Insurrection

Current Status

The project currently is incomplete and I have discontinued development of it. Below you will find descriptions of the game and explanations of the key decisions in making it.

Folders:

_INSURRECTION_ASSETS_.zip is all of the art used in the game.

Insurrection.zip is the game itself. It will likely break within a couple seconds of you running it.

Game At A Glance

Insurrection is a roguelite army-builder that puts the player in control of a growing army of enslaved workers on Mars as they begin their uprising for independence as a   colony. Players will lead massive swathes of men and machines as a commander with unique abilities, charging headfirst through floors of explosive 2-minute battles. From deep within the irradiated cradle of Mars, the time for your people to determine their future has come!

Player Experience

Insurrection is meant for casual gamers with little-to-no introduction to the army-management genre looking for a quick and flashy army-building experience. The game sports a minimal interface and quick battles, allowing players to dive straight into the action. There are also a plethora of ally and enemy unit types to encourage various strategies and a unique play experience each time someone reaches for the game. The vibrant graphics and sound-design are meant to make players feel like they are on the front lines of the uprising every moment.

Insurrection's experience is structured this way because I am presenting it to a class of college students as part of a 45-minute presentation (I will have ~15 minutes to share this game). The students are not "gamers", but are familiar with a few video games, so they can understand broad game concepts but aren't the audience for making in-depth systems for. Additionally, because of the time constraints of the project and the presentation, I will need to make a game where the fun is apparent in the first minute, as I don't have time to spend on a build-up.

Core Gameplay

Insurrection  takes place mainly within the Well – a massive power structure on Mars that the workers the player commands were enslaved to build as punishment for their loss in a war generations back. 

Insurrection is a roguelite and is structured in the form of runs where a player progresses through multiple floors, battling enemies until they reach the end. Each floor presents a unique objective that the player must complete within the alotted time or the level will become much more difficult. Once the objective is complete, the room's exit opens and the player can leave. There are currently two types of challenges:

• Killcount: the player must eliminate a certain number of enemies.
• Survival: the player must survive against waves of enemies for a certain amount of time.

The core game loop consists of the player progressing up the Well and beginning the climb anew if they fail to reach the top, or once they succeed they will continue liberating other parts of the Well in the same fashion. The revolution will not be stopped!

Commanders

Before a player begins a run of the Well, they choose a commander that they will control through the battles, each having a unique moveset, abilities, and starting collection of units. The current set of commanders is as follows:

Cranker Captain

A Cranker who has earned the respect of their fellow workers and is considered as a leader among them. Wielding giant sawblades, this commander is for players who want to charge straight into battle and get in the enemy's face.

The Cranker Captain's starting ability is "Charge", which provides a temporary boost to all units' attack speed, movement speed, and damage, and its duration increases for every enemy killed while it is active.

Negotiator

Once working as a guard for the Concord on the Mars colony, this commander has sided with the rebellion. Wielding a smoke launcher, this commander blankets the enemy forces in charged smoke that slows and damages them, allowing for rest of the player's army to swoop in for the kill.

The Negotiator's starting ability is "Thunderstorm" which blankets a large area of the battlefield in more potent stunning smoke.

EC4 Mining Unit

A reprogrammed Excavation Class mining unit, now made deadly with its safety features removed. This remote-piloted mech fires a continuous beam of plasma into enemy lines,  easily blazing through thick formations. With its high health pool and lower movement speed, this commander allows players to push through the battlefield while laying down heavy fire.

The EC4 Mining Unit's starting ability is "Laser Barrage" which fires a rain of low-damage laser fire over a large area for a certain duration. 

Ally Units

The player's army consists of a collection of units that they can manage as the game progresses. After each floor, the player makes a selection of units to be added to their army, and can choose to trade in units for this game's currency manpower so they can acquire more units or abilities.

The player can switch their units' behavior between three modes:

• Retreat: run away from enemy units. Units will regenerate health while in this mode. 
• Follow: follow the player while ignoring enemy units.
• Attack: detect, chase, and attack enemy units.  

Units -- ally and enemy --  move around and pursue targets using flocking behaviors as proposed by Craig Reynolds in his 1987 paper "Flocks, herds, and schools: A distributed behavior model" . This is to get them to move more naturally and allow battles to have a more organic feel to how they unfold.

There are many ally unit types, so I will not list them all here, but I will explain their general design. 

Ally units are all based on various aspects of the Well and its technology. Some units are converted or repurposed from the Concord, some are mechs of various sizes, and some are people of various occupations within the Well. There are medics that used to help the overseers, parts manufacturers, miners, etc. The ally units generally wear lead armor and feature an orange stripe across the left side of their face or body. Lead is known for being good at shielding from radiation, which is very important since the Well is highly radioactive in addition to Mars itself. The lead armor also fits with the game's dieselpunk inspirations (see more on that in the "Visual Direction" section). Sure, it's heavy and cumbersome, but as slaves their masters don't necessarily care. All workers must be suited up constantly because due to the size of the Well and the work areas, indoor oxygen and environment maintenance is not possible with their currently technology and energy resources until the Well's construction is complete. The orange stripe is a special paint made from the Martian soil, and its use symbolizes the rebellion's connection to their new Martian homeland and their willingness to fight for it. The most numerous kinds of workers in the Well are called Crankers, as they are constantly constructing the machine and laboring physically for long hours. However, this term is also used to refer to any person  in the colony who is not from the ruling class.

The ally units rarely have strict "weapons" -- most of their weapons are repurposed work equipment or rewired technology from their overseers. This is because the colony was not supplied an abundance of weaponry since it was meant for work, not war, and the slave population was not to be killed. For the few weapons that are in the colony, it is very difficult for the rebellion to access them, and even their inside connections cannot supply them with large amounts of it. Therefor, the workers had to be resourceful and use what they can, and they are willing to use lethal force against their enemies due to the generations of oppression they've endured and the understanding that the uprising must go off without a hitch, so managing captives isn't ideal unless they surrender.

Some ally units are pictured below:

Enemy Units

Enemy units behave almost identically to ally units, except they attack the player and their army. Enemy units are normally as numerous as the player's army on each floor, and each one is meant to serve a distinct purpose. 

The enemy units mainly use non-lethal force, with the inspiration for much of their weaponry coming from current police and military gear, especially as it relates to riot control. Bullets and related projectile-based weapons aren't used because the physics would make them unreliable on Mars. Instead, they use a variety of wave and laser-based weaponry in addition to melee and gases. 

Much of the enemy units' forces are mechanized. This is because being that they are from the ruling class and receive much better treatment than the workers, they normally are not physically present in the Well unless absolutely necessary due to its high emission of radiation and heat. As a result, the enemy forces normally remotely monitor the workers with a variety of robots, drones, and the like.

Their suits are also more advanced and comfortable than that of the Crankers, and though they provide less protection from radiation, this is normally suitable for the comfortable living quarters they are in. Additionally, because the ruling class has chosen to rule on Earth with a facade of caring for the Martian workers, they attempt to keep up appearances in certain ways, one of which is making their surveillance and enforcement forces on Mars appear more friendly, hence giving them the bright blue color.

Some enemy units are pictured below:

Abilities

The player will be able to use and unlock a variety of abilities throughout their run that could change the state of the battles they are in. Besides the commander-specific abilities mentioned earlier, here is a list of other abilities:

• Gas Strike:  covers a large strip of the battlefield with radioactive material from the bottom of the Well. Damages enemies over time and gives them poison.
• Regen: allows allies to heal over time for a certain duration, even while they are in battle.
• Shield: makes all allies immune to all incoming damage for a certain duration.
• Static Field: covers a large area of the battlefield in an electric field that slows and damages all enemies caught within.

Visual Direction

Insurrection’s environment and characters are set in a heavily industrial society that is a cross between a dieselpunk and cyberpunk aesthetic, with chunky mechs, brutalist architecture, and glimmering with lights all shrouded in smoke. Colors for the world are inspired by the Martian terrain and indigenous American styles.

 

While there is a noticeable visual distinction between ally and enemy units so players can easily tell the difference between them while playing, there is not necessarily a “red bad, blue good” distinction between the workers and the dominators, they do have slightly different aesthetics to set them apart. The workers’ tech is older, more clunky and machine-looking, while the overseer's tech is still a bit chunky but more sleek and automated. 

Below are some simplified mockups of different parts of the Well:

Cranker Floors

The majority of Crankers work on these floors. Closest to the base of the Well, these floors are where radioactive material gets processed and where the Well does most of its energy-production work.

Manufacturing Floors

The Well is an enormous project, and it needs raw materials to be processed to keep it going. These floors are where all of the manufacturing takes place.

Science Floors

Where all of the science and experimentation for the Well happens. Workers normally serve here as researchers and lab assistants.

Sound Direction

Insurrection’s soundscape is rich, and there is always some sound playing. In combat scenarios, players can hear the sounds of weaponry, marching troops, and various voice lines from different units. At more quiet moments, there are some voicelines from units as well as the sounds of machinery in the background. Players are meant to feel like they are really grounded in the moment and environment. Some example inspirations include:

• Factory noises: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ih0JJLoMIg
• Combat sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=5MBS6FQ4-qw&t=5171s
• Crazier combat sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rl7AatkjfA 

Sometimes, the workers will lead chants, akin to sounds from various labor movements and chain gangs. There is no music in the game. Some inspirations include:

• Chain gang song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G5KtQynWvc
• Worker-related songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edAxujKev1I 
• Warhammer affirmations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1MSPCXMn0Y 

Target Platform

  Insurrection is targeted to be released for PC.