Game Design Document
INDEX Game Concept Introduction BackGround Description Key Features Genre Platform Characters Game Mechanics Core Game Play Detailed Gameplay Mechanics Player Controls Concept Art Art and Video Sound and Music Story Story Overview Ending Level Overview Location Overview Bibliography
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GAME CONCEPT Introduction
Description
Climbing Trees is a first person adventure game, designed for PC and Mac. The main character is a 10-year-old boy/girl. The main character lives in an apartment complex that has plenty of trees and green zones where is possible to climb and play.
Climbing Trees takes place in an apartment complex filled with green zones. These green zones have trees that kids can climb on. As the kids are playing surrounded by trees, dirt and grass, there is always the chance for them to get their clothes dirty and damaged. Also, they have to take into account the rain that will eventually come. The player is recollecting fruit to replace the one that he/she was supposed to buy but which was instead spent in candy. Also, the player doesn’t want to annoys his/her mother by damaging the clothes that he/she has on nor does he/she wants to be late at home and get scolded for that.
Background Climbing Trees is inspired by games like Grow Home, GRIP and the original Tomb Raider. In this games was necessary for each action and movement to be intentional and internalized by the player. Each step has to be a challenge for the player so he is always engaged with the game.
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Intrinsic rewards: The act of climbing the tree is fun in itself, the time limit and the fruits are only particular challenges and opportunities given to the player so he does it in an interesting way. Furthermore, the fact that the avatar's clothes get damaged and dirty by making
Key Features Climb trees: This is the main mechanic used in the game. Only by doing this can the player achieved the objective of getting fruits.
Genre
Maintaining balance: Thi is the system that raises the tension for the action of climbing and forces the player to make more interesting decisions.
This is a game about exploration. We reward the player and motivate him/her for being curious. As the player climbs it will be possible to appreciate the level from different points of view and more options to keep climbing will become available.
Gathering fruits: The objective of the game is to obtain a minimum of fruits. This can only be achieved by climbing the trees. This is a simple interaction that requires to only get to the fruit. The player doesn’t have to bother thinking about where to store them o how to grab them.
Platform
Simple but clear visuals: This is a simple story, thus it is accompanied by simple but expressive visuals. This works as a metaphor for childhood and helps to set the tone of the experience. As getting fruits is hard and time is valuable, is important that the player is able to localize the fruits and differentiate the branches easily.
The game is made for PC and Mac using the mouse and keyboard to control it.
Climate change: The player has to pay attention to the sky and the climate, as this is the only way to know how much time does he/she have left, for both the rain and to be able to get home before is too late. 4
Characters Main Playable character: A 10-year-old boy/girl. He/she uses new clean clothes. Not much more is known, the objective is to give the player an avatar to project him/her self in. The mother of the child: This the mother of the player's character. She is sweet and cares for him/her but also gets very angry when her child doesn’t follow the task’s she assign him/her or when he gets his/her clothes damaged.
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GAME MECHANICS Core Gameplay
[Space] button before a time limit runs out. The stamina of the player will drain every time this is done. In the case the player doesn’t have any more stamina or doesn’t press the button under the time limit, the player will fall from the tree, damaging the avatar’s clothes and being forced to start climbing from zero.
The core gameplay revolves around climbing trees, looking for fruits and finding the way to get to those fruits without falling from the trees. The action of climbing a tree is composed of two parts. First, grabbing onto a branch of a tree with both hands to go up or go down. In the case of wanting to go up the branch, the player has to grab it with both hands and press the [Space] button. If the player wants to go down, he/she must grab with both hands the branch he/she is walking on, then point the camera to the branch he/she wants to go to and press the [Space] button.
As the main objective is to gather fruits from the trees, the player has to constantly be looking where these might be located. To be able to do this he/she should be able to observe in all directions as he/she goes up or down. Now, even if the player is able to see a fruit from the base of the tree he/she must explore the tree to find the way to it, as there is no clear way on how to get anywhere from the start.
The other part that composes the action of climbing a tree is walking on it while keeping balance. The player will have to walk in the tree in order to reach the fruits in the branches. As he/she walks faster it becomes harder to maintain balance. If he/she walks slower it will be easier to maintain balance. The player is capable of rotating on his/her own axis.
Once the player has located a fruit, figured out the road to get it and managed to get to the fruit without falling, the fruit will be automatically added to the inventory.
In the case that the player isn’t able to maintain his/her balance, there are two possible outcomes. The first one is that the player is given the opportunity to grab the branch he/she falls from and step on it by pressing the 6
Detailed Gameplay Mechanics Moving in the ground: While in the floor, the player moves using the WASD controller to move to the front, back, to the left and to the right.
Grabbing a branch: To grab a branch the player must be within range, looking a the branch with the cammera , then pressing the left mouse button if he/she wants to grab it with the left arm and the right mouse button if he/she wants to grab it with the right arm.
Moving on a branch: While on a branch the player can only move back and forward, in the direction of the branch. He moves only using the [W] and [S] keys. - If the player tries to moves using the [A] and [D] keys he/she will only manage to affect his/her balance. More info in the Keep Balance bullet. - As the player rotates over his/her axis there is a point after which the direction to the [W] and [S] move the player are inverted. Thus, if the player rotates 180 degrees by pressing [W] he/she will move forward instead of backward.
Release a branch: To release a branch he/she just need to release the mouse button or buttons he/she is holding. Climbing onto a branch: To climb onto a Branch he/she must grab the branch with both hands, then he/she must press the [Space] key. Going down a branch: To go down from a branch (to the floor or to another branch) the player must look with the camera a the branch he/she is walking on, grab it with both hands, look at the branch or floor he/she wants to go to and finally, press the [Space] key.
Rotate character while on a branch: While on a branch, the player rotates the camera using the mouse by moving it horizontally just as it is done while on the floor.
Moving the camera: The camera is moved by moving the mouse. If the mouse is moved vertically the camera will rotate vertically as well. If the player moves the mouse horizontally the camera will rotate horizontally. When the camera is moved horizontally the player’s body rotates over his/her axis, this doesn’t happen when the camera is moved vertically. 7
Keep balance: While on a branch, the player has to keep balance because he/she is constantly being inclined to the sides. To keep balance the player must use the [A] and [D] buttons to incline to the opposite side he/she is losing the balance. There is a threshold of inclination the player must maintain himself in. - Ex 1: If the player is looking towards the end of the branch he/she will use the [A] button to move to the left. - Ex 2: If the player turns and now is looking to the direction of the tree trunk the [A] button will incline him/her to the right.
- Ex 3: If the player is looking exactly perpendicularly to the branch, the [A] button will incline him/her to the position the [A] button was previously used for. - Is important to remember that the rate at which the player loses balance increments up to a maximum point the faster the player goes. Falling from a tree: When the player surpasses the threshold of inclination defined, he/she will fall. In the case the player has stamina left he/she will have the opportunity to grab onto the branch he/she felt from, to step on it again. If the player didn’t have any more stamina left or if the player didn’t grab the branch in time, he/she will fall 8
stamina the player has left is represented via a bar which is divided into 5 sections.
from the tree to the ground. Once the player has reached the ground, an animation showing him/her standing up will play which will allow the player to observe the avatars clothes and the damage they have received. While falling from the tree the player will be looking down to the floor.
A section of the stamina bar is depleted each time the player grabs a tree branch to recover from a fall. The stamina bar fills over time filling each bar little by little from left to right.
Grabbing a branch while falling: Once the player has fallen from a tree branch he/she has the opportunity of grabbing the branch and stepping on it again. The conditions to do this are for the player to have at least one unit of stamina and to press the [Space] button while on the timeframe. If the player reacts on time, a short animation showing the player grabbing and stepping over the branch will play. - Each time the player falls and grabs a branch, a stamina unit will be spent. - In the timeframe the player is given to grab the branch, time slows down.
If the player has at least 1 stamina section filled (call it Section [1]) but the next one (call it Section [2]) isn’t filled yet and a section used, visually the amount of stamina recovered from Section [2] is moved to Section [1], leaving Section [2] empty.
Stamina: Stamina is the resource spent whenever the player grabs a tree branch after falling. The amount of
A visual prototype of the Stamina bar.
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Gathering fruits: To gather a fruit the player has to reach it by getting to a branch with one and walking on it. Once the player is within a defined close range the fruit will be automatically gathered and disappear from the tree.
- The clothes get 1 damage point for each level of the tree the player has climbed. Thus, the higher the player is, the more damage the clothes will get. - The height from which the player falls doesn’t change the amount of dirt the clothes get, this value is constantly 2 damage points. The only factor that increases the amount of dirt gained is the rain, which causes the player to get 7 damage points when falling. - If the player walks on mud while raining he/she will get 2 damage points per second.
Amount of fruit gathered: The amount of fruits the player has gathered is shown constantly in the superior right border of the screen to ensure the player is always aware of his/her progress. Each time a fruit is gathered, this value will automatically be updated. The clothes: The status the clothes are in, worsens each time the player falls or when the player walks over mud. - The clothes get damaged until the point where the kid knees and elbows are completely exposed. - The more the player walks in mud the dirtier the clothes get until the clothes are about 90% covered in dirt. - The more the player falls from trees the more the clothes get damaged. - The clothes have 20 “life points” for the clothes integrity and 20 “life points” for the clothes cleanliness.
The climate: As time passes the climate starts to change. The game starts with a sunny day and no strong winds. As time goes on the strong winds start happening which complicates the action of keeping balance. Finally, it starts raining which constantly makes harder to keep balance and turns the ground into mud.
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PLAYER CONTROLS Standard Keyboard as Reference Walking on the ground: The players move in all directions (upfront, backward, to the left and to the right) using the WASD contoller. Walking on tree branches: While on a tree branch, the player can only move to the front and back. This is done with the W and S keys respectively. Keeping balance: While on a branch, the player uses the A and D keys to recover the balance of the avatar by inclining the avatar to the left and right side respectively. Moving the camera: The player moves the camera by moving the mouse. Using the hands: The player uses the left and right hands by pressing the left and right mouse buttons respectively. Climbing onto a tree branch: To climb onto a tree branch the player must press the SPACE key while grabbing a the tree branch with both hands.
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CONCEPT ART The art style is meant to be simple but clear, so the player can focus on the simple beauty of nature. The game will have all its world and charaxters made in low poly. Examples of this can be appreciated in the concept of the trees, clouds, fruits and birds.
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Art and Video The art style is to be very minimalistic. Being clear enough so that the players are capable of perfectly understanding what is everything in the game but without any detailed characteristics like realistic wood or skin textures. The only “videos� will appear at the end of the game in the form of a few consecutive still images telling the consequences of the player's actions.
Grow Home by Ubisoft Reflections
That Dragon, Cancer by Numinous Games 13
Sound and Music The music is very minimalistic and relaxing with a lot of the soundtrack being the sound of the leaves in the air and other natural sounds.
Eastshade, by Eastshade Studios, is a game where you walk arround surronded by nature , appreciating and enjoing it. We want to express a sense of nature and tranquility in a similar manner this game does it.
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STORY Story Overview
Ending
The player's character is a kid that spent all the money his/her mothers gave him/her buying candy instead of beverages. Thus, the player is now climbing trees to gather enough fruits to make juice for all of the house guests.
There are 2 possible endings. 1. The player gets all the necessary fruits (10 fruits) on time and has the clothes with 50% or more “health� and cleanliness, this shown an illustration of the mother happy and the guest eating normally. 2. The player gets all the necessary fruits or the clothes get more than 50% damage or dirt. This showns an illustration of the mother getting angry and grounding the kid.
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LEVEL OVERVIEW It has two trees which combined have the total amount of fruits which the player needs to gather. Both trees have up to four “floors�. The amount and positions of the branches vary from floor to floor. Finally, the level has a road that helps the player to prevent from getting dirty but which is not the most direct route to the house door. The most direct route requires the player to walk on the ground.
Map of the level (Top view).
Front view of the bridge. 16
Bibliography The Mechanics of Movement | Game Maker’s Toolkit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQRr3pXxsGo Redesigning Death | Game Maker’s Toolkit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WyalnKQIpg How Games do Health | Game Maker’s Toolkit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AEKbBF3URE
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