Game Design Doc (GDD)
Around the World
[Racing to the Beginning]
Game Design Document
© Creative Creations
Table of Contents
1. Game Name
a. Copyright Info
2. Table of Contents
3. SECTION 1: PROJECT OVERVIEW
a. Executive Summary
i. High Concept
ii. The Hook
iii. Genre and Scope
iv. Visual Style
v. Engine
b. Core Gameplay
i. Single-player
ii. Multiplayer
c. Game Features
i. Gameplay innovations
ii. Artistic techniques and achievements
iii. Other features that will make this game better than others like it on the market
d. Project Scope
i. Number of distinct locations
ii. Number of levels
e. Target Audience
f. Delivery Platforms
4. Section II: STORY, SETTING, AND CHARACTER
a. Environments
i. Area #1 : Beach
1. General descriptions
2. Physical characteristics
3. List of levels that take place in this area
ii. Area #2 : Park
1. General descriptions
2. Physical characteristics
3. List of levels that take place in this area
iii. Area #3 : City
1. General descriptions
2. Physical characteristics
3. List of levels that take place in this area
iv. Area #4 : Space
1. General descriptions
2. Physical characteristics
3. List of levels that take place in this area
v. Area #5 : Chaos
1. General descriptions
2. List of levels that take place in this area
b. Player Character
1. Personality
2. Look
3. Abilities
i. How the player invokes it
5. Regular animation
i. Walk
ii. Run
iii. Tumble
vi. Fall
v. Jump
6. situation-specific animations
6. SECTION IV: CONTROLS
a. iPhone commands
i. Menu access
7. SECTION V: INTERFACE
a. The camera
b. HUD
c. Menus
i. Main menu
1. Start Game
2. Controls
ii. Credits
ii. Pause menu
1. Resume
2. Options
3. Exit
9. SECTION VII: DETAILED LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS
a. Demo level
i. Synopsis
ii. Introductory material (briefing)
iii. Player goals
iv. Physical description
v. Map
vii. Level walkthrough
viii. Closing material
11. SECTION IX: SCORING, CHEATS, EASTER EGGS AND BONUSES
12. SECTION X: GAME MODES
a. Single player
13. SECTION XI: ASSET LIST
a. Art
i. Model and texture list
1. Characters
a. Player character
i. Normal
ii. Dead
2. Environmental Objects
a. Object #1
3. Animation List
1. Character #1
i. move #1
ii. Interface arts
1. Main Menu
b. Sound
ii. Sound for receiving damage
iii. Menu selection sounds
c. Music
i. Background music loop #1
SECTION XIV: TECHNICAL SUMMARY
SECTION 1: PROJECT OVERVIEW
Executive Summary
High Concept
Around the world is a physics based racing game where the player must race around geometric levels as fast as possible to reach the goal.
The Hook
The hook of the game will be in the way movement is controlled, instead of the usual left & right buttons to move, the player will need to tilt the iPhone in order to make their character move.
Genre and Scope
Around the World is essentially a racing game with obstacles and geometrically based level designs. The environments the levels will contain are parks, beaches, cities and space.
Visual Style
The game’s visual style will be 2d based, bright and colourful. This is to give the game a cheery and fun feel.
Engine
The game will be written in Oolong, which is a C++ based engine.
Core Gameplay
Single-player
The main single player gameplay will consist of 9 races, each harder than the last that the player must navigate through in as fast a time as possible. There will be no count down timer however, to avoid pressuring the player. Rather there will be a timer showing how much time the player has taken, but they are free to take as long as they want. Best times will be added to a leaderboard.
Multiplayer
While multiplayer is being considered, it is not clear if it will be implemented as we are unsure if it is viable based on current expertise.
Game Features
Gameplay innovations
Although tilting controls aren’t an entirely new concept, they are not a very well explored area of control schemes. As such we are hoping a competitive, tilt based racing game will provide a fresh experience for gamers.
Other Features
Obstacles will interact with the player in different ways, examples would be walls and glass would require different speeds to break through.
Project Scope
Number of distinct locations
There will be 4 distinct locations in the game, these are: Beach, Park, City and Space. The player will progress from location to location in this order.
Number of levels
In total there will be 9 levels, 2 per location then one grand final level incorporating all 4 locations. The difficulty of levels will increase as the levels go on, as such the progression will go like:
Beach; Tutorial, Easy,
Park; Easy, Medium,
City; Medium, Hard,
Space; Hard, Expert,
Finale; Expert.
Target Audience
The target audience is iPhone owners, aged 12 to 30. It will be aimed at both casual and hardcore gamers.
Delivery Platforms
The game will be developed for the original iPhone.
Section II: STORY, SETTING, AND CHARACTER
Environments
Area #1 : Beach
General descriptions
The location will be a golden beach, lined with blue seas & bluer skies. To go with the fun beats that will be playing as the music for this level, sand castles, buckets & spades and beach balls will be in the background and feature as obstacles.
Physical characteristics
Obstacles
Wall: Wind Screen, bright striped fabric wall that must be sped through to be breached.
Moving Object: Beach Ball, bright striped plastic ball that moves as the level is rotated.
Low Object: Sea Shell, bright solid coloured shell that sticks on part of the level, must be jumped over.
Unique: Water, walled part of the level that slows down the player if they enter it.
List of levels that take place in this area
Level 1: Tutorial
This is an introductory level, player is introduced to gameplay via floating text bubbles. Very easy level with few obstacles, in particular, walls and low objects will feature. Level geometry is a square.
Level 2: First Steps
This is the first level the player will be level on their own. As such it will still be easy. Featured obstacles will be walls, low objects, water and objects that move as the terrain is moved. Level geometry is a rectangle with ramps that raise the terrain.
Area #2 : Park
General Descriptions
The location will be a park set in the middle of summer. It will generally be bright green grass & trees clashing with bright blue skies. Statues, trees and small buildings will feature in the background while trees, swing sets and dogs will feature as obstacles.
Physical characteristics
Obstacles
Wall: Oak tree, big bulky tree that must be sped through to break through. Shatters completely when broken.
Moving Object: Swing Set, moves as the terrain moves, however is stuck to one small area. Player must jump over or run under to proceed.
Low Object: Skateboard, moves as the terrain moves. Player must jump over to proceed
Unique: Dog, chases after player when they come into close proximity. If it catches the player, the player is slowed down for a short time.
List of levels that take place in this area
Level 3: Park Life
A step up from level 1, the player must traverse a large number trees & some dogs to get through the level. The level geometry will be an octahedron.
Level 4: Round the Bend
This is a fairly long level, the player will be expected to overcome many obstacles. They will meet a few skateboards, a couple of swing sets and several trees. The level geometry will be a large horse shoe shape.
Area #3 : City
General descriptions
The location will be a night time cityscape. It will feature busy streets and night lit skylines. It will generally be bright city scenes clashing with dark skies. Cars, silhouettes and sky scrapers will feature in the background.
Physical characteristics
Obstacles
Wall: Skyscraper, Large building must be sped through to break. When broke through, glass panes shatter on entry and exit of the building.
Moving Object: Taxi cab that moves at constant speed independent of the level’s rotation. Must be jumped over to traverse.
Low Object: Bum, homeless man that is sitting down. Will chase the player a short distance and slow them down if caught.
Unique: Subway, hinders visibility while player is inside. Character becomes a silhouette and is only seen through windows of subway.
List of levels that take place in this area
Level 5: Welcome to the big city
Another long level, the player will face several long straights littered with bums and skyscrapers. A taxi will be in the middle of the level moving on one of the shorter walls. Level geometry will be a large, skewed T shape.
Level 6: Going underground
This level starts off in the usual cityscape, but quickly heads to the subway where most of the level is spent. The only other obstacle will be a few bums featuring intermittently between subway sections. The level geometry will be an upside down table shape.
Area #4 : Space
General descriptions
The location will be a space ship, where the character will be running across the outside hull. As such the scene will be greys and reds of the hull against the blacks and colours of space and distant colours. Asteroids, galaxies and spaceships and will feature in the background.
Physical characteristics
Obstacles
Wall: Shuttle, moving object that moves on a set path, occasionally getting in the player’s way. Can be smashed through if it gets in the way and the player is moving fast enough. If it is smashed through, player is slowed for very short duration.
Moving Object: Moon, small moon that bounces along level, knocking player back if colliding.
Unique: Meteor shower, many meteors launch randomly into area of the level from one central launch point. Knocks the player back if collides.
List of levels that take place in this area
Level 7: Spaceport! Wait your Turn.
Level will have two long straights with lots of shuttles moving back and forth between them. Ends of the straights will have small asteroid fields. Level geometry is a thin rectangle.
Level 8: Must be the Spacedust
Level will have several long walls each with bouncing moons on them, the moons will bounce at separate heights and speeds to differentiate the difficulty as level goes on. End of the level will have a large asteroid field. Level geometry will be a large star shape.
Area #5 : Chaos
General descriptions
Not a unique area in itself, rather this area is a mixture of the previous 4 areas. It starts in the beach area, moves onto the park then city and space. The level design should be set up to provide a challenge across all four areas.
Level 9: Grand Finale!
This level will be a grand mix of all previous areas, rolled into one geometric shape. Player will start on a beach, finding themselves confronted by wind screens, puddles and beach balls. When they come to the barrier between beach and park, they will need to be moving fast enough to smash through a large glass barrier. The park area will confront them with oak trees, swing sets and skateboards. Once again at the barrier between park and city, the player will be faced with a large glass barrier that they must shatter to continue. The city area will feature many taxi cabs, sky scrapers and bums. Glass pane features at the next barrier. Space area will have many shuttles and moons to interrupt the player. Final glass barrier at the next barrier. Level ends on the beach again as the player completes the full circle.
c. Player Character
1. Personality
The player character is simply a representative of the player, this coupled with the fact there is no story means that the player character has no personality.
2. Look
To fit with the rest of the game’s art style, the character will appear to be made of large pixels. Additionally to this, the character’s clothing are casual, however what sets him out as special is that he has a crash helmet on – for smashing through objects.
3. Abilities
The player character has the ability to run, jump and fall.
i. How the player invokes it
The player invokes running by tipping the iPhone at an angle.
The player invokes jumping by tapping the iPhone screen anywhere.
The player invokes falling by tipping the iPhone to a right angle or greater.
5. Regular animation
i. Walk :
ii. Run:
iii. Tumble:
iv. Fall:
v. Jump:
b. Situation Specific Animations
6. SECTION IV: CONTROLS
a. iPhone commands
Tilt right : Tilts terrain right
Tilt left : Tilts terrain left
Tap Screen : Character jumps
Jerk Screen Right: Rotates terrain 90 degrees clockwise
Jerk Screen Left: Rotates terrain 90 degrees counter clockwise
i. Menu access
There will be a small button underneath the player character’s position that will pause the game and open the menu when tapped.
7. SECTION V: INTERFACE
a. The camera
The camera will follow the player character and only show a small area of the map. There will be no zooming function.
b. HUD
The only things on the HUD will be the menu button on the bottom of the screen, and a timer on the top of the screen. In the tutorial, floating text bubbles will also appear.
c. Menus
i. Main menu
1. Start Game
2. Options
3. Controls
4. Credits
5. Quit
ii. Pause menu
1. Resume Game
2. Options
3. Exit.
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