Synty Game Jam, April 2023, First Thoughts

Hello!

This game is going to be an entry in a game jam for Synty Studios, using their low-poly 3D art assets.

I have some initial ideas for what I'm going to do but we'll see how much gets done (and how much changes) before the deadline.

High Concept

Space sci-fi adventure that highlights questionable choices and steal-to-survive grey morality while showcasing Synty art assets.

Genre

Top-down sci-fi adventure

Setting

Far future, distant star system.  People inhabit a multitude of small worlds & habitats in the trojan asteroids trailing a gas giant around a red giant sun.  Most tech feels 20th century with relatively scarce black-box "indistinguishable from magic" technology.  Value not in fiat money but energy, resources, and high tech loot.

Plot

Characters earn a living looting dangerous sites & selling illegal goods.

Gameplay

Human scale.  Tools with "damage" types to effect the environment -- different targets have different "health" types.

If enough time, possibly include vehicles and more sites (but that is a stretch for the game jam timing).

Assets

Synty models and VFX

Mixamo animations

Unity Engine

More Mountains Top-Down game framework

Possibly Procedural Music Generator but that might be a stretch.

Even more unlikely is In-Game Spaceship Builder -- an even bigger stretch