gdd: game design doc - student project · web viewknow not robot you can! in the enormous...

All work Copyright ©2010 Vancouver Film School

Written byPatrick Donaghy

Version # 7.00

Saturday, May 06, 2023

Copyright (C) 2008 Vancouver Film School – All rights reserved

Table of Contents

PHILOSOPHY__________________________________________________________________________4Philosophical point #1________________________________________________________________4Philosophical point #2________________________________________________________________4Philosophical point #3________________________________________________________________4

REVISION HISTORY____________________________________________________________________4Version 1.00________________________________________________________________________4Version 1.10________________________________________________________________________4Version 2.00________________________________________________________________________4Version 2.10________________________________________________________________________4Version 3.0_________________________________________________________________________5Version 4.0_________________________________________________________________________5Version 4.1_________________________________________________________________________5

X__________________________________________________________________________________6HIGH CONCEPT________________________________________________________________________6FEATURE SET_________________________________________________________________________7GAME RULES/WHO AM I ?______________________________________________________________8PREMISE OVERVIEW____________________________________________________________________8GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW_________________________________________________________________9

Movement & Navigation______________________________________________________________9Combat System______________________________________________________________________9Weapons___________________________________________________________________________9Attachments & Abilities_______________________________________________________________9Tools (Environment)________________________________________________________________10

MOVEMENT + NAVIGATION_____________________________________________________________11Movement Controls_________________________________________________________________11Jumping__________________________________________________________________________12

NAVIGATION + ATTACHMENTS__________________________________________________________13PUZZLES + ATTACHMENTS______________________________________________________________15

Overview_________________________________________________________________________15COMBAT SYSTEM_____________________________________________________________________17

Attacking_________________________________________________________________________17OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________19THE WORLD LAYOUT_________________________________________________________________19

Overview_________________________________________________________________________19SCRAPOPOLIS:_____________________________________________________________________20THE FACTORY______________________________________________________________________21OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________23OBSTACLES_________________________________________________________________________23

Environmental Puzzles_______________________________________________________________23

SINGLE PLAYER GAME______________________________________________________________27

OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________27Story_____________________________________________________________________________27

DETAILED WALKTHROUGH_____________________________________________________________27Beat Chart________________________________________________________________________29Hours of Gameplay_________________________________________________________________29Victory Conditions__________________________________________________________________29

CAMERA____________________________________________________________________________30

CAMERA OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________30Camera basics:____________________________________________________________________30Event Camera:_____________________________________________________________________31

USER INTERFACE CONTROLS________________________________________________________32

TEAM SPARE PARTS 5/6/23I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot


Overview_________________________________________________________________________32

GAME INTERFACE + MENUS_________________________________________________________33

SCREEN FLOW DIAGRAMS______________________________________________________________33HUD/ON SCREEN DISPLAYS IN GAME_____________________________________________________34

Overview_________________________________________________________________________34

MUSIC + SOUND FX_________________________________________________________________36

SOUND DESIGN_______________________________________________________________________36MUSIC_____________________________________________________________________________37

MISCELLANEOUS___________________________________________________________________38

Overview_________________________________________________________________________38COMMON QUESTIONS__________________________________________________________________39

What is the game?__________________________________________________________________39

APPENDICES________________________________________________________________________41

“COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS” APPENDIX_____________________________________________________41“GAME INTERFACE – MENUS” APPENDIX__________________________________________________41“PUZZLES” APPENDIX__________________________________________________________________44“OBJECTS” APPENDIX_________________________________________________________________44“STORY” APPENDIX___________________________________________________________________45“SOUND APPENDIX”___________________________________________________________________45“TECHNICAL SPECS APPENDIX”__________________________________________________________50

Game Engine: Unity________________________________________________________________50



Design history

This is a brief explanation of the history of this document. Each version of this document is based on when a document is released for feedback/review, or major changes/additions have been made.

Revision History

Version 1.00 Inserted Game Overview including : X, High Concept, and Feature Set

Version 1.10 Revised the High Concept and Feature Set

Version 2.00 Added Game Breakdown to the doc Added Gameplay Overview to the game

Version 2.10

Version 2.10 added Movement & Navigation section including creating detailed diagrams of character movement.

Version 3.0 Inserted Attachments section into the document: This included world navigation, combat and puzzles. Made simple diagrams to showing the conceptual idea of how these

will work.

Version 4.0

Implemented Game World section. Level Designers created detailed maps for Gameplay Overview.

Version 4.1



Added Physical World and Enemies and Obstacles section

Version 5.0

Cut the Forest Level and the Scrapyard level Removed attachable parts: rocket boots, magnet, lawnmower blades Updated text for relevance Updated screen shots for level, characters, and UI

Philosophy

PhilosophyPhilosophical point #1



For “I Don’t Know How Not to be Robot” the team wanted to recreate the fun of the old school side scrolling platformer with a new twist.

Philosophical point #2With a unique story , characters, and world design, we strived to make an

immersive and cohesive game experience.

Philosophical point #3We chose the Unity engine as our team was not the most technical and its

ease of use and for being to host and present of game online.



Game Overview

X “In order to become whole, you need all of the right parts!”

“Man is just a Robot with Defects” – Emile Cioran

High Concept

I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot is a 3D isometric adventure puzzle platformer, where you play as PIN, a mistakenly cast out mechanical boy, lost in a strange new world known as The Land of Spare Parts.

This is a world, not unlike our own, where the discarded machines of man have gathered to build a world for themselves. A world built from scrap metal and well, spare parts from anything they could find.

But now a robotic goliath, known only as T.I.M, is terrorizing the citizens of this mechanical world, and slowly turning The Land of Spare Parts, into a giant scrap heap.As the player you will lead PIN from the Scrapopolis, and finally to The Factory to stop the tyrannical diabolical mechanical giant known as TIM. Use PIN’s amazing ability to replace his body parts with new parts that you find. These parts will help you battle enemies and solve the environmental puzzles that await you.

In ‘I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot’ the only way to truly become whole, is to find all of the right parts.



Feature Set

Part swapping!

Ever play a game where you did not have a weapon or you were out of ammo and you wish you could just pick up a random piece of junk and whack your enemies with it? Well in Know Not Robot you can! In the enormous scrap yard you will be able to pick up objects and attach them to your character. For example, you can attach a toaster to your arm and now you can launch bits of junk from the toaster at your foes or attach a huge magnet to aid in the many environmental puzzles of our world.

Welcome to the Scrappolis The world of Know Not Robot is an expansive world of junk. With influences from steam punk and Tim Burton, our world will feature a unique city level built from spare parts and an eerie factory level. The Land of Spare Parts offers a completely unique art and gameplay style for the player.

Real world physics

Real world physics allow for the player to reach new heights…Literally! Through the use of real world physics the world comes alive with new possibilities for everything from creative ways of defeating enemies such as throwing them into each other or catapulting them into the air to new and exciting ways of navigating through the world such as flinging yourself forth with your grappling claw!

Pitted against the world itself

Navigation through The Land of Spare Parts is not as simple as one might think, as you will always be challenged by the very world itself in an array of environmental puzzles. Only through clever use of your attachments and objects in the world will you be able to overcome these environmental puzzles and advance through the game.



Golden Gears

This is the games one collectible that is not an attachment. Collecting all of the Gears as you play through the game will gave the player invulnerability for a short time that they can use against the goliath robot TIM. The gears are also used as a way to lead players through the game and promote exploration.

Game breakdown

Game Rules/Who Am I ? In Know Not Robot the goal is to navigate through the different areas of The Land of Spare Parts. The end goal is to defeat a giant tyrant robot who looks to destroy The Land of Spare Parts.

The player controlled character is a small mechanical robot named Pinoyo (PIN). PIN has the ability to exchange his parts for new ones which will aid the player in combat, as well as platforming, and environmental puzzles.

The game is played from a 3D isometric view, and the navigation will consist of a platforming gameplay style. Combat is an element within Know Not Robot but it is not the focus of gameplay.

Premise Overview

A genius, though not an altogether successful inventor named Dr.Yikoto, has invented a mechanical boy (PIN) in order to help fill the void in the lonely doctors life. Unfortunately his invention (apparently) fails to come to life and he hastily throws his creation away.Like all failed machines, PIN ends up in secret world of The Land of Spare Parts. A world where all of mans failed and forgotten machines have made a home for themselves. PIN awakens in this strange world to find it facing imminent destruction from a giant evil robot.



PIN must help save The Land of Spare Parts, while trying to find his way back to the real world.

Gameplay Overview This should contain a breakdown of all the main systems and

components of them within the game. It should be in an easy to read, bullet format, so that from this we can see an overview of all the components that make up the PLAYER INTERACTIONS and take note what sections certain parts of interest fall into.

Movement & Navigation Movement Controls (basic)

Walk left/right up/down Jump up (standing still) Jump (moving – distance) Climb up/down

Camera & Controls Isometric view (follows characters movement) Camera movement (game controlled)

Combat System Attacking

Grapple hook small enemy Smash small enemy Fire toaster weapon

Guarding Jump over small enemy Navigate around small enemy

Combos Grapple hook and smash small enemy (toaster

attachment)

Weapons Toaster Grappling Hook



Attachments & Abilities Attachment Overview

Grappling hook o Environment navigationo Puzzle solution toolo Combat small enemy

Toastero Range weapon (fires pieces of destroyed

enemy)o Close combat smash

Light Bulbo Environment navigationo Puzzle solution tool

Winding Keyo Environment navigation (speed)o Puzzle solution

Tools (Environment) elevators moving platforms

Tools (puzzle) lever seesaw pulley elevator doors floating platforms



Gameplay

Movement + Navigation The player will navigate through The Land of Spare Parts Know from a 3D sidescroller perspective. By this I mean the player can move left or right, as with any sidescroller, as well the being be able to move with depth through 3 lanes as with the game Dragonica.

Movement Controls

The basic movements for PIN are walk (left/right/up/down), jump (standing still and moving), and climb (up/down)

Walk

Pin will move at approx 1.5 units per second.

Pressing the D button will move PIN to the right.

Pressing the A button will move PIN to the left



Pressing the S button will move PIN down through the lanes

Pressing the W button will move PIN up through the lanes

Pressing a direction (left up, left down, right up, right down) will cause PIN to walk through the lanes at an angle depending on the direction of travel.

Jumping

Pin will jump approx 2 units high and will jump 3 units in distance.

Pressing the [spacebar] will cause PIN to jump on the spot

Pressing the A button and the [spacebar] will cause PIN to jump distance to the left.

Pressing the D button and the [spacebar] will cause PIN to jump to the right

Pressing the S button [spacebar] will cause PIN to jump down in depth.

Pressing the S button [spacebar] will cause PIN to jump up in depth.



Pressing a direction (up right, up left, down right, down left) and [spacebar] will cause PIN top jump at an angle through the lanes depending on direction of travel.

Navigation + Attachments Pin has ability to use some of his attachments for level navigation. These include the grappling hook, suction boots, light bulb, and lawnmower blade.

Grappling Hook

The grappling hook can be used to swing across gaps as well as to pull PIN up to a higher area.

Grapple Swing

Aim the grappling hook by moving the mouse cursor over the desired target.



Fire the grappling hook by clicking the left mouse button.

Release the grappling hook by pressing the right mouse button.

Grapple Up



Aim the Grappling Hook by moving the cursor to the desired target.

Fire the Grappling Hook by clicking the left mouse button.



Pull Up PIN by holding the right mouse button down. The user can they use the [A] and [D] buttons to swing back and forth. Releasing the right mouse button will release the grappling hook.

Light Bulb

Light Bulb attachment can be equipped from the HUD inventory once acquired. (see pg ).

The Light Bulb will allow PIN to Navigate through dark areas of the world.



Puzzles + Attachments OverviewAttachments also serve another function in I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot and that’s environmental puzzle solving. As a team we attempted to reuse as much of the attachments as possible. We thought this would be a much more submersive gameplay experience without having to create new assets and mechanics.

Grappling hook

Use the mouse to position the cursor over the desired object.

Press the left mouse button to fire the grapple hook attachment.



Press the right mouse

Combat System

Attacking

Beginning the game PIN will start with the grappling hook hand attachment. PIN can use the grappling hook to grab small enemies and drag them into holes or pits or just move them away from in order to make an area safe to navigate to.

Grappling Hook

Aim the Grappling Hook by moving the cursor to the desired target.



Fire the Grappling Hook by clicking the left mouse button.

Drag an enemy by pressing the right mouse button. Releasing the right mouse button will release the enemy.

Toaster



Toaster can be accessed by spinning the mouse wheel which scrolls through the HUD inventory at the bottom right on the screen.

Use the mouse to position the cursor to your desired target.

Click the left mouse button to fire the toaster.

The Toaster can also be used as smash enemies. When close to a small enemy, click the right mouse button.

A destroyed enemy will become ammo for the

toaster. Just walking over these pieces will automatically load the toaster.



Game world

Overview The Land of Spare Parts is world made entirely of scrap metal

and spare parts and was put together as a home by the unwanted machines and broken machines that man has discarded. The Land of Spare Parts is the name of the overall world which it split into two distinct areas:

Scrapopolis and The Factory

Scrapopolis

Scrapopolis is the city area of The Land of Spare Parts. This is the area where the citizens habitate in the world. The buildings will be haphazardly thrown together and made of everything from sheet metal and pipes to spare parts from cars. This section of the game will be generally vertical platforming gameplay with physics puzzles and attachment based puzzles.The lighting for this area will be a washed out monotone sandstorm look (midday).

Factory

The Factory will be where the peak of gameplay happens, ending with the boss fight. Moving platforms, elevators, conveyor belts, gear platform puzzles, crushing machines all highlight this level. The factory will be mostly a vertical platformer containing a few environmental puzzles. T.I.M. (boss) is the largest enemy in the game and cannot be defeated with combat. The user will have to solve environmental puzzles that will inflict damage to TIM while trying to avoid his attacks.

The World Layout Overview



The Land of Spare Parts is broken into 2 sections: Scrapopolis and The Factory. These sections are contained in one level leading to a seamless gameplay experience. Below are images containing level designs and mock ups.

Scrapopolis:



The Factory



Enemies + obstaclesOverview

In I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot, there are several types of challenges the player will face, these are primarily puzzles and other obstacles but the game will have a few enemies to keep the player moving.

Obstacles Environmental Puzzles

Environmental puzzles are the most common thing in our game that will stand between the player and completing their goals. These puzzles range in complexity from simple lever puzzles requiring weight and counter weight, to larger more complex puzzles with multiple elements, Please reference the world layout section (pg23) for detailed diagrams, Below you will find more detailed descriptions of the individual elements that can be found in these puzzles.

LeversLevers are objects that need to be pulled in order to activate

something in the level, you will most commonly find levers in hard to reach locations forcing you to use the grappling hook in order to pull them. Once pulled the levers will not reset unless the entire puzzle does and thus their effects are normally one shot only.

Death PitsDeath pits are just that. Pits that if you fall into them, you die!

These will vary in appearance from bottomless pits to pits of burning oil!

Flying platformsFlying platforms in the land of spare parts are used to allow the

player to traverse death pits or as elevators to open up access to higher areas. They can be found throughout puzzles and are a reasonable common element most will move after a set of conditions are met such as a charged solar panel pulled lever ect.

Doors



Doors in our world are used to impede the player’s progress through a level or to stop enemies from following the player and can be operated by levers and wind up keys depending on the door.

Simple MachinesIn many of our puzzles you will be able to find simple machines

such as levers (seesaws) and pulley systems, these will feature real life physics to add to the challenge of completing the puzzle. These simple machines will come in varying forms of levers and pulley systems as mentioned and will normally be critical to completing the puzzle.

Enemies

Small Enemy: Zapling

Zaplings are small scorpion like creatures that are usually found in small groups, they will attack the player with an electric sting that will temporarily stun the player (stun last 2 seconds tentatively). Zaplings are easily defeated by any attack from the player and are meant to pose a low threat to the player alone but in numbers can be a serious problem



Medium Enemy: Jause

Jause are communist soldier type robots with a huminoid form that are fairly large (2-3X pins size) and are primarily used as mini bosses that must be defeated to advance in a stage. Unlike the Zaplings, Jause can actually kill the player (takes 3 hits to kill the player) and they also are much tougher to kill (10 attacks to kill one tentatively).

Boss: T.I.M



T.I.M (Tyranical Immense Machine) is a massive evil robot (6-8 times larger than pin) that will be the final boss in our game. TIM will not move around as normal monsters do he will move along a scripted track and only move along the track each time he receives 1/3 of his hp in cumulative damage. He can only be hurt by the environment and the player will need to combat him as such using their parts to knock down junk on top of him or light him on fire in an oil pit. T.I.M will attack the player by throwing nearby objects at the player such as cars and large pieces of junk if the player is at range, If the player is close (within 10 units) then he will raise his arms above his head indicating that he is about to strike then will slam the ground damaging and stunning anything that he hits (TIM will kill Pin in two hits of any attack)

AI AI in our game is fairly simplistic; all monsters with the

exception of TIM move along a preset path, if the player enters a certain radius of robot (3 for Zaplings and 5 for Jause) then the robot will attempt to approach the player and attack. Robots will follow the player for up to their agro radius, and then resume their path if the player moves out of this radius.



Single player game

Overview

The game experience for I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot is a variation of two game types, puzzle solving and platform style gameplay, While the game does have some combat elements that will add variation, the main focus is using your attachments to navigate the environmental puzzles throughout the world.

Key components

StoryOur story takes place in industrial revolution Japan. A lonely inventor (though not a particularly successful one) by the name of Dr Yikoto, goes about creating a mechanical boy to fill the void in his life. When his invention apparently fails to come to life, the distraught Dr Yikoto throws the lifeless machine away. Like all broken and unwanted machines the mechanical boy (PIN) awakens to find himself lost in a strange new world known as the Land of Spare Parts. This is a world, not unlike our own, where the discarded machines of man have gathered to build a world for themselves. A world built from scrap metal and well, spare parts from anything they could find.But now a robotic goliath, only known as T.I.M, (Tyranical Immense Machine) is terrorizing the citizens of this mechanical world, and slowly turning The Land of Spare Parts, into a giant scrap heap.PIN must journey through The Land of Spart Parts : from the city of Scrapopolis, to the Factory to stop the tyrannical diabolical mechanical giant known as TIM.



Detailed Walkthrough

Section 1 – Scrapopolis

This is where the citizens of The Land of Spare Parts live. This level will be more vertical style platforming. The player starts on the main street of Scrapopolis and platforms up the rooftops by jumping and using the grapple hook attachment. The player can fall down from any height and have to redo the platforming sections again. Towards the top of the level the player will acquire the lightbulb attachment. The player will do another section of platforming before facing another medium enemy. The player will use the light bulb attachment to complete a puzzle that will create a shadow monster (using different shapes with a magnifying attachment) that will scare away the medium enemy and allow the player to proceed.

Section 2 – The Factory

The factory is the most complex and where gameplay reaches its climax. The factory is a series of vertical moving platforms (conveyor belts, elevators, crushers, large gears, and environment puzzles) At the end of this level the player meet the T.I.M. The player glides down using the lawnmower attachment and faces 2 small enemies blocking his path. They will work through a series of moving conveyor belt platforms that will throw the player off if they don’t continuously move. The player will reach an environment puzzle where they must light up a solar panel to activate an elevator. When the elevator comes down the player receives the Head attachment.The elevator leads to another environment puzzle where the player must weigh down a bucket attached to a lever. The player will use the head attachment and throw his head into the bucket which will pull it down and open the door. Inside the room there is a nozzle and a platform. At the top of the room is a door but no way to access it. The player must use the key attachment to start the water flow. The platform will float in the water and eventually carry the player to the door at the top of the screen.On the other side of the door the player is rewarded with the suction boots attachment. . The player uses the grappling hook to traverse a pit and then disposes of a small enemy guarding a solar panel. Activate the moving platform using the solar panel, goes over platform, The player then uses the suction boots to climb up onto the wall opposite the platform and encounters another puzzle.



The player is facing a huge wall with a platform at the bottom,that is attached to a pulley system. At the top of the wall in a round wheel cage is a sleeping robo-gerbil. High on the wall behind the player is a lever and hanging from the ceiling is a bell. The player must use the grapple hook to reach the lever. When the player pulls the lever, a hammer swings down and hits the bell, which in turn wakes up the gerbil, who starts running on the wheel. The player must get onto the platform to get to the top of the wall. At the top the player releases the gerbil from his cage. This will be where the player receives the final ‘golden gear’.

Note: Golden Gears will appear throughout all of the levels as a way to lead the player through the game and promote exploration. These locations will be determined later.

Section 4.2 Boss Fight

The final section of the game will be the confrontation with T.I.M. This will be contained within the Factory Level but it seemed to warrant its own section. PIN will enter the final room and the door will shut behind him, locking him in the room and T.I.M will appear. The player will have to avoid the enemy attacks and use a series of four environmental puzzles in order to defeat him. These puzzles will cause parts of the environment to collapse on him causing him damage. Each puzzle will ramp up in difficulty as the fight progresses.

These puzzles will be designed more thoroughly as we determine which attachments and how many will be in the final version of our game.

Beat ChartThe beat chart below shows the range of stress level for the player during gameplay. The low points represent little or no enemy contact and low impact environmental puzzles. The highest points represent more difficult enemies and more difficult platforming sections that the player may need to repeat if they fail or could cause death.



Hours of GameplayWe are looking to produce a game experience that will last approximately 10 minutes in length. With this is mind we are shooting for a high polish that shows off all of the key features of our game while maintaining a varied gameplay experience.

Victory Conditions

In order to win I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot the player must navigate through the four different sections of The Land of Spare Parts and defeat the game ‘boss’ T.I.M. In order to pass certain areas of the game the player will have to solve environmental puzzles and complete platforming gamplay with varying degrees of difficulty.

camera



Camera Overview The camera system for “How not robot” will be in a locked side

view, the user will be able to zoom in and out to at some points but generally speaking the camera is anchored to the players avatar and will not be controllable by the player besides a slight zoom.

Camera basics:

The basic camera in how not robot is as mentioned in the overview, is locked into a side view of our world anchored on the players avatar and will move along with the player throughout each level

Event Camera:In I don’t know how not to be a robot there will also be cut

scenes which will require some custom camera work during which the player will have no control with the exception of being able to skip the cut scene by clicking on the screen with the mouse which will cause the scene to pause and a small window to appear prompting the player to resume or skip.



User Interface controlsOverviewThe control scheme for I don’t know how not to be a robot was done with simplicity in mind, makes use of both the keyboard and mouse to play the game with the keyboard handling movement, jumping, pausing the game, and the mouse controlling attachment selection and use.



Game interface + menus

Screen Flow Diagrams

HUD/On Screen Displays In game



Overview

The Heads Up Display (HUD) for I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot will show the player inventory for the collected attachments, health for the player, and golden gears the player has collected. Below is a mock up rendition of what the HUD might look like and where on the HUD each element will be placed.

1. Part wheel: This wheel displays all the parts that the player has found and can use.

2. Part Selector: To select a new part simply rotate the part wheel using the mouse wheel until the desired part is under the part selector.

Note: The player can also select different parts by clicking on the specific part on HUD

3. Health Bar: Indicates the players health up to its maximum (4 HP)



4. Golden gear bar: Indicates to the player how many golden gears are in the level and how many have been collected.

The image below is a rendering of HUD placement and size in respect to the screen.

Music + sound fx



Overview

Sound will play an enormous part in bringing our Main Character and our game world to life. Being a completely inorganic world nearly all of the sound will be mechanical in nature.

Sound Design Main Character

Pin

PIN is more mechanical than robotic in form. Modeled after a boy of about the age of 7, PIN is inquisitive to a fault and somewhat clumsy in his movement. He isn’t overly bright so he needs a lot of help to get through the world. What he lacks in wits he makes up for in innovation. PIN can remove parts from himself and replace them new ones. For example: PIN can remove his hand and use it as a grappling hook to access higher areas in a level or reach a switch for a puzzle. Like all of the characters in the game PIN doesn’t actually speak but will have mechanical, sputtering, mumbling, sounds as his response system.

Enemy Characters

Zapling

Zaplings are small scorpion like enemies. They scurry around quickly on numerous legs and they have a electrical plug for a tail that can shock you.

Jause

Jause are the medium sized humanoid type robotic enemies. Jause are quite slow, are not very smart and make quite the racket when they move around. Imagine heavy machinery on two legs. Jauses’ have two attacks. A short range attack (hammer punch) and an area shock wave attack where in Jause jumps and hits the ground with his hammer causing a tremor.



T.I.M

T.I.M is a giant robot and the main antagonist in the game. T.I.M is surprisingly quick given his size. T.I.M ‘s attacks are that he will swipe at you with his huge reach and will pick up environmental objects and hurl them at PIN.

Game World

Though the game world does look a lot the real world might, it is completely free of organic material. Imagine a world made completely from scraps. Where trees made of pipes line a forest and buildings made of sheet metal and parts pulled from old cars. Everything looks similar to their real world counter parts but it’s all a bit skewed and put together haphazardly. The world is full of machines of all types, from elevators and converyor belts to pulleys and crushing machines.

Music The in game music will provide the ambiance for the game. The team is imagining a different style of music for each section of the world. These pieces of music will all be a form of industrial minimal. Nothing overly complex and made with inorganic sounds such at hitting sheet metal and clanging pipes together. The music will get progressively more intense and fuller as the player moves through the world. There will also be one battle songs for when PIN engages the medium and large enemy.

Note: See the Sound appendix for a living list of in game sounds.



Miscellaneous

Overview

This section will be where we put in any extra ideas we have that we may or may not include in the game but we want to keep track of.



Common Questions

What is the game?

I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot is a 3rd person action adventure game where you play as a mechanical boy on a journey to discover what it means to be a real person. Explore a world made of broken down machines with broken down dreams, and battle the forces that look to turn the Land of Spare Parts, and its citizens, into a giant scrap heap.

Gear up with the parts you find on your journey. Attach them to yourself to help you beat your foes and help find your way through The Land of Spare Parts. In ‘I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot’ the only way to truly become whole, is to find all of the right parts.

Why create this game?

As a team we decided to try and make something that had an interesting story behind it and would appeal to a broad audience. Keep the polish and high and the complexity lower. Interesting puzzles, challenging platforming, a submersive world, and fun characters will all contribute to I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot being a unique game experience.

Where does the game take place?

I Don’t Know How not to be a Robot takes place in The Land of Spare parts. A massive junkyard full of derelict robots, cars, machines and the metal junk that composes them. Within the world there are various areas that emulate the real world such as forests but these are made of pipes and light bulbs with rivers of oil, there are cities of made of scraps, the most predominate feature of this world is the scrap yard itself which features piles of junk ranging in size from a small hill and huge mountains it is where all the scraps are found for repairing robots and building the cities of the world.

What do I control?

As the player you will lead PIN, a small mechanical boy, through the city of Scrapopolis and to The Factory, to stop the tyrannical diabolical mechanical giant known as TIM.



Use PIN’s amazing ability to replace his body parts with new parts that you find. These parts will help you battle enemies and solve the environmental puzzles that await you..How many characters do I control?The player will only be able to control one character; PIN, throughout his amazing adventure through The Land of Spare Parts.

What are the Goals/Objectives of the game?

The goal of I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot is to get PIN through the three sections of the world without losing any lives, defeat T.I.M, and free the citizens of The Land of Spare Parts from his destructive terror. The player will also have an objective of collecting ‘golden gears’ around the world, which if are all collected, will give the player a short term invulnerability.

What is the main focus?

The games focuses on platforming gameplay and environmental puzzles, that though not overly complex, will require the player to figure out how and what they will need to do in order to pass them. What’s different?

I Don’t Know How Not to be a Robot has the unique feature of using attachments to solve environmental puzzles, as well as for combat and platforming. Our team believes that reutilizing our parts as much as possible for all the different gameplay styles will keep the complexity of the gameplay down (as the controls for the attachments are the same no matter what the player is using it for) and will make the game more enjoyable for those who want an enjoyable pick up and play experience. We believe if we can accomplish our goal of creating a game that utilizes platforming, puzzle solving and combat, while allowing the player to maintain full control of the character we will have a truly unique and fun game experience.



appendices

These appendices contain more in depth information on the features, art, sound , story, puzzles etc. They will also be used to keep track of any new items or ideas that might make it into the game at a later date.

“ Competitive Analysis ” Appendix “ Game Interface – Menus ” Appendix

Front end UI Render:



Options wireframe:



Achievements Wireframe:

In Game Pause



enuIn Game Option:



“ puzzles ” Appendix This is where a more details about the puzzles will be stored as they are completed, including diagrams and artwork.

“ Objects ” Appendix

Within our game world there are many objects that the player can interact with in various ways, most of these objects will be pieces of puzzles or the way you navigate though the world itself, as such the objects section will be broken down into object categories containing a number of sub objects. All objects in our game will be physics enabled.

Simple Machines: Many of the puzzles in how not robot feature fairly simple challenges in the form of simple machines such as pulleys, levers and swings, although their functions alone are simple, their functions in concert can be quite tricky and will change on a puzzle by puzzle basis.

Moving objects: Along with simple machines there will be many moving objects within the world space some operated by simple machines others will be scripted on an instance by instances basis. So far we will be including things such as conveyor belts, doors and mobile platforms.

World objects: These are objects in the world that are intractable with in some manner by the player to aid them (or hinder) throughout their adventure. These objects are things like interface objects such as levers, solar panels and wind up key slots. Movable objects such as scraps of metal or boxes and misc things such as the billboards the art will ride on in the background.



---Simple machines---Pulliesteeter totterswings---Misc moving---conveyor beltsdoorsmoving platforms ---World interface---leavers---Physics volumes---Grav volumes -heavy-light-Kill volumes -Instant-gradual---World misc---BillboardsMovable world objects-Boxes---Lighting---Point lightsspotlights--World Objects--scrap metal trees steam/lightbulbbuildingsgrapling hook surfaces

Note: This list will be updated as it changes.

“ Story ” Appendix To be added to the Game Design Document upon completion.



“ sound appendix ”

Category Sound AssetSound Asset Breakdown

Characters misc environment

NPC's

Toaster dogSimple Machines

walk pulliesrun start state"bark" spinningjump end state

birdsfly teeter totterland teeter leftlaunch teeter right

chirpcontact with ground

grab mountdrop dismount

robogirble swingsrun swingingwalk whooshjump mountdialogue positive feedback unmountdialogue negative feedback

back to neutral state

Misc MovingPH conveyor belts

player/object landingneutral start up

PH end standby

doorsopenclose

PHmoving platforms

Small Enemies standbywalk approachattack prep stopattack pull awaydeath balloons



Dragging (in dirt) inflatedialogue pop

prep attack deflateattack leversdeath move down

move up

solar pannelsMedium Enemies charging walk charge end attack prep chart startattacktake damage keyholesdeath key instertdialogue key pull out

prep attack key turnattack mirrors

deathsqueak angle change

take damage drag on groundreflection sound

laddersplayer mount

Boss dismountwalk climb

attack prepphysics volumes slide down

attackgravity volumes

take damage standbydeath contactdialogue grabbing sound

prep attack light whoosh start

attacklight whoosh neutral

death light whoosh end

take damagemedium whoosh startmedium whoosh neutralmedium whoosh end

Pinheavy whoosh start

basic walkheavy whoosh neutral

basic run heavy whoosh end

basic jumpcreepy whoosh start

attachment changecreepy whoosh neutral

drawer open creepy whoosh



enddrawer closereaction kill volumes

positive (puzzle solve contactnegative killing soundconfused standbyangry world miscinteractive (npc) nozzlesDialogue release steam

dialogue - prep attack release oil

dialogue - attack release water

dialogue - deathactivate releasing steam

dialogue - take damage

activate releasing oil

Pin's Partsactivate releasing water

Grappling hook end steamload end oillaunch end waterretract steammiss high flowgrab low flowhit rock surface puffhit metal surface waterhit water filling area

rocket boots flowingstart up state drippingneutral state high flowend state med flowboots over dirt flow startboots over metal flow end

light bulb small splashmount big splashunmount windlights up heavydies off medium

light

keymovable objects

wind up draggingwind up end liftunwind put downunwind end rockskey mount walking onuse on environment bumping into

toaster hitting rockload hitting metalfire bouncefire success dragging



fire missLawnmower scrap metal

start up state walking onneutral state bumping intoend state hitting rockstandby state hitting metalenemy crush bounceglide whoosh draggingglide land "crash"

head chain chain soundhead spin whooshwind up head chain throw starthead chain throw neutralheadchain throw endheadchain hitheadchain miss

Suction bootssuccessful grabsuck fail

UI Menusscrollingselectionscreen trans

audio sample

to help the player decide how loud they want what sound to be when the options menu

negative sfxcannot select

HUDinventory selectioninventory scrolling

Music & Narrative MusicFront EndGame

RegBattle

Ambient



Game3 ambiances per each level

NarrativeOpening

Cut Scenes

“ Technical Specs Appendix ”

Game Engine: Unity

Overview

How not robot will be build using the Unity engine to take advantage of several key factors; the use of the C++ scripting language, ease of distribution and ease of support from industry collaborators. We realize that the unity engine is quite a new player to the game at this point but so far has preformed excellent as an engine used to create low to medium complexity games with higher complexity games starting to emerge. A massive community of indy and established game developers are available to provide aid to those who are encountering issues on the unity forums which will be an excellent resource for us to use.


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