kc_ext3_gddweek15

Designed by Mark Musetti

For the PC

Genre: Action-Adventure

Sub-Genres: Puzzle, Christian

Target Audience: Children 5-12 years

Target Rating: E (Everyone)

Content Descriptor: Fantasy Violence

Kingdom Chronicles: Full Armor of God July 2013

Mark Musetti 1 GDD Version 1.3

IndexSection 1:

One Sentence Explanation 3 Story / Back Story 3 Gameplay Summary / Parental Controls 4

Section 2: Game Flow 5

Section 3: Characters (Description, Style, Voice) 6

Section 4: Game Style (Art, Music, Writing) 8 Controls 9

Section 5: Main Gameplay Concepts 10 Unique Selling Points (USPs) 10 Platform-Specific Features 10

Section 6: Game World 11 Level Design (Game World and Level 1) 12

Section 7: Interface 13

Section 8: Mechanics/Power-ups 14

Section 9: Enemies 15 Bosses 16

Section 10: Cutscenes / Bonus Material / Comps 17

Section 11: Plan of Execution / Milestones 18 Alternate Game Design / Concept 19 SWOT Marketing Analysis 20

Section 1:



One Sentence Explanation:

You are a squire seeking to become a knight through spiritual and physical training in time to save the kingdom from the evil dragon.

Story / Back Story:

The Old Testament recounts the history of many people whom God used in spite of their circumstances or abilities to defeat mighty nations and armies. When these leaders fought for the Lord, many battles were won, even against seemingly impossible odds (Gideon, David, Joshua). However, when the people fought for things aside from God’s glory, they were doomed to fail (Achan; Battle of Ai). The New Testament speaks of the process by which we may become modern-day warriors of the faith. While the tutelage that a young squire must receive to achieve knighthood is extensive, the training received in order to fight in God’s Army is both physical and spiritual. Staying true to not only the Bible in general but specifically the Answers in Genesis (AiG) curricular outline, you are the squire that is embarking on a journey that will literally and figuratively train you as described in Ephesians 6:10-18, specifically:

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11, KJV)

By learning scripture (spiritual warfare), fighting techniques (physical warfare) and the ways of a Godly knight you will become the best warrior that you can be. This training will serve you well when the kingdom faces its greatest crisis to date as you fight the giant dragon. This dragon tale is allegorical with respect to Satan and his influence upon the world that is dark with sin. We ultimately must make a series of choices such that if any of them are wrong or are made with hesitation, Satan will attempt to fight you in a spiritual battle of life and death. This is analogous to the dragon battle in that even the correct move must be made soon enough to keep you from physical death. Only when you completely obey without delay will you defeat both the evil one (in life) and the dragon (in the game).

Gameplay Summary:



You wander around the outskirts of the Kingdom of Lourdesville, where you hope to find the legendary Sir Trainsalot. You must successfully complete a puzzle in order to convince him to train you to become a knight. The training takes place over the course of 5 days, each consisting of 3 stages. Each morning is comprised of a scripture memory verse and a puzzle that must be solved to unlock the day’s skill. Afternoons are your training time to learn attack and defense moves in hand-to-hand and jousting combat as well as basic rules of chivalry. Evenings are used for fellowship (skits and music) and worship time; however, you will be using your skills to forage for the king’s food each night. On day 6, you will need to be physically and spiritually equipped, donning the full armor of God in order to defeat the fire-breathing dragon that threatens Lourdesville and gain knighthood.

Parental Controls:

A unique feature of this game is a password-protected login that enables the user to control the amount of time that a user can play the game each day (or a minimum break time between game activity). The parent user can also control the creation of new accounts to prevent duplicate instances of games. These controls are designed to curtail addictive behaviors in gamers. The default setting is 2 hours per day, with additional game play no earlier than 7am of the next day.

Another feature that can be used for the purpose of formative and summative assessments of the gamers themselves is the ability to control the meeting of established learning objectives before moving on to the next day or checkpoint. For instance, the parent user can set the objective to memorizing scripture for each day and spending a set amount of time in prayer and/or reading through the attached curriculum that goes along with the software. In the locked setting, only the parent user can go into the game and move the gamer on to the next area. The default setting for this feature is set to be parent-controlled, as it is the purpose of the VBS curriculum personnel to have the family engage in meaningful dialogue, even if only 1 player is actually playing the game.

Section 2 (Game Flow):



Kingdom Chronicles is an action-adventure, third person camera game with character-relative controls that teach you how to be physically and spiritually ready for the battles that we face on a daily basis. Through the use of puzzles, scripture, trivia questions and skills-based training, you become prepared to fight in God’s Army within the kingdom (world) of Lourdesville, where the castle and the training grounds are located. The back entrance to the castle is located just inside the confluence of 2 creeks, while evergreen trees heavily line the drawbridge.

Each day (level) is broken up into morning, afternoon and evening (sublevels). The morning stage takes place at the campsite where the fire is still smoldering from the previous night. The daily Bible study time is based on the scripture memory verses that you must learn in order to answer trivia questions throughout your training to receive various power-ups (see p. 7, power-ups). Two puzzles are also given to you to solve each morning. The first requires your knowledge of scripture from what you just learned and builds upon previous days. Both the Old and New Testament are used in the puzzles and may involve matching warriors, verses, locations, weapons and circumstances in either a timed test or a test giving you a maximum number of attempts to correctly match items. A second type of puzzle requires you to either manipulate objects (blocks, pulleys and ropes, switches) or to complete a jigsaw puzzle of a diagram that exposes the dragon’s weakness. Afternoons are spent at the jousting tilt actually learning and practicing the attack/defense and jousting skills that Sir Trainsalot has taught you. You must achieve at least a minimum rating from the knight after each afternoon session in order to attend the dinner festivities. As each skill and Biblical principle is mastered, you will have more tools in your arsenal to defeat the dragon and be able to forage more efficiently for food. While evenings are dedicated to fellowship, worship, rest and recuperation, dinner must first be caught for the chef (who can only wait so long for your catch). Once you have succeeded in bringing food for the dinner party, a royal feast is prepared to celebrate the end of a long day of training before the cycle starts over in the morning. Failure to complete a task results in repeating that task again, but puzzles can be attempted as many times as necessary before moving on. After the 5th night, you must defeat the dragon that has infiltrated the castle in order to achieve knighthood (victory condition).

Section 3:



Characters (Description, Style, Voice, see section 9 for enemy/boss descriptions):

Although God is not necessarily the first character that you encounter in the game, He is the beginning and the end and is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. Therefore He exists throughout the game in any form He chooses, but typically as a voice combined with a motion that is contrary to the other parts of the screen (a tree with immediate growing and ripening of fruit, a talking animal, et al). When He does speak, you would expect to hear either a reassuring Charlton Heston-type voiceover from the 1956 film The Ten Commandments (when God has heard your prayer) or a faint whisper reminiscent of Ray Liotta in Field of Dreams (1989).

You are the young squire (approximately 14 years of age) ready to take your knight exams (those who completed their training would typically become a sergeant before becoming a full-fledged knight), except that the person who would be training you is helping and his own son prepare for knighthood. While grounded in the Lord from your father, you can be a bit naïve and clumsy. You are however a quick study and capable of learning both skills and scripture easily, both of which you will need in battle. You wear greenish-brown rags and sandals that barely hold together with twine. Tall (about 6 feet, the standard metric unit for this game) and gangly with shoulder-length brown hair, you carry little more than an old water-filled wineskin attached to your cloth belt and a stick holding a bag with your papers and dried snacks for the journey. Your voice is nervous but hopeful, much like the main character in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist (think of the classic line, “Please sir, can I have more?”).

Only seen in the opening cutscene prior to the encounter with Sir Trainsalot, your father (Sir James (Jim) of Brazzell) is a faithful servant and well-known knight in his own right. Slightly shorter than you are, his heart and faith are the only things larger than his stomach. He walks with a slight limp and proudly carries an armored crest and sword with a cross covering much of each object. He speaks much like a more mumbled, mellower and softer-spoken version of Jimmy Stewart’s character (George Bailey) in It’s a Wonderful Life. He was jailed for sharing his faith when the former king



ruled over Lourdesville but was released after numerous prison guards were saved. It is his optimism and faith that you have inherited from him.

Sir Trainsalot is as famous for his unique training methods as for his extensive model train collection. Residing in Lourdesville, he is officially retired but is willing to make an exception based on your father’s reputation. He will be training you in the full armor of God to be a fearsome warrior. Short and portly, he is an unlikely choice to be such a warrior, but God chooses men that the world would not consider based on appearances. With the wisdom of King Solomon and many years of tactical experience, he is the perfect trainer for a young squire who wants God to guide him.

The bi-vocational chef/jester has an Italian accent (consider a slightly faster speaking Chef Boyardee from the commercials) and is as quick with a joke as he is to whip up lasagna. He is very well versed in scripture and can speak to people of all ages, assisting the king and queen with their decisions. He wears a white chef’s outfit and hat. Mark Musetti supplies the voice for this character.

King Bobby, half of the newly crowned royalty puppet duo of Lourdesville, loves all things food and is both smarter and dumber than he looks for a 5-year-old. His short-cropped brown hair and wide brown eyes give the appearance of a pudding-eating grin. He is saved but often takes scripture too literally. In an anachronistic twist, he wears denim overalls to support his rotund frame. Mark Musetti also supplies the voice for this character.

Queen Weezie, the other half of the puppet duo and half-sister to king Bobby, is more practical than Bobby but is prone to behaviors typical of a 2-year-old. Their skits act as object lessons for the scripture memory verses. She has shoulder-length blonde pigtails and wears a yellow shirt. Her voice is loud and cacophonous. She also often acts incredulously towards King Bobby when he says something that doesn’t fit into her world. Donna Springer supplies the voice-over for this character.

Section 4:



Game Style (Art, Music, Writing):

Much of the 3-D art for this game is generated from 2-D imagery in the Kingdom Chronicles VBS curriculum in terms of buildings, animals and townspeople (NPCs). However, character descriptions (section 3) and voices are used to develop the renditions of the characters and personalities in the cutscenes and character interactions in the game levels. A realistic yet ethereal feel to the characters reveal a sense of lightheartedness that sets the tone of the game. Soft outlines and nebulous shadows eliminate the hardness and edginess of the protagonists while the dragon (boss) displays the exact opposite qualities (sharply contrasted shadows and contours) to accentuate the imposing and terrifying nature of the beast (see picture of dragon in section 6, game world). The atmosphere starts out very dreary (mist, fog, twilight) in the first two scenes with you, your father and Sir Trainsalot. The skies brighten considerably upon learning that Sir Trainsalot will train your character, staying that way during the morning and afternoon sublevels in days 1 – 5. This gives way to twilight during the dinner quests and a starry clear pitch-black sky (only interrupted by dragon taunts and fire streaks) at the evening worship and meal before your character turns in for the night. The boss stage has a decidedly different atmosphere due to the impending doom. A morning sun is shielded in a crimson sky with dark clouds gathering to produce vivid lightning and deafening claps of thunder to create the climactic scene. After one final taunt by Satan, the skies brighten once more, as the evil dragon has been defeated before the closing credits appear.

The music for this game is almost entirely based on the Minstrel’s Music CD-Rom that contains both lyrical and instrumental versions of each song (see section 6, game world for scene-specific songs). You can choose from 9 tracks (below) in either contemporary (ESV) or traditional (KJV) settings in the options menu. A video track is embedded in the DVD-Rom game that plays the songs to dance moves in the evening worship.

5) The Kingdom Chronicles, 2) The Battle, 3) Admit, Believe, Forever Receive, 4) Do Right, 5) Whose Side Are You Leanin’ On, 6) The Sharpest Blade, 7) God Answers Prayer, 8) Stand Up for Jesus, 9) You’re My Praise



Biblical verses for puzzles and lessons as well as the Bible itself may be set to KJV or ESV in the options menu. Other writing is based on prompt descriptions in the drop-down menus for in-game functions. However, most of the writing is based on skits developed by Mark Musetti to accompany the VBS curriculum. Attachments are provided for both the morning and evening skits that act as training sessions prior to the puzzle challenges as well as the review of the daily scriptural verses.

Filename (morning skits): KC_Day_1_5_ArmorGodTrainingSkits.doc

Filename (evening skits): KC_Night_1_5_PuppetSkits.doc

Controls:



Basic Moves:

Left Double click : opens object or skill/selects answer Left Single click/hold : manipulates object (game/puzzle) Left single click : selects menu option from list Right click : Opens drop down menu options Home button : Pause: Options menu (save, progress, skills) End button : Returns to gameplay Up/Down/Left/Right (Directional buttons) :

Attack/defense/character movement Space bar : First level (basic) Attack/Defense move

Advanced (Combo) Moves:

Shift & direction buttons : Moves character or reticulating target more slowly

Ctrl & = buttons : Zooms in (closer view for those with poor eyesight)

Ctrl & - buttons : Zooms out (wider view) Ctrl & A buttons : Special Attack move (QTE w/ enter

button on moving target) Ctrl & D buttons : Special Defense move (QTE w/

enter button on moving target) Ctrl & P buttons : Divine Intervention (a drop-down

menu will appear from the top of the screen asking you to select what you would like to pray to God for); prayer request will be answered according to God’s will

Section 5:

Main Gameplay Concepts:

While the game is technically an action-adventure game, puzzles can be found at regular intervals while Christian themes (Bible study, music, 50% of knighthood training and puzzles) are also pervasive throughout. Play is broken up into 6 days, the first 5 of which follow a pattern of mornings (devotional time followed by puzzles), afternoons (learning and applying combat and horse-riding skills) and evenings (catching food followed by dinner, fellowship, skits and worship). If a task or puzzle is not successfully completed, the game returns to that event for you to complete before moving to the next task. Because younger children are playing the game, the intent is not to frustrate them by going back too far. However, once a skill is learned, you can always access it from the main menu (any day’s skill or lesson) or by interacting with your trainer or the day that the lesson took place. Mini-games are comprised of scriptural and skill-based puzzles. Scriptural puzzles are twofold: solving a jigsaw puzzle with the daily memory verse followed by a Biblical puzzle to match items (names, places, enemies, weapons and tragic flaws using Bible searches). Skill-based puzzles give hints as to how to catch food and defeat the dragon (bow hunting, trap making, pulley systems, manipulating blocks to affect the enemy and jigsaw puzzles that expose the dragon’s weaknesses.

USPs:

Fun gameplay in-line with both doctrine and mission statement of AiG First ever VBS-themed video game; pipeline exists dating back from 2008 Non-threatening way (puzzles, songs) to learn Scriptural memory verses In-game Bible included with curriculum guide Great way to reinforce VBS instruction and/or target unchurched families

Platform Specific Features:

Materials (songs, video, teaching guides) from VBS curriculum can be downloaded free to computer with product code that comes with purchase

Computer hard drive can store progress internally Computer flash drive can be used to store progress externally Characters, music or locations can be modified using JavaScript and saved

as files to a server (monitored by AiG for content) for player access



Section 6:

Game World:

Each day (1-5) starts with Bible study/puzzle time in the mornings followed by training at the jousting tilt in the afternoons and dinner/fellowship at the castle. The red arrow indicates the change in venue at day 6 (fighting the dragon).



Songs

First/Last Scene: The Battle

Morning/Afternoon/Evening: (Choose from drop-down menu)

Opening/Closing Credits: The Kingdom Chronicles

Level Design (Game World and Level 1):



Section 7 (Interface):

Although certain sections of the game have music set by the computer, you get to control the songs used during the majority of each day. A music note icon on-screen gives you the ability to select any track from the Kingdom Chronicles CD (already installed into game) from a drop-down menu. This is done because you should have control over the music as much as possible when the exact mood is not necessary. However, the song The Battle is used in the opening (searching for the trainer) and closing scenes (dragon battle) to convey a foreboding sense of fear and anticipation. The theme song The Kingdom Chronicles is used in the opening and closing screen/credits because it is a catchy tune that represents the instruments that you might hear in medieval music. The words are also easy to remember, a must for any opening or closing song.

The main navigational features in combination with gameplay mechanics include walking (for stealth hunting), mounting and riding a horse (jousting or to cover ground faster), interacting with objects to activate drop-down menus to choose an action, picking up, moving or throwing objects and attack/defense moves. The moving target (see below) is an interface that response to various factors.

The HUD screen contains a health bar, number of arrows remaining and dual (x- and y-) axial moving target on the upper-left. Since there is no score, the day number, time of day, task description, and timer (if activated) are all on the upper-right. An internal HUD exists by right-clicking the mouse to activate a drop-down menu, where left clicking will select a choice. Any icon or person that can be interacted with during the course of the game will display a small mouse overhead (context-sensitive prompt). If you left click the icon or person on the screen, a drop-down menu will also be activated (e.g. music note for playing a variety of songs, your trainer to ask a question or to review a skill move). The targeting reticule is a key component for hunting, which is designed using the AI aspects of proximity to target, calmness and skill to increase or decrease the likelihood of making a successful food kill with the bow and arrow (or strike against the dragon). A circular infrared radar map is located on the bottom-left to display “hot spots” and their silhouettes (human, animal, dragon) where up is the forward direction of your player.



Section 8 (Mechanics):

The first mechanic type in this game is an object that you can carry, interact with or throw at your enemies. Using your double left-click on the mouse will either pick up an object on the screen (hand icon) or reveal information or speak to you (dialogue cloud icon). In addition to the spiritual and physical armor that you collect throughout your training, you will receive weapons that will aid you in inflicting damage upon enemies from a longer distance. They are always picked up for completing tasks to make you feel more empowered. Your horse can also be mounted and rode upon in jousting tilts as practice for certain dinner quests.

Another type of mechanic is the “spells” that are invoked during gameplay are essentially the interaction between you and God in prayer, where He intercedes when necessary to help you with certain items and characteristics that you lack (regaining health, sharpening weapons, receiving encouragement, removing doubt et al). The drop down menu gives you the options to kneel and pray as well as to access the Bible when seeking guidance to make important decisions.

Many mechanic types appear in the castle area; a moving drawbridge, ladders, chutes, climbable walls, platforms to jump across/to and a moat to swim or hide in are useful for both evading the dragon and finding locations to make an attack when the dragon becomes vulnerable. Using the levers and pulley systems inside the arena, a skill mastered in the puzzles, will also help you to stun or hurt the dragon dependable on its vulnerability state at the time of the move. A moving target that affects your ability to attack is easier or harder to control based on your calmness and skill parameters (see power-ups).

Power-ups:

Because of you dependence on both God and your trainer to help you on your quest to achieve knighthood, power-ups are not typically found in this game. However, your regular meals add health while spending time in prayer and correctly answering trivia questions related to the curriculum scripture will increase your strength, calmness, health and skill. The aforementioned attributes will also increase when you exceed objectives in the daily puzzles.



Enemies:

The first “non-enemy” type of enemy is time. Each stage of each day has timed events where a task(s) must be completed or else it must be repeated. For instance, you have 1 hour to kill a wild boar for the next night’s meal or to kill the boss enemy (dragon) before it destroys the castle and its people. Puzzles are also timed, but can be adjusted in the menu options for various skills levels.

The more traditional enemies in the game include animals that you must kill for your next meal using your skills. While some are meant to evade you, others like the wild boar and the bull can be deadly, using sheer momentum as well as their melee attacks (horns, teeth) to inflict significant (possibly fatal) damage. They will stun and knock you back if they make a successful attack, and their persistent damage is twofold. If you have been cut, the blood will draw other animals nearby, making your task more difficult. Also, your health will be slow to recover if you survive (overnight) which is critical because reduced health slows your ability to attack and defend. The biaxial moving target must reflect a combination of perfect aim (x-axis) and a high-impact shot (y-axis) such that both dots must simultaneously meet in the center of each axis. If a shot hits the target animal but does not both hit the “sweet spot” (main vessel or organ) and hit with enough force, the animal may be stunned (for a second shot), run away or attack you if it was irritated enough. The animals that must be brought each night for dinner (with conditions) are:

Night 1) Kill 5 pigeons with up to 15 rocks from a slingshot; 1 hour

Night 2) Kill 5 rabbits with up to 10 traps; 1 hour

Night 3) Kill 2 sheep with short sword while on ground; 1 hour

Night 4) Kill 1 wild boar with long sword while on horseback; 1 hour

Night 5) Kill 1 bull with bow and arrow; 1 hour

Since the passing of each portion of a day effectively passes you through an automatic checkpoint, you can repeat the dinner quest if you fail any part of the task. Many of these hunting techniques will serve you well in the boss battle with the dragon on the morning after the final dinner quest.



Bosses:

There are technically two boss enemies and they both act as tormentors (another non-enemy type) throughout the game. The nightly fellowship is interrupted by distant sounds of the dragon. While Satan himself is the chief tormentor and tempter as he is responsible for the evil throughout the kingdom and the world, both characters are found in several of the cutscenes to increase your resolve to defeat them (Spoiler Alert – Satan never dies, even when his instrument of death and destruction is defeated; he just finds others to tempt into sin).

The dragon is the boss enemy that we can see, although it is a tormented animal that Satan has demonized. It is very large (5 times the player height and width), red (personifies danger), can fly well in short bursts but not run, can breathe fire and has an amber pendant. It has a variety of attacks (tail whip, fire breathing, launching spiny scales with its tail) while stunning its opponent with a ground pound as it flaps its Kevlar-coated wings. See picture in section 6 for art style.

While the boss battle is a difficult one due to the dragon’s immense size and broad spectrum of skills and tools, it is not impossible to win. The move sequence is complex but predictable. Fortunately, the dragon has 2 “tells” for attacking; a pendant that turns green to show vulnerability and an intense white-hot glow at the top of its head just before breathing fire (water defense). No matter where you stand, the dragon will always face you, even finding an aerial platform to reach if you are standing above the ground. The telegraphed sequence is as follows:

5) Ground stomp (you are stunned for 3 seconds if you don’t jump in synch)2) Move 1 step forward and spin its tail (lose 10% health and stunned for 3 seconds

if you don’t jump in synch) followed by pendant color change that lasts 2 seconds (weapon strike to head or spell fire to pendant causes 10% damage)

3) Move 1 step back, coils tail to release the spiny scales, and then lobs them over his head with the tail (lose 15% health for each spiny scale that hits you)

4) Flies backward out of view and then forward to original location within 3 seconds with an intense white-hot glow for 2 seconds before releasing fire (lose 40% health for any flame that hits you but only water thrown on dragon’s head will cause 10% damage)

5) Repeat steps 1 – 4; once the dragon is defeated it turns into fire and then a cloud



Cutscenes:

The game opens with a cutscene from the VBS promotional DVD in mp3 format. Starting with a wide-angle view of the castle, the camera zooms in and then shows a 360-degree view of the castle and a young squire that sees both the good and evil forces at work. The song The Battle from the Minstrel’s Music soundtrack plays during the cutscene leading to the start/menu screen (The Kingdom Chronicles).

Prior to your journey into Lourdesville, a scripted cutscene is shown between you and your father that describes your objectives (finding Sir Trainsalot and convincing him to train you to be a knight) and the knight’s back-story.

At regular intervals during the game, starting with the moment that Sir Trainsalot agrees to train you, the distant sound effects of the dragon are apparent. It screeches and makes fire-breathing sounds, cutting to a scripted scene showing the utter destruction of a nearby hamlet at the handiwork of the dragon. At the end of the scene, the dragon can be seen in the distance flying past the screen.

Cutscenes are displayed each afternoon prior to training and each evening after dinner to display each theme related to putting on the full armor of God. Both are FMV cutscenes largely acted out by teenagers for the jousting scenes and puppets with toddler-age voiceovers (King Bobby, Queen Weezie, Chef) because younger and animated characters are more relatable to the target audience (songs: Admit, Believe, Forever Receive; You’re My Praise).

On the final night of your training, you are displayed in a puppet-show cutscene where you can control your head movement (where to look around) as you pray. The song God Answers Prayer plays in the background as the campfire dies down, before the dragon makes its way to the castle.

Bonus Material:

When you defeat the dragon at the end of the game, a movie trailer of the sequel is available to play (International Spy Academy). After you achieve the objectives on each training day you can unlock demo versions of Amazon Expedition, Operation Space, The Egypt File, Gold Rush and IncrediWorld (nights 1 – 5).

Comps: Journey of Moses (FB game), The Interactive Parables (PC)



Section 11:

Plan of Execution/Milestones:

With only about 10 months to release the game by 6/1/2014, a larger than normal team will be used (most of temporary help is from the programmers) to complete the project.

Pitch/Presentation/10-20 page GDD/story: due 8/1/2013 Marketer pitches idea with Lead Programmer/Developer/Producer to answer

questions to AiG ~ 8/15/2013 (approval, venture capital) Concept sent by producer to www.kickstarter.com for venture capital ~

8/20/2013 (lead programmer, marketer, AiG contact listed for questions)

If game is approved for development and venture capital is secured:

Full-scale GDD: due 8/31/2013 (Developer and Producer) Level design sketches, Character development/graphics and game box

design: due 9/30/2013 (graphic artists) Cutscenes (w/ music/voice): due 10/31/2013 (graphics, programmers, actors) Vertical Slice for initial cutscene and level 1: due 11/30/2013 (programmers) Initial PR and press release: due 12/152014 (AiG’s PR department) Music insertion from licensed software, non-skit writing (drop-down

functionalities, first draft of game manual) and voice-overs (non-cutscenes): due 12/31/2013 (graphics, actors)

Alpha Version released by 2/15/2014 (programmers) Beta Version released by 3/31/2014 (programmers), game testers should be

playing and commenting by the time the alpha version is released PR/marketing/advertising (magazines, websites, Christian publications and

media, AiG literature: due 4/30/2014 Retail and online stores to accept pre-orders at $29.99/unit (secular and

Christian) for 5/31/2014 consumer delivery: due 4/30/2014 Validation testing complete by 5/10/2014 (programming, game testers); first

production cycle of 100K units to be manufactured by 5/15/2014 Gold version (game released in stores and online) 5/31/2014 Pitch Classic AiG VBS Series by 6/30/2014 (VBS themes 2008 – 2013)



Alternate Game Design/Concept (Feedback):

As the current director of our church’s VBS program at Westerville Free Will Baptist Church I sought the advice of my wife Jessica, a former VBS program director and DBA candidate. She is well versed in both business models and executing church-wide projects using AiG. After much discussion, we were reasonably satisfied with the initial GDD but wanted to explore a new avenue for release of the VBS series while adding a SWOT analysis (page 20) for the game.

While we have added vertical slice demos into the game as bonus materials for completing challenges at each stage of the game (days 1 – 5), we believe that that the design of a game that explores all 6 VBS themes used by AiG from 2008 to 2013 could alternatively be produced and sold either alongside or in place of the existing single-theme game.

The 6 themes would be linked together as a dodecahedral (12-face) world where you can select any theme first to play (faces 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) and upon completing the 5 days of the theme enter a portal to the opposite face of the polyhedron to defeat the boss character. Upon defeating the boss enemy, the remaining 5 themes are opened for game play, as the faces are adjacent to the boss enemy face (see below for structure).

Faces 1 (days 1 – 5) and 12 (boss): Amazon Expedition Faces 7 (days 1 – 5) and 6 (boss): Operation Space Faces 8 (days 1 – 5) and 5 (boss): The Egypt File Faces 9 (days 1 – 5) and 4 (boss): Gold Rush Faces 10 (days 1 – 5) and 3 (boss): IncrediWorld Faces 11 (days 1 – 5) and 2 (boss): Kingdom Chronicles



SWOT Marketing Analysis:

Strengths:

Has support of major VBS and Sunday school curriculum provider AiG.

Potential for built-in profitability by including game as a component of the company’s Ultimate Starter Kit.

Niche market already exists for product (kids who have been to VBS)

Weaknesses:

Christian game genre is historically weak in terms of crossover interest and profitability.

First title of video game series has little name recognition outside of the Christian community.

Opportunities:

First VBS-themed video game sub-genre created for the marketplace; with 6 VBS themes already to AiG’s credit, a successful first game virtually guarantees a product pipeline with future profitability..

Outstanding opportunity to reach unsaved/unchurched families individuals using alternative methods.

Rave game reviews can generate additional contracts from other VBS publishers looking to seek residual cash flow from their curriculum by having their products developed into video games.

Threats:

Ultra-niche market can be dominated by as few as 1-2 additional competitors (Lightside, Left Behind Games, Inc.), diminishing chances for profitability.

Games must be developed quickly to keep competitors from entering the marketplace and taking market share; game quality could potentially suffer.



kc_ext3_gddweek15

Documents

index section

armor of god

mark musetti

dragon battle

game flow

kingdom of lourdesville

physical training

evil dragon