GAMES DEVELOPMENT TASK 01

ALICIA TENG YI LING [0345159]

GAMES DEVELOPMENT: TASK[01 PROPOSAL]

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Task 01: Game Design Document

Todo:

• Come up with three ideas
• Construct a game design document

Research

I began by looking through my Steam library and seeing which games were most prevalent and inspirational to me. I ended up deciding on one of my favourite genres, fiction! For a more specific approach I either want something fantasy, themed and it'd be bright and an adventure game, or something completely in the opposite direction. Meaning horror themed and it'd be dark and an absolutely terrifying survival game. At this point, I'm still quite torn so I decided to focus on my research first.

The requirements: to create a 2D platformer game. 

Eventually, the three games I decided to analyse and take inspiration from are:

• Stardew Valley
• Don't Starve Together
• Celeste

Attached below is my conducted research and analysis of the three relevant games as well as my three very rough ideas.

Fig 1.1.1 Research and Game Ideas

Process

Thus begun the refining stage. The primary idea I settled on is Idea 2 (Spoiler: after much updates and polishing, it is very different), a fantasy adventure game. 

The basis of it is that the player wakes up in an unfamiliar world and decides to take on the role of the 'Hero' in order to defeat the boss and her minions, believing that this may help them return home. 

I listed down some of the basic details for the game outline but it was more defined in the Game Design Document (refer to Figure 3.1).

Measurable:

• Health
• Stamina
• Mana
• Money

Levels:

1. Tutorial
2. Level 1 - Enemies (2 types, short and long range attacks)
3. Level 2 - Obstacles and traps
4. Level 3 - Boss

Fig 1.2.1 Game Flowchart

Chance [to find]:

• Health items
• Overall boost items

Player Skills:

• Manage measurables / resources 
• Short range attack - Using sword 
• Utilises stamina 
• Long range attack - Using magic 
• Utilises mana 
• Strategise 
• Minimal puzzle solving

Art Style

• 2D pixel-art
• Full of dream-like colours
• Cute & nature-based aesthetic 

Scene Inspiration:

Fig 2.1.1 Scene Design Inspiration Images

Fig 2.1.2 Character Design Inspiration

Character Sketches:

Fig 2.2.1 Main Character: Lily Sketches

Fig 2.2.2 NPC "Ekpen" Sketch

Fig 2.2.3 Short-ranged Attacker, "Astra"

Fig 2.2.4 Long-ranged Attacker, "Steorra"

Fig 2.2.5 Final Boss "Mother Star" Sketch

Fig 2.2.6 Prototype Design of "Mother Star"

Game UI Prototype Sprites Design:

Fig 2.3.1 Game UI Prototype Sprites

Castle Environment Prototype Sprites:

Fig 2.4.1 Background, platform tiles, doorway & decoration [torch] Prototype Sprites

Fig 2.4.2 Castle Traps Prototype Sprites

Final Submission

Game Design Document

Fig 3.1 Game Design Document

Final Game Design Proposal

Fig 3.2 Final Game Design Proposal

Final Game Design Proposal Presentation

Fig 3.3 Final Game Design Proposal Presentation

Reflection

Not to my surprise, this is by far my favourite module this semester. I absolutely love understanding the inner workings of game design and the fact that I get to learn how to develop a game myself is a truly one of the greatest opportunities I can get especially considering the fact that I'm hoping to work in some sort of game production one day. I chose a fun, fantasy adventure genre as it is one of my personal favourites and I felt the story and game concept would be more dream-like and I could implement strange details if wanted. 

A warning for my future self would be to remember my own abilities and understand what can be done properly within the given timeframe. There were many more mechanics, concepts and details I wanted to implement into the game proposal but I refrained from overloading it (My plan is to further elaborate and work on this concept for my major project). The game design document, while tedious, is a great foundation to understanding how everything is going to turn out as well as feel and look for players. 

All in all, I'm really happy with my current progress and can't wait to turn it into a functioning, playable game. I just hope I can finish everything on time and also keep up with my other modules. I'm praying it will be a fun and insightful challenge!