Recruit!

Recruit! was a response during my third year at Abertay University to script a game mechanic. The proposal I came up with is a turn-based combat mechanic set on a small battlefield, where the player has to overcome the opposing enemy forces using their own team. The player is able to recruit units when progressing through the game in order to strengthen their team. Each unit will have abilities and stats to determine their effectiveness in combat. The overall mechanic is mainly influenced by concepts from early ‘Final Fantasy’ titles, the main ‘Pokémon’ game series, and ‘Dungeons and Dragons’. I heavily gravitated towards the concept of being able the build up a party, and face an adventure, which RPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons accomplishes extremely well, I subsequently felt a turn based PvE system, similar to numerous JRPGs to complement this type of direction.

I believe the prototype showcased an effective use of informative, visual feedback to the player in the form of; targeting arrows, turn indicators, healthbars, status effect icons, the combat log, ability descriptions, and podium indicators when positioning units during the set-up phase. Furthermore, although it was not necessary at the time, I felt the background music, and graphics were cohesive, capturing the fantasy of an RPG well, and is a welcome addition to help portray the look and feel I considered when imagining a final product.