The game has all the assets and mechanics to pull this off.
Alien survival - space marines style.
- The setting
The army of the light sends players on missions to a planet, name it whatever.
Think of every Alien/Doom movie trope style- and atmosphere wise.
There are some outposts, research labs, facilities etc. manned with small teams of goblin and gnome scientists/ engineers.
Lots of room for a actual story arc about “big bilgewater” (Tyrell corp from bladerunner) keeping their motives hidden which slowly unravel.
Something caused alien lifeforms to crawl out of their caves and from below, in addition to some facilities being infested too, dun-dun-duu… from the inside?
Dark corridors, claustrophobic tunnels, small vents, gooey spider webs, trashed rooms, flickering lights everywhere. Huge floating mist clouds and heavy rain outside. Dark.
Get the artists who made the Mechagon dungeon, that atmosphere goes hard.
Maps would be ideally randomly generated, but a set of premade maps works too, by changing the location of objectives, bug spawn points, closed/blocked paths etc.
- The game modes and mechanics
All modes can be pvp or pve vs bots. Usually 5-10 “marines” vs 30-40 “bugs”.
Marines have 1 life. Bugs have unlimited respawns.
All weapons and skills are premade kits that can be adjusted,
more ammo, bigger guns, different weapons, lazer zappers, flame throwers, pulse rifles, rapid fire, slow big hit slugs, medkits, thermal goggles, extra armor, etc.
There are no lifebars or /target options. Addons are banned. Names can be displayed on top of units, but only show if the user allows it, and a line of sight is available. So no “wallhacking” or other exploits. Keeping it intense and scary. And guess what, no aracnophobia filter this time.
— Recon mode —
Your team lands near an outpost and has to secure the area.
Reach multiple check points, retrieve some items, turn on power, repair stuff, and of course kill bugs that try to get you… Stay together and stay alive!
No time limit, ends if marines complete every objective and escape, or die.
— Rescue mode —
Bugs have damaged a facility generator and it’s about to have a destructive meltdown.
Fix it if you can, or escort all personel to safety before it blows. Bugs can’t kill the scientists, but damaging them slows them down, causes them to panic, and requires them to be healed on low life. All this drains the marines time.
— Extermination mode —
A large bug presence requires total cleansing. The compound might be in shambles already, with nearby caves and sink holes from which more bugs keep coming. Destroy them by blowing them up, burning all eggs, sealing off holes etc. Bugs have limited (500-1000?) and instant respawns at random points. No camping or farming exploits possible. Ends when marines die or bugs run out of lives.
— Rewards and Reputation —
Each side gets the same base rep, double for winning.
Marines: small bonus rep for kills and damage done.
Bugs: rep for dmg done, bonus for kills.
Each level you gain a new rank, starting from private to corporal, sergeant, officer, colonel, each I-III (stars) and unlocking either one cosmetic armor set piece,
Or every rank unlocking a full set (4 in total), each bigger and cooler than the previous.
You also gain credits (coins) that can be used to buy specific bonus stuff, toys, pets, mounts, misc cosmetics.
- THE BUG TYPES
(Each map has a role limit. 5 giants, 20 large, 10 medium, 10 small.
You can select a desired respawn sequence, roles swap based on demand and when the last user dies. If none are available, players are force spawned as the next prefered or available class after x time.)
– Non-controlled minions (a) –
Blood maggots that find marines, attach themselves and leech life. Cockroaches that explode when getting close. Tiny worms and wasps that poison marines.
Imagine them as “bug ammo”, and triggered by traps, or occuring naturally.
– Small creatures (b) –
Volatile mutations, fleshbeasts. Normal speed, agile, low health/dmg, but high regen.
Can walk up walls and upside down on ceilings (not sure how make that work without getting motion sick, maybe just keep the camera fixed horisontally?).
Abilities: bite, tentacle slap, leap, screech for a temporary aoe slow.
– Medium bugs (c) –
Noxious slimes. Slow, huge health pool, low regen. They are slime so all conventional physical dmg taken from bullets is reduced like 90%. Best ways to deal with them, kite them by destroying surroundings, or use fire/ laser zappers.
Abilities: dash for a moment (if slimes move fast for too long they lose viscosity and break up, it’s like a stamina/energy bar, which is also used to) spit acid to burn targets getting hit or standing in it. Slimes can also camoflage into flat pools, and can not be damaged or told apart from normal puddles in the surroundings, until they ambush marines and reshape into their original form. Getting in melee range slows the target and applies acid dots.
– Larger creatures (d) –
Ravagers, animites, maw roaches.
The basic stock bugs. Medium speed/ hp/ armor/ dmg. Easy to kill but they just keep coming. Abilities: bite, claw, rake, dash, leap, charge.
Special moves depend on the type. Ravagers have armor piercing slashes, bleeding rends, animites can stun or knockback with sonic waves, roaches have acid poison bites.
Ravagers can lay eggs that pop over time or on taking dmg, spawning tiny wasps.
Animite eggs spawn maggots and roach eggs spawn tiny cockroaches.
– The Abominations (e) –
See classic festergut and warcraft3 mutated murlocs.
Hard melee hits, lots of hp and resistances but very slow and low regen.
Can crash through walls, break doors, jump high and smash down (leap and a short charge requires rage, generated by taking dmg).
(reserved for marines)
That’s the general gist of the concept so far.
Devs can contact me for free consultation on more details, willing to sign a NDA if you are interested. Just would love to see this come true, as a hobby.