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2.5D Cartoon Third-Person Shooter Design

Vision and Pillars

  • Lighthearted 2.5D style: Tilted camera and chunky outlines reinforce a playful vibe while keeping spatial readability.
  • Sound-driven stealth and chaos: Weapon loudness dynamically shapes enemy behavior; smart use of silencers and spacing is key.
  • Readable AI states: Clear patrol routes, alert animations, and firing tells help players plan reactions.

Player Kit

Movement

  • Eight-direction movement with a slight aim-offset to accentuate the 2.5D angle.
  • Short dodge-roll on a cooldown; grants brief damage reduction but increases noise slightly.

Weapons

Slot Concept Fire Rate Damage Noise Radius Notes
Primary (quiet) Suppressed repeater High Medium Small Ideal for stealth; small muzzle flash and cartoon "plink" audio.
Secondary (loud) Thumper blaster Low High Large Massive comic-book blast VFX; knocks back light enemies.
  • Noise is emitted per shot; radius scales with weapon type and is reduced by obstacles using simple ray checks.
  • Enemies inside the radius enter Alert and bias their search toward the sound source.
  • A stackable anxiety meter tracks repeated loud shots; if it fills for a group, they may call reinforcements from nearby spawners.

Progression Hooks

  • Cosmetic skins for both weapons.
  • Mods: extended magazines (quiet gun), slug rounds (loud gun), and muzzle toys that slightly alter noise.

Enemies

Behavior States

  1. Patrol
    • Follows predefined waypoints with idle pauses and head-turn sweeps.
    • Limited peripheral vision; can miss the player when behind cover.
  2. Alert
    • Triggered by: hearing a noise, seeing a suspicious silhouette, or finding a KOed ally.
    • Selects a search origin (sound direction or last known player position) and walks a widening spiral.
    • Timer-based; reverts to Patrol if nothing is found.
  3. Attack
    • Engages when the player is confirmed in sight.
    • Uses cover if available; suppresses in bursts while flanking teammates reposition.

Weapons (per-enemy randomized loadouts)

Archetype Fire Rate Damage Noise Radius Special
Chipper High Low Small Forces player to respect chip damage; often guards corners.
Grunt Medium Medium Medium Baseline soldier.
Bomber Low High (splash) Large Telegraphs throws; panic-causing noise.
  • Each spawn rolls a loadout from the archetype table; noise radius directly influences how many allies can be pulled into Alert.
  • A rare silenced elite rolls a reduced-noise variant, encouraging players to listen carefully.

Detection Rules

  • Field of view: 90° forward cone; reduced detection in rain or heavy VFX moments to keep fairness.
  • Hearing: Any noise event within radius triggers Alert; direction is estimated with ±20° error unless noise is extremely loud.
  • Friendly fire is disabled to preserve cartoon tone, but enemies do flinch when allies are shot nearby, pausing their attack.

Systems Design

Sound Propagation

  • Each shot emits a NoiseEvent(loudness, position, decayTime).
  • Query all enemies within baseRadius * loudnessMultiplier; apply line-of-sight dampening per obstacle hit.
  • Enemies queue a sound investigation task that overrides Patrol until resolved or timer expires.

AI State Machine Sketch

state Patrol:
  follow_waypoints()
  if see_player(): -> Attack
  if hear_noise(): set search_target(noise_direction); -> Alert

state Alert:
  move_to(search_target)
  perform_search_pattern()
  if see_player(): -> Attack
  if timer_expired(): -> Patrol

state Attack:
  take_cover_if_possible()
  fire_in_bursts(loadout)
  if lose_sight(): set search_target(last_seen_position); -> Alert

Camera & Controls

  • 2.5D camera pitched 25–35° with a mild orbit lock; dynamic zoom out during loud firefights.
  • Aim assist cone for controllers; snap-to-target only when in Attack to maintain challenge during stealth.

Level & Encounter Notes

  • Use layered paths for flanking (elevated catwalks plus ground) to emphasize 2.5D depth.
  • Place sound-reactive props (alarms, pans, rubber chickens) that amplify noise if shot.
  • Patrol clusters of 3–5 enemies with overlapping but not identical routes to create stealth windows.

Content Pipeline

  • Stylized shaders with thick outlines; physics-based hits spark exaggerated stars.
  • Animation: patrol swagger, exaggerated alert "!?" pop, and recoil squash-and-stretch.
  • Audio: distinct quiet vs loud weapon motifs; enemy VO barks for state changes to help debugging.

Tuning Hooks

  • Expose in config: noise radius per weapon, alert duration, search spiral radius growth, anxiety threshold, and reinforcement cooldowns.
  • Add debug overlays: vision cones, sound rings, and AI state labels for quick iteration.