The Frog’s Princess An interactive storybook for 10-year-old girls Game Design Document by Kathy Smart of Joy Everafter Stories Version 6.1 23 June 2018 Getting around this document 1 2 GDD Version 6.1 for The Frog’s Princess © Kathy Smart 2016 Page 2 Table of Contents 1 GAME OVERVIEW ____________________________________________________ 8 PITCH __________________________________________________________ 8 DESCRIPTION ______________________________________________________ 8 Core experience _____________________________________________________ 8 Three pillars of fun ___________________________________________________ 9 Unique selling points _________________________________________________ 9 THEME __________________________________________________________ 9 STORY _________________________________________________________ 10 Backstory _________________________________________________________ 10 Synopsis __________________________________________________________ 10 Importance of story _________________________________________________ 11 Chapters __________________________________________________________ 12 MISSION _______________________________________________________ 19 GAMEPLAY FEATURES _______________________________________________ 19 Choose dialogue based on mood _______________________________________ 20 Beginnings (Initial conditions) __________________________________________ 23 TUTORIAL _______________________________________________________ 23 WALKTHROUGH ___________________________________________________ 23 SETTING ________________________________________________________ 24 ART STYLE _______________________________________________________ 25 PLATFORMS _____________________________________________________ 27 2 GAMEPLAY ________________________________________________________ 28 PERSPECTIVE _____________________________________________________ 28 WIN / LOSS CONDITIONS _____________________________________________ 28 GAMEPLAY DESCRIPTION _____________________________________________ 28 Play singly or in pairs _________________________________________________ 28 Introductory game play ______________________________________________ 28 Choose dialogue ____________________________________________________ 28 Customise character [later version] _____________________________________ 30 Click to next page ___________________________________________________ 31 Free navigation – back and forwards ____________________________________ 32 Gameplay is auto-recorded and movie of game can be edited and shared _______ 32 GAME STRUCTURE _________________________________________________ 32 ORDER OF PLAY ___________________________________________________ 32 Chronological order _________________________________________________ 35 Game flowchart (Twine) ______________________________________________ 36 TIMELINE _______________________________________________________ 36 CHAPTER FLOW EXAMPLE _____________________________________________ 37 CHAPTERS_______________________________________________________ 38 GAME ECONOMY __________________________________________________ 40 GDD Version 6.1 for The Frog’s Princess © Kathy Smart 2016 Page 3 Core loop _________________________________________________________ 40 Player assets _______________________________________________________ 40 Feedback to player __________________________________________________ 41 Unlockables ________________________________________________________ 41 GAME OPTIMISATION _______________________________________________ 42 Pacing _________________________________________________________ 42 Flexibility _______________________________________________________ 42 Skills ___________________________________________________________ 42 Difficulty________________________________________________________ 42 Check points ____________________________________________________ 42 3 STORY ____________________________________________________________ 43 RESEARCH ______________________________________________________ 43 CHAPTER OUTLINES ________________________________________________ 43 Chapter 1 _________________________________________________________ 43 Chapter 2 _________________________________________________________ 43 Chapter 3 _________________________________________________________ 43 Chapter 4 _________________________________________________________ 44 Chapter 5 _________________________________________________________ 44 Chapter 6 _________________________________________________________ 44 Chapter 7 _________________________________________________________ 44 Chapter 8 _________________________________________________________ 44 Chapter 9 _________________________________________________________ 44 Chapter 10 ______________________________________________________ 44 Chapter 11 ______________________________________________________ 45 Chapter 12 ______________________________________________________ 45 4 CHARACTERS _______________________________________________________ 46 PRINCESS EMMA __________________________________________________ 47 PRINCE FRANCIS __________________________________________________ 49 IRON HENRY _____________________________________________________ 50 WITCH / LADY LORELEI / RED BIRD ______________________________________ 51 KING OF KASSELL __________________________________________________ 52 MOTHER _______________________________________________________ 53 PRINCESS RAMONA ________________________________________________ 54 PRINCESS HILDA __________________________________________________ 55 ________________________________________________________________ 56 PRINCE OF CALDEN _________________________________________________ 56 PRINCE VALIMAR __________________________________________________ 57 WILLIAM IN THE HELP-PLACE __________________________________________ 58 HARRIET IN THE HELP-PLACE __________________________________________ 58 SOLDIERS _______________________________________________________ 58 SOLDIER ROLPH ___________________________________________________ 58 SOLDIER WILLARD _________________________________________________ 58 SOLDIER HUBERT __________________________________________________ 58 GOOSEHERD _____________________________________________________ 59 GDD Version 6.1 for The Frog’s Princess © Kathy Smart 2016 Page 4 SOLDIERS AT DOOR _________________________________________________ 59 SERVANTS _______________________________________________________ 59 VILLAGERS OF KASSELL ______________________________________________ 59 KING OF OLDEN ___________________________________________________ 60 CITIZENS OF OLDEN ________________________________________________ 60 TREEFACES – NOT USED IN STORYBOOK VERSION _____________________________ 61 HORSES ________________________________________________________ 61 3D settings ______________________________________________________ 62 5 ART ______________________________________________________________ 65 ART BIBLE _______________________________________________________ 65 Art style ___________________________________________________________ 65 Character art _______________________________________________________ 66 Level of detail (L.O.D.) ________________________________________________ 67 Camera ___________________________________________________________ 67 Colour palette – awaiting artist input ____________________________________ 68 Atmosphere / environment and Texture and surface – awaiting artist input ______ 69 User Interface (UI) __________________________________________________ 69 Technical guidelines _________________________________________________ 70 LIGHTING _______________________________________________________ 72 PROMOTIONAL ART ________________________________________________ 73 6 SOUND ___________________________________________________________ 74 MUSIC _________________________________________________________ 74 Leitmotifs for characters ______________________________________________ 74 Special music ______________________________________________________ 77 Music for dramatic moments - INCOMPLETE ______________________________ 78 DIALOGUE ______________________________________________________ 79 Voice descriptions ___________________________________________________ 80 SOUND EFFECTS ___________________________________________________ 83 UI SOUNDS ______________________________________________________ 83 7 SYSTEMS __________________________________________________________ 84 UI ____________________________________________________________ 84 Home ____________________________________________________________ 86 Next page _________________________________________________________ 86 Chapter navigation __________________________________________________ 86 Character customization ______________________________________________ 87 Dialogue __________________________________________________________ 88 Replay ____________________________________________________________ 88 Menu ____________________________________________________________ 89 GAME CONTROLLER ________________________________________________ 90 SCENE CONTROLLER ________________________________________________ 90 DIALOGUE MANAGER _______________________________________________ 90 ANIMATIONS _____________________________________________________ 90 SOUND MANAGER _________________________________________________ 90 GDD Version 6.1 for The Frog’s Princess © Kathy Smart 2016 Page 5 MOVIE MAKER____________________________________________________ 91 CHARACTER CUSTOMISATION __________________________________________ 91 INTERACTIBLE OBJECTS ______________________________________________