Original Post
If you've got the time and inclination to offer constructive criticism on, and new ideas for, the (unnecessarily complicated) overview below, I'd be much obliged. (I apologize in advance for the lack of formatting, I'm afraid I don't know much about Bulletin Boards) ------------ I. Overview Castle Crawler is part platformer, part action game and part puzzle game. The player must explore an abandoned castle in a fantasy setting. The castle is filled with spectral horrors that resemble walking shadows. The player’s sword can temporarily stun the shadows, but is incapable of killing them on its own. However, the shadows are sensitive to light. They can not enter brightly lit areas, and the player’s sword is actually capable of reflecting light from brightly lit areas into the shadows. These light beams are the only thing that can kill a shadow. The game includes combat areas like these, generally with locked doors that only open once all shadows are defeated, as well as exploration areas. Exploration areas are laid out like a traditional platformer, both horizontally (a collapsed bridge, for instance) and vertically (a sky-scraping bell or clock tower). These areas also involve lateral thinking challenges and puzzles that rely on a player’s intrinsic knowledge of the game world (as ascertained in previous levels) as well as simple inference based on extrinsic knowledge. i.e. Jumping on an old chandelier to crash through the rotten wooden floor. II. Gameplay This section covers the challenges the player must overcome, as well as the risks involved with failing those challenges and the rewards for succeeding. II.a. Challenges There are three primary challenges the player must overcome: reflexes, lateral thinking and strategy. II.a.i. Reflexive/Timing The player must time jumps accurately to succeed in the platforming areas as well as dodge attacks from enemies, particularly the furious boss enemies. The player must also time attacks with his sword to stun enemies and expose a boss’ weak area. II.a.ii. Lateral Thinking II.a.ii.1. Intrinsic Knowledge The player must use the knowledge gained prior in the game (i.e. how a particular enemy attacks) in order to succeed. II.a.ii.2. Inference The player has to infer the solution to certain “puzzles”. The solution is given via audio and graphic clues (i.e. a creaky, rotten wood floor) and the means to the solution is inferred by the player (i.e. dropping the bell at the top of the tower on said wood floor) II.a.iii. Strategy The player must use basic strategy based on his knowledge of the immediate surroundings to reflect light onto the enemies via his sword. II.a.iv. Difficulty Curve The difficulty curve of the game will be ramped up in four ways: increase the number of enemies the player is confronted with at a time, decrease the number of areas the player can draw sunlight from to reflect into the shadows, design areas with more challenging platforming and present the player with more complex lateral thinking challenges (i.e. more steps, more inference in the connections made between steps) II.b. Risk/Reward The player must risk dieing to overcome the majority of the game’s challenges, particularly the Reflexive and Strategy challenges. A player can be killed either when their health bar reaches zero (by being hit by enemy attacks) or by falling from a fatal drop (i.e. the infamous bottom of the screen). If the player dies they must restart from the last save point. The reward for overcoming the challenges is access to the next area, the progression of the story and the stacked reward of drawing closer to the completion of the game, which is the ultimate goal of the player. III. Game System This section covers input, output and the save system of the game. III.a. Input There are two means of input for the player. The game controls and the menus. III.a.i. Controls The controls are relatively basic and follow in the format of Function (Default Key). Move Left (A) Move Right (D) Crouch (Shift / S) Jump (Space / W) Attack with Sword (Left Mouse) Hold Sword to Light (Right Mouse) Aim Sword (Mouse Cursor) Pause Game (Esc) III.a.ii. Menus Castle Crawl contains two sets of menus, the main menu and the pause menu. Because the main menu’s functionality is limited to New Game and Load Game it only appears when there is a saved game file to load. The pause menu, which is accessed by pausing the game (no way!), contains options for New Game, Load Game, Options and Quit. III.a.ii.1. New Game This option starts a new game. Any time the game is run and there is no save game file to load the main menu is skipped and it is assumed this option was selected. III.a.ii.2. Load Game This option loads a saved game file which in turn points to a save point within one of the game’s levels to start the player from. III.a.ii.3. Options This choice takes the player to an options menu which allows him or her to change the screen options (Fullscreen/Windowed, Force Resolution On/Off) the audio options (Music On/Off) and the graphics options (Particles On/Off). III.a.ii.4. Quit Choosing quit prompts the player if they’re sure they want to quit. No returns them to the menu, yes exits the program. Easy. III.b. Output Output systems are those that respond to the players input, giving them clues as to their progress in the game world. III.b.i. Animations Animations play on the player’s in game avatar, the main character, and show the player what actions he is performing. They are run via Austin’s real-time bone animation system. Animations are required for these actions: move, crouch, jump, attack and hold up sword. Aiming the sword in the light will be a simple matter of rotating the “hold up sword” animation around the shoulder bone. III.b.ii. Effects Special effects will be used to clue the player into important details of the environment, as well as add atmosphere. The following list of effects is not all-inclusive, and pertains mainly to those that provide Output: -HDR simulation for moving indoors/outdoors -Rays of light falling in from windows, cave openings etc. -The beam of light reflected off the player’s sword -Hit effects that show the player their sword only stuns shadows -Hit effects that show the player reflected light defeats a shadow -Lens flare because they look cool III.b.iii. HUD The Heads up Display (HUD) for Castle Crawler is extremely simple. It consists solely of a health meter which fades in when the player takes damage and slowly drains. After an extended period of taking no damage (this period is shorter when there are no enemies in a room) the health bar fades away again. Whenever a player is hit by an enemy the health bar drains slightly. It will slowly replenish itself over time. III.b.iv. Audio Cues Audio cues are used as an additional form of output for the player. They are a sort of confirmation of their actions and include: -The clicks of the menu choices -Pitter-pattering footsteps for movement -Light jingling when the player crouches -Soft grunt for jumping -A light thump when the player lands -The dull “hit” noise when a player attacks a shadow -The high-pitched chime when the player reflects light -A satisfying “burn” noise when a shadow is hit with light III.c. Save System The save system consists of save points located at logical spots throughout an area, i.e. before a difficult jump or a boss battle. These save points save only the player’s current position. IV. Story Story is to be decided. (See Bottom) V. Art This section covers both the design and technical aspects of the art. V.a. Design The overall design of the art style is somewhat of a mix between classical, medieval fantasy and renaissance period architecture, all with a much more romanticized feel. Things are relatively clean and characters don’t have overly messy hair. V.a.i. Palette Castle Crawler has a palette of dark, desaturated hues in areas that are in shadow juxtaposed with brighter, warmer colors for the areas in the light. (Note that areas in the light are not necessarily entirely saturated, though they should appear more pastel than grayed out if they must be desaturated.) Ideally this could be achieved in real time using blending layers. V.a.ii. style The style is simple and relatively realistic, but never attempting to appear photo realistic. Lines of well-lit areas are primarily horizontal with perpendicular verticals (bridges, windows) or, if organic, smooth, calm curves (flowering vines, soft shrubbery, smooth rocks) to create a feeling of balance and calm. Areas particular heavy in shadow should feature more zig-zags and uneven angles (broken pillars and glass, sharp rocks, thorny vines) to make the player uneasy. V.a.iii. Artistic Cues The art should act as somewhat of a guide to the player. Using particularly rich spots of color as well as the concept of casting light, we can guide the player through the environment and attract their attention to important areas. i.e. Shine a light onto the weak area of floor from a broken window, the brightly colored stain glass of which is also on the weak area of floor. ------------ I haven't got a clue as far as story, characaters or name are concerned. Also, while I have a few ideas for levels (a library, an arbaritum) more are always welcome. I apologize that I'm not asking about a specific area of the game design, but I've got a number of gaps that need filled in. Thanks for all your time. [Edited by - 1337-n00b on December 8, 2006 5:09:07 PM]
