Interface Design

Game Design Document

Game Pitch in one sentence:

Mirror’s Edge meets Resident Evil

Game Summary:

After an outbreak of virulent plague that swept the world and changed anyone unlucky enough to be infected into predatory mutants, society is finally making a comeback. The military has begun taking back land previously claimed by the mutants and the human population has begun to climb. With the rise in population comes a rise in the demand for supplies. A group organizations known as Scavengers sweep through the ruins of the old cities in search of any goods they can find: medicine, food, fresh water. You are one of the Scavengers newest runners. Tasked with high-speed resource retrieval on foot, your job is to scout out now virtually abandoned urban environments, locate resources and then escape before you are caught, eaten or turned by the mutants that may be hiding inside. Humanity may be making a comeback but you’re limited with what you can work with. All you have are the supplies you find and the less you return with back to the checkpoint, the more you risk termination and the unemployed don’t last very long out in the ruins.

General Genre: Action/Horror

Game Genre: First person platforming

Gameplay:

Most of the game play revolves around navigating around the environment in search of resources. Part of the game play involves keeping a sharp eye out for supplies, but a mission briefing and updates via an earpiece the character wears will inform the player on the general area where supplies are located as well as key caches of supplies are. In addition to these key objectives, the player is encouraged to explore to find more items to bring back to the checkpoint. For example, let’s say a player is tasked with scouting out a hospital building. They are told to search the fourteenth floor for a specific item. This item will likely be mandatory for level completion but the player is free to search other floors or areas in the building for extra items, provided they don’t violate a time limit (when applicable) or get themselves killed.

Item searching will involve light puzzle elements, such as figuring out how to clear a pathway, but most of the game play will involve navigation. To use the aforementioned Mirror’s Edge as an example, in that game, many of the puzzles involved figuring out how to use the environment in clever ways in order to get to the next goal. The same will be done within this game. The rest of the game play centers around avoiding and evading monsters the player will encounter. Being spotted by a monster or horde will cause a game play shift; instead of focusing on carefully scanning the area for clues, the player will have to think quickly to find a way out of the situation while choosing paths that will slow the persuit of their chasers. More than likely, there will be scripted events within the game wherein a player will have to outrun a large group of monsters/zombies to make it to the checkpoint, all the while a count-down timer is announcing how long it will be before the zone becomes too hot and the player’s rescue has to abandon the mission.

Systems:

tem Location

Evasion/Escape

Game Modes:

Item Location

Exploration

Primary goals

Optional resources

Navigation puzzles

Enemy avoidance

Stealth

Alternate route finding

Timed events

Evasion/Escape

Enemy avoidance

Stealth

Alternate route finding

Navigation puzzles

Timed events

Enemy evasion

Interface Notes:

General Game Play:

At all times of the game, there will need to be an indicator of the player’s health, the player’s stamina (if the system is used within the game and if it is used, stamina will factor into special moves and sprint moves), direction of the mission goals and, when applicable, a timer element.

Item Location:

Items of interest will be hi-lighted by a special glow similar to the one used in Left 4 Dead. Item glow will not penetrate walls. Care will need to be taken when deciding how intense the item glow is; too intense and item location will be too obvious to the player, whereas a glow that’s not bright enough will be too difficult to see from a reasonable distance.

Navigation:

Some additional navigation element should be considered to aid the player in advising them where to go. Chances are that the level designer could use subtle lighting clues to cue the player to the appropriate direction. However, this approach would only really work best when the player is in a dark or dimly lit area. As part of this game will no doubt occur in the daytime, there will need to be some sort of alternate visual cue. The easiest way to do this is to make the level more linear. The trouble with this approach, though, is that Zombie Runner is supposed to be relatively non-linear, with optional paths and supplies to gather. Therefore, a balance between the linearity of the level and the freedom afforded the player through exploration will need to be struck. There is also a chance that an element similar to Mirror’s Edge could be employed, with key path elements changing a bright red when the player is close to cue the player into where to go. The trouble with this approach, though, is that it has been done before and as this game is already likely a first-person parkourt-driven platformer, further similarities should probably be avoided.

Evasion/Escape:

The player will need to be notified if she is spotted by a monster. This notification will more than likely come in the form of an audio cue, although some sort of a visual cue might work as well. Maybe there could be some kind of screen flash or shake when the player is spotted or a horde event occurs. Furthermore, perhaps there could be some kind of audio or visual notification for approaching hordes or monsters.

General:

As with any game, this game will require a main menu screen, save and load game screens, option screens and a game over screen. The motif currently under consideration is that of an urban street-sign style, probably involving many simple but effective pictographs and liberal use of yellow and black.