GDD: Game Design Doc

Game Design Document for:

The Veil

"Ideals cannot hold a man, Chains cannot hold a spirit."

Written by Team Horrifying Experience

Version # 1.1

Thursday, May 13, 2010
Table of Contents

Design History

Version 1.00

Version 1.10

Version 1.20

Version 1.3

Version 2.0

High Concept

Philosophy

A World Apart

A Thoughtful Approach

The Horror

What is the game?

Why create this game?

Where does the game take place?

What do I control?

What are the Goals/Objectives of the game?

What is the main focus?

What’s different?

Ethereal form

light bolt

teleport

Shade form

Teleport

Light Beam

Hours of Gameplay

Victory Conditions

World layout

The Physical World

Overview

Key Locations

Travel

Scale

Objects

Weather

Day and Night

User Interface - Controls

Game Interface - Menus

Screen Flow Diagrams

Overview

Screen Flow Diagram

Pause Menu

Normal Vision

Shade Form

Pause Menu

Pause Menu (Stage 2)

Musical Scores and Sound Effects

APPENDICES

“Competitive Analysis” Appendix

“Objects” Appendix

“Story” Appendix

Design History

This is a brief explanation of the history of this document. Each version of this document is based on when a document is released for feedback/review, or major changes/additions have been made.

Version 1.00

Initial pass at design. Individual sections added for feedback.

Version 1.10

Added Game and Combat Mechanics.

Version 1.20

First pass at formatting. Added wireframes and screen flows.

Version 1.3

Added objects and story appendices.

Version 2.0

All parts incorporated final pass at formatting.

Game Overview

High Concept

“Mind over matter"

In the first person puzzler horror game The Veil, players control an Ex-exorcist who has been imprisoned for committing heinous crimes. To escape the clutches of the Order players rely on the powers of their holy bolt, their ability to turn into a shade and the power to teleport short distances. Solve the puzzles and escape deadly traps to acquire freedom!

Philosophy

A World Apart

One of the primary concerns of The Veil is that we do not appear to be “just another first person game”. Through the use of only a few key abilities we leave it up to the player to manipulate the environment.

A Thoughtful Approach

Through extensive research and planning, we plan on tackling broader themes that reflect the chaos of the time period the game takes place in. Our goal is to incorporate religious history into the game without offending or distancing our target audience in any way.

The Horror

The games’ soundtrack and overall visuals will have the character feeling cornered and mildly paranoid, creating the right mood for the game.

Common Questions

What is the game?

The Veil is a first-person horror/adventure game where the player controls a imprisoned hero seeking his freedom from the clutches of the Order of the Valseer, a clergy-like organization.

Why create this game?

The whole The Veil team has a love for horror movies and games, and we felt that medieval horror is a genre that is lacking in content. We also immediately took to the Unreal 3 engine, and are excited to put it to work making a game that is both fun and frightening.

Where does the game take place?

The game takes place in Medieval Europe, during the same time period as the Salem Witch Hunts. The actual content of the game takes place far from the large cities of the time, and instead focuses on various abandoned catacombs and prisons located in rural areas.

What do I control?

You control Cain, a exorcist who was imprisoned for committing crimes against the Valseer. Cain Has the power to use a holy beam of energy as well as a spirit form that allows him to teleport short distances and avoid physical damage.

What are the Goals/Objectives of the game?

The goal of the game initially is to escape the dungeon Cain has been confined to. Short term goals are health management and dealing with the various traps and situations presented.

What is the main focus?

The focus is to escape the dungeon and seek retribution from the valseer.

What’s different?

The Veil moves away from conventional shooters by using the first person view and a small array of powers to solve traps and puzzles. A very eerie environment and interesting background story give The Veil an impression of surrealism and mystery. This non-combat focus gives the game a distinct feel while maintaining the personal element of a first person game.

Feature Set

Shadeform

Ethereal Form gives the player the ability to warp short distances and become immune to physical forms of damage such as arrows and blades.

light bolt

When the player is in Corporeal Form they gain access to the Light Bolt, a ranged bolt that can activate panels and triggers all around the game world.

teleport

When the player is in Ethereal Form, they gain access to Teleport, an ability that allows the player to warp short distances within the game world, overcoming things such as pitfalls and dangerous terrain.

Feature Details

Shadeform

The player can switch from Corporeal (body) Form to Shade (ghost) Form at any time by pressing the right trigger for Corporeal and the left trigger for Shade. When the player is in Corporeal Form, they can be hurt by physically damaging objects, and when they are in Shade Form they are damaged by the dark energy that exists in the dungeon.

Damages in Corporeal Form / Damages in Ethereal Form
Crossbow Bolts / Dark Energy
Blades

Teleport

When in Shade Form, the player can teleport 100 units in the direction the crosshair is facing. This means that if the crosshair is tilted upwards the character will teleport upwards on the Z axis. To teleport the player holds down the left mouse button, this causes a beam to shoot from his hand and is used for targeting, then releases it in order to warp to the target point.

Light Beam

The Light beam is the main characters’ method of opening doors, pressing buttons and interacting with object. It can be used to do damage to specific objects, press rune panels and activate trap buttons.

Detailed Walkthrough

The player starts the Game through the Front end menu; the Cinematic will start and play through. When the cinematic is complete the player will gain control of the main character, and is introduced to movement and must pass some obstacles in the player path such as debris and dead prisoners. Once the player is past the Initial halls he will come upon the first puzzle: The Mirror Room.

The Mirror room consists of shooting the light beam at said mirrors, causing the beam to ricochet and open the door to another part of the room. The next room consists of an elevator, a locked door and a well. The player must take the elevator up which leads him to a room where he can rotate two statues in order to reflect another beam When the player manages to turn the mirrors the right way a trapdoor opens dropping him into the well and also opening the exit door.

Once the player crosses the mirror room he is confronted with the Statue Puzzle. In this area the player has to do a series of events to trigger a path to the door on the opposite side (a small cinematic indicates the objective). Starting from the entrance the player has to run up the ramp, jump on the battering ram and then shoot the glowing chain. This will make the ram swing, knocking down the statue and dropping the player on the next wooden platform. From there the player must jump onto the rotating lifts and then from rock to rock. The rocks will shake and then fall after a few seconds, prompting the player to keep moving.

As the player reaches the end of the Statue room he is confronted with a hall filled with rotating blades that will jump out from the walls and ceiling to damage him unless he is in shade form. There is a large mural right in front of the hallways’ bend indicating in its imagery that shade form prevents physical damage. After crossing the hall the player is confronted with and orb which needs to be destroyed in order to open the doors to the final room.

Entering the final room the player crosses a small bridge that is thereafter destroyed (this is indicated in a short cut scene). The boss consists of 2 stages. On the first one the player has to shoot the glowing orbs with his beam of light. Once the orbs are destroyed the boss goes into the second’s stage, knocking down platforms and changing his attacks. In order to finish him the player has to press all 4 corner platforms that will unleash a beam to destroy him. After this is done the player jumps to the middle platform, which rises to the sky, bringing about the ending.

Beat Chart

Hours of Gameplay

We are going for a vertical slice of our game. We are hoping it will take a minimum of 5 minutes to get through from beginning to end. We want to world to give the illusion of an open world in the town, to give the player some side objectives to do to add more play time to the game or replay.

Victory Conditions

The victory condition for the game is that the player is able to make his way to the Last area and defeat Aegis (a boss). As the boss dies the player is rewarded with and ending cinematic/music.

Camera

The game will be entirely in first-person perspective, with the players hand shown on the right side of the screen.

The Game World

World layout

The world will be Realistic style world, based in the late 1600’s. It will be laid out in a linear style. The player starts the game escaping his cell, proceeds through

The Physical World

Overview

The world will be realistic looking; it will be based in the late 1600’s.The world will have a dark gritty look to it.

To see a list of key components of the physical world see Object appendices.

Key Locations

The game is very linear making each trap room a key location. Mirror puzzle, Statue Trap, Blade Hallway, Boss room.

Mirror Room

Statue Trap

Blade Hallway

Boss Room

Travel

The travel in the game will be composed of walking, jumping and teleporting. Distances are 56 uts for the jump and 500 Uts for the teleport.

Scale

The scale of the world is Realistic. The average human is 6ft which will be equal to 96 units in UDK. 1 Foot = 16 UDK units

Player Other creatures within the world

Objects

See the “Objects Appendix” for a list of all the objects found in the world.

Weather

The Weather will not be changing since the adventure takes place within a dungeon.

Day and Night

The games only change of daytime is when the player reaches the boss room. In that particular room there is a setting sun skybox.

User Interface - Controls

Game Interface - Menus

Screen Flow Diagrams

Overview

All of the menus are meant to be simple and straightforward. At no point will the player be overwhelmed by too many options. The idea of our HUD’s is for the player to experience the game through the eyes of the protagonist, perhaps a little more literally than most 1st person games. In The Veil, the player will see a small portion of the constraint on the player’s head.

Screen Flow Diagram

The screen flow shows the initial entrance into our game; from the optional opening cut scenes, to the main menu and choices. Like most simple action adventure games, the player will not be scrambled by too many choices and insignificances. The main menu is straight to the point and only provides only what is mandatory for the player’s needs.

Pause Menu

The pause menu will be very rarely used in The Veil. Should the player feel the urge the change his/her difficulty setting, the player can do so through the “options” menu. The player can also adjust his/her audio and visual settings, making the game more comfortable.

HUD/On Screen Displays

Normal Vision

This is the view the player will see throughout the majority of the game. This is the basic view seen through the character’s eyes. His arms are in the lower half of the screen, only reaching up when the player uses his light bolt or teleport.

Shade Form

Once Shade Form is activated a filter is applied to the screen, making the scenario semi-blurred and grayed/out.

Musical Scores and Sound Effects

Please refer to the Audio Design Document and the Audio Asset List.

APPENDICES

“Competitive Analysis” Appendix

Competitive Analysis

Competitor / What They Bring / What We Offer
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion / -Open world allows for extensive exploration but suffers from a "Jack of All Trades" syndrome, wherein the locations themselves are somewhat sparsely detailed
-Players choose a class at the beginning of the game, and are locked into that classes' gameplay mechanics
-Players have access to a variety of standard weapons and spells / -Tightly scripted events allow for a deeper narrative and more involved gameplay
-Players do not have to choose a class to play, but have to choose the best way to manipulate their environment in order to succeed.
-The focus is moved away from traditional weaponry and more towards use of few unique skills
Bioshock / -A mix of guns and powers give the player the choice as to how to approach a situation
-A rich narrative and detailed environment involve the player within the game
-A morality system affects how the player receives upgrades to their abilities / -A small number of skills but fast paced events and wow moments make for both an exciting and quick thinking gameplay.
-Scripted events, a deep narrative pull the player into a dark and terrifying world
-A dynamic light and dark system changes the player's abilities on the fly, allowing them to escape peril and manipulate their surroundings on the go.

“Objects” Appendix

Environment / Indoors
Tree / Books
Fence / table
Broken Fence / Chairs
Broken Brick wall / Bed
Brick Wall / Dishes/Silverware
Water Mill / Benches
Water Wheel
Stain Glass / Candle
Broken Stain Glass / Crates
House1 / Broken Crates
House2 / Bear skin
House3
Long House
Church
Statue
Pillars
Archways

“Story” Appendix

Every couple of centuries the empires of the world reach their peak and then fall. This strange process was never explained, or even noticed, by the common folk. Worried about how this could affect the world in the coming years the rulers of the world decided to create a special order to deal with it. Thus was born the Order of the Valseer, known by the lesser castes only as Exorcists.

The actual fault of the Empire Fall Thesis lies with the entities that live beyond the veil, such as demons and ghosts as most common folk call them, when the populations reach their peak the amount of negative feelings and energy flow freely about, enticing these beings into our world. Civil wars break out; murder and domestic violence become common place. Soon after these effects start happening society breaks apart and the empire crumbles.

The world is now reaching that breaking point once more.

The Valseer

The Valseer are trained to be expert demon hunters and exorcists from a very early age. The orders ethos states that exorcists can only have children with others from the order itself, thus preventing any possible weaknesses that could be exploited by the creatures they fight. Exorcist children start their training at the age of 12 and are considered mature by their early twenties, if they survive the harsh training and emotional isolation that the order enforces.

The head of the order is the Arch Bishop Deemas .He is stationed at the small town of Wisproot , which contains one of the Valseers’ most powerful branch,The Holy.

The Situation

Born from a forbidden relationship between an exorcist and an outsider the main character was born with the enigmatic ability to see beyond the veil and take a shadowy form. This power puzzled the Orders’ elders and was quickly considered a threat, an abomination. The ShadeForm, as it is called, only manifested when Cain reached the age of 17. Having already learned much of the exorcism training and worse, having a natural talent for it, the character was imprisoned; Wards placed within his cell and his bindings, making sure he could not use his powers again. He was not killed outright due to a request from the Arch bishop himself, who wanted to learn more about this power.