Blocky Sniper HunterAI · Claude 3.5

Core Game Loop and Mechanics

Blocky Safari Sniper is a first-person sniping game where players hunt Minecraft-style animals across a procedurally generated blocky landscape. The core experience focuses on precision aiming, timing, and target acquisition.

Moment-to-Moment Gameplay

1. Player spawns in a blocky biome with animals scattered across the terrain
2. Player uses mouse/touch to look around and spot animals in the distance
3. Player aims down scope (right-click/tap scope button) for precision view with crosshair
4. Player lines up shot and fires (left-click/tap fire button)
5. Successful hits award points based on distance and animal rarity
6. Animals flee when shots are fired nearby, adding urgency
7. Timer counts down - player must tag as many animals as possible before time expires
8. Round ends when timer reaches zero
9. Score screen shows performance with distance records and accuracy stats

Progression & Engagement

• Score System: Points awarded based on distance (longer shots = more points) and animal type (rare animals = bonus multipliers)
• Combo System: Consecutive hits within short time windows award combo multipliers
• High Score Tracking: Players compete against their personal best
• Animal Behavior: Animals wander naturally but flee when they hear gunshots, creating dynamic hunting scenarios
• Distance Challenge: Animals spawn at varying distances (50-300 blocks away), requiring skill to hit distant targets

Win/Lose Conditions

• Win: Achieve a target score threshold before time expires (e.g., 1000 points in 90 seconds)
• Lose: Timer expires before reaching target score
• Replay Value: Beat personal high scores, improve accuracy percentage, achieve longer distance shots

What Makes It Compelling

• Satisfying sniper mechanics with scope zoom and precision aiming
• Risk/reward of taking difficult long-distance shots vs. easier close targets
• Tension from fleeing animals and ticking timer
• Minecraft aesthetic appeals to familiar audience
• Simple to learn, challenging to master

Starting Scope

For the first iteration, we'll implement a minimal but polished prototype focusing on core sniping mechanics:

Include in First Version:

• Single biome (grassy plains with scattered trees)
• 3-4 animal types (cow, pig, sheep, chicken) with different point values
• Basic sniper rifle with scope zoom
• 90-second timed round
• Score system with distance bonuses
• Simple animal AI (wander + flee from gunshots)
• Scope overlay with crosshair
• Hit feedback (visual + audio confirmation)
• End-of-round score screen
• Blocky/voxel art style consistent with Minecraft aesthetic

Save for Future Iterations:

• Multiple biomes (forest, desert, snow)
• Rare/legendary animals
• Weapon upgrades and customization
• Wind mechanics affecting bullet trajectory
• Persistent progression/unlocks
• Multiple difficulty levels
• Leaderboards

Game Perspective

3D First-Person - This perspective is essential for the sniping experience:

• Player views the world through their character's eyes
• Mouse controls camera rotation (with pointer lock)
• Scope mode provides zoomed view with crosshair overlay
• Immersive hunting experience with depth perception for distance shots

Game World and Level Design

Environment Structure

The game takes place in a procedurally generated blocky terrain inspired by Minecraft's aesthetic:

Terrain Generation:

• Flat grassy plains as the base (y=0)
• Gentle rolling hills using noise generation (height variation: 0-10 blocks)
• Scattered blocky trees (simple trunk + leafy canopy, 5-8 blocks tall)
• Render distance: 400 blocks to allow long-distance sniping
• Skybox: Simple gradient from light blue to white
• Ground texture: Grass block pattern (green top, dirt sides)

Spatial Layout:

• Player spawns at center point (0, 2, 0) - standing on ground
• Animals spawn in a radius of 50-300 blocks from player
• 15-20 animals active at once
• Trees provide visual landmarks and partial cover for animals
• Blocky aesthetic means everything uses cube/rectangular prism shapes

Scale Reference:

• 1 block = 1 meter (Minecraft standard)
• Player height: 1.8 blocks
• Animals: 1-2 blocks tall depending on type
• Trees: 5-8 blocks tall
• Scope can zoom to clearly see animals 200+ blocks away

Visual Atmosphere

• Bright, cheerful daytime lighting
• Clear visibility for long-distance shots
• Blocky shadows from trees and terrain
• Particle effects when bullets hit (small block fragments)
• Animals have simple idle animations (head bob, tail wag)

Edit Mode Design

Edit mode allows players to customize their hunting experience:

Editable Properties

Game Settings:

• roundDuration (30-300 seconds, default: 90) - How long each round lasts
• targetScore (500-5000, default: 1000) - Score needed to win
• animalCount (5-30, default: 15) - Number of animals spawned
• scopeZoom (2-8x, default: 4x) - Scope magnification level

Animal Configuration: Each animal type has editable properties:

• spawnWeight (0-100) - Relative spawn probability
• pointValue (10-500) - Base points awarded for tagging
• moveSpeed (0.5-3.0) - How fast they wander
• fleeSpeed (1.0-5.0) - How fast they run when scared
• fleeDistance (20-100 blocks) - How far they hear gunshots

Difficulty Modifiers:

• distanceBonus (0-10 points per block, default: 2) - Extra points for distance
• comboMultiplier (1.0-3.0x, default: 1.5x) - Bonus for consecutive hits
• comboWindow (1-10 seconds, default: 3) - Time window for combo

Constraints

• Minimum 5 animals to ensure gameplay
• Round duration at least 30 seconds for meaningful play
• Scope zoom between 2-8x to maintain challenge
• Animal speeds capped to prevent impossible targets

Control Design

Blocky Safari Sniper uses standard 3D First-Person Shooter controls optimized for sniping gameplay:

Desktop Controls (Keyboard + Mouse)

Mouse:

• Mouse Movement - Look around / Aim camera (with pointer lock active)
• Left Click - Fire rifle
• Right Click - Toggle scope zoom (hold or toggle)
• Mouse Wheel - Adjust scope zoom level (if multiple zoom levels added later)

Keyboard:

• WASD - Move character (forward/left/back/right)
• Arrow Keys - Alternative movement
• Space - Jump (minimal use, mainly for traversing terrain)
• Shift - Hold breath while scoped (steadies aim, reduces sway)
• R - Reload (if ammo system added later)
• Escape - Pause menu / Release pointer lock

Pointer Lock:

• Automatically request pointer lock when game starts
• Release pointer lock when showing pause menu or end screen
• Re-acquire when resuming gameplay

Mobile Controls (Touch)

Touch Zones:

• Right 60% of screen - Look/aim joystick (appears where touched)
  • Drag to rotate camera
  • Larger movements = faster rotation
  • When scoped, sensitivity reduced for precision
• Bottom-left corner - Movement joystick (fixed position)
  • 8-directional movement relative to camera facing
  • Analog input for variable speed
• Bottom-right buttons - Action buttons (fixed UI)
  • Large circular "FIRE" button (96x96px minimum)
  • "SCOPE" toggle button above it

Joystick Behavior:

• Look Joystick (Right side):

  • Base appears where finger touches (avoiding UI areas)
  • Max radius: 80px
  • Dead zone: 10px
  • Dynamic recentering: If finger moves beyond max radius, base position slides to keep knob at max radius under finger
  • Outputs analog X/Y values (-1 to +1) for camera rotation
  • Sensitivity: ~0.15 radians per second at full deflection (reduced to ~0.05 when scoped)

• Movement Joystick (Bottom-left):

  • Fixed position: 100px from left, 150px from bottom
  • Max radius: 60px
  • Dead zone: 8px
  • Outputs analog X/Y for movement direction relative to camera
  • Movement speed scales with deflection amount

Touch Tracking:

• Track each touch by ID to prevent interference
• First touch in right zone = look control
• First touch in left zone = movement control
• Touches on buttons = actions
• Ignore touches that start on UI elements for joystick purposes

Scope Mode Adjustments:

• When scoped, look sensitivity reduced by 70% for precision aiming
• Fire button pulses/glows to indicate ready to shoot
• Movement disabled or heavily reduced while scoped (player focuses on aiming)

Aiming Mechanics

Normal View:

• Free look with crosshair in center of screen
• No zoom, wide field of view (~75 degrees)
• Faster camera rotation for scanning environment

Scoped View:

• Scope overlay appears (circular frame with crosshair)
• Zoom level: 4x magnification (FOV reduced to ~20 degrees)
• Slower, precise camera movement
• Slight scope sway (breathing effect) - reduced when holding Shift/steady button
• Edges of screen darkened/vignetted to simulate looking through scope

Bullet Mechanics:

• Hitscan (instant) for simplicity in first version
• Raycast from camera center through crosshair
• Hit detection on animal collision boxes
• Visual tracer effect (faint line) shows bullet path briefly

Input State Management

Desktop:

const input = {
  keys: {}, // Track pressed keys (lowercase)
  mouse: { x: 0, y: 0, buttons: {} },
  pointerLocked: false
};

// Prevent default for game keys
document.addEventListener('keydown', (e) => {
  const key = e.key.toLowerCase();
  if (['w','a','s','d',' ','shift'].includes(key)) {
    e.preventDefault();
    input.keys[key] = true;
  }
});

// Clear input on blur
window.addEventListener('blur', () => {
  input.keys = {};
  input.mouse.buttons = {};
});

Mobile:

const touches = {
  look: null, // {id, baseX, baseY, currentX, currentY}
  move: null,
  active: new Map() // Track all active touches by ID
};

// Each joystick enforces max radius with dynamic base repositioning
function updateJoystick(joystick, touchX, touchY) {
  const dx = touchX - joystick.baseX;
  const dy = touchY - joystick.baseY;
  const distance = Math.sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy);
  
  if (distance > joystick.maxRadius) {
    // Move base so finger stays at max radius
    const angle = Math.atan2(dy, dx);
    joystick.baseX = touchX - Math.cos(angle) * joystick.maxRadius;
    joystick.baseY = touchY - Math.sin(angle) * joystick.maxRadius;
  }
  
  // Calculate normalized output
  const clampedDist = Math.min(distance, joystick.maxRadius);
  if (clampedDist < joystick.deadZone) return {x: 0, y: 0};
  
  const normalized = (clampedDist - joystick.deadZone) / (joystick.maxRadius - joystick.deadZone);
  return {
    x: (dx / distance) * normalized,
    y: (dy / distance) * normalized
  };
}

Accessibility Considerations

• Large touch targets (96x96px minimum) for mobile buttons
• Visual feedback on all button presses
• Option to invert Y-axis for camera (common preference)
• Adjustable sensitivity settings in edit mode
• Clear visual indicators for scope mode, reload state, etc.

Art Style and Visual Theme

Blocky Safari Sniper embraces a voxel/Minecraft-inspired aesthetic with clean, recognizable shapes and a cheerful color palette.

Overall Art Direction

• Style: Voxel/blocky 3D art inspired by Minecraft
• Mood: Bright, cheerful, family-friendly hunting experience
• Color Palette:
  • Vibrant greens for grass and foliage
  • Earthy browns for dirt and tree trunks
  • Bright blue sky
  • Colorful animals (pink pigs, white sheep, brown cows, white chickens)
• Consistency: All assets use cubic/rectangular forms with minimal curves
• Viewing Angle: First-person perspective with 3D models

Visual Elements

Terrain & Environment:

• Rendered with code (Three.js or similar)
• Simple block-based geometry
• Grass blocks: green top face, brown/dirt side faces
• Trees: brown cubic trunk + green leafy canopy (made of cubes)
• Flat-shaded or simple texture mapping

Animals:

• Generated as voxel-style 3D models or sprite billboards
• Recognizable Minecraft-style proportions
• Simple animations (idle bob, walk cycle)
• Clear silhouettes for long-distance visibility
• Size: 1-2 blocks tall depending on species

UI Elements:

• Clean, modern interface with blocky aesthetic
• Scope overlay: circular frame with crosshair (generated asset)
• HUD: Score, timer, combo counter in corner
• Buttons: Rounded rectangles with clear icons
• Font: Bold, readable sans-serif (e.g., "Press Start 2P" or similar pixel font)

Effects:

• Muzzle flash: Bright yellow/orange particle burst
• Hit effect: Small colored particles (red for hit, gray for miss)
• Bullet tracer: Faint white line
• Scope sway: Subtle breathing motion
• Animal flee: Dust particles when running

Asset Generation vs. Code Rendering

Generate as Assets:

• Animal models/sprites (cow, pig, sheep, chicken)
• Scope overlay with crosshair
• Tree textures (if using texture mapping)
• Particle textures (muzzle flash, hit effects)
• UI icons (scope icon, fire icon)
• Sound effects and music

Render with Code:

• Terrain geometry (procedurally generated blocks)
• Basic shapes (cubes for blocks, rectangles for UI)
• HUD text and numbers
• Joystick visualizations (circles and knobs)
• Simple geometric effects (tracers, basic particles)

Scale and Proportions

• 1 block = 1 meter (Minecraft standard)
• Player camera height: 1.62 blocks (eye level)
• Animals:
  • Cow: 1.4 blocks tall, 1.8 blocks long
  • Pig: 0.9 blocks tall, 1.4 blocks long
  • Sheep: 1.3 blocks tall, 1.6 blocks long
  • Chicken: 0.7 blocks tall, 0.8 blocks long
• Trees: 5-8 blocks tall, 1-2 block trunk width
• Scope zoom: Makes animals clearly visible at 200+ blocks

Technical Considerations

• Use Three.js for 3D rendering
• Simple lighting (ambient + directional sun)
• Fog for distant terrain (starts at 300 blocks)
• LOD not necessary for first version (simple geometry)
• Target 60 FPS on mobile devices