start as a normal human character with conventional use of weapons and equipment. After your  body modification(either bio or tech) your body becomes the weapon. There is no need for you to hold a rifle when your arm, with the right attachment, becomes one.  

Tech precision weapons

In the image bellow you can see how this might work. For example as a low level character without modifications you will use Railgun as a precision class weapon(top image).

If you change your body to become Tech modified (cyborg), your hand will be replaced with a weapon itself. In this style we are creating all weapon and equipment for Tech or Bio characters. 

precision weapons and Tech examples