Game Design Document

Running With Rupture

The Three Days

Design Document

Game Design Document Running With Rupture presents The Three Days

DigiPen Institute of Technology GAM400 Project

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Table of Contents The Three Days is….........................................................................................4 Overview..........................................................................................................4 Project Objective..............................................................................................4 Team Overview................................................................................................4 Game Play........................................................................................................5 Combat............................................................................................................5 Time Points...................................................................................................6 Battle Flow.......................................................................................................6 Example of Play............................................................................................8 Controls............................................................................................................9 Characters.....................................................................................................11 Types..........................................................................................................11 ....................................................................................................................12 Stats............................................................................................................13 Actions........................................................................................................13 Skills...............................................................................................................14 Skill Points...................................................................................................15 Status Effects..............................................................................................16 Field...............................................................................................................18 Components................................................................................................18 Field Effects................................................................................................19 Game Modes...............................................................................................19 Multiplayer..................................................................................................20

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User Interface................................................................................................21 Front End....................................................................................................21 Before & After Combat................................................................................22 In Combat...................................................................................................23 Narrative & Campaign...................................................................................25 Assets............................................................................................................26 Art...............................................................................................................26 Audio...........................................................................................................27 Appendix 1: Target Audience.........................................................................28 Core Target.................................................................................................28 Casual Target..............................................................................................28 Appendix 2: Comparative Products................................................................30 Appendix 3: Risk Analysis..............................................................................32 Appendix 4: Playtesting Plan & Feedback......................................................34 Appendix 5: Document Change Log...............................................................35 Appendix 6: Resources & Copyrights.............................................................36

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The Three Days is… A game in which the player commands a squad of characters in time-based tactical combat in a fantasy world.

Overview The Three Days is a tactical role-playing game in which the player controls a group of characters in turn-based battle against an opposing (player- or computer-controlled) group of characters. Characters engage with closerange physical or ranged magic-based attacks. Battles take place on isometric fields. Units are controlled via mouse and keyboard commands. The objective of each battle may be different field-by-field, but generally involves defeating all of the opposing character units.

Project Objective •

Create a hardcore-focused tactics game

•

Show off awesome looking attacks and skills

•

Create a system which can be understood and enjoyed within five minutes

•

Have a portfolio piece to be proud of

Team Overview Lead Producer:

Tim Fuqua

Technical Director:

Sean Hunter

Programmer:

Bryan Chacosky

Programmer:

Tom Lopes

Lead Designer:

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Kye Harris

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Game Play Game time will be focused primarily on tactical, turn-based combat. Players move characters around a field, paying attention to positioning, to attack opposing characters with melee or ranged actions. Pre-battle preparation will be quick and easily manageable, allowing for the player to spend most of his or her time in battle.

Combat Combat involves two or more squads – groups of characters controlled by players or computer-AI (up to three squads; up to two players)– engaging with or against one another on a Field. Most commonly, this will be one squad trying to defeat all members of another squad. Squads will be distinguished by the color of the armor of all of its units. (All members of the player’s squad will have blue armor; an enemy squad will have red armor; a third army will be green.) Each character, within each squad on the field, takes a turn moving, attacking, defending or using a skill against an opposing character within an opposing squad or for a character in any squad.

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At the start of a Scene, characters will be grouped near each other according to their squads. Conditions of Victory and Defeat will be detailed to the player and then Combat will begin. Combat will cease when either all of the Victory conditions have been met by a squad or one of the Defeat conditions has been met by a squad. At the end of Combat, any gained SP (from defeating opponents) will be rewarded to the squad. XP will be distributed amongst all characters of the squad when any member of that squad defeats an enemy character. When Combat is finished, the player may view details for the number of enemies defeated, the XP gained, and the SP gained.

Time Points Time Points limit the actions that any single character can make during a turn. Each character, at the start of its turn, will have 100 Time Points (TP). That character’s turn ends when it does not have enough TP remaining to make an action. (A character’s turn may be ended prematurely by a field effect or the player command End Turn.) Each action – movement, attacking, skill usage – costs a specific amount of TP in order to be acted out and a character cannot make an action if it does not have enough TP to pay the cost. Movement, for instance, takes an amount of TP determined by the Agility of the acting character, the distance of movement, and the terrain the character is moving across: TP Cost for Movement = (1 TP * feet traveled) * ((100 – (2*(AG))) / 100) TP will recover gradually as other characters take their turns. Each round restores 100 TP, regardless of the number of characters on the field: TP Recovered per Turn = (Number of Characters) / 100

[rounded

up]

Battle Flow

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Once a player has a squad of characters to control, the player will proceed to a Combat overview. The Victory and Defeat conditions of the battle will be detailed and the player will have the chance to survey the placement of his or her characters. Characters will be placed at default locations, but may be clicked and dragged, within a shown radius, to a different starting position. The Combat phase will be initiated once this is confirmed. Play will pass from character to character on the field according to turn order and TP availability. Players will only have control over characters in their own squad. (Player 1 cannot control any characters owned by any other player or the AI.) The character on the field with the highest Agility will have the first turn in battle.* Once that character has spent all of its available TP, or prematurely ended its turn (due to the End Turn command or an effect), play will pass to the next character with the highest Agility and the most available TP. In this way, characters on field will take turns acting until either one squad has met all Victory conditions or all players, save one, have met any of the Defeat conditions. On a character’s turn, that character may spend available TP to move on the field to any location within range – determined by the Agility of the character and its remaining TP --, initiate a physical attack with its equipped weapon, or use an available Skill. *Turn order will be sorted first by Agility, then the character’s Level, and last by a “tie-breaker” number. This number will be determined randomly at the start of Combat and assigned to the character. In a battle of four characters, two on each side, a “die” will be rolled four times: the first roll may assign a 2 to the first character, so a 2 cannot be “rolled” again; the second character may be assigned a 1; the third character is assigned 4; the fourth character is assigned a 3. This number means that if any two characters have the same Agility and Level, this character with the lower “tie-breaker” number will act first. This number being determined before battle and kept v. 2.3

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throughout Combat keeps turn order consistent. This will remain a hidden mechanic.

Example of Play 1. Enter the Exhibition game mode. 2. Select a Field. 3. Select 6 characters for a squad.

4. Allocate SP among characters, giving them Skills to use in Combat. 5. Determine the starting formation for the squad. 6. Review the Victory and Defeat conditions.

7. Initiate Combat. 8. All Victory conditions are met and Combat ends. 9. Review Combat statistics. 10.

Player is asked to Continue – play another round of Combat – or

Quit – return to the Title Screen.

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Controls The Three Days will be controlled primarily through button commands on context-based menus. The primary input method will be a mouse. Keyboard input will be accepted and used for shortcuts and other hotkeys. This will be for players more accustomed to PC strategy games. The arrow keys will scroll through any set of options on the menu with focus while the Space Bar will select a highlighted option. For the currently active character, the following are the controls and mechanics a player can chose to use during the turn: Move

Click a location on the Field within movement range. A semi-transparent path will be drawn to indicate how the character will reach the destination.

Attack

Click a target within attacking range. A Move path will be made if the target is not within attacking range.

Skill

A character’s current Skills will be listed as buttons along the bottom of the screen. Click a Skill to select it. The highlighted area on the ground will change to match the range of this Skill. Click a target to use the Skill.

End Turn

Click the current acting character. A list of these four commands will appear. Click “End Turn” to end the character’s turn.

Each action will have a Confirm/Cancel prompt. A character’s chain of actions will be listed at the top-left corner of the screen. One of these past actions may be selected to “undo” to that point.

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Design Document

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Characters Each character operates individually with its own set of Stats and Skills. A group of characters controlled by a single player (or AI-player) is referred to as a Squad.

Types Characters are distinguished by Type. A Character Type determines the model used to represent the character, the stats of the character, and how the character attacks. Types also determine the Skills a character has or may have. Each Character Type will have a set of Skills with SP pre-assigned to them. These SP may be reallocated to other Skills. Soldier

Has stronger physical capabilities. Uses horizontal arc sword attacks, anything within this slicing range will take damage.

Mage

Has stronger magical capabilities. Uses forward thrust rod attacks, giving it a slightly longer reach for attacking.

Defender

Built for endurance. Uses close-range, fist attacks.

Hero The squad’s leader. Only exists in Campaign mode. Type Base* Soldier Mage Defender Hero

HP

PA 30 45 36 54 60

PD 5 14 10 10 15

MA 5 10 10 14 15

MD 5 8 14 10 15

AG 5 10 12 10 15

5 12 10 8 15

*The “Base” Character Type is not in the game but is included here to show the stat relationship of the other characters.

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*Concept art for Soldier.

*Concept art for Mage.

*Concept art for Defender.

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Stats Each character has its own set of numbers which determine how it performs in Combat. These numbers increase as that character’s Level increases. (LV) Level

Scales all other Stats. Increases with XP

accrual. (XP) Experience

Increases Level by 1 every 100 points.

(HP) Health Points

Depletes as damage is taken. Character is KO’d and unable to battle when 0.

(PA) Physical Attack

Modifies damage dealt by physical-based

attacks. (MA) Magic Attack

Modifies effectiveness of magic-based

actions. (PD) Physical Defense Decreases damage received by physical-based attacks. (MD) Magic Defense

Decreases damage received by magic-based actions.

(AG) Agility

Determines cost of movement and acting time. Used as a modifier for avoiding incoming attacks or Skills.

Actions Any command given to a character costs TP. (End Turn is the exception.) Move

Relocate a character on the field. Costs 1 TP per foot

moved. Attack

Use the equipped weapon to perform a physical-based attack. Costs 45 TP.

Skill

Use an available Skill (provided by equipped SP). Cost

varies per Skill. End TurnPrematurely end this character’s turn. TP recovery begins.

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Each character attacks with a different weapon. These weapons have differing ranges from each other: the Soldier’s sword hits a wider range with a horizontal sweeping motion; the Mage’s rod is thrust forward, giving more reach; the Defender’s fists have little range and can only hit a single target. Attack damage is always based on the Physical stats: Damage = 0.5 * (PA) * 1.6 – PD

[rounded up]

Skills Characters with SP assigned may use Skills in battle. Skills provide a greater range of power and effects than base physical attacks. Any Skill can range between Level 1 effectiveness to Level 3 effectiveness. Each Skill has a base TP cost, a base Damage, and a list of possible effects. (Effects are generally cumulative.) “Layers” describes the lasting time of an effect. Skill Blaze Blaze 2 Blaze 3 Sparking Sparking2 Sparking3 Spite Spite2 Spite3 Boon Boon2 Boon3 Crescent Wave Crescent Wave 2 Crescent Wave 3 TerraShot TerraShot 2 TerraShot 3 Cripple Cripple 2 Cripple 3 Restore Restore2 Restore3 Stratomance Stratomance 2 Stratomance 3 Manipulate Manipulate 2 Manipulate 3

SPCost TPCost Power Range Area 1 55 MA * 1.5 48' reach 12' diameter 2 65 MA * 1.75 48' reach 21' diameter 3 75 MA * 1.75 48' reach 21' diameter 1 55 MA * 1.25 48' reach 18' diameter 2 65 MA * 1.5 48' reach 27' diameter 3 75 MA * 1.5 48' reach 27' diameter 1 50 0 42' reach 15' diameter 2 60 0 42' reach 15' diameter 3 70 MA * 3.0 42' reach 15' diameter 1 55 0 42' reach 15' diameter 2 65 0 42' reach 15' diameter 3 75 0 42' reach 15' diameter 1 55 MA * 1.5 63' reach 9' length 2 65 MA * 1.5 63' reach 9' length 3 75 MA * 2.0 63' reach 12' length 1 55 MA * 1.5 90' reach 3' width 2 65 MA * 1.5 90' reach 3' width 3 75 MA * 2.0 90' reach 6' width 1 40 PA* 1.0 3' reach target 2 50 PA* 1.0 3' reach target 3 60 PA* 1.0 3' reach target 1 50 MA * 2.0 45' reach target 2 55 MA * 2.5 45' reach target 3 65 MA * 3.0 45' reach target 1 45 0 0 field 1 45 0 0 field 1 45 0 0 field 1 50 0 0 field 1 50 0 0 field 1 50 0 0 field

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Effect HP damage No further effect Inflicts Berserk HP damage No further effect Decreases AG Inflicts Poison status Inflicts Beserk status TP damage Increases TP reload Increases MD Prevents Conditions HP damage Increases AG of user No further effect HP damage Increases PA of user No further effect Decreases TP reload Decreases PD Decreases PA Restores HP Removes Stat decreases Removes Conditions Causes Rain Causes Dark Causes Wind Decreases PA Decreases MA Increases AG

Hit Avoid Layers 75+MA * 2 AG* 1.5 0+ 75+MA * 2 AG* 1.5 0+ 80+MA * 2 AG* 1.5 1 75+MA * 2 AG* 1.5 0+ 75+MA * 2 AG* 1.5 0+ 80+MA * 2 AG* 1.5 2 70+MA * 2 AG* 2 1+ 70+MA * 2 AG* 2 2+ 70+MA * 2 AG* 2 0 90+MA 0 1+ 90+MA 0 5+ 90+MA 0 2 75+PA* 2 AG* 1.5 0+ 75+PA* 2 AG* 1.5 2+ 80+PA* 2 AG* 1.5 0 75+PA* 2 AG* 1.5 0+ 75+PA* 2 AG* 1.5 2+ 80+PA* 2 AG* 1.5 0 90+PA AG* 1.5 1+ 90+PA AG* 1.5 4+ 90+PA AG* 1.5 3 100 0 0+ 100 0 0+ 100 0 0 75+MA 0 3 75+MA 0 3 75+MA 0 3 75+MA 0 10 75+MA 0 10 75+MA 0 10

Skill (Skill Power) - MD* 0.5

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Many Skills stack effects as they power up. (These Skills are marked above with a +.) For example, the Skill “Crescent Wave” deals damage to a target’s HP. At Level 2, “Crescent Wave” has an effect of “Increases AG of user.” This means that at Level 2, “Crescent Wave” increases the users Agility and deals damage to a target’s HP. On the other hand, Skills such as “Manipulate” do not stack or power-up as most others do. Only 1 SP is necessary for any level of “Manipulate,” allowing the player to choose which effect he or she prefers.

Skill Points Skill Points are used to determine what Skills (in-battle techniques, such as healing) a character can use in combat. Each Skill can be viewed on the Battle Preparation screen where Skill Points (SP) may be allocated. When SP is assigned to a Skill, that Skill becomes usable in combat by that character. Up to three SP may be assigned to any one Skill on a single character; the amount of SP assigned determines the power and effects of that Skill when used in combat. The following Mage can use both level 1 “Blaze” and “Sparking” because each has one SP assigned to it. Each Skill has one Skill Point assigned to it by default. This SP may be removed and placed elsewhere if desired.

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Status Effects Some Skills may invoke Status Conditions (or Effects) on a character. Each Status Condition has a different effect on the character and lasts a specific amount of time. Since some effects are inflicted at higher potency at times, the Life is determined by a base amount of TP that is increased by the number of “Layers” of the effect inflicted. For instance, “Blaze 3” inflicts 1 Layer of Berserk, so Berserk lasts 100 TP; “Spite 2” inflicts 2 Layers of Berserk, causing Berserk to last 200 TP. Status Condition

Description

Effect

Stat Up

Increases a single Stat

Stat + 2

Stat Down

Decreases a single Stat

Stat - 2

TP Up

Increases TP reload

TP reload + 5

TP Down

Decreases TP reload

TP reload - 5

Poison

Damages HP over time

HP - 1 for every 25 TP

Berserk

Forces forward action

Disable non-Move/Attack

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Life 100 TP Layers 100 TP Layers 500 TP Layers 500 TP Layers 500 TP Layers 100 TP Layers

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Wind

Causes heavy rain on the field Causes darkness to cover the field Causes strong winds across the field

Guard

Prevents Conditions

Rain Dark

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AG - 1; Blaze - 20%; Sparking + 20% Hit - 25% Skill Range + 10% MD + 100 for Status Condition

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500 TP Layers 500 TP Layers 500 TP Layers 300 TP Layers

* * * *

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Field All instances of environments – where story events and Combat take place – are referred to as fields. Fields are generally quadrilateral planes deformed to represent terrain and filled with terrain objects. (Fields may be shaped as any other polygon, though rectangles are most common.) A field makes up the entirety of a map – nothing exists outside of the boundaries. The edge of a field denotes the edge of play area and will be indicated either by a dropoff (there’s just nothing beyond the Field) or walls of some sort (thick trees or cliff walls). Fields are not grid-based. The average size of a Field is roughly 80 yards x 80 yards.

Components Fields are built with terrain objects – trees, houses, crates, etc. -- on them to add obstacles to Combat instances. A Component is any object (not a character) present on a field. Components can be either static – cannot move or be interacted with (i.e., a tree) – or dynamic – can be interacted with by characters (i.e., a breakable crate).

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Field Effects Skills or scenario conditions may place global effects on a field during Combat. Field effects, whether they hinder or aid, affect all characters on the field, regardless of squad alignment. Effects may be related to weather, altering terrain and Skill effectiveness (i.e., fire-based skills are weaker in rain), or magic-based, altering character actions or stats. If triggered by a Skill, field effects will last a specific amount of time; otherwise a field effect will last throughout an entire battle scenario. *See above with “field” range.

Game Modes Campaign puts a single player in control of predetermined characters to pass specific story-driven combat scenarios. Play will consist of a segment of story leading into a combat scenario, followed by Battle Preparations and Combat. From here, the three will repeat, with some dialogue occurring during Combat. The Campaign will be strictly single-player and will showcase scenarios with differing settings and Victory conditions. This mode will contain five specific battle scenes. Characters within the player’s squad will be used from one battle to the next, gaining XP and SP to increase Level and Skills. Characters who are KO’d in a battle will be usable in successive battles. *See Narrative & Campaign below. Exhibition mode allows one or two players to choose a battle scenario to play. Players will be able to select from a list of battle fields, choose a Victory condition, and then craft a custom squad of four, five, or seven characters, dependant on the size of the Field. Characters chosen for a player’s squad will be of a static level and will not be able to gain experience. Players have a preset stock of SP to allocate to characters for combat.

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Options for a random squad or field will also be available. Squads may be saved for later use. Quick Play allows a player to enjoy a combat scenario against an AI opponent without having to manage multiple options. This mode gives players a selection of squad templates to enter into Combat with on a randomly selected field. Squad templates will be labeled according to play types, such as “Aggressive,” “Defensive,” or “Well-Rounded.” The goal here is to allow more casual players to enjoy the game and to be able to find game play within about 3 mouse clicks. Options displays a selection of the game’s settings to be viewed and adjusted by the player.

Multiplayer The “Exhibition” and “Quick Play” modes will support player versus player multiplayer. All multiplayer will be hot-seat and will require the use of two Xbox 360 Gamepads.

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User Interface The UI will imitate the look of a on old printed book, much akin to the book images shown in the “The Lord of the Rings” movies. This will reinforce the fantasy theme of the game.

Front End

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Before & After Combat

1 View and set up Skills for each character.

2 View Squad and set up characters.

3 View Victory and Defeat conditions, along with squad placement.

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In Combat The Field is viewed from a camera placed above the world and angled down (i.e., a top-down, isometric perspective). The camera can be rotated along the x-axis around the field at 45 degree increments; can be zoomed in and out at three separate levels; and can be lowered or raised, changing the angle at which the Field is viewed. The camera may be configured to zoom in or focus on actions (such as spells) or events (such as scripted scenes).

The acting character is distinguished by a light blue ring. The selected target has an appropriate ring beneath it. In the top corner, left-side, is a list of the active character and the upcoming three other characters, in order of action; the right-side shows the current Field effect (“sun” here, which is the default condition). The details of the current action(s) between characters v. 2.3

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are shown at the bottom of the screen. Here the blue soldier has targeted the red mage. The soldier will have to move (path shown by the arrow) in order to be within attacking range. The TP cost is specified. The attack will use a sword to damage the mage, dropping its health to 12. The player will click the prompt (where “OK?” is) in order to initiate the attack; if anywhere off of any of these prompts is clicked, this current action will be canceled.

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Narrative & Campaign The Campaign mode in The Three Days follows the story of two men, Bryce and Augustus, the prince of Limgoth, during an attempted coup d’état. The king is killed by an assassin hired by the warrior Dorandus. Over the course of three days of war, Limgoth’s monarchy is changed, for better or worse. Augustus is determined to save his father’s kingdom and salvage the monarchy; Dorandus plans to instate himself as king. Meanwhile, Bryce, who had been labeled a criminal for theft by the king’s men, must choose whether to aid his old friend Augustus or side against the monarchy. The Campaign mode will contain five scenarios with the player in control of Bryce and his squad. Day 1

Scene 1

Scene 2

Day 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Day 3

Scene 5

Plot

Mechanic s Plot Mechanic s Plot Mechanic s Choice Plot Mechanic s Choice Plot Mechanic s Choice

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Introduce the player to the monarchy; establish that Bryce is a criminal; “the king has been assassinated” One character of each type against a few enemies; simple terrain Bryce heads to the capital with a squad of men; he meets rebels in battle Standard squad versus squad combat Bryce meets rebels across a bridge; Augustus’s army is on the ground below them First 3-way battle; destructible terrain. Fight rebels; 2Fight monarchy Encounter Augustus fighting rebels at a river during heavy rain Introduce a timed match with changing terrain and constant weather 1 Aid Augustus; 2Fight Augustus At the castle, Augustus has been captured and is to be executed Timed event occurrence, but not a timed match 1

Save Augustus and Bryce dies; 2Fight the monarchy and the coup d’état succeeds; 3Rout Dorandus and promote the monarchy 1

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Assets Below is a list of planned assets for The Three Days. Art has been separated according to its type (sprite, 3D model, etc.) and use. Audio is separated by sound effect (SFX) or background audio (BGM). For a complete asset list, see Asset List.xls.

Art 1. Character Models – 3D models with animation sets for Idle, Movement, Melee Attack, Magic Attack, Take Damage, and Die; blue, red, and green texture sets needed a. Soldier b. Mage c. Defender d. Hero – for “Campaign” mode; lead player character, Prince, Rebel Leader, and King; separate texture sets not needed 2. User Interface – 2D art (sprites), must be very scalable a. Action confirmation prompt b. Move path arrow c. Field effect icons – sun, rain, wind, dark d. Status effect icons – up arrow, down arrow, poison, berserk e. Action icons – move, attack, skill (one icon for each) f. Proceed button g. Quit button h. Bookmark icon i. Back button j. SP icons – filled and unfilled k. Skill set button l. Sun used for loading screens 3. Screens – 2D art, should be made to fill any screen; may be animated for transitions a. Splash screens – DigiPen logo, Running With Rupture logo b. Title screen – lists all game modes to be clicked on c. Load profile (bookmark) d. Pre-combat screens – view squad; view character e. Campaign world map f. Settings screen g. Credits screen v. 2.3

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h. Mode details – “Campaign,” “Exhibition,” and “Quick Play”; explains play for mode i. Narrative screens – art explaining the story as it passes

Audio 1. BGM a. Intro scenes for narrative in “Campaign” mode b. Title screen c. Combat music – three different tracks d. Splash screen tracks e. Pre-combat f. Victory screen g. Game over h. Credits i. World map j. “Campaign” mode complete 2. SFX a. Melee attack sounds – punch, sword, rod b. Skill use sounds – restore, fire, lightning, poison bubbles, wind, rain, rocks breaking c. Movement d. Take damage e. Character death f. Defeat condition met g. Victory condition met h. Gain XP i. Gain SP j. Set SP k. Remove SP l. Select character to view in pre-combat m. Confirm action or selection n. Transition between screens (page turning sound) o. Dialog typing (or voices)

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Appendix 1: Target Audience The Three Days is targeted primarily towards players experienced with tactics-based and role-playing games. However, with options available in the game, there is potential for more casual players to find enjoyment.

Core Target The core target demographic is 12-24 year old males. This demographic is familiar with tactic-RPGs, such as FINAL FANTASY Tactics, Fire Emblem, and X-COM. They show characteristics of both “Achiever” and “Planner” player types: these players seek to improve the abilities and powers of in-game characters and managing a set of resources. They value customizability (item and skill allocation) and visible progress (experience gain and stat increases). This audience will rarely spend less than ten or twenty minutes sitting with a game (given that they enjoy it). This audience exists as a tight group and will likely spread word of any games they play and whether they enjoyed the game or not. Therefore, once a handful of this cluster has found a game to be “good,” that game will be recommended strongly to friends and family.

Casual Target This demographic leans towards games they can understand and enjoy within very few minutes of playing. This audience can be easily intimidated by complex control/command schemes and prefer to not invest more than a few moments learning how to enjoy a title. Large menus and detailed lists and specifications act as deterrents to them. For them, The Three Days provides the “Quick Play” option. This mode allows them to bypass all squad management tasks and proceed straight into Combat, thus maximizing the time spent in-game.

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This audience is less-versed about specific game genres and tends to play games that immediately appear fun, understandable, and are recommended to them. The task of approaching this audience is given to images and video that focus on simple command sequences having noticeable results. Recommendations from the Core Target are also valued.

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Appendix 2: Comparative Products The Three Days is a tactical role-playing game, focusing on character ability accumulation and stat progression. The game plays on polygonal, grid-less fields and focuses heavily on combat scenarios. FINAL FANTASY Tactics (SQUARESOFT, 1998) is the primary comparative product (and basis) for The Three Days. Shared components include a focus on character ability improvement through battle experience and skill usage. Play takes place on quadrilateral, grid-based fields and game time focuses on combat scenarios. Team management takes up a sizable amount of time. Special actions require a specific amount of time to commence. Control passes from character to character, rather than team to team, based on the agility of the character and the number of actions it took the previous turn. Exclusive components for The Three Days include the exclusion of class assignments, restricting skill usage to item allocation instead. Combat fields are grid-less, allowing for free range movement. Special actions are not limited by Magic Points, but the time needed to commence them.

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X-COM: UFO Defense (Mythos Games, 1993) utilizes a similar timebased action system.

Phantom Brave (Nippon Ichi Software, 2004) presents game play that does not take place on a grid. Actions and movements are shown as gridspheres or grid-cylinders and arrows across the terrain. Action is individually turn-based rather than squad phase-based.

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Appendix 3: Risk Analysis Tactics games tend to be tedious and have steeper learning curves: it takes a bit of time and a good number of menus to get into the game and the player needs to know what all of the numbers mean. How do you plan to appeal to a “pick-up-and-play” audience? First of all, the numbers and menus are being reduced to as few as possible. The stats are very basic, skill trees are non-existent as every skill is available to any character, and classes have been reduced to three type: physical, magic, and defense. A full squad can be built within 5 mouse-clicks. A player should be able to get into and complete a full Exhibition game within 6 minutes. Icons will also be used heavily to lower the learning curve. Things should just look and feel right and do what the player expects. To help guarantee this, playtesting with a range of player types will be essential. Trying to appeal to both hardcore and casual audiences could easily lead to a watered-down experience. The hardcore crowd tends to oppose games that feel “dumbed down.” Are you afraid of losing both audiences with this attempt? For this reason, the hardcore demographic has been established as our “core” audience. In the case that the experience begins to seem watered down, the casual audience will be dropped. Our top priority is to appeal to the hardcore crowd. Multiple game modes, including a branching path campaign, requires a vast amount of content. With only a 7 month development time, how do you plan to accomplish this and what are you willing to sacrifice? The “Quick Play” mode is our first priority and we will build up from there. Once “Quick Play” is implemented, all forms of mechanics and game play will be present. Providing the player, then, with the option to select characters

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for a squad will give us the “Exhibition” mode. With these two in place, the Lead Designer will begin creating maps and scripting scenes for the “Campaign” mode. All content created for “Campaign” will also be present in “Exhibition” and “Quick Play,” as well.

A potentially very high number of assets are necessary to represent the amount of content in this project. Without any dedicated artists, how does the team plan to tackle this obstacle? All members of the team are familiar with 3D modeling and creating 2D art. Tasks have been distributed amongst them so that no one person is bearing all of the weight. Character models will be simple and relatively geometrically based. These characters also will not have arms or legs, allowing more flexibility with animations. Most attacks will be particle-based. Fields will be created in 3DS Max and exported to be used in the game. In the second month of the development cycle, the Lead Designer took an extended absence to accommodate family. Considering the amount of content needed for a tactics game, this could potentially be a fatal blow. In the case that the Lead Designer does not return within a few weeks, how do you plan to create the content necessary for this project? The Lead Designer is more than willing to work as much as possible on the project while absent and will be in contact via email at all times. In the case that he is not able to return for the remainder of the semester, the Lead Designer has agreed to contribute “unofficially” to the team. This is something he has done previously and is comfortable doing.

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Appendix 4: Playtesting Plan & Feedback 1. How long did you spend preparing your team your first time playing? Other times? 2. How long did your first battle take? Other times? 3. What did you feel or think playing The Three Days?

4. Were the buttons easy to understand? 5. Were your characters easy to control? 6. Were the objectives in “Campaign” mode easy to understand? Were you ever confused about what to do? 7. Did any one character type feel noticeably better than the others? Did one seem weaker? 8. If you played “Quick Play,” was there a team strategy that you wanted but was not available? 9. How experienced would you say you are with tactics games? 10. What did you enjoy most about The Three Days? 11. What did you like least about The Three Days? Did anything aggravate

you? 12. Overall, how would you rate The Three Days?

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Appendix 5: Document Change Log Version 0.1 Created Design Document file RWR_DesignDocument_v0.doc Version 0.2 Added Table of Contents and expanded outline Version 0.3 Game Mechanics and Game Modes detailed Battle Flow, Example of Play, and Controls roughly filled Version 0.4 Characters, Stats, Actions, Skills, Inventory, Status Conditions roughly filled Version 0.5 Field, Field Components and Effects roughly detailed Version 0.6 Appendix I, Core and Casual Targets, Appendix II detailed Version 0.7 Added Skills list Version 0.8 Skills, Character Types, Conditions spreadsheets added in; Physics Design detailed Version 0.9 Added to Risk Analysis and Comparative Products Version 0.9.1 Added concept character art and detailed the Last Stand! action Version 1.0 Filled Narrative & Campaign details Version 1.1 Updated Game Mechanics, with sample images Version 1.2 Added comments, fixed a few details, began detailing Project Object, Profiles Version 1.3 Made changes according to feedback from instructor Version 1.7 Added a fleshed out details and lots of concept art to show how things’ll look and work Version 2.0 Lots of info reworked; format moved around; images added; asset list detailed Version 2.1 Updated Narrative & Campaign section Version 2.2 Updated Stats and Skills sheets Version 2.3 Updated calculations for TP Cost and Attack Damage; removed Technology section

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Appendix 6: Resources & Copyrights Mentioned Products: FINAL FANTASY Tactics, © 1998 Square-Enix X-COM: UFO Defense, © 1993 Mythos Games Phantom Brave, © 2004 Nippon Ichi Software Image Sources: GameSpot.com Push.cx IGN.com All other content Copyright © 2009-2010 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.

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