Game Design Document
Game Title: Minotaur Madness
Development Group: Group G, a.k.a “The A-Team”
Group Participants:
Mike Irvine, Lead Marketing Producer
William Newcombe, Lead Game Designer
Khalil Jabri, Lead Software Engineer
Theo Prentice, Lead Quality Assessment
Elevator Pitch:
Fast-paced survival game with linear maze level progression.
Summary:
You are a Cretian prisoner sentenced by King Minos to wander the
Minotaur’s Maze. This maze consists of several increasingly difficult levels that
increase in size and your goal is to escape the maze before a time limit runs out;
once the time limit has depleted, the Minotaur will be let loose to find you in the
maze. If he reaches you before you escape the maze, game over. Players will have
to depend on their speed, power-ups and bold nerve to bare the intensity and
ferocity that is Minotaur Madness. You will also be able to compete with other
players via a high score which will display each player’s time completed for every
level. Do you have what it takes to survive Minotaur Madness?
Game Description:
Plot/Setting:
King Minos has sentenced you, a Cretan prisoner, to endure the
terror of the Minotaur’s maze because you wore a more stylish toga then he did;
a crime punishable by death. If you can escape the maze, and the Minotaur who
dwells within it, then you can win your freedom and pardon your crimes.
The timeline is based off 1250 BC, set in the Minoan Empire under
the rule of King Minos. Many people have been thrown into the Minotaur’s maze,
but have never returned or found their way out.
Gameplay Mechanics:
The gameplay for this game is essentially the prisoner running
through a maze, going up, down, left and right in reference to an top-down view
of the maze. There are power-ups that freeze time, let you walk through walls,
and let you run faster temporarily that are scattered throughout each maze. The
mazes will vary in size, depending on how far into the game you are. The
beginning levels will start out simple and small and will eventually progressively
get larger and more complex as you complete each stage. The level advancement
is linear, as in you complete level 1, then you proceed to level 2 and so forth.
At
the beginning of a new game, a brief history of the Minotaur’s Maze, and a
description of the Plot will be shown to the player describing why the prisoner is
in the maze, and why you want to get out as fast as possible. When you start a
level, a timer will appear starting at 30 seconds and will count down to 0. Once at
0, the Minotaur begins to roam the maze and track you down by scent. The
Minotaur can move faster than the prisoner, to the player is pressured to finish
the level before time runs out. The player can still beat the level if the timer runs
out, but will have to pick up the pace because the Minotaur is hot on his/her trail.
If caught by the Minotaur, the prisoner is presumably killed and eaten and the
player will lose a life. The player starts with three lives for the whole game, but
may explore the mazes and pick up additional lives as a power-up. Each level will
have a high-score board for the quickest times completed, and the names shown
beside the scores will be a name which you call your prisoner at the start of a new
game. If a player completes the game within a certain amount of time, a bonus
level will be unlocked.
Interface:
You control the prisoner through simple arrow key controls with a
small view of the maze level. You have a close up view of your prisoner running
through the maze while a mini-map sits in one of the corners showing you the
entire maze level. Question marks scattered on the mini-map denote a power-up.
Genre1:
Minotaur Madness is intended to be a strategy puzzle game.
Concept Art2:
Game Outcomes:
If the prisoner completes every level of the game, the prisoner is
freed and the player wins the game. If the player does especially well (i.e.:
Complete each level within a certain amount of time), then he/she will unlock
bonus levels just for fun.
Game Options:
When the game starts (after any advertisements or credit to any
developers/publishers), the player will be presented with three options: New
Game, Continue, and Options/Controls. “New Game” will, obviously, start a new
game for the player, “Continue” will resume a previously played game or possibly
a saved game, and “Options/Controls” will present the player with basic Audio
and Video settings like volume and picture quality as well as alternative control
schemes for the player such as “WASD” controls instead of the arrow keys for
example.
AI Behavior:
The AI for Minotaur Madness is fairly simple. The Minotaur, once
released after the time limit, can “smell” the player, meaning it will follow you
through the maze wherever you are and hunt you down like an animal. The
Minotaur AI will know exactly which paths to take to get to you as fast as possible,
and to make matters worse, the Minotaur has a faster movement speed than the
prisoner.
Market Research:
Minotaur Madness is an engaging fast paced puzzle game that it is designed
for all ages. It utilizes an interesting adaptation of the ancient mythological story
of King Minos, the Minotaur and the great labyrinth on the island of Crete. Puzzle
games have been around for more than 2000 years one in particular is
Archimedes box. Either simple or complex, puzzles have remained as engaging
games for an individual’s intellect. Recently there has also been more emphasis
on the puzzle genre as seen in popular films like “Shutter Island” or “Inception” all
of which incorporate the grand puzzle of the human mind. Using both history and
the puzzle genre this game has increased potential to become a successful and
popular product.
Technical Design/Feasibility Study:
Typically for a four member group, the game production should take no
longer than three weeks. It is expected that the game designer will have a
minimal role in producing the game therefore he can be delegated overflow of
task from other group roles. By collaborating on sprites and code, the Artistic
designer and the Software Engineer should be able to complete preliminary
designs of the game in a span of 10 days. Concurrently, the AD will also
collaborate with the MP to produce designs and animations for advertisements.
This should take no longer than 5 days and therefore the total production time for
the game should ideally be two weeks. (Stretching to three, as needed).
Site URL http://web.uvic.ca/~kjabri/
References:
1.
http://www.thegeekmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/e4everyone.jpg
2.
http://www.videogamesprites.net/SecretofMana/Bosses/14%20-%20Minotaur.gif