Games Development Task 1: Game Design Document

22/4/2024 - 13/4/2024
Edwin Choo Quan Rong / 0348305 / Bachelor of Design (Hons) In Creative Media
DST 61104 / Games Development
Task 1

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Game Critical Review (Exercise)

Reaper Test

Good theme and aesthetic of the game, the simplicity helps the character as well as background elements stand out. Gameplay has some accessibility through allowing multiple options for movement by either using WASD or Arrow Keys. The sound effects fits smoothly with the visuals along with the background music fitting for the visual themes of the game, contrasting the enraging nature of the actual gameplay. About the gameplay, the initial level design is cool, slowly introducing more controls to help ease the player into the mode. However, having only 1 HP from terrain elements raised the difficulty of the game. It is as critical as avoiding any mistake from touching terrain elements, which is difficult when paired with the movement drag which makes the character super slippery (if it's meant to be a difficult game then that’s completely understandable.). One thing that can be improved regarding the gameplay is to have feedback for being hit by objects or enemies to register the damage for both visual and audio input. There is feedback for hitting the enemies so implementing both would round up the game as a whole. Adding to feedback, portals having feedback from entering and “transitioning” to the new area would add extra elements to the game as a whole.

TLDR: Good music and visuals, decent sound design with more that can be added, difficult gameplay not suited for casual players to progress on the later stages.

Saving Pon

A simple aesthetic and theme in terms of color scheme which makes the map easy to navigate and identify the game elements ranging from terrain, obstacles, traps, portals etc. In terms of story, there’s no direct storytelling, only a basic setting of the boy saving the girl that got kidnapped by a villain. There are no instructions for the gameplay so it’s up to the player to figure out its basic (WASD to move, spacebar to jump) and advanced (spamming spacebar while sticking to a wall allows you to slide up the wall) mechanics. Other than that, the level design is easy to understand and navigate to clear, with some areas allowing players to shortcut their way to the next level if they understood the game mechanics well enough or did some exploring and stumbled upon it through testing their theory. The final boss level of this game is superb, it combines all of its gameplay elements along with the game mechanics to create a simple, yet challenging, difficult, yet satisfying level for the player. The character dies from 1 hit so getting hit by the boss resets the level from the start. The boss attacks at random intervals so each run is different, however, there is no indication for the boss’ attacks. This RNG element is what makes the boss fight bullshit as the odds are rigged but so satisfying when you beat it as you will have to be lucky to overcome the challenge. 

TLDR: Simple gameplay and visuals, minimal story, excellent boss fight executed through simple blend of game mechanics. Can be improved via more strategy/chance allowed to the player.

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Task 1: Game Design Document

Research

What kind of platformer game do I want to develop?

Platformer games are usually challenging by nature. Players have to overcome obstacles, defeat enemies, and solve puzzles to progress in the game. I want to flip the switch on that. What if it was the player that has an advantage this time? What if the enemies are the ones challenged instead? The idea is to create a platformer game that gives you the power fantasy of playing that character, akin to playing games like Doom Eternal and Devil May Cry 5. The player can not only feel powerful, but also feel cool when playing the game. This requires gameplay mechanics and items to satisfy the requirements set above.

• Power Fantasy
• Cool Gameplay
• Narrative Story
  

With this in mind, I took a browse through several games I have knowledge of as well as ones popular in the 2D platformer genre to analyze as a reference point: to understand their strengths and weaknesses, as well as unique game elements that aids with a fun player experience.

Here are the 3 games that I analyzed and took inspiration from:

• Terraria
• Hollow Knight
• Rain World

Attached below is the following analysis of these 3 games, as well as a summary and direction in the kind of 2D platformer game that I would want to develop.

Fig 1.0 - Games Analysis of 2D Platformers

Ideation Process

Here we begin the development of the game idea according to the 3 criteria I mentioned above regarding power fantasy, cool gameplay, and a narrative story. Power fantasy and cool gameplay can go hand-in-hand to boost the aspects of each other, thus, the stronger I make the character be in terms of lore or mechanics, the cooler the gameplay will be as well by deriving ideas from story. Meanwhile, the story rationalizes the whole gameplay aspect. 

I had an initial idea of a person from the future, that is somehow transferred to the people of the past which are facing against a great danger. However, this person from the future has tremendously more knowledge and abilities to tackle the hardships of the past. This made me thought about time-travelling, which made me include the time traveler identity to the main character of my game.

As this is a 2D platformer game, along with the game analysis I had done, there has to be some form of combat. How about I make my time traveler a soldier specially trained in traversing through time, with futuristic gadgets, abilities etc to appear cool but also feel cool to play as. I did some research into time as a topic and gave my protagonist the name Chronos (meaning personification of time). This can settle the cool gameplay aspect, but how about the power fantasy?

For a power fantasy to take place, players need to feel strong and powerful when playing as the character. This can be achieved by either cool effects, unique and game-breaking abilities, or have a comparison point between enemies and the player. I decided to play into Chronos' time travelling identity and make the setting an old setting in time, such as the time of the Medieval Era, where knights and soldiers are serving their kingdom with Kings and Queens as rulers. If Chronos were to fight against the people of the Medieval Era, it would be in the advantage of Chronos as he is technologically more advanced than them, fulfilling the power fantasy. Now the only thing left to tackle is the narrative story.

A narrative story in games usually come with choices, and I would like for my game to have them as well. Choices gives player input, increase interaction, and affect the world of the game. I would want the player to feel immersed when making a choice so that the world reacts accordingly. Choices come from choosing between 1 of 2 things at minimum, there is always an opportunity cost. How about then I introduce another faction to the existing story? We have Chronos, the time traveler agent, the people of the Medieval Era serving their kingdom, let's add dragons (as this is a fantasy game) and have them be in war with the Medieval Era people. Now Chronos has a choice to choose between either the people of the kingdom or the dragons, and siding with each one will have their own benefits and disadvantages. This provides a narrative story to complete.

Flow of the game

Fig 1.1 - Initial Game Flowchart

After some brainstorming, I listed down the entire player journey throughout the game. As I want my game choices to matter, there are multiple levels that gets altered based on which faction you side with. For example, if you sided with the dragons, the next level will have more kingdom enemies, in a kingdom themed level aesthetic with different narrative.

That was my initial idea, however, after a consultation with my lecturer, I realized that this may be too ambitious given our time frame. Thus, I simplified my flowchart.

Fig 1.2 - Updated Game Flowchart

After simplifying my flowchart, the level plays out linearly with a single narrative story. I still want the choices that the player makes to matter. Thus, I introduced the factions system. This system will take into account player choice when making decisions that alters their reputation level between the kingdom and the dragons. This will affect whether if more enemies will appear, if they get buffed, or if more supplies are provided for you from each respective faction. 

Down below is a detailed description of my game design document as well as my game proposal in video format.

Final Submission

Game Design Document

Fig 2.1 - Game Design Document

Game Design Proposal Slides

Fig 2.2 - Game Design Proposal Slides

Game Design Video Presentation

Fig 2.3 - Game Design Video Presentation