7.0 KiB
Game Name Here
Index
- Game Overview
- System Design
- World Design
- Level Design
- Visual Design
- Music / Sound Design
- Required Assets
- Schedule
- Other Notes
Game Overview
Summary
Brief summary of the game. A kind of elevator pitch. Keep it simple.
Highlights
- What makes this game stand out?
- New/innovative uses of mechanics?
- Interesting algorithms?
- Interesting narrative?
- Appealing aesthetics?
Gameplay
What role will the player take on? What is their goal, what obstacles stand in their way, and what are the tactics they'll use to overcome them?
Mindset
How will the player feel throughout the game? What is their initial expectation? Should they feel powerful enough to overcome all the obstacles right out of the gate? Or should they feel overwhelmed at the challenge, in search of the proper tactics?
What is the pace of the game? Is it a race against time, or does it require careful and deliberate planning/exploration?
System Design
Input
How will the player interact with the game? Keyboard, mouse, joystick? What kind of actions will the player be able to perform? Walking, running, shooting, jumping, attacks, combo moves, etc? If there are too many, how can you make them easy to use?
Output
What kind of reactions will the system generate? What happens when a player collides with another entity? Will platforms fall when walked on? Will enemies get knocked back on attack? Will enemies need to respond to the actions of other enemies?
Behaviors
- Player
- Can directly listen for input
- Can spawn variety of projectiles
- Enemies
- Can spawn variety of projectiles
- Can follow paths
- Can be knocked back (by projectile)
- Can be stunned (by projectile)
- Uses state machines
- Switches/buttons
- Can be toggled
- Can interact with platforms
- Can spawn projectiles and enemies
- Platforms
- Can follow paths
- Can be switched on and off
- Props
- Can be interacted with (rigid body)
Requirements
Unique
Are there any unique systems/algorithms you're going to have to implement? If so, describe them in detail.
Some examples might be Portal's portal system, Spelunky's level generation, or Spore's character designer.
Other
- Scene graph
- Application state management
- Navigation meshes
- A* path finding
- FSMs, decision trees
- Observer pattern (event listeners)
World Design
World Setting
Time and place, if applicable.
Subsettings
- Cell block
- Torture chamber
- Crypt
- Hell
Level Designs
Cell block
Goals
Escape
Obstacles
Cell door, guards
Tactics
Murder guard, steal key
Expectation
Might not succeed, but death comes either way
Learned Mechanics
- Input (Explicitly taught)
- Call for attention
- Attack
- Output (Implicitly learned)
- Enemies follow sounds
- Attacks can be blocked
- Dead enemies leave loot
...
Visual Design
Color Palette
What kind of color scheme are you planning to use? Dull, desaturated colors? Lively, vibrant colors?
How will they be applied to the game objects? Will they be silhouettes? Will they be outlined? Will they be shaded? How so?
Is there an existing work or two you want to draw from?
Stylistic Attributes / Effects
Any particular visual motifs (signature shapes/effects) you're planning to incorporate into the overall style?
Cute, round shapes? Aggressive, harsh triangles? Obscured silhouettes?
What about design languages? Should enemies or hazards be of a certain color or shape?
What about to call attention to specific parts of the game? Nostalgic film noir, tense wide angle cameras, glitchy static?
Any visual influences (cultural, setting)? Mayan, celtic, post-apocalyptic dystopia, alien, etc.?
Effects
What kind of visual effects are you going to need for this game? Motion blur? Bloom? Film noir?
Sound / Music Design
Sound Palette / Instrumentation
What are you going for with the instrumentation? Dark, bassy tones? Happy, high-pitched tones?
Even electronically synthesized instruments can use a well-grounded basis. What real instruments do you want to base your palette on? Where is the emphasis, which instruments (if any) will carry the focus?
Is there an existing song or two you want to draw from?
Stylistic Attributes / Effects
Any particular musical/auditory motifs (signature phrases/effects) you're planning to incorporate?
Does the game have a specific 'theme' you want to reuse throughout the soundtrack?
Will you use musical cues to draw attention to certain parts of the game?
Efects
What post-processing techniques are you going to need? Cross-fading? Reverberation? Filters?
Required Assets
Visual
Characters
- Player
- Town chief
- Basic enemy
- Blocking enemy
- Charging enemy
Animations
- Player
- Walking
- running
- falling
- jumping
- hit
- dying
- chief
- idle
- enemy
- Walking
- attacking
- hit
- dying
Maps
- Cells
- Crypt
- Hell
Audio
- Dungeon theme
- Tense
-
- Battle variation
Schedule
- Pre-alpha (idea)
- Game should be playable, concept roughly defined
- Assets should be entirely rough, placeholders
- Big idea should be present, smaller derived ideas are omittable
- Alpha (prototyping)
- Game should be mostly completable and running well
- Assets might still be rough, but should be introduced
- Smaller ideas can be introduced and refined here
- Beta (refinement)
- Game should be fully completable
- Iron out all obvious bugs
- All assets should be completed and in place
- Gather community feedback
- Gamma (RC1, finalize)
- Do stuff with the feedback
- Game should be fully "juiced"
- Interpolation
- Particles
- Screen quake
- Feedback!!!
- Auditory, visual, and tactile!
- If you needed one, you probably need another!
- Listen for bug reports
- Iron out as many of the non-obvious bugs as possible
- Delta (RC2, finalize)
- Listen for bug reports
- Iron out as many of the non-obvious bugs as possible
- Omega
- Celebrate
- Don't pay attention to the bug reports
- Drink
- Drink more
- Keep drinking
Other Notes
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