Tuesday, 12 February 2013

XB3002 GAMES FUTURES #5: Design Post 2- Design Document Plan

Over the last two weeks, I've planning out the content of my Games Design Document for Army of Clones. What follows is a bare bones layout of what this 30-page document will contain:-


(Page 1)
Game Overview
Create custom army of genetically engineered clone soldiers
Use your army in exhilarating tactical turn based battles
Fight with or against friends
General Technical and Graphical specs
Sales Info (target demographic, estimated price etc.)
Game Modes (Campaign/ Story, Skirmish, Online Multiplayer, UGC) and Online capabilities

(Page 2)
Narrative Overview.
Setting
Year 2045 – Due to massive economic collapse and resource shortages, world economy has come to rely on continuous war.
Conflicts waged by Private Military Corporations, who use cloning and genetic engineering to build their own armies
Premise
Player Character is a commanding officer in  a newly formed PMC
Must rise through the ranks by battling competitors
Eventually discovers a massive conspiracy in the background

(Page 3)
Characters
Commanding Officers
Players Character
Mentor character
Enemy Commander 1
Enemy Commander 2
(Page 4)
Unit Classes
Offensive
Infantry Units
Commando Units
Rocket Units
 (Page 5)
Defensive
Engineer Units
Sniper Units
Tank Units
(Page 6)
Support
Medic Units
Recon Units
Saboteur Units

(Page 7)
Game Mechanics.
Headquarters
Unit Management
Assigning Troops (Unit Stats, Various Divisions (Combat, R&D, Med Bay etc.)
Equipment (Weapons, Gear etc.)
(Page 8)
Genes- Types, Infusion, Limits
Status- Various status changes (eg. Performance enhancements, Physical/ Psychological problems)
(Page 9)
Cloning
Cloning new units
Units can be cloned from Headquarters Menu
Replicate from one soldier to create a Pureblood
Replicate from two soldiers to create a Hybrid
DNA Caches
Acquired through mission rewards, bought in-game or found during missions
Can be used to clone new units (see above)
Often contains rare progenitor DNA and comes in limited quantities
(Page 10)
Purebloods
Exact replicas of existing soldiers. Created from one progenitor
Hybrids
Soldiers created from two progenitors. Have randomised stats, but generally have traits from both parents
Cyborgs
Larger Units created by combining progenitor DNA with Resources to create
Effects
Purebloods are reliable, easy to replicate, but become weaker stats and greater chance of developing status problems
Hybrids are harder to replicate, with randomised stats, but generally stronger, with added abilities and less chance of developing status problems
(Page 11)
Research and Development
Resource Management/ Battle Spoils
Developing Equipment
Facility Expansion
Recruitment
(Page 12)
Buying/ Selling resources
(Page 13)
Combat
Preparation
Overview of enemy force and terrain
Selecting Units and Back-up force
Controlling/ Commanding Units
Command Mode
Surveying Terrain/ Unit and Enemy Positions
Player/ Enemy Turns
Selecting Units to take into Action Mode
Action Mode
Player takes full control of individual unit
Unit can move around battlefield and perform context-sensitive actions
To attack, Player must stop and go into Target Mode
(Page 14)
Target Mode
Players select unit weapon, aim and attack enemy units 
Objectives
Objectives include defeat all enemies, occupy enemy base, defend location, acquire specific item etc.
Battlefield Conditions
Brief mention
See Environments for more details
 (Page 15)
Win/ Lose Conditions
Players win by completing objectives before opponent
Players lose if all units are killed or main objectives are failed
Secondary Objectives/ Finding Intel/ Items on Battlefield

(Page 16)
Sounds
Background Music
Mostly ambient noise
Some licensed music for headquarters & certain combat scenarios (e.g. Rolling Stones)
Sound Effects
Generally realistic
Voice acting

(Page 17)
User Interface
Title Screen
Main Menu
(Page 18)
Headquarters
Headquarters Menu
Unit Status Screen
(Page 19)
R&D Menu
Inventory
Market
(Page 20)
Combat
Command Mode
Action Mode
(Page 21)
Target Mode
Win Screen
(Page 22)
Lose Screen
Pause Menu

(Page 23)
Environments
Locations
Central America
North Africa
Middle East
East Asia
Battlefield Conditions
Terrain
Cover
Weather
Hazards
Fog of War


(Page 25)
Example Level
Image required

(Page 26-29)
60-second Gameplay Example
Player creates and equips a custom soldier (Pureblood/ Infantry Unit)
Mission is then selected, new unit is chosen along with another Infantry, a Tank, Medic and Recon Unit
Mission begins; Recon scouts ahead and unveils enemy positions
Recon is attacked and barely survives. Runs back to Medic, while Tank holds enemy advance
Meanwhile Infantry runs around enemy units and flanks them
While Tank and Infantry are pushing back the enemy, the now healed Recon unit runs ahead an captures the enemy base, completing the mission 

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