fall of limgoth: design document

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Running With Rupture The Three Days Design Document

Game Design Document

Running With Rupture presents

The Three Days

DigiPen Institute of Technology

GAM400 Project

v. 2.8 Copyright © 2009, DigiPen (USA) Corp. pg. 1




Table of Contents

The Three Days is….........................................................................................3

Overview..........................................................................................................3

Project Objective..............................................................................................3

Team Overview................................................................................................3

Game Play........................................................................................................4

Combat............................................................................................................4

Characters.......................................................................................................6

Skills...............................................................................................................10

Controls..........................................................................................................17

User Interface................................................................................................22

Narrative & Campaign...................................................................................26

Assets............................................................................................................28

Appendix 1: Target Audience.........................................................................31

Appendix 2: Comparative Products................................................................33

Appendix 3: Risk Analysis..............................................................................35

Appendix 4: Playtesting Plan & Feedback......................................................37

Appendix 5: Document Change Log...............................................................38

Appendix 6: Resources & Copyrights.............................................................39





The Three Days is…A game in which the player commands a squad of characters in time-based

tactical combat in a fantasy world.

Overview

The Three Days is a tactical role-playing game in which the player controls a

group of characters in turn-based battle against an opposing (player- or

computer-controlled) group of characters. Characters engage with close-

range physical or ranged magic-based attacks. Battles take place on

isometric grid less fields. Units are controlled via mouse and keyboard

commands. The objective of each battle may be different field-by-field, but

generally involves defeating all of the opposing character units.

Project Objective

• Create a hardcore-focused tactics game

• Show off awesome looking attacks and skills

• Create a system which can be understood and enjoyed within five

minutes• Have a portfolio piece to be proud of

Team Overview

Lead Producer: Tim Fuqua

Technical Director: Sean Hunter

Programmer: Bryan Chacosky

Programmer: Tom Lopes

Lead Designer: Kye Harris





Game Play

Game time will be focused primarily on tactical, turn-based combat. Players

move characters around a field, paying attention to positioning, to attack

opposing characters with melee or ranged actions. Pre-battle preparationwill be quick and easily manageable, allowing for the player to spend most of

his or her time in battle.

Combat

Combat involves two or more squads – groups of characters controlled by

players or computer-AI (up to three squads; up to two players)– engaging

with or against one another on a Field. Most commonly, this will be onesquad trying to defeat all members of another squad. Squads will be

distinguished by the color of the armor of all of its units. (All members of the

player’s squad will have blue armor; an enemy squad will have red armor; a

third army will be green.) Each character, within each squad on the field,

takes a turn moving, attacking, defending or using a skill against an

opposing character within an opposing squad or for a character in any squad.

At the start of a Scene, characters will be grouped near each other according

to their squads. Conditions of Victory and Defeat will be detailed to the

player and then Combat will begin.





Combat will cease when either all of the Victory conditions have been met by

a squad or one of the Defeat conditions has been met by a squad. At the

end of Combat, any gained Skill Points (from defeating opponents) will be

rewarded to the squad. XP will be distributed amongst all characters of the

squad when any member of that squad defeats an enemy character. When

Combat is finished, the player may view details for the number of enemies

defeated, the XP gained, and the SP gained.

Time Points

Time Points limit the actions that any single character can make during a

turn. Each character, at the start of its turn, will have 100 Time Points (TP).

That character’s turn ends when it does not have enough TP remaining to

make an action. (A character’s turn may be ended prematurely by a fieldeffect or the player command End Turn.) Each action – movement,

attacking, skill usage – costs a specific amount of TP in order to be acted out

and a character cannot make an action if it does not have enough TP to pay

the cost. Movement, for instance, takes an amount of TP determined by the





Agility of the acting character, the distance of movement, and the terrain the

character is moving across:

TP Cost for Movement = (2 TP * feet traveled) * ((1000 –

(2*(AG))) / 1000) [rounded down]

TP will recover gradually as other characters take their turns. Each round

restores 100 TP, regardless of the number of characters on the field:

TP Recovered per Turn = (Number of Characters) / 100 [rounded

up]

When a character reaches a full TP bar (100 TP), it will be placed on the

action queue. Characters in this queue will take turns in the order they reach

the queue. Example: Character1, Character2, and Character3 are in battle

with 100 TP at the start of the battle. Character1 spends 25 TP moving, then

ends its turn. After Character2, Character1 will be back at 100 TP, but will

not be allowed to act until Character3 has taken its turn, since Character3

arrived on the action queue first.

Characters

Each character operates individually with its own set of Stats and Skills. A

group of characters controlled by a single player (or AI-player) is referred to

as a Squad.

Types

Characters are distinguished by Type. A Character Type determines the

model used to represent the character, the stats of the character, and how

the character attacks. Types also determine the Skills a character has or

may have. Each Character Type will have a set of Skills with Skill Points pre-

assigned to them. These SP may be reallocated to other Skills.





Soldier Has stronger physical capabilities. Uses horizontal arc

sword attacks, anything within this slicing range will take

damage.

Mage Has stronger magical capabilities. Uses forward thrust rod

attacks, giving it a slightly longer reach for attacking.

Defender Built for endurance. Uses close-range, fist attacks.

Hero The squad’s leader. Only exists in Campaign mode.

Type HP PA PD MA MD AG

Base* 300 50 50 50 50 50

Soldier 450 140 100 80 100 120

Mage 360 100 100 140 120 100

Defender 540 100 140 100 100 80

Hero 600 150 150 150 150 150

*The “Base” Character Type is not in the game but is included here to show

the stat relationship of the other characters.

*Concept art for Soldier.





*Concept art for Mage.

*Concept art for Defender.





Stats

Each character has its own set of numbers which determine how it performs

in Combat. These numbers increase as that character’s Level increases.

(LV) Level Scales all other Stats. Increases with XP

accrual.

(XP) Experience Increases Level by 1 every 100 points.

(HP) Health Points Depletes as damage is taken. Character is

KO’d and unable to battle when 0.

(PA) Physical Attack Modifies damage dealt by physical-based

attacks.

(MA) Magic Attack Modifies effectiveness of magic-based

actions.

(PD) Physical Defense Decreases damage received by physical-based

attacks.

(MD) Magic Defense Decreases damage received by magic-based

actions.

(AG) Agility Determines cost of movement and acting time.

Used as a modifier for avoiding incoming

attacks or Skills.

Actions

Any command given to a character costs TP. (End Turn is the exception.)

Move Relocate a character on the field. Costs 2 TP per foot

moved.

Attack Use the equipped weapon to perform a physical-based

attack. Costs 45 TP.

Skill Use an available Skill (provided by equipped SP). Cost

varies per Skill.

Defend Ends this character’s turn by going into a defensive

stance. Costs 25 TP.





Each character attacks with a different weapon. These weapons have

differing ranges from each other: the Soldier’s sword hits a wider range with

a horizontal sweeping motion; the Mage’s rod is thrust forward, giving more

reach; the Defender’s fists have little range and can only hit a single target.

Attack damage is always based on the Physical stats:

Damage = 0.5 * (PA) * 1.6 – PD [rounded up]

Skills

Characters with SP assigned may use Skills in battle. Skills provide a greater

range of power and effects than base physical attacks. Any Skill can range

between Level 1 effectiveness to Level 3 effectiveness. Each Skill has a base

TP cost, a base Damage, and a list of possible effects. Effects are generally

cumulative. “Layers” describes the lasting time of an effect.





Many Skills stack effects as they power up. (These Skills are marked above

with a +.) For example, the Skill “Crescent Wave” deals damage to a

target’s HP. At Level 2, “Crescent Wave” has an effect of “Increases AG of

user.” This means that at Level 2, “Crescent Wave” increases the users

Agility and deals damage to a target’s HP. On the other hand, Skills such as

“Manipulate” do not stack or power-up as most others do. Only 1 SP is

necessary for any level of “Manipulate,” allowing the player to choose which

effect he or she prefers.

Specific character types, and special characters in the Campaign mode, will

have different access to Skills.


SPCost TPCost Power Range Area Effect Hit Avoid Layers

1 55 MA * 1.5 48' reach 12' diameter HPdamage 75 +MA * 2 AG* 1.5 0+ Skill (Skill Powe

2 65 MA * 1.75 48' reach 21' diameter No further effect 75 +MA * 2 AG* 1.5 0+

3 75 MA * 1.75 48' reach 21' diameter Inflicts Berserk 80 +MA * 2 AG* 1.5 1

g 1 55 MA * 1.25 48' reach 18' diameter HPdamage 75 +MA * 2 AG* 1.5 0+

g 2 2 65MA * 1.5 48' reach 27' diameter No further effect 75 +MA * 2 AG* 1.5 0+

g 3 3 75MA * 1.5 48' reach 27' diameter Decreases AG 80 +MA * 2 AG* 1.5 2

1 50 0 42' reach 15' diameter Inflicts Poison status 70 +MA * 2 AG* 2 1+

2 60 0 42' reach 15' diameter Inflicts Beserk status 70 +MA * 2 AG* 2 2+

3 70 MA * 3.0 42' reach 15' diameter TPdamage 70 +MA * 2 AG* 2 0

1 55 0 42' reach 15' diameter Increases TP reload 90 +MA 0 1+

2 65 0 42' reach 15' diameter Increases MD 90 +MA 0 5+

3 75 0 42' reach 15' diameter Prevents Conditions 90 +MA 0 2

t Wave 1 55MA * 1.5 63' reach 9' length HPdamage 75 +PA * 2 AG* 1.5 0+

nt Wave 2 2 65 MA * 1.5 63' reach 9' length Increases AGof user 75 +PA * 2 AG* 1.5 2+

nt Wave 3 3 75 MA * 2.0 63' reach 12' length No further effect 80 +PA * 2 AG* 1.5 0

hot 1 55MA * 1.5 90' reach 3' width HPdamage 75 +PA * 2 AG* 1.5 0+

hot 2 2 65 MA * 1.5 90' reach 3' width Increases PAof user 75 +PA * 2 AG* 1.5 2+

hot 3 3 75 MA * 2.0 90' reach 6' width No further effect 80 +PA * 2 AG* 1.5 0

1 40PA * 1.0 3' reach target Decreases TP reload 90 +PA AG* 1.5 1+

2 2 50 PA * 1.0 3' reach target Decreases PD 90 +PA AG* 1.5 4+

3 3 60 PA * 1.0 3' reach target Decreases PA 90 +PA AG* 1.5 3

1 50 MA * 2.0 45' reach target Restores HP 100 0 0+

2 2 55 MA * 2.5 45' reach target Removes Stat decreases 100 0 0+

3 3 65 MA * 3.0 45' reach target Removes Conditions 100 0 0

ance 1 45 0 0field Causes Rain 75 +MA 0 3

mance 2 1 45 0 0field Causes Dark 75 +MA 0 3mance 3 1 45 0 0field Causes Wind 75 +MA 0 3

late 1 50 0 0field Decreases PA 75 +MA 0 10

ate 2 1 50 0 0field Decreases MA 75 +MA 0 10

ate 3 1 50 0 0field Increases AG 75 +MA 0 10




Character

Skill Soldier MageDefender

Mordecai

Augustus

Dorandus

Blaze Sparking

Spite

Boon CrescentWave

Terra Shot

Cripple

Restore Stratomance Manipulat

e

Skill Points

Skill Points are used to determine what Skills (in-battle techniques, such as

healing) a character can use in combat. Each Skill can be viewed on the

Battle Preparation screen where Skill Points (SP) may be allocated. When SP

is assigned to a Skill, that Skill becomes usable in combat by that character.

Up to three SP may be assigned to any one Skill on a single character; the

amount of SP assigned determines the power and effects of that Skill when

used in combat.

The following Mage can use both level 1 “Blaze” and “Sparking” because

each has one SP assigned to it. Each Skill has one Skill Point assigned to it

by default. This SP may be removed and placed elsewhere if desired.





Status Effects

Some Skills may invoke Status Conditions (or Effects) on a character. Each

Status Condition has a different effect on the character and lasts a specific

amount of time. Since some effects are inflicted at higher potency at times,

the Life is determined by a base amount of TP that is increased by the

number of “Layers” of the effect inflicted. For instance, “Blaze 3” inflicts 1

Layer of Berserk, so Berserk lasts 100 TP; “Spite 2” inflicts 2 Layers of

Berserk, causing Berserk to last 200 TP.

StatusCondition Description Effect Life

Stat Up Increases a single Stat Stat + 2100 TP *Layers

Stat Down Decreases a single Stat Stat - 2100 TP *Layers

TP Up Increases TP reload TP reload + 5500 TP *Layers

TP Down Decreases TP reload TP reload - 5500 TP *Layers

Poison Damages HP over time HP - 1 for every 25 TP 500 TP *





Layers

Berserk Forces forward action Disable non-Move/Attack100 TP *Layers

RainCauses heavy rain on thefield

AG - 1; Blaze - 20%;Sparking + 20%

500 TP *Layers

DarkCauses darkness to cover the field Hit - 25%

500 TP *Layers

WindCauses strong winds acrossthe field Skill Range + 10%

500 TP *Layers

Guard Prevents ConditionsMD + 100 for StatusCondition

300 TP *Layers





Battle Flow

Once a player has a squad of characters to control, the player will proceed to

a Combat overview. The Victory and Defeat conditions of the battle will be

detailed and the player will have the chance to survey the placement of his

or her characters. Characters will be placed at default locations, but may be

clicked and dragged, within a shown radius, to a different starting position.

The Combat phase will be initiated once this is confirmed. Play will pass

from character to character on the field according to turn order and TP

availability. Players will only have control over characters in their own

squad. (Player 1 cannot control any characters owned by any other player or

the AI.) The character on the field with the highest Agility will have the first

turn in battle.* Once a character ends its turn by pressing “Execute” to

perform its list of planned actions, play will pass to the next character with

the highest Agility and the most available TP. In this way, characters on field

will take turns acting until either one squad has met all Victory conditions or

all but one player has met any of the Defeat conditions.

On a character’s turn, that character may spend available TP to move on the

field to any location within range – determined by the Agility of the character

and its remaining TP --, initiate a physical attack with its equipped weapon,

or use an available Skill.

*Turn order will be sorted first by Agility, then the character’s Level, and last

by a “tie-breaker” number. This number will be determined randomly at the

start of Combat and assigned to the character. In a battle of four characters,

two on each side, a “die” will be rolled four times: the first roll may assign a2 to the first character, so a 2 cannot be “rolled” again; the second character

may be assigned a 1; the third character is assigned 4; the fourth character

is assigned a 3. This number means that if any two characters have the

same Agility and Level, this character with the lower “tie-breaker” number

will act first. This number being determined before battle and kept





throughout Combat keeps turn order consistent. This will remain a hidden

mechanic.

Example of Play

1. Enter the Exhibition game mode.

2. Select a Field.

3. Select 6 characters for a squad.

4. Allocate SP among characters, giving them Skills to use in Combat.

5. Determine the starting formation for the squad.

6. Review the Victory and Defeat conditions.

7. Initiate Combat.

8. All Victory conditions are met and Combat ends.

9. Review Combat statistics.

10. Player is asked to Continue – play another round of Combat – orQuit – return to the Title Screen.





Controls

The Three Days will be controlled primarily through button commands on

context-based menus. The primary input method will be a mouse. Keyboard

input will be accepted and used for shortcuts and other hotkeys. This will befor players more accustomed to PC strategy games. Any available actions

will be shown in the form of buttons on the screen. The player will click on

any one of these actions, select a target, and confirm the action. For the

currently active character, the following are the controls and mechanics a

player can chose to use during the turn:

Move This action is selected by default at the start of a

character’s turn. Click a location on the Field within

movement range. A semi-transparent path will be drawn

to indicate how the character will reach the destination.

Attack Click a target within attacking range. A Move path will be

made if the target is not within attacking range.

Skill A character’s current Skills will be listed as buttons along

the bottom of the screen. Click a Skill to select it. The

highlighted area on the ground will change to match the

range of this Skill. Click a target to use the Skill.

Defend Puts the character in a defensive stance to reduce damage

received.

When the player selects an action for a character, the action will be added to

a queue or list of the character’s actions for the entire turn. Semi-transparent

paths along the terrain will indicate movement actions and attack paths that

the character has been told to execute; icons of actions (such as attack or

Blaze) will hover over characters that will be effected by that action this turn.

The player may mouse-over any of these icons on the field to view a pop-up

detailing the exact effects of that action to a character’s HP and TP. Once the





player has planned out the character’s full turn, the player will click the “Go”

button—located in the top left alongside the action list—to have the entire

turn play out. It will then move to another character’s turn.

Field

All instances of environments – where story events and Combat take place –

are referred to as Fields. A field generally consists of the entire top surface

of a single floating island, though some Fields may be small sections or

interior locations. Nothing exists outside the boundary of a Field. The edge

of a field denotes the edge of play area and will be indicated either by a

drop-off (there’s just nothing beyond the Field) or walls of some sort (thick

trees or cliff walls). Unlike traditional tactics games, these Fields do not have

grids limiting movement space. The average size of a Field is roughly 100

feet x 100 feet.

Smart Objects

Fields may be populated with Smart Objects—items placed on the field that

may be interacted with by characters. These objects are indiscriminate,





meaning that any character in any squad may use the object. Some objects

may only be used a limited number of times, while others may be used

indefinitely. All of these objects are static, so they do not move around the

field, but rather remain in place until used.

A more detailed list of these Smart Objects may be found in AssetList.xls.

Object UseDoor gain access to another room; toggle open, closed states

Ladder climb up or down to change elevation; unlimited uses

Ballistae

fires a large arrow in a straight line direction; damages all

units hit; one use

EnergySpring restores HP and TP; two uses

Field Effects

Skills or scenario conditions may place global effects on a field during

Combat. Field effects, whether they hinder or aid, affect all characters on

the field, regardless of squad alignment. Effects may be related to weather,

altering terrain and Skill effectiveness (i.e., fire-based skills are weaker in

rain), or magic-based, altering character actions or stats. If triggered by a

Skill, field effects will last a specific amount of time; otherwise a field effect

will last throughout an entire battle scenario.

*See above with “field” range.

Game Modes

Campaign puts a single player in control of predetermined characters to pass

specific story-driven combat scenarios. Play will consist of a segment of

story leading into a combat scenario, followed by Battle Preparations and

Combat. From here, the three will repeat, with some dialogue occurring

during Combat. The Campaign will be strictly single-player and will


http://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch2642/Asset%20List.xls





showcase scenarios with differing settings and Victory conditions. This mode

will contain six specific battle scenes. Characters within the player’s squad

will be used from one battle to the next, gaining XP and SP to increase Level

and Skills. Characters who are KO’d in a battle will be usable in successive

battles.

*See Narrative & Campaign below.

Exhibition mode allows one or two players to choose a battle scenario to

play. Players will be able to select from a list of battle fields, choose a

Victory condition, and then craft a custom squad of three, four, or six

characters, dependant on the size of the Field. Characters chosen for a

player’s squad will be of a static level and will not be able to gain experience.

Players have a preset stock of SP to allocate to characters for combat.

Options for a random squad or field will also be available. Squads may be

saved for later use.

Quick Play allows a player to enjoy a combat scenario against an AI opponent

without having to manage multiple options. This mode gives players a

selection of squad templates to enter into Combat with on a randomlyselected field. Squad templates will be labeled according to play types, such

as “Aggressive,” “Defensive,” or “Well-Rounded.” The goal here is to allow

more casual players to enjoy the game and to be able to enter game play

within about 3 mouse clicks.

Options displays a selection of the game’s settings to be viewed and

adjusted by the player.

Multiplayer





The “Exhibition” and “Quick Play” modes will support player versus player

multiplayer. All multiplayer will be hot-seat and will require the use of two

Xbox 360 Gamepads.





User Interface

The UI will imitate the look of a on old printed book, much akin to the book

images shown in the “The Lord of the Rings” movies. This will reinforce the

fantasy theme of the game.

Front End





Before & After Combat


2 View Squad and set up characters.

1 View and set up Skills for each character.

3 View Victory and Defeat conditions, alongwith squad placement.




In Combat

The Field is viewed from a camera placed above the world and angled down

(i.e., a top-down, isometric perspective). The camera can be moved with the

mouse controls to swivel around or zoom in on the Field.. The camera may

be configured to zoom in or focus on actions (such as spells) or events (such

as scripted scenes).

The acting character is distinguished by a light yellow ring. The selected

target has an appropriate ring beneath it. On the right side of the screen is a

list of the active character and the upcoming three other characters, in order

of action; the top-right corner shows the current Field effect (“sunny” here,

which is the default condition). The top left shows a list of actions to bemade by this character during this turn. These actions may be clicked on to

undo them. The details of current actions will be provided by mouse-over

text boxes. Here the blue defender has targeted the red defender with a

melee attack. The TP cost is specified. The attack will drop the red





defender’s HP from 13 to 0. The player will click the green check mark in

order to initiate the action commands in queue or the red ‘X’ in order to

cancel the commands.





Narrative & Campaign

The Campaign mode in The Three Days follows the story of Limgoth, a

majestic kingdom imbued with the power of flight. The kingdom consists of

multiple floating islands connected via airship transportation. The network is

suspended by the blood of the blessed King Titus. For as long as a memberof this family line lives, the kingdom will remain afloat. In an attempt to take

control of the kingdom’s technology, Dorandus leads an assassination of the

king and has the eldest prince Mordecai framed for the murder. Without a

king to sync with the magical controls, the floating islands will collapse within

75 hours. Dorandus intends to take the blood of either the prince Mordecai

or the prince Augustus in order to claim the throne.

The Campaign mode will contain six scenarios with the player in control of

Mordecai and his squad.

I. Treason Hour 1 Location Throne Room, Limgoth CastleActors (Player) Mordecai

(Rogue) Dorandus, Soldier

(Limgoth) King Titus, Soldier, MageClear Titus dies.Defeat Mordecai dies.Reward 1 SP for completingDescriptio

n

Game tutorial. Mordecai tries to defend the king.

II. Escape Hour 12 Location Rooftop of Limgoth PrisonActors (Player) Mordecai, Soldier, Mage, Defender

(Limgoth) Soldier (x2), DefenderClear Arrive at “Escape” location on map.Defeat Mordecai dies.Reward 40 XP / Enemy >> Total 120 XP

2 SP / Enemy >> Total 6 SPDescriptio

n

Mordecai escapes from prison with the help of a

few of his men.III. Meeting the

Enemy

Hour 25 Location

Actors (Player) Mordecai, Character (x4)

(Rogue) Mage General, Soldier (x3), DefenderClear Mordecai defeats the Rogue General.Defeat Mordecai dies.Reward 50 XP / General >> Total 50 XP

25 XP / Rogue >> Total 100 XP >> Total 150





XP


n

Mordecai is tempted with killing his brother and

siding with Dorandus. When the Rogue General is

beat, his life may be spared.

IV. Louder Than Words

Hour 44 Location Limgoth Army Camp


(Limgoth) Augustus, Soldier (x3), Mage, DefendeClear Mordecai flees or defeats Augustus.Defeat Mordecai dies.Reward 15 XP / Limgoth >> Total 75 XP

1 SP / 2 Limgoths >> Total 2 SP

5 SP is no more than 1 Limgoth diesDescriptio

n

Mordecai’s men stumble upon a Limgoth camp

and are promptly attacked. Mordecai may either

defend and flee or attack the soldiers.V. Choosing

Sides

Hour 63 Location Crystal Falls


(Rogue) General, Soldier (x3), Mage (x2),

Defender

(Limgoth) Augustus, Soldier (x2), Mage (x2),

Defender (x2)Clear Defeat the Rogue General or Augustus.Defeat Mordecai dies.Reward 20 XP / Enemy >> Total 240 XP

50 XP / General >> Total 50 XP >> Total 290

XP


n

Mordecai enters into a battle between Limgoth

and the Rogues and must choose which side to

fight for. The Rogue General will be a mage if the

mage in Chapter II was not killed, otherwise the

General will be a soldier.VI. A New King Hour 72 Location Limgoth Castle CourtyardActors (Player) Mordecai, Character (x6)

(Rogue) Dorandus, Soldier (x3), Mage (x3),

Defender (x2)

(Limgoth) Augustus, Soldier (x2), Mage, Defende

(x2)





Clear Dorandus dies.Defeat Mordecai and Augustus die.Reward EndgameDescriptio

n

Augustus is caught by Dorandus and set for

execution. Mordecai can either risk his life saving

his brother, focus entirely on the rogue squad, orattack the Limgoth men.

Assets

Below is a list of planned assets for The Three Days. Art has been separated

according to its type (sprite, 3D model, etc.) and use. Audio is separated by

sound effect (SFX) or background audio (BGM). For a complete asset list, see

Asset List.xls.

Art

1. Character Models – 3D models with animation sets for Idle, Movement,

Melee Attack, Magic Attack, Take Damage, and Die; blue, red, and

green texture sets needed

a. Soldier

b. Mage

c. Defender

d. Hero – for “Campaign” mode; lead player character, Prince,

Rebel Leader, and King; separate texture sets not needed

2. User Interface – 2D art (sprites), must be very scalable

a. Action confirmation prompt

b. Move path arrow

c. Field effect icons – sun, rain, wind, dark

d. Status effect icons – up arrow, down arrow, poison, berserk

e. Action icons – move, attack, skill (one icon for each)f. Proceed button

g. Quit button

h. Bookmark icon

i. Back button

j. SP icons – filled and unfilled

k. Skill set button







l. Sun used for loading screens

3. Screens – 2D art, should be made to fill any screen; may be animated

for transitions

a. Splash screens – DigiPen logo, Running With Rupture logo

b. Title screen – lists all game modes to be clicked on

c. Load profile (bookmark)

d. Pre-combat screens – view squad; view character

e. Campaign world map

f. Settings screen

g. Credits screen

h. Mode details – “Campaign,” “Exhibition,” and “Quick Play”;

explains play for mode

i. Narrative screens – art explaining the story as it passes

Audio

1. BGM

a. Intro scenes for narrative in “Campaign” mode

b. Title screen

c. Combat music – three different tracks

d. Splash screen tracks

e. Pre-combat

f. Victory screen

g. Game over

h. Credits

i. World map

j. “Campaign” mode complete

2. SFX

a. Melee attack sounds – punch, sword, rod

b. Skill use sounds – restore, fire, lightning, poison bubbles, wind,

rain, rocks breaking

c. Movement

d. Take damage

e. Character deathf. Defeat condition met

g. Victory condition met

h. Gain XP

i. Gain SP

j. Set SP

k. Remove SP





l. Select character to view in pre-combat

m. Confirm action or selection

n. Transition between screens (page turning sound)

o. Dialog typing (or voices)





Appendix 1: Target Audience

The Three Days is targeted primarily towards players experienced with

tactics-based and role-playing games. However, with options available in the

game, there is potential for more casual players to find enjoyment.

Core Target

The core target demographic is 12-24 year old males. This demographic is

familiar with tactic-RPGs, such as FINAL FANTASY Tactics, Fire Emblem, and

X-COM. They show characteristics of both “Achiever” and “Planner” player

types: these players seek to improve the abilities and powers of in-game

characters and managing a set of resources. They value customizability(item and skill allocation) and visible progress (experience gain and stat

increases). This audience will rarely spend less than ten or twenty minutes

sitting with a game (given that they enjoy it).

This audience exists as a tight group and will likely spread word of any

games they play and whether they enjoyed the game or not. Therefore,

once a handful of this cluster has found a game to be “good,” that game will

be recommended strongly to friends and family.

Casual Target

This demographic leans towards games they can understand and enjoy

within very few minutes of playing. This audience can be easily intimidated

by complex control/command schemes and prefer to not invest more than a

few moments learning how to enjoy a title. Large menus and detailed lists

and specifications act as deterrents to them. For them, The Three Days

provides the “Quick Play” option. This mode allows them to bypass all squad

management tasks and proceed straight into Combat, thus maximizing the

time spent in-game.





This audience is less-versed about specific game genres and tends to play

games that immediately appear fun, understandable, and are recommended

to them. The task of approaching this audience is given to images and video

that focus on simple command sequences having noticeable results.

Recommendations from the Core Target are also valued.





Appendix 2: Comparative Products

The Three Days is a tactical role-playing game, focusing on character ability

accumulation and stat progression. The game plays on polygonal, grid-less

fields and focuses heavily on combat scenarios.

FINAL FANTASY Tactics

(SQUARESOFT, 1998) is

the primary comparative

product (and basis) for The

Three Days. Shared

components include a focus

on character ability

improvement through

battle experience and skill

usage. Play takes place on

quadrilateral, grid-based

fields and game time focuses on combat scenarios. Team management

takes up a sizable amount of time. Special actions require a specific amount

of time to commence. Control passes from character to character, rather

than team to team, based on the agility of the character and the number of

actions it took the previous turn. Exclusive components for The Three Days

include the exclusion of class assignments, restricting skill usage to item

allocation instead. Combat fields are grid-less, allowing for free range

movement. Special actions are not limited by Magic Points, but the time

needed to commence them.





X-COM: UFO Defense (Mythos Games, 1993) utilizes a similar time-based action system.

Phantom Brave (Nippon Ichi Software, 2004) presents game play that

does not take place on a grid. Actions and movements are shown as grid-spheres or grid-cylinders and arrows across the terrain. Action is individually

turn-based rather than squad phase-based.





Appendix 3: Risk Analysis

Tactics games tend to be tedious and have steeper learning curves: it takes

a bit of time and a good number of menus to get into the game and the

player needs to know what all of the numbers mean. How do you plan toappeal to a “pick-up-and-play” audience?

First of all, the numbers and menus are being reduced to as few as possible.

The stats are very basic, skill trees are non-existent as every skill is available

to any character, and classes have been reduced to three type: physical,

magic, and defense. A full squad can be built within 5 mouse-clicks. A

player should be able to get into and complete a full Exhibition game within

6 minutes. Icons will also be used heavily to lower the learning curve.

Things should just look and feel right and do what the player expects. To

help guarantee this, playtesting with a range of player types will be

essential.

Trying to appeal to both hardcore and casual audiences could easily lead to

a watered-down experience. The hardcore crowd tends to oppose games

that feel “dumbed down.” Are you afraid of losing both audiences with this

attempt?

For this reason, the hardcore demographic has been established as our

“core” audience. In the case that the experience begins to seem watered

down, the casual audience will be dropped. Our top priority is to appeal to

the hardcore crowd.

Multiple game modes, including a branching path campaign, requires a vast

amount of content. With only a 7 month development time, how do you plan

to accomplish this and what are you willing to sacrifice?

The “Quick Play” mode is our first priority and we will build up from there.

Once “Quick Play” is implemented, all forms of mechanics and game play will

be present. Providing the player, then, with the option to select characters





for a squad will give us the “Exhibition” mode. With these two in place, the

Lead Designer will begin creating maps and scripting scenes for the

“Campaign” mode. All content created for “Campaign” will also be present

in “Exhibition” and “Quick Play,” as well.

A potentially very high number of assets are necessary to represent the

amount of content in this project. Without any dedicated artists, how does

the team plan to tackle this obstacle?

All members of the team are familiar with 3D modeling and creating 2D art.

Tasks have been distributed amongst them so that no one person is bearing

all of the weight. Character models will be simple and relatively

geometrically based. These characters also will not have arms or legs,

allowing more flexibility with animations. Most attacks will be particle-based.

Fields will be created in 3DS Max and exported to be used in the game.

In the second month of the development cycle, the Lead Designer took an

extended absence to accommodate family. Considering the amount of

content needed for a tactics game, this could potentially be a fatal blow. In

the case that the Lead Designer does not return within a few weeks, how do

you plan to create the content necessary for this project?

The Lead Designer is more than willing to work as much as possible on the

project while absent and will be in contact via email at all times. In the case

that he is not able to return for the remainder of the semester, the Lead

Designer has agreed to contribute “unofficially” to the team. This is

something he has done previously and is comfortable doing.





Appendix 4: Playtesting Plan & Feedback

1. How long did you spend preparing your team your first time playing?

Other times?

2. How long did your first battle take? Other times?3. What did you feel or think playing The Three Days?

4. Were the buttons easy to understand?

5. Were your characters easy to control?

6. Were the objectives in “Campaign” mode easy to understand? Were

you ever confused about what to do?

7. Did any one character type feel noticeably better than the others? Did

one seem weaker?

8. If you played “Quick Play,” was there a team strategy that you wanted

but was not available?

9. How experienced would you say you are with tactics games?

10.What did you enjoy most about The Three Days?

11.What did you like least about The Three Days? Did anything aggravate

you?

12.Overall, how would you rate The Three Days?





Appendix 5: Document Change Log

Version 0.1 Created Design Document file RWR_DesignDocument_v0.doc

Version 0.2 Added Table of Contents and expanded outline

Version 0.3 Game Mechanics and Game Modes detailed

Battle Flow, Example of Play, and Controls roughly filledVersion 0.4 Characters, Stats, Actions, Skills, Inventory, Status Conditions

roughly filled

Version 0.5 Field, Field Components and Effects roughly detailed

Version 0.6 Appendix I, Core and Casual Targets, Appendix II detailed

Version 0.7 Added Skills list

Version 0.8 Skills, Character Types, Conditions spreadsheets added in;

Physics Design detailed

Version 0.9 Added to Risk Analysis and Comparative Products

Version 0.9.1 Added concept character art and detailed the Last Stand!action

Version 1.0 Filled Narrative & Campaign details

Version 1.1 Updated Game Mechanics, with sample images

Version 1.2 Added comments, fixed a few details, began detailing Project

Object, Profiles

Version 1.3 Made changes according to feedback from instructor

Version 1.7 Added a fleshed out details and lots of concept art to show how

things’ll look and work

Version 2.0 Lots of info reworked; format moved around; images added;

asset list detailedVersion 2.1 Updated Narrative & Campaign section

Version 2.2 Updated Stats and Skills sheets

Version 2.3 Updated calculations for TP Cost and Attack Damage; removed

Technology section

Version 2.4 Removed comments regarding IssuesDoc; Updated Narrative &

Campaign section

Version 2.5 Updated some concept art, reorganized sections, updated details

Version 2.6 Updated the description of Smart Objects (formerly called

Components); detailed the action queue for combat in theControls section

Version 2.7 Tweaked stats to create larger looking numbers and updated

formulas accordingly

Version 2.8 Added table showing which characters get which Skills





Appendix 6: Resources & Copyrights

Mentioned Products:

FINAL FANTASY Tactics, © 1998 Square-Enix

X-COM: UFO Defense, © 1993 Mythos GamesPhantom Brave, © 2004 Nippon Ichi Software

Image Sources:

GameSpot.com

Push.cx

IGN.com

All other content Copyright © 2009-2010 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all

rights reserved.

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