Initial Idea:

When we were told that our game had to have a top view perspective we immediately sought the legend of Zelda series for inspiration. At first, we wanted to make it pretty similar by having a character go through and explore a dungeon.  But later we decided to give the game a futuristic setting on an alien planet with the player playing as a scientist, fighting their way through alien monsters while collect samples and data of the planet.  After further conversation, we came to an agreement to give the player a non-lethal weapon taht would stun the aliens instead of killing them. We also decided to limit player's ability to kill by  supplying them with limited lethal ammunition, afterall our character is there to explore rather than to invade.

Prototype:

We started the development with working on the concept art of the chearacters and made a white box version of the game that included some basic functions that we might use for the future version of the game. The prototype included the basic movement function of the player, the shooting mechanic for the non-lethal weapon (an air cannon) .  The prototype also included basic AI behaviors such as patroling, chasing player, and shooting towards the player. And since we planned to make a Zelda like adventure game, we also made two example rooms/scenes that players can make transition between each other.  

Development After Prototype:

After the prototype we started to change the functions so they work better with mobile platform and touch screen.  And Inspired by the game Ramble Planet, we decided to completly take away the killing mechanic from the game and focus on the concept of exploring and collecting samples. Following this concept,  we imporved the AI behaviors based on what we made during the prototype.  They now won't attack the player too and cause any damage to the player. During player's adventure, some of them will approach the player with curiosity and follows the player where ever they go,  and the other will shy away from the player and spit at the player if the player is geting too close.  Besides that, we extended the size of the map and added more details. We increased the total amount of pickable samples from 1 type to total of 5 types.  We also applied animations and sounds effects to make the game juicer.