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Team6GameDesignDocument(7‐30‐2009)

Contents

• Introduction……………………………………………………………………...............2

o HighConcept

o Objectives

o Story

o Setup

• Mechanics………………………………………………………..………………….3

o PlayerMechanics

o AIPlayerSpecificMechanics

o EnemyMechanics

• HealthBars…………………………………………………………………………………..5

• AlteredLandscapeSystem…………………………………………………………....5

• Screens……………………………………………………………………………………..….6

o MainMenu

o PauseMenu

o OptionsMenu

o LevelSelect/Achievements

o WinScreen/Achievements

o OtherScreens

• Story…………………………………………………………………….……………………….9

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o Overview

o GameIntroduction

o Instructions

• FutureDesignConcerns………………………………………………………………11

o Thoughts

o ThingsIThinkCouldBeCut

o ThingsChanged/Cut

Introduction

HighConcept:

Creaturesofancientlegendhavemysteriouslyreemergedandaresuckingawaythetriballand’swatersupply.AhumanandAIplayertakeontheroleoftribalshamanswhoknowthatinordertosavethe

planet,theymustenticethesecreaturesintochasingthem,andtrickthemintocollidingtogether.

Objectives:

• Playersenticeenemiesbyproximityintochasingthem.

• Forceenemiestocollideintoeachothertotakebackearth’sstolenwater.

Setup:

• Twoplayersinhabitamazewhichisfilledwithanevenamountofenemies.

• Top‐downperspective.

• Cameraisstationaryandshowsentiremaze.

• 800x600.Allowforfull‐screen/resizablescreen.

• Includeaborderaroundthemazewhichis12pixelsthick.

• Ontherightsideofthescreenisa200pixelthickmarginswhichholdUIobjects.

• Objectsinthemazecanbeatmost64x64pixels.

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Showsborder,UI,andobjectsinmaze.Theartstyleismeanttoresemblefiguresandstoriesonascroll.

Mechanics

PlayerMechanics:

• Idle:Nobuttonsarepressedandtheplayerstaysinplace.

• Move:Humanplayerscanmovein4directionsinrealtimewhilethecorrespondingbuttonsare

pressed.Pressingakeywalksaplayerfromonegridspacetoanother.Playersmaynotwalkthroughwallsbutmovementinanyotherdirectionisnotimpededbycollidingwithawall.

• TakeDamage:Playerstakedamagewhiletheyarecollidingwithanenemy.Playersdonotrecoverhealthwhentheycrashenemies.Playersstoptakingdamagewhentheymoveaway

fromanenemy.

• Die:Playerswilldieiftheirrunshealthout.

Actions Keys (Default) Stay no arrows are pressed

Run in any Direction (1P)

or in1Pmode

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Run in any Direction (2P)

Pause / Go Back in menu navigation

Confirm / Go Forward in menu navigation

or

Navigate any menu

or or (Mouse control)

AIPlayerSpecificMechanics:

• AIPlayerusessameverbsetashumanplayer

• AIplayerdecides:

o Whethertomeetwithhumanplayerandattempttocollideenemies

o Wheretomeethumanplayersandhowtogetthere

EnemyMechanics:

• Idle:Ifnoplayerisavailabletochase,anenemywillstayinplace.

• Agitated:Whentheplayerfirstapproachesanenemy,itmakesagarglingnoise,andmovesitstentaclesquicker.

• Chase:Afteraplayeragitatesanenemyandmovingawayfromit,thatenemywillrelentlessly

chasetheplayer.Ifaplayeralreadyhasanenemychasinghim,theenemieswillformatailandchasetheplayer.

• DamagePlayer:Ifanenemycollideswiththeplayerit’schasing,theenemytailwillstopmovingandwilldamagethatplayer.Enemieswillresumechasingaplayerwhentheplayer

beginstomoveagain.

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• GetDestroyed:Enemiesdestroyeachotherata1:1ratiowhentheycollidewitheachother.Onlyenemieswhoarechasingtwodifferentplayerscandestroyeachother.

• Splash:Afterenemiescollide,thewaterthey’vestolensplashesout.Ifmanyenemiescollidein

rapidsuccession,eachfollowingsplashislargerthanthelastandalargerareaisgreenified.

HealthBars

• Locatedontheleftsideofthescreen

• Healthsignificantlydecreaseswhentheplayeriscollidingwithanyenemy

• Playersstartthenextlevelwith100%health.

• Whenplayersdiethelevelrestartswithbothplayersat100%health

• Themeter’seyedbecomesX’swhenthecorrespondingplayerdies

• Thewaterbugsfillupasthehealthbarsdrain

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AlteredLandscapeSystem Afterenemiescollide,thewaterthey’vestolensplashesout.Ifmanyenemiescollideinrapidsuccession,eachfollowingsplashislargerthanthelast.Afterthewaterdisappearsthenearby

landscapebecomesmorecolorful/blossoms.

Onlytheareaaroundthesplashzoneisbeautified

Enemies 2 4 6 8 10AreaAltered 1x1 3x3 5x5 7x7 9x9

Ifthesameareaisbeautifiedagainflowersareimplantedtomakethegreenerylookdenserinthatarea.Afterthelevelends,givetheplayerstimetoappreciatethebeautifiedlandscape.

Screens

Allscreensexistonagiantscroll.Choosinganoptionscrollsthescreen.

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Scrolllayout.

Mapstheflowofmenus

Beforeanoptionisselected,thecharactersruninplace.Afteranoptionisselected,theenemiescollide.

MainMenu

• 1Plevels:Takestheplayertolevelsmeantfor1PandAI.

• 2Plevels:Takesplayerstolevelsmeantfor2humanplayers.

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• Options:Takesplayerstooptionsscreen.

• Credits:Takesplayerstocreditsscreen.

PauseMenu

Whenthegameispaused,allactiononscreenstops.Alotofthepausemenuisdedicatedtoshowinginstructionsorpertinentinformation.Therearealsobuttonsto:

• Resume:Takesplayersbacktogame.Shouldalsobedonebypressingescape(Esc)on

keyboard.Forconsistency,alwaysputtheResumebuttoninthebottomleftcorner.

• Options:Takesplayerstooptionsscreen.

• MainMenu:Takesplayerstooptionsscreen.

OptionsMenu

Theoptionsmenucouldbethesamesizeasthepausemenu.Accessingthismenufromthemainmenu

canonlybringtheplayerbacktothemainmenuwhenresumeispressed.Accessingthismenufromthepausemenucanonlybringtheplaywhenresumeispressed.Theoptionsmenucontains:

• Resume:Takesplayersbacktopreviousscreen.Shouldalsobedonebypressingescape(Esc)onkeyboard.Forconsistency,alwaysputtheResumebuttoninthebottomleftcorner.

• Music:Barallowingmusicvolumetobeadjusted.

• SFX:BarallowingSFXvolumetobeadjusted.

• KeyConfigurations:Allowsplayerstochoosefrompre‐chosenkeyconfigurations.

Ontheleftisthepausescreen.Ontherightistheoptionsmenu.

StageSelect

Stagesbecomeunlockedasplayersbeatpreviousstages.Ifalevelisunavailableanarrowwhichnavigatestothatlevelisgrayed‐out.Achievementsaredisplayedforeachlevel.Ifanachievementis

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unearnedtheachievementiconisdisplayedgrayed‐out.Ifanachievementwaspreviouslyearnedtheiconiscolored.Ifanachievementisimpossible,noiconisdisplayed.

WinScreen

Ifanachievementisearnedduringaroundofplay,theiconanddescriptionappearonthewinscreen.If

anachievementisnotearned,theiconisnotdisplayed.Achievementsareonlyavailablein2Pmode.Theachievementsare:

• TribeSavior:Clearedthestageofenemies.

• WaterGuard:Finishedwithfullhealth.

• BigSmash:Smashedeveryenemyatonce.

Ontheleftisthestageselectscreen.Ontherightisthewinscreen.

OtherScreens

Ontheleftisthelosescreen.Ontherightisthewinallscreen.

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Ontheleftisthelegalscreen.Ontherightisthecredits.

Story Overview:

Thelegendarycreaturesfromthestoriesofthesacredancestorshavereturnedtothetriballandsandareonceagainthreateningtheland’swatersupply.Astheearthgrowsdryandbaron,thetriballand’s

mostreveredshamanspreparetoreclaimtheworld’swateranddrivethesecreaturesoutofthetriballandsbyperformingthesameritualcombatastheancestors.Thesecreaturesareveryfierceandeasilyagitated.Onlyashamanwhopossessesthehighestblessingsoftheancestorsmayhopetoapproach

thesecreatures.

TheunspeakablecreaturesfromthetimeoftheancestorshavereturnedtotheTribalLands.Theywilldrainthelandofitswaterandbringfaminetoourpeople.AlltheTribalLandsanditspeoplewillbecomedustshouldthetribesfailtofollowtheinstructionsleftbytheancestors:

Hieroglyphicstyleartworkonthemainmenutellsthestory.

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Instructions:

1PIntroLevelInstructions:

Textforbottompartoflevel(fitsin576x192) Trigger

Use(ARROWSpicture)tocontrolthe(P1picture)tribalshaman.

Levelstarts

RUN!The(enemypicture)creatureswillsuckthewateroutofyouifyoustop!(arrowpointinglefttohealthbars)PayattentiontoyourHEALTHBARS!

Playermoves

Workwiththe(P2picture)tribalshamantosmashthe(enemypicture)togetherandrestorethewatertotheTribalLands.(Animationofcrashingtogether)

Previoustexthasbeenshownfor3seconds,orbugshavebeensmashed,orplayerdies

Press(Escpicture)toseeinstructionsagainoradjustsettings.

Previoustexthasbeenshownfor3secondsandbugsaresmashed

2PIntroLevelInstructions:

Textfortoppartoflevel(fitsin576x192) TriggerUse(ASDWpicture)tocontrolthe(P1picture)tribalshaman.Use(ARROWSpicture)tocontrolthe(P2picture)tribalshaman.

Levelstarts

Lurethe(enemypicture)watersuckingcreaturesbygettingclosetothem.

Anyplayermoves2squares

RUN!The(enemypicture)creatureswillsuckthewateroutofyouifyoustop!(arrowpointinglefttohealthbars)PayattentiontoyourHEALTHBARS!

Oneplayerisbeingchased

SmashthecreaturestogethertorestorethewatertotheTribalLands. (Animationofcrashingtogether)

Previoustexthasbeenshownfor3seconds,orbothplayersarebeingchased

Press(Escpicture)toseeinstructionsagainoradjustsettings.

Previoustexthasbeenshownfor3secondsandbugsaresmashed

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FutureDesignConcerns Thoughts:

• Levelsshouldbuilduptosomething.

• Ihatescores

• Ihatetimelimits

• WoulditbeunfairtoP2tolosethegamebecauseP1loseshishealth?Onepossiblesolution

couldbethatwhenP1’shealthrunsoutandhegetsdamages,healthbeginstodrainfromP2’smetertwiceasfast.(Reinforcesbondordualitybetweencharacters)Thismightnotbeneeded.

ThingsIThinkCouldBeCut:

• Idon’tknow.Ineedtostartlookingforthings

ThingsChanged/Cut:

• (6‐24‐2009)Formattingofscreenchangedsothatmazeobjectscanbesquare(64x64).GUIis

nowonthesides.

• (6‐25‐2009)Characterselectionscreencut.

• (6‐26‐2009)Enemieswilldestroyeachotheriftheyattempttojoinapursuitatthesametime.

• (7‐6‐2009)Addedpartaboutmainmenuscroll.

• (7‐7‐2009)FortheLevel1Tutorialtoworkproperly,playersmuststartoffwithlittlehealthsothattheycan’twalkpastthefirstpairofenemiestheyencounterandareforcedtocrashthem

together.

• (7‐8‐2009)Playersalwaysstartwithfullhealth.

• (7‐22‐2009)Achievementsadded