Bathysphere (Mockup Game Jam Project)

BATHYSPHERE for the Mockup Game Jam

This is actually my first game jam!

Concept

This is a JRPG idea that takes place in a world where the surface is ravaged by constant storms -- The Maelstroms. Because of this, civilization (human and otherwise) has been driven underwater.

Towns and ports tucked into sheltered coves or hardened bunkers. Ruins of the Old World rising out of the deep like the bones of dead gods. A hard life made harder by the dangers inherent to trade and travel.

But there are those who brave the Deeps in bathsypheres and submersibles.

Features

The game would be a standard JRPG with familiar mechanics and a fresh spin or two on some old classics. Part of the game would have the usual elements: exploration, gear, puzzles, battles, and an engaging story.

The other part would be more like games where you manage a customizable vehicle by equipping parts, upgrades, and even selecting which crew is assigned to which stations based on their unique skills.

Inspirations

A big inspiration for the character design is the classic SNES RPG, Chrono Trigger, my favorite game of all time. Imagine CT with a lot more gameplay involving the Epoch (but a lot less time travel). To pay tribute to CT, I chose the colors for my main cast of characters to broadly match the primary colors of the CT cast. For example, Markus's color scheme is inspired by Princess Marle/Nadia.

Some elements were inspired by the Sunless series of games. I particularly like the idea of sim mechanics involved where choosing crew and responding to their needs and roles would be a major part of gameplay.

Screenshots

On the right, you'll see four mockup images created for this project. All are .png but I will likely turn them into looping .gifs at some point just for the fun of it. Ran out of time!

From top to bottom, here is a brief explanation for what you'll see in each mockup image:

1. Exploration Scene

A stop at a protected port that has seen better days. You can see the dock and partially submerged entry to the port. You can also see the Lucky Egg, the starting bathysphere in the game. Of the possible crew, the party here consists of three members: Captain Bethany Brine (primary character), Kaiho the Fisherman, and Jack McDiver. Also visible are a few NPCs and a bathysphere parts shop. The port would sprawl out from this location.

2. Party Selection Menu

In-universe, this menu is called the "Active Duty Roster" and represents the party choice system for the on-foot exploration phases of the game. Each of the seven playable characters is visible in portrait form along the top. The bottom of the screen consists mostly of information about the selected character. The stats aren't numerical but are represented with a "rating" to give a basic idea of the character's strengths and weaknesses. Bathysphere skills are special abilities that character brings to the bathysphere phases of gameplay. Each will have their own unique abilities. Finally, a brief biographical write-up is included to add some preliminary info and detail about each character. 

3. Combat Screen

The combat in Bathysphere would be side-view and include standard features and mechanics. Players would start combat by choosing to attack, run, etc. Then they'd select their characters and make individual choices based on combat turn order. Those choices are split into four basic categories: Strike, a basic attack, Guard, a defensive boost at the cost of your turn, Skills, a range of special combat abilities, and Nauticana, the game's version of magic or supernatural abilities. Each ability has its own experience-based progress, allowing the player to get better results by using them a lot, as well as information about special properties, number of targets, and a Pokemon-style system where each ability has its own point pool for number of uses.

4. Bathysphere Management Menu

A unique menu in the game, this is where the player would determine crew assignments based on the available stations on the selected bathsyphere. In this mockup, the starting bathsyphere is featured and all crew assignments are filled on the assumption that the vehicle is fully upgraded. Each crew member has a little indicator speech balloon for requests, important information for you, and more. Clicking on their icons would pop up an additional menu with their full report. Finally, there is an icon-based equipment menu for the vehicle itself. Below the equipment "boxes" is another panel for basic info including the stats boost offered by the piece of gear.

Future Plans

Currently, there are none. This project is specifically for the game jam. If I were to pursue it, it would have to generate a great deal of interest and support. Still, I've had the basics of this idea for quite some time and it was really fun and rewarding to build on those basics.

Anyway, that's the project. I ran out of time or made a few oversights but overall I'm happy with the results. I missed the beginning of the jam and started Friday, April 14. It was challenging to work under time constraints but it also pushed me to push myself, which I appreciate.

Thanks for taking a look.

Licensing

The files in the .zip are for the purposes of submission to the game jam ONLY. This means you will not use, copy, or modify the art included for any purpose or project, whether commercial or non-commercial. No derivative works allowed.