Game Design Proposal Document
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Game Design Proposal Document 1. Game title - Erathis 2. Target demographic – Ages 10+ largely targeted at a male audience though contains strong independent female characters and also hints of romantic connections so to potentially attain the attention of female gamers. 3. Features Summary – Times of peace are short lived in the land of Erathis. Many mighty empires have risen in the flames of battle and equally, many have dwindled into the emptiness of time. Now, a new era, a new chance. With a colossal war raging throughout the land, empires battle for control of the domain in order to quell the unrest attaining ultimate power and wealth. But at what cost? As general of Bargan’s 5th army your orders were simple. Rendezvous with Commander Vascaral of the allied empire Nonotan and extinguish the threat of Rakzor’s beast army. A simple task, but when allies turn enemy, your world is thrown upside down in a series of unpredictable events. It is time for a new strategy General, will you fight for peace or revenge? 4. Genre similarities and differences - The game will take ideas from many different genres such as: Hack and Slash (based on the Dynasty Warriors saga)- for the combat and main game play section. Real Time Strategy (RTS) – For control over your empire, towns, cities, villages, armies, defence, offence, trade, diplomacy etc. 5. The innovation – The main playing style is based on the Dynasty Warriors games. However, you are a general, you lead your men/women/beasts to battle but, instead of complete AI controlling your troops and that constant annoyance of “WHY ARE THOSE GUYS NOT MOVING, THEY SHOULD BE IN THE BATTLE!!!” you control your troops. Introducing a unique use of commanding units on the field of battle whilst you yourself, the general, being amidst the chaos of war, creating a whole new meaning to strategy games. One innovation is that as the general you play on the field much like on Dynasty Warriors. However, you control all of your units, you can choose to join a platoon or perhaps roam on your own throughout the battle field. Moreover, you can assign platoons to carry out certain actions, such as guarding specific targets like fellow commanders/archers/ yourself. Maybe perhaps set them to assault or capture designated areas such as, a selected segment of the map, armoury or supply line. In addition to this there will also be settings for “automatic” actions such as, “auto guard general/armoury/supply line etc.” or “auto assault/defence/hold ground etc.”. Ultimately the unique attraction is the ability to control and customise every aspect of your forces. You select, purchase, equip your units with what you desire and then lead them to battle. With any tactic possible your army is at your disposal. Furthermore, on the RTS side of the game you get to customise your world. With the abilities to upgrade settlements to citadels, you control the entire running of the industries. Trade, 1 Michael Pike – Computer Games Design CM0405 buildings, armouries, supply lines, but best of all you customise your own defences. With finance you can build vast networks of walls and defensive structures throughout your land. This will take time to complete hence the RTS. Upon completion new maps are created, you edit maps your empire owns in order to further benefit your armies. However, the enemy does so too making battles all the more hazardous if unprepared. 6. World Setting – Set in a fantasy realm the world is divided into seven major empires. One larger land mass containing five of these empires and two additional islands contain the remaining two. The era has a very Roman/Greek feel to it whilst also incorporating fantasy designs for additional styled armies/empires. Empires consist of humans, beasts, the undead and many additional some of which remain themselves within empires e.g. forests will be filled with tribal warriors who specialise in the use of great creatures. 7. Main Characters – There will be eight main characters including yourself and several sub characters. Seven of the eight characters are leaders of the seven empires, each with their own unique traits. Below are the three initial main characters the game will see: Crios of Bargan – Appointed leader of the Bargan Empire. Crios is a human with unrivalled intellect, as a strategist he is second to none. Superior swordsmanship and mounted experience makes him master of lightning assaults. Anorus Of Nontumbin – Warlord of the western lands. Anorus ‘devotion and lust for battle allowed his small army to seize power during one of Nontumbin’s most volatile times. His strengths lie in manipulation, deception and a versatile range of siege weapons. Technology is a driving force in Nontumbin, one Anorus uses extremely well. Rakzor of Zexor – Beast Lord of the Dark Mountains Rakzor is a formidable opponent. He is a beast of legend, over 400 years old Rakzor stands 9ft tall, a Minotaur battle scared from head to toe. Rakzor stands at the front line of every major battle leading his beasts to almost certain victory. With sensational strength and extreme endurance Rakzor and his beasts can battle for weeks before tiring. 8. Story – The land of Erathis is ravaged by perpetual war, seven empires fight for ultimate control. You are initially a General of Bargan’s 5th army. Sent to the front line border of Bargan, you are to rendezvous with allied forces of Nonotan (another human empire). The intention is to repel the beast lord of Zexor’s assault for Barden, Bargan’s capital city. Upon arrival at Harden’s Pass,( a pass to the North) both allied armies set up camp and prepare for the inevitable battle. With tactics discussed and plans set in motion both, forces rest for the night in preparation only to be disturbed in the dead of night. Vascaral, the commander of the Nonotan forces, led a midnight assault on the Bargan camp. Unprepared and bewildered by the traitorous Vascaral, the Bargan forces stood little chance. Nonotan forces slaughtered thousands of Bargan soldiers. You and a handful of men must fight your way to flee the onslaught and report to Crios back at Barden. (However, this is where the player can choose their path. Will you return home dishonoured and beaten, defect to the enemy forces or perhaps become a vagrant official roaming Erathis, looking for your own budding empire.) 2 Michael Pike – Computer Games Design CM0405 9. Gameplay Mechanics – Battle gameplay is based loosely on the Dynasty Warriors style. However, control of units is the key element of the game and will be created simple and easy to use. The “world view” will be based on many RTS’ and will focus largely on diplomacy, economy, military, domestic and also construction issues. 10. Settings/scenarios – The “main section” of game will be considered a scenario mode. Although the player makes their own choices, the game does conform to a certain story. The “world view”, here you prep your armies, villages etc. for whatever it is you desire. You will set your own goals unless you are under rule by another empire, in which you will be set missions/campaigns to achieve. Finally, “battles” will again be largely decided by yourself. You can set your own objectives for the battle at the battle start menu. Some battles however, may be governed by your leader or enemies depending on who struck first, so will have their own objectives already highlighted for the battle. 11. Hardware Specs/platform – PlayStation 3, this decision was based on greater graphic capabilities than the Xbox 360. The blue ray player also means that such a large game can be confined to only one disc, whilst maintaining a high quality. 12. Development tools – PlayStation 3 Development Kit, 3D studio Max. 13. List of team members Modelling and animation - 10 Level design - 15 Coding - 25 Music & sound effects - 10 Production -10 14. Risk analysis – Running out of finances, running out of time, ensuring the new unit command system works as it should, with it being new it could suffer some potential setbacks. Furthermore, we could lose key members to competitor companies slowing our progress; graphics must be excellent so need to ensure no errors there. 15. Schedule Pre-Production – 4 Months Development – 8 + Months Alpha – 2-3 Months Beta (bug fixes)- 2 Month Gold Master- Finish Total Time Estimate – 17 Months 16. Personal statement – Personally, I feel this game holds it all. It has action, adventure a story not to mention the unique introduction of “3rd Person General”. There is a mix of RTS, Hack and Slash and elements of Role Play Game (RPG) all rolled into one beautiful game that will allow the player to be immersed in a fantasy realm never contemplated before. The game will give freedom to players allowing them to break from the norm and enable tactical warfare to be greatly harnessed. 3 Michael Pike – Computer Games Design CM0405 Reference Dynasty Warriors 7 – TECMO KOEI EUROPE LTD. Produced by – W-OMEGA Force, 2011. 4 Michael Pike – Computer Games Design CM0405 .