In figure given below is a sample mini design document for a Space Invaders type of game. Space Invaders is a relatively old game that you are probably familiar with.
After reading this design document you should be able to develop it on your own using the Mirus framework you developed earlier.
General Overview
Space Invaders is a typical arcade shooter game. The objective of the game is to destroy all the enemy ships in each level. The player controls a ship that can move horizontally in the bottom of the screen while it tries to avoid the bullets from the alien ships.
Target System and Requirements
Space Invaders is target to Windows 32-bit machines with DirectX 8.0 installed. Being such a low-end game, the basic requirements are minimal, such as:
- Pentium 200 processor or equivalent (for DirectX performance)
- 6/32 Megabytes of memory (depending on system)
- 5 Megabytes of free disk space
- SVGA DirectX compatible video card
(SVGA" stands for super video graphics array. this is a kind of video display standard created by Vesa for IBM PC compatible personal computer. A screen resolution of 800x 600 pixels. )
Story
Around 2049 A.D., aliens arrived at our planet, and they were not peaceful. They have destroyed two of the major cities in the world and are now threatening to destroy more.
The United Defense Force has decided to send their special agent, Gui Piskounov (don’t ask) to destroy the alien force with the new experimental ship: ZS 3020 Airborne.
You play the role of Piskounov. Your mission: To destroy all the alien scum.
Theme: Graphics and Sound
The whole game has a futuristic feeling to it. The main menus are heavily based on metallic walls and wire.
The game itself is played in space, and as such, most of the backgrounds are stars or small planets. The ships have a very futuristic look to them.
The game is ensconced in heavy trance techno music with a very fast beat. Sounds are basically based on metal beating, explosions, and firing bullets effects.
Menus
When the game starts, the user is presented with the main menu—in this menu he has five options.
i. Start New Game
This option starts a new game. The player is sent to the new game menu where he
can enter his name and chose the game difficulty.
ii. Continue Previously Saved Game
This option starts a game that was previously saved. The player is sent to the load
game menu where he can choose a game from a list of previous saved games.
iii. See Table of High Scores
This option shows the high scores table.
iv. Options
This option shows the Options menu. The player is sent to the Options menu where he can change the graphics, sound, and control settings.
v. Exit
This option exits the game.
Playing a Game
When the game starts, a company splash screen is shown for three seconds. After the three seconds the screen fades to black and a splash screen starts to fade in.
After four seconds the screen re-fades to black and the player is sent to the main menu.
When the player starts a new game, he is presented with a new menu screen where he can enter his name, and choose the game difficulty. After this is done, the user is sent to the game itself.
When each level starts, there is a three-seconds countdown for the game to start.
The player can move his ship to the left or right and shoot using the controls defined in the Options menu. When all the enemies are destroyed, the player advances a level. When the player is shot by an alien, he loses a life. If the player loses all the lives, the game ends. If the aliens reach the bottom of the screen, the game is also over.
If the player presses the Escape key while playing, the game is paused and a dialog appears asking what the user wants to do, and he can choose from the options:
- Save game—Saves the game
- Options—Shows the Options menu
- Quit game—Returns to the main menu
Characters and NPCs Description
In this version of Space Invaders there are two versions of alien ships. The first, the normal ones that are constantly on the screen trying to destroy the player, and the second randomly appear and if shot gives bonus points to the player.
i. Normal Ships
Normal ships are the typical enemies of the player. They can have various images but their functionality is the same. They move left and right and randomly shoot bullets to the player vertically. When the ships reach a vertical margin, they move down a bit.
These ships are destroyed with a single shot and each ship destroyed gives one hundred points to the player.
As the levels progress, the faster the ships move.
ii. Bonus Ships
Bonus ships show randomly on the top of the screen. They move horizontally and very quickly.
These ships exist only to give bonus points to the player and don’t affect the gameplay since they don’t shoot at the player and are not required to be destroyed.
When a bonus ship is destroyed, the game awards 500 points to the player.
Artificial Intelligence Overview
This game is very simple and requires almost no artificial intelligence. The ships move horizontally only until they reach one of the vertical margins where they move down.
They also randomly shoot a bullet down, in a vertical-only direction.
Conclusion(Game Design)
The decision to keep this game simple but addictive was done to appeal to both younger players but also to just about any age genre, especially, hardcore arcade gamers.
NOTE: Space Invaders is a very simple game, and as such, has a very simple design document.
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CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
1. What do you mean by Game Design?
2. What is "Game Design Document" and why it is needed?
3. Why "It's in My Head Technique" is not good? ("It's in my Head means that
plan of the project is in the mind not on documents)
4. What are the types of Game Design Document?
5. Create a "Fill In Game Design Document Template".
6. Give a sample Game Design Document of some game.
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