rise- the dawn of mythology
DESCRIPTION
Design Document for University Second YearTRANSCRIPT
Research into existing games/style/art 3-5
Research Similar style games/genre 6-8
Target Audience Research- 9-11
Research Conclusion 12-14
Sound and UI- Research and Rise UI 15-18
Other Research: Theme 19-20
Design Brief 21-23
Classes 24-25
Controls 26-28
Mechanics 29-35
Box Art 36-38
Game Rational 39-41
Real time strategy game, a
spin off from the age of
empires series, featuring
Greek, Norse and Egyptian
mythology. Based on building
cities, gathering resources and
creating armies.
Third person action adventure
game series, loosely based on
Greek mythology. That
involves combo-based
combat, the use of magical
attacks and special powers, as
well as quick time event
features. Players also have to
solve an array of puzzles
featuring plat forming game
elements.
Massive online multiplayer role
playing game. Features PVE
(dungeons/raids) and PVP
(battlegrounds/arena/rated
battlegrounds) elements as well
as offering the player a wide
range of classes/races and
activities/achievements to
complete.
Mainly based on Greek mythology this game
is a third person multiplayer online battle
arena. Players take on the role of a mythological
god to take part in arena combat, using custom
powers and team tactics against other player-
controlled gods as well as non-player controlled
minions. Players are formed into two teams, with
five players to each team. All players begin at
opposing sides of a map in the Spawning Pool,
near the Minotaur. The game is won by destroying
the enemies' Minotaur
A more of a fantasy Norse mythology
related game that features free roaming
quest paths and many spells and
abilities to gain on your travels and
quests to kill creatures. The player can
choose from different characters and
classes to customise as well as following
quest lines in different towns/villages.
The map itself is very large and offers
endless exploration time.
Is an action role-playing
open world game the main
character, The Hero of
Oakvale’s goal is to complete
quests which advance the
game's plot, but features
optional quests and allows
players to pursue actions not
directly tied to game
completion. And is loosely
based on fantasy.
known with the subtitle Wrath of War originally,
Darksiders is an action-adventure video game that
takes its inspiration from the apocalypse, the player
taking on the role of War, one of the Four Horsemen
of the Apocalypse. The player in third person and
single player engages in combat, puzzles and also
exploration. Initially the world is divided into
separate locations with many areas inaccessible
until the player (War) regains many of his lost
weapons and abilities
The storyline focuses on the
player’s character: Wander who
enters a forbidden land. The player
must travel across a vast expanse
on horseback to defeat sixteen
beings, known as colossi in order
to restore the life of a girl named
Mono. However there are no towns
and cities to explore like usual
action adventure games. But this is
definitely worth playing!
I conducted a small survey based on gaming hours and the genres of games to be passed around fellow
students and friends/relatives (also gamer’s) to see which areas proved to be the most popular
Here are the Questions:
What is your gender?
What is your current age group?
Which of the following consoles do you own?
How long on average do you play games daily?
How long on average do you play games weekly?
What is your main reason for playing games?
Which genre of games do you enjoy to play the most?
Do you enjoy free roam games?
Rate how important you believe these aspects to be in a game: (rate from 1-7 being most important)
Graphics
Story
Gameplay
Replay ability
Setting/Environment
Customisation
Multiplayer
when it comes to playing a RPG what aspect of them do you like the most?
When it comes to creating a character how in-depth do you go into creating them?
Out of the 30 people I asked, 6 where female, 24 where male.
The age range most prominent was 20-25
Most owned a pc, Xbox or ps3, phone.
On average most of the people I asked where gamers and spent roughly 6 hours minimum playing games
a day.
On average most people spent 30 hours a week minimum gaming a week.
The main reason for most people playing games is:
The genre that most people said they enjoyed to play the most where:
Out of all the people I asked 26 people like playing free roam games.
Most people found these aspects of games most important:
Graphics, Gameplay, Setting/Environment, Customisation, Multiplayer.
When it comes to playing a RPG what aspect of them do you like the most?
After reading people’s opinions most people seemed to like the customisation, environment, content and
multiplayer options, as a lot of people like games that bring out new content to keep the player hooked.
When it comes to creating a character how in-depth do you go into creating them?
Most people seemed to like creating characters that look remotely like themselves in order to feel like
they were actually there within the game while playing it.
The images I have collected show the sense of art style and landscapes that I would like to include if this game where to be created. These
are a mixture of images collected from artists work such Guild wars 2, World of Warcraft, Fable and Skyrim. I would like the player to feel as
though there where a never ending expanse of places to explore and uncover. Making it possible to bring out sequels or even expansions if
Rise was popular enough to make it into a online MMORPG contender instead of just a RPG/adventure mythology game.
The sound featured in the game will be ambient, music, and sound effects.
Music: I think different themed orchestral music would work best for Rise, as you can conduct many
different mythology cultured music through this. For example most RPG games like WoW for each zone they
have a different themed music style, same for in arena battles or Boss encounters/
Ambient: The ambient sounds would just be things such as bird song, wind rustling through the trees,
storm and thunder, waves crashing and other natural sounds.
Sound Effects: There will also be a range of sound effects for different spells that are casted, weapons
clashing, and creature/beast/monster sound effects, as well as objects you interact with and pick up or use
etc. to make the game feel more alive and realistic as possible.
This UI I love, as it has everything you need highlighted with easy
recognisable buttons.
You also have plenty bars of free space so you can organise your
attacks and spells. This 3rd person view is very dynamic and you
can control it with your mouse- zooming in and out etc.
From the same creators of World of Warcraft comes Diablo, with
again similar features but a different 3rd person view- angled top
down. The UI again features only important icons on it
This UI has all its attacks/spells in accessible menus, and its 3rd
person view is similar to World of warcraft’s but you have less
control over it. The spells are selected in the menus and casted
using specific buttons on your controller.
Rise’s UI is pretty
straight forward taking
typical games UI aspects
but also ideas of my
own. The main spells
will be featured in the
centre circle which you
can rotate around and
assign a specific spell or
attack to your controller.
The bar also in the
middle of the screen will
show the cast time and
strength of each attack,
the bar’s power
increases and decreases
accordingly as well as
showing your health
during and out of
combat, same goes for
your acquired target.
What is Rise?
Rise is a single player free roam RPG/Adventure game taking its form throughout the many ages of Mythology
and Fantasy we know today, the games landscape and art will have different zones on the map for different
mythology, demons and mythical creatures as well as towns and cities with its inhabitants. In which you have
a choice to follow quest lines and/or set out on your own to skill up and battle creatures before moving on to
enormous titans/gods you wish to challenge for the fight of good or evil! You decide.
Classes:
The player with start the game with the option of being male or female to start off with but then he/she will
have the choice of choosing out of the following classes to choose from, each having individual talents and
gameplay styles: Hunter, Warlock, Assassin, Warrior.
Armour:
A set armour set is given to each class as they start the game, to improve your armour, haste and stats as
you progress the game you must complete quest paths and/or defeat monsters to gain loot.
Mounts:
Throughout the game in certain fazes and level zones the player will have options to buy a steed or attempt to
tame a creature in order to ride on. Some boss fights will require a winged steed to ride on in order to help
you defeat the boss.
Map:
The map will be separated into many different regions and perhaps zones too. For each different
mythology/fantasy theme.
Quests:
There would be a main quest line dependant on which path you choose to take on your adventures but there
is also the choice of just doing what you want in the game as it is free roam.
Professions:
Players do have the option of having professions to help there class like leatherworking or alchemy etc.
Monsters:
In each region and zone there will be a number of different myth/fantasy creatures that roam around, some of
these will be killable for quests or different professions require you to kill some mobs, but looting these
creatures you will be able to pick up useful items and even coins for vendors in the town’s/cities.
Bosses:
Harder to kill than the roaming mobs in each zone, these will be needed to kill in order to gain specific loot or
gear for your own character, but you will also be killing these bosses for quests along your journey in the
game.
Loot:
Loot from basic mobs will be random and include coins, gear, pelts etc. Rare mobs: more coins, a rarer piece
of gear or weapon, special items like potions. Bosses: High spec gear, Coins, Spells unlocked or abilities, new
zones unlocked.
Aim/Objective:
The aim and main objectives of the game is to progress through quests and unlock new zones on the map
through defeating mythology/fantasy bosses following the good or evil path of your choice.
Increased strength
Stun
Monster tracking
Increased armour
Disarm
Charge
2hand/1hand wep
choices
Aoe Cleave
Slow fall
Monster tracking
Ranged spells
Magic Shield
Snare
Aoe
Dot’s
Spawn minion/imp ability
Leaping ability
Increased Monster tracking
Ranged attacks
Increased Haste
Volley ability (load extra
arrows)
Marked target
Knockback/stun (collision)
Stealth option
Decreased falling damage
Monster tracking
Disarm
Backstab
Stun/blind
DoT/ bleed /poison
Left Analogue stick:
Controls movement of
your character
Right Analogue stick:
Controls angle of your
character view
Arrow Pad:
Also controls characters
movement.
Start:
Opens the Games
main menu.
Ps3 Button:
Opens the
consoles menu.
R1: Pick up items
R2: Fire for ranged classes. Attack for
melee.
L1: Look into distance
L2: Aim for most classes/ also attack for
melee. (2 attacks selected for L2 and R2)
Triangle: crouch
Square: Dodge
Circle: Block
Cross: Jump
Select:
Toggle spell menu’s,
bag’s and stats/armour
Left Analogue stick:
Controls movement of
your character
Right Analogue stick:
Controls angle of your
character view
Arrow Pad:
Also controls characters
movement.
Start:
Opens the Games
main menu.
Xbox Button:
Opens the
consoles menu.
Right Trigger:
Top: Pick up items
Bottom: fire for ranged classes and attack
for melee
Left Trigger:
Top: look into distance
Bottom: Aim for most classes/ also attack
for melee. (2 attacks selected for L2 and R2)
Y: crouch
X: Dodge
B: Block
A: Jump
Back:
Toggle spell menu’s,
bags and stats/armour
The slow fall ability is only available for locks to avoid extra damage while making their way down
from high places, this will be a passive ability so it won’t need to be learned, but will help the class
to manoeuvre down from high places after killing something or as a quicker way to move around in
the game instead of taking longer routes like the other classes.
The scatter shot ability for Hunters allows the player to cast multiple arrows at once in order to hit
more than one target, working best for random creature mobs rather than boss fights but could still
also be used for that too. As for the hunter’s leap I implemented as the hunter always needs to be at
a distance from its target in order to fire. This helps the hunter get out of the enemy’s range and
fire in order to kite the mobs around.
The warriors spin ability is there as a 2hand heavy damage attack where the warrior can spin in
defence but also hit a mob of multiple targets. This idea was added as a quicker way of tanking and
taking down more than one target and is overall just something more interesting than having to kill
one thing first then moving on to the next.
Some Bosses will have marked weak points, the ranged will be able to attack from high places or a
distance such as ledges or hillside, whereas the melee can also have the option to scale the bosses
and climb onto them in order to attack there weak spots up close. A mount may be needed to run
up alongside of the moving boss in order to get close enough to get on to the boss without being
noticed too much.
Flying mounts may also be used for the ranged and melee classes in order to fly around the boss
and attack from a distance, firing spells or arrows, or even throwing weapons such as daggers at the
target like the assassin may choose to do.
Flying mounts may also be used to get to those bosses in more tricky places, the mount can be
used to fly past and attack or even get you up close enough to dismount and attack the boss while
actually being stood on the boss. This also allows you to move around and get close to the bosses
weak points.
All together these are images I collated together and edited from Google, I took a warlock and dragon painting which where both separate
and manipulated there size and flipped the Warlock around. Before adding masses of different layers and colours as well as extra shading. I
also had to draw in the rest of the dragons wind as well as trying to create a starry backdrop and cave walls.
If I were to re do these again perhaps id go more into depth than I already have on the shadow details of the backdrop and cave.
Perhaps I would try to draw something by hand and scan it in to then manually paint and shade it in Photoshop. However given the time we
have had I’m pleased with the outcome. I feel it portrays one of the main characters /mythology and fantasy all within the front cover pretty
well.
Why Rise?
Rise is the new opportunity to create an action RPG game with little as possible limits. Meaning the maps
can be vast and detailed the mythology and fantasy creatures have a huge range to choose from, not just
typical Greek mythology. Sequels are a possibility including multiplayer and cooperative modes could be
designed. The reason I chose Mythology in general is that after researching the particular subject I realised
there are many myths from all over the world, Norse, Greek, Chinese, Scottish etc. With the vast topic also
comes exciting new ways to go about creating mechanics to suit different combat, there’s opportunities for
new art styles and re inventions of traditional mythology creatures.
Why is it unique?
The diversity of content available
stands out for itself, bringing
different cultures mythology and
combining it in one game. The
customisation available will be very
detailed from the results of my survey
handed out, that way the player can
feel a personal link between them and
their character, there’s opportunity
even for marketing merchandise and
apps for the game for online use.
What makes it different to
other games?
The chance for different development
versions of the game so it could end up
being more than just console versions,
it’s a game purely based on myths,
legends and fantasy we don’t see a
tremendous amount of these. It is not
just loosely based on one area of Myth’s!
It fills people’s desires who like to
escape from reality, re living the past of
tales and adventure!
Contains MMO qualities in a
single player game
The player has full reign of where they
want to go in the game when unlocking
zones, possibility to make the game
online, multiplayer opportunities within
battle cooperation or boss fight’s,
mounts that could be collectable,
trainable spells and skills/professions,
many different outcomes and paths to
go down so it has replay ability, a never
ending game in itself.
Self-Evaluation
Overall I found this ICA a little challenging at first when trying to be original and seeing ways of trying to create things that have
never been done before or not done so much. Background research helped a lot as I was able to look at people’s favourite
elements from each game and genre I looked at in order to create something interesting and fun as a concept.
I felt that my concept as a whole worked well, because when it came down to researching mythology games most seemed to be
strategy games like age of empires or made up mythology that the games artists have designed. I didn’t really see any based
wholly on all mythology and Fantasy.
What I wish I done differently?
There are not so many areas of my work that I would have liked to have done differently apart from perhaps spending a little
more time on perhaps making borders or more detailed backgrounds to match the theme rather than the title pages. Other than
that I would go about drawing my mechanics with a little more practice and detail and drawing my cover by hand and working in
on it through Photoshop but that would take more time to manage accordingly with my schedule and balancing work with other
modules better.
What I would do differently if I were to do this again another time?
I will most likely continue to make these sorts of documents for my own personal projects in my own time and after University,
that way I’ll get more practice for going into the industry or company. Other than that I’d probably instead of using only the
internet for research id actually go and take some books out for images, information and even artist/developers, animators
quotes etc.