Team Fun Play

Production Section I

2011-10-05

Planet Rumble
A multiplayer team aggressive racing game for the PlayStation Move

Theme
Planet Rumble is a team racing game set on various alien planets, where players control a team of character flying in pod racers, trying to reach different checkpoints on a track while at the same time trying to destroy their opponents vehicles. The game combines some gameplay themes from Diddy Kong Racing with the destruction of Carmageddon, at high speed on strange planets in outer space. While going fast and outracing other players is the primary goal, the game really comes down to players trying to destroy their opponents using a variety of weapons and powers; for example by using rocket launchers from long range or by ramming them with a big pike in vehicle to vehicle melee, while also trying to defend themselves and their teammates from opponents trying to get to them. In the game you are controlling a team of 6-10 racers who are all in the same race, however you are effectively only controlling one racer at the time. Contrary to other more traditional racing games, Planet Rumble focuses less on the individual that gets the first place and is more concerned about the overall score of the entire team. Effectively this means that the players need to make sure that as many of their teammates place as highly as possible to get the most points from a race.

Target Audience
Planet Rumble should appeal to teenagers aged 14-18, while also expecting to do well with gamers aged 20-26. The average Planet Rumble-player is male and grew up watching sci-fi movies and series such as Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. He is also quite likely interested in other sci-fi games such as Warhammer 40k, StarCraft and Mass Effect. At some point growing up he probably appreciated the racing game styles of Mario Kart and Diddy Kong Racing, in particular the multiplayer competitive aspect of the games while playing against his friends. Planet Rumble is the next stage of his multiplayer racing game journey.

Team Fun Play

Production Section I

2011-10-05

Environment
All races take place on alien planets that are quite different than planet Earth; ranging from crater-filled tracks to planets filled with petrified vegetation. All planets have in common high points and valleys, tunnels and jumps. Furthermore, each track will contain obstacles that the players will have to avoid or otherwise use to prevent opponents from outracing them. These include planet specific objects such as energy fields that changes the direction youre going in, to gun towers that can be activated to fire at enemies, or spikey outcrops and boulders that you might risk racing into.

Each track will have a start and a finish line, but rather than just going around in circles for a set number of times, each track contains several objectives that teams need to complete in order to finish a track. Typically this involves collecting an item or object, or blowing something up by shooting at it. The point of these objectives is to force players to coordinate their team members and split up in order to contest each objective, as a way to balance the game and prevent teams from always riding in groups that are next to impossible to fight.

Sample Teams
The game contains several teams that players can elect to play as. These teams consist of various character archetypes with specific vehicles tied to them. In game, racers from the same team will work together in order to win races and defeat their opponents.

Grunts
The Grunts are a mutated bear-like people that walk on two legs and have hands that allow them to operate vehicles and use weapons. They are a highly muscular and aggressive race that prefers head on vehicle collision over anything else. Their vehicles are often pieced together from scrap metal and various bits and pieces, giving them a distinct steampunk look. In race, they will regularly use their vehicles as battering rams by attaching spikes and saw blades to

Team Fun Play

Production Section I

2011-10-05

them and smash into opponents. In order to catch more nimble opponents and to interact with the environment, they have at their disposal whips, chains and grabbing arms attached to their vehicles. The downside to their aggressive racing style is that parts of their vehicles tend to fall off, and over time the Grunts will have to slow down and repair their own vehicles. Thanks to their bulk and modular construction, the Grunts vehicles are usually clumsy and more difficult to maneuver.

Zoonts
The Zoonts team are beings made out of pure energy that holds together a body consisting of many separate components and materials, with the energy shining through in the cracks between each body part. Their vehicles look like giant batteries that are nimble yet fragile, as these are delicate things compared to other races. The Zoonts make use of energy to affect objects and opponents around them, for example telekinesis that allow them to manipulate objects in the environment, such as activating gun turrets or throwing pieces of debris in their opponents way, as well as increasing their own speed with bursts of energy.

Vehicle Customization
Between each race players may visit their pit stop, where they are able to buy upgrades for their team with the prize money that they earned in the race. This will allow you to customize each of your vehicle as you prefer; such as building specific racers to handle certain matchups, terrain and also allows you to create specific strategies going into each race. For example, a team might consist of a quick racer that will be able to reach certain objectives on the track better than others, while another racer will act as a group support, imbuing nearby teammates with powers and abilities, while a third one might be a sturdy vehicle intent on fighting opponents and protecting more fragile team members.

Team Racing
While the game is ultimately about racing as quickly as you can along a route, there is a strong focus on sabotaging for the other racers around you while protecting yourself as much as possible from their attempts to sabotage you. The game encourages players to form up in groups of racers and ride together in order to better protect themselves from opponents. While grouped up in this way it will be possible for racers of slower speed to go faster by drafting behind a quicker teammate to increase their own speed. It will also be possible to make use of specific abilities that affect all team members within range, such as granting everyone the ability to dematerialize for a brief moment to avoid obstacles on the track.

Team Fun Play

Production Section I

2011-10-05

Limited abilities
The abilities of each racer can only be activated for a limited time before its powers run out and will require recharging. You can recharge the ability simply by not making use of it for a while. The mechanics are designed in this way in order to encourage co-operation between players and will be greatly enhanced by voice communication. For example, the laser gun of one racer can only fire for 10 seconds before it needs to recharge. Similarly, another racers protective shield can protect one side from attacks for 7 seconds before it runs out of power and needs to recharge. So in order to provide maximum cover while maintaining an offensive firing rate, players will have to vary their tasks and communicate to make that transition smoothly.

Switching formations
While riding in formations, players will also have to switch positions with each other to better make use of their abilities. For example, when using a shielding ability this can only cover one side of your vehicle (front/rear/sides) and it will eventually run out of power, forcing you to recharge. If that side is still taking heavy fire from opponents, another player might have to switch over to that position in order to provide a new shield. Similarly, teammates might end up blocking the line of fire for one player if the target moves to a dead angle, for example by moving to the left of the team member most to the left, while a teammate far to the right is trying to shoot at it.

Repairing
Whenever a vehicle takes too much damage the hull will look torn and ragged, smoke and sparks will rise from the engine and the vehicle will move a lot slower. Whenever this happens, the racer will begin reparations to the vehicle. During this time, it will move slower for a limited time. If a teammate drives up close they may assist in the reparation efforts, effectively slowing you both down for a while but increasing the speed of reparation. The more teammates that assist in the effort will speed up the reparations further.

Switching drivers
Although teams can be made up of several players, they will also always contain team members that are controlled by the AI. Part of getting all your team members to finish as high up in the rankings as possible is to switch between all members of a team in mid-race in order to help out in difficult situations that the AI is unlikely to handle in the most effective manner. This mechanic will result in the player switching between racers whenever a situation arises on the track, for example if an AI racer is being shot at by opponents (which will be communicated to the player). After solving that problem, the player can then let the AI take back control of that vehicle once more as you switch to another driver. This mechanic is specifically inspired by a combination of games and genres. In Carmageddon, the most enjoyable bit of every race was when you came upon another driver and you

Team Fun Play

Production Section I

2011-10-05

immediately went at it, while the down part came as you were driving around trying to find other players. When looking at team sports games, such as basketball or soccer games, it is the person who is currently controlling the ball who is the most interesting avatar to control (while supporting that player also can be interesting). When looking at real time strategy games, the most intense and memorable game moments come from when you are being attacked at several locations at once and need to multitask and prioritize your micro managing. Planet Rumble aspires to mimic such action intense moments, while limiting the downtime between these moments.

Core Mechanics
In Planet Rumble you will be controlling a single racer with a vehicle as you race along a route. You will be viewing your racer from behind through a chase camera. The core mechanic consists of two parts; the first part involves the player controlling the vehicle turning, breaking, accelerating or using abilities that involve the pod racer itself; such as rising in the air to avoid an obstacle. The second part consists of the player controlling the crossbar through which they can interact with their environment, such as pulling down an obstacle on the track to clear the way for you using a grappling hook, shooting your weapons against an opponent vehicle, or making use of abilities such as throwing nets to slow an opponent down.

Controls
As the game is designed to be played on PlayStation Move, the controllers involved are the Motion Controller and the Navigation Controller. In order to navigate the car left and right, or to increase and decrease the speed, the player will use the Navigation Controller in one hand. Meanwhile, the Motion Controller will be used to control the crossbar that you use to interact with obstacles in the environment, other vehicles on the track, or simply to fire your weapons at opponents by pointing the controller at the screen and pressing a button. The regular PlayStation3 buttons will be used to activate the powers and abilities of each racer.