Project Overview
This document outlines the design for "Project Chimera," a cooperative sci-fi survival game for the Roblox platform. It blends base-building, wave defense, and class-based action into a cohesive experience. Players crash-land on a hostile alien planet and must work together to survive, build a defensible base, research new technologies, and ultimately construct a new spaceship to escape.
Survive & Defend
Face nightly waves of hostile creatures. Build and fortify your base to protect your team and your crashed escape pod.
Explore & Discover
Venture into a mysterious world filled with rare resources, dangerous biomes, and the secrets of a lost expedition.
Cooperate & Escape
Master specialized roles and work as a team to research, craft, and build your way to a final escape from the planet.
The Gameplay Loop
The core of the game is a series of interlocking gameplay loops that operate on different time scales. Each loop provides clear motivation and a constant sense of progress, from the grand objective down to moment-to-moment actions. This structure creates a compelling survival experience.
Macro Loop: Survive, Advance, Escape
The ultimate, multi-session journey.
Primary Loop: Day/Night Cycle
The central rhythm of each play session.
Micro Loops
Second-to-second actions like combat, gathering, and crafting.
The Player Journey
The game experience begins in the chaotic lobby of a crashing starship, where players form teams and choose an escape pod. This choice serves as a diegetic difficulty selection, tailoring the initial experience to different types of players.
Recruit Pod: The Guided Campaign
This mode is a structured tutorial framed as "Emergency Survival Protocols." The pod's AI guides players through their first 5-10 nights, teaching core mechanics seamlessly within the narrative.
Night 1
Basics
Night 2
Sustenance
Night 3
Fortification
Night 4
Automation
Night 5
Teamwork
Lieutenant Pod: The Sandbox Experience
The default game mode for experienced players. There are no guided quests. Players must rely on their own knowledge and strategic planning to survive. This is the strategist's playground.
Admiral Pod: High-Risk, High-Reward
Tailored for veteran teams seeking the ultimate challenge. Enemy waves are larger and more aggressive, but the rewards are proportionally greater, including exclusive resources and cosmetics.
The Pillars of Teamwork: Classes
Success hinges on a class-based system built on interdependence. A well-coordinated team is exponentially more effective. Players can switch roles at a 'Re-Assignment Station' in their base, making team composition a key strategic choice.
World & Lore
The game's narrative is woven into the world itself, encouraging players to act as archaeologists piecing together a fragmented history through environmental storytelling, discoverable data logs, and ancient artifacts.
The First Expedition (The *Prometheus*)
Representing hyper-advanced, sterile technology. Players find their derelict outposts and advanced tech. Their story, told through data logs, is a cautionary tale of hubris—they tried to harness a planetary energy they didn't understand, leading to their own destruction.
The Ancients (The Elves)
Representing ancient, organic magic. This civilization lived in symbiosis with the planet's energy. Fearing the "metal gods" of the *Prometheus*, they enacted a great ritual to protect the planet, which reacted violently with the expedition's technology, causing the cataclysm.
The Corrupted (The Orcs)
Representing twisted, weaponized magic. A splinter faction of the Ancients who sought to master the planet's energy for conquest. The cataclysm twisted them into monstrous, aggressive forms that now serve as the game's more intelligent and tactical enemies.
The Alien Menace: Bestiary
The creatures of Planet X are the primary drivers of challenge. Each enemy poses a unique tactical problem, forcing players to adapt their defenses and coordinate their class abilities. Nightly waves are carefully composed to test specific aspects of a team's strategy.
Endgame & Beyond
A successful game requires a long-term vision. The endgame is centered around the monumental task of building an escape vessel, while retention is driven by seasonal content, leaderboards, and an ethical, non-pay-to-win monetization model.
The ultimate objective is a multi-stage project requiring massive investment. Players must find rare blueprints and gather unique materials to construct five key modules:
- Reinforced Hull: Requires massive amounts of refined minerals.
- Quantum Engine Core: Requires rare crystals from late-game bosses.
- Navigation System: Requires data from *Prometheus* ruins.
- Life Support System: Requires specialized biological samples.
- Arcane Stabilizer: Requires deciphered Elven artifacts to merge magic and tech.
- Seasonal Content: New biomes, creatures, skills, and narrative arcs every 3-4 months.
- Seasonal Battle Pass: Free and premium tracks with cosmetic rewards.
- Leaderboards: Tracking metrics like "Fastest Escape Time" to foster competition.
- Daily & Weekly Quests: Small, achievable goals to encourage regular logins.
The focus is strictly on cosmetics and convenience, avoiding any "pay-to-win" mechanics.
- Game Passes (Permanent): Cosmetic packs, expanded inventory, skill build slots.
- Developer Products (Consumable): Team-wide resource boosters, cosmetic crate keys.
- Private Servers: Monthly access for a guaranteed experience with friends.