Story

When their toilet is mysteriously clogged out of nowhere, the protagonist(s) drop down into the sewer to investigate (instead of taking a more obvious action, like using a plunger or calling a plumber). After mucking about in the dark depths of the public town sewer system, they find the toilet was deliberately clogged with junk. They eventually trace it back to its source, and find…

…the protagonist’s old goldfish he flushed as a kid when it died. Unfortunately though, his goldfish wasn’t actually dead, he was just sleeping. After being misflushed, Mr. Sneeples (name subject to change) was subject to highly toxic water. Over many years, it mutated him instead of killing him. Combined with various metal bits that were flushed over time, he was able to construct a metal housing to keep himself alive far beyond his natural expiration date. He now seeks revenge for his untimely flush.

Faced with the threat of imminent death, the protagonist has no choice but to end Mr. Sneeple’s life once and for all, and ensure no other innocent toilets suffer his clog-ridden wrath.

 

Approach

I’d like to structure the level similarly to those in Paper Mario: that is, have 3D rendered environments that can be freely traversed, but lock the camera to a fixed rotation. This would allow the level to be built like a stage, with an open wall at the front for the camera to look through.

Stylistically, I’m going for a geometrical-yet-quirky look. For lack of a better explanation, think of the stylization used in the later Ratchet & Clank games: sleek, but still cartoony. This involves painterly textures instead of photorealistic ones, lots of color (though not oversaturated), and varied lighting.

Overall though, I’d like to focus on the audio (surprise, I’m not an art student!) Optimally, I’d like to integrate the Wwise audio engine with Unity so I could set up a more detailed and dynamic soundscape. A sewer setting provides the opportunity for a lot of interesting sounds and ambiances.

 

Concept Art

Varied sewer areas

Mr. Sneeples (mutated-mecha-goldfish boss)