General Cyberpunk Research

Mind Map

So when I was researching Cyberpunk I found out after doing some word association that I linked it to a very near future setting so then I diverged this topic and looked at games such as Dues Ex and Cyberpunk 2077 as thematic inspiration to help me further breakdown the genre. A common theme throughout the genre is following a character who is somewhat of an outcast and an anti hero battling against AI, hackers or mega corporations.

I think the theme of cyberpunk leaves a lot of room for interpretation as it exists in the space between present day and far off future sci fi giving the creator their own creative freedom when it comes to deciding how the world they are trying to build will be, of course there are still however trade marks of the genre as it is an offshoot of science fiction meaning there is always a focus on the technology of the world.

Moodboards

This is a moodboard researching the kind of environment that you would come to expect from a game with a cyberpunk theme and what I found is the worlds are quite grungy and run down but that fact is hidden by the plethora of brightly couloured neon lights that hide the fact and are warping your perspective so that it seems more futuristic and hopeful but upon further inspection it is actually dystopian. My research here will be very helpful for when I come to decide the aesthetic of my game idea and what potential environments might look like, I really enjoy the use of bright blues and pinks being used as it gives a lot of freedom with the colour pallete that I can use. 

This is a moodboard looking at the cybernetic enhancements that are prevalent throughout all other mediums of the genre and this is because of the futuristic elements throughout the theme and looking through this moodboard and at my research I found there’s no real limit to the cybernetic enhancements that are employed on people and this gives me great ideas and potential to create interesting mechanics such as power-ups based around the different augments that the player could have for example. I like what I have found here as it has given me some ideas for mechanics that I could create for a game as well as a base for a game idea. 

Here I have a collection of weapons that are within the cyberpunk aesthetic of which many of them include strokes of bright colours cerating definition between the rest of the weapons, this is true for both the guns and melee weapons which I think creates an appealing aesthetic. Many of the weapons are integrated into the enhanced cybernetic body parts as well which gives me the idea of a character having a weapon that can be upgraded and modified as you progress through the game the same way you could upgrade your own body parts to cybernetics.

 This moodboard is a collection of artificially intelligent robots that would be prevalent in a cyberpunk future where it is very common for AI to be a prominent antagonist and in this collection a common theme for the robots is for them to be very humanoid in nature and based off of the human form. What I like about the concept of robots being an enemy in my game is that they are very versatile and could be able to do any number of things, with the research I have here it has given me some ideas for potential enemy designs for my game as well as potential mechanics I can give my enemies.

Game Ideas

Idea One (Programming) Cyberdrive –

My chosen specialism is programming and this is because it is my strongest specialism and is the part of games development that interests me the most. I would like to pursue a career in programming so I want to further development my skills in this area.

This is my first game idea for the cyberpunk theme and it would be a hoard type game where the player is in control of a futuristic modded vehicle where they have to fight off waves of robots for as long as they can and as they become increasingly more difficult to deal with due to them increasing in number and strength as time goes on. The player will be bale to get power-ups that will spawn throughout the level to help them gain back health and increase their own strength for a limited amount of time.

As the theme is cyberpunk I want to keep a style that is grungy but filled with bright neon colours that distract you from the grim reality of the world.

There are many mechanics that I need to create for this game such as an enemy AI that is capable of chasing the player and can deliver damage. I will also need to create car mechanics that are fluid and intuitive for the player to control as being able to maneuver around the enemies to stay alive will be important and the last imporantant mechanic that I will need to think about will be the diffrent power-ups that the player can collect to help them survive, this means I need to decide what sorts of power-ups they can get, how often they spawn, and how much of an effect they will have.

Idea Two (Programming) Neon Rider –

Again I have chosen programming as my specialism and for the same reasons above it is because I feel this is my strongest side of games development and I want to achieve a career in it.

For my second game idea I wanted to create a racing type game set in a cyberpunk megatropolis, the player will be competing against five other AI opponents to try and achieve first place whilst simultaneously avoiding being taken out by pick-ups along the way that give the player and their opponents weapons to try and hinder each other.

The game will be set in a large city with a night sky glowing with the colours of the neon lights that loiter the city, all of the vehicles in the race will be hover cars delivering more of that cyberpunk feel to the game

As for mechanics I will need to creating driving controls that feel fluid and easy to use for the player so that they can get to grips with controlling the car as quickly as possible. I would need to make the pick-ups that randomly give the racers weapons and power-ups giving the game another dimension to think about when playing it. Another mechanic I would need to create is a timer that tracks each racer individually so that not only the player gets a time but so does the AI. Lastly I would need to create some kind of checkpoint system so that if the player or AI opponents get destroyed they will respawn back on the track in a predetermined location based upon where they were when they died.