Smurfing the Cybernet

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Introduction

Genre: 2D Shooter

Engine: UnrealEngine4

Platform: PC (Windows)

Date: December 2022

Trailer

Download Demo on Itch.io

Game Concept

Welcome to the Cybernet! Your keyboard is your weapon! Your messages are your bullets! Unmask and defeat the others to become the most vicious cyberbully of your server!

Inspiration

Slither.io

Vanellope's Glitch

Our game is mainly based on the internet taking the influence of social networks and gaming communities. Games like Slither.io and Agar.io influenced the gameplay style and maps without the multiplayer aspect.

We are also inspired by the elements of Social Media, The Internet, Meme Culture, Gaming Culture, and Dating Apps, as you will experience the implementation in the game.

Complete Playthrough

STC full play

Research

Cyberbullying is considered ‘‘an aggressive, intentional act carried out by a group or individual, using electronic forms of contact, repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself.’’

Cyberbullying is communicated using text messages, website postings, emails, pictures, and video clips that attempt to harass, denigrate, impersonate, or ostracize others.

Motivations for engaging in cyberbullying include revenge, jealousy, boredom, and seeking approval.

Game Mechanics

STC Mechanics

CyberBullying (Player’s Normal attack)

You keyboard is your weapon! Your words are your bullets
Able to both shoot and kite in 8 directions

Player Level up & Weapon Upgrade

When a bully becomes powerful, his words become more powerful and visually bolder.
Player levels up by defeating enemies as well as through Exp. pickups.
Higher level grants the player increased damage, shooting range, enlarged bullet size, more powerful weapon with a new look.

Cast Glitch

Glitch

Glitching is a mechanic that lets players recover missing sanity at the cost of losing maximum sanity.
The player has two casts that recharge over time, indicated by hovering 1s and 0s.
Overheal increases the segment, while glitching decreases the max segment.

Glitch to Heal

Sanity Bar

Sanity is the hitpoint meter, displayed as a battery with segments representing max sanity.
Sanity can be increased by picking up items, and glitching can be used to recover sanity at the cost of sacrificing max sanity.

The Followers

The game has a hidden variable: influential score, which decrements over time when it's above 0.
Players gain influential scores by defeating other characters in the game.
Followers appear when hitting certain milestones of the popularity score.
The player can have a maximum of 6 followers, and they can help attack cyberbullying messages.
To gain or retain followers, the player must defeat enemies continuously.
Followers cannot be inherited between servers.

Time out and Aggressive Point Mechanic

The game has a hidden variable: aggressive score, which increments with each attack input detected.
The popularity score decrements over time when no attack input is detected.
The thin bar underneath the health bar displays the aggressive score progression as a percentage of the maximum aggressive score.
When the aggressive bar is full, the player is timed out for 4 seconds from sending cyberbullying messages (attacking).

Transformation of the “Gray Cloak”

The Gray Cloak are Neutral characters
if attacked they have a chance of turning into a victim (a harmless NPC) or a bully (an enemy).

Mute all

Gray Cloaks in Gamer.net can cast "/mute all" to avoid hits from the player.
This trait is shared with the boss of the level "Mod: The Shitter."
Inspired by the setting in League of Legends, where players can type the "mute all" command to avoid seeing messages from other players

Stalking

Gray Cloaks switch between invincible and visible occasionally and start following(stalking) the player.
If it collides with the player, the player’s movement speed dramatically decreases.
Simplifying one becomes anxious and felt intense or terrified while being stalked

E-Intimidation

When hit by e-intimidation, a purple-colored cyber bully message, the player’s sprite become temporarily purple.
The control of movement and direction of shooting messages are reversed
representing people becoming freaked out and out of control when intimidated.

Invisible Enemy

The Darkweb, the unseen internet section, inspires the Edgy Web.
The bullies and Boss in the Edgy Web will become invisible occasionally after entering battle.
The player must approximate the enemy’s location by the direction from which enemy cyberbully messages are shot.

The Boss Indicator

Given the wide-open map similar to .io games, to help players from locating the boss
An arrow appears on the player's HUD pointing toward the boss's location when the player reaches a certain level(depending on the server).

The Block Room

In the EdgyWeb, the victim could block the player if hit. The player gets put into a “little Dark Room” silenced and rooted for a short amount of time.

STC Assets