GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT (GDD) for IS195 – Clifford Ferguson II and Mike Couture
Title: Human Warz – Rize of the Hyper Humanz
Description: Human Warz is a fast-action first person shooter. It is primarily
focused on multiplayer combat, and also includes two-player co-op for the single
player story mode. This game will help players hone their skills in close range
combat as well as long range.
Features:
General
 Many exciting worlds
 Variety of character options
 3D graphics
 Sounds and entertaining music
Multiplayer
 Up to 32 players
 On-line enabled
 CO-OP missions
Gameplay
 Fast paced
 Quick game loads for less wait
 Quick respawns
 Easy to understand missions for single player
 Fully customizable bots for training mode
Purpose: The game’s purpose is to allow players to focus specifically on two types
of combat: fast-paced close-quarters armed combat, and long-range combat with an
emphasis on sniping. This game also heavily promotes team play (especially in
single-player mode, which is not being created for IS195).
Premise/high concept: Armageddon is paradise compared to what this race of
Hyper Humans wants to do to us. It is your job to save the Earth. Do you have what
it takes?
Genre: First Person Shooter
Style: Our game’s mood ranges from dark and grungy (such as in ruined cities) to
slightly bright and relaxing (such as in forests or on beaches), with an overall feel of
war. The training levels are laid back and rather bright. The game has realistic 3D
models. Our theme is rather modern with a bit of futuristic architecture thrown here
and there.
The overall look and feel of the game that we are going for will be in an overall
realistically modern setting with some futuristic elements thrown in. At least, the
realistically modern look will persist while the player is fighting on Earth. Obviously
the space ships of the invaders will look completely different from modern Earth
architecture. Our time setting of 2036 makes it close enough 2006 that we can make
the look generally modern, yet the 30-year time difference gives us some leeway in
making things slightly futuristic (like different parts of architecture, weapons, vehicles,
etc).
Platform/Engine/Software: Our primary platform for this game is the PC. We are
using Unreal Engine 2.5 to develop with game. All of our environments are created in
the Unreal Editor, using pre-existing textures and static meshes (at least for our
training levels).
Audience/market: Our game is targeted to players in their late teens and up. We
expect an ESRB rating of MA-17 due to violence and gore, as well as mature
themes. We focus mainly on those players who prefer to play fast-action frag-fests
on the PC, where the emphasis is on close-quarters combat, as well as those who
prefer to battle it out over long distances, waiting patiently for the perfect opportunity
to snipe.
Player mode: The single-player mode supports co-op play through the whole game.
Our training levels that we are developing right now for this class are multiplayer
focused, either against bots or against other human foes. Training Site 1 is for closequarters fast-paced combat, with a player count of 2 -6 players preferable. Training
Site 2 is for long-distance sniping, with a player count of 2-32 players preferred. This
is a large map that is capable of supporting 32 players.
Time interval: The time interval for this game is real time combat. It can be timelimited. The player can adjust the time settings for multiplayer.
Backstory & Setting:
The backstory for our game involves a race of seemingly normal humans from
another part of the galaxy that has highly developed senses and mental powers. For
some unknown reason they feel like they have more of a right to Earth than the
humans found on Earth do, so they decide to invade Earth in order to take it over
(and enslave the currently existing humans). Humans from Earth have started calling
these super humans “Hyper Humans.” Our main character, Sgt. Mike Drezz of the
Marine Corps, and his squad are sent out on various missions, with the ultimate goal
of taking out the invading forces’ main command ship in order to severely cripple and
perhaps even stop the Earth invasion.
Other minor / major characters include Drezz’s commanding officer, Capt.
Russell Tanner; his squad mates (Mendez, Walters, Axel, Ellias and Terrence),
labeled as “The Last Hope”; the main enemy’s leader, Xilart Turama, and her
second-in-command, Deamon Celsor, who is out to get Drezz and his crew.
Beginning of Game:
There is a quick cinematic that consists of scrolling text with artwork in the
background that explains Earth’s first encounter with the Hyper Humans, during the
initial Earth invasion.
Fast forward a few years. The main character, Sgt Mike Drezz, is sitting in a
military plane en route to the frontlines of a battle that’s going on in a U.S. city
somewhere. Drezz and his team are talking about old times, back when they were
first in training and how they never thought they would be fighting super-powered
alien invaders as part of their service to the Marines. It is during this time that Drezz
experiences a flashback to his days in training. This is where the game begins, 15
years before the current story line. The player controls Mike Drezz as a fresh recruit
into the Marines. They player plays through two different training missions. Each
mission takes place in Training Sites 1 and 2, respectively.
Character descriptions:
Sgt. Mike Drezz - The hero of the game. Drezz is the kind of guy that won't take no
for an answer. Drezz has lived a life of pain and anguish, starting from when he was
just 5 years old, when he saw his mother and father brutally beaten and taken away
right before his eyes by a group of seemingly harmless strangers. He later finds out
these "harmless strangers" were actually a group Hyper Humans sent to earth from
their home planet as a reconnaissance mission. From that day on, he swore to take
revenge on these Hyper Humans if they ever returned to earth. He joined the
Marines at the age of 18 and has been training and preparing for 15 years.
The following characters will be not be used in the assignments for IS195 (they are
just for the single-player game concept):
Xilart Turama - Leader of the Hyper Humans. Xilart has been monitoring Earth and
its inhabitants since she was brought to life. Xilart knows much about the earth and
its weaknesses. She knows everything about the human body and has been
studying it all her life. Every new bit of information she gains about earth gets her
one step ahead of us and every new type of technology and weaponry we create will
only destroy us. She has the ability to foresee occasional events. She controls a
vast array of mysterious and deadly powers. No other Hyper Human can match her
power. She knows more about Sgt. Mike Drezz then Drezz knows about himself…
“The Last Hope”-Drezz’s squad mates: Mendez, Walters, Axel, Ellias and Terrence.
Each specializes in a different form of combat. Mendez specializes in sniping. He
can pick off can of soda on the top of someone’s head while running without harming
the other person. Walters is the demolition expert. He can arm and disarm a bomb
in 3.2 seconds. The average is 7.6. Axel is the main wheelman. He can drive every
vehicle ever created with incredible ease. Ellias is the stealth expert. He can sneak
in any heavily guarded location without being detected and leave just as easily.
Terrance specializes in close range combat. One day in training, it is said he blew
away 5 people from one shotgun shot and did not get a scratch from them.
Competitive Analysis: On the PC side, there are a few games that might be
considered competitors to our game. Epic’s own Unreal Tournament series,
especially the upcoming UT2K7, focuses on multiplayer combat of all kinds –
assaulting bases, capturing and controlling territory, fast-paced deathmatch, combat
with vehicles of all shapes and sizes, capture the flag and more. From a multiplayer
perspective, this game series offers more than our game. UT2K7 uses the all new
Unreal Engine 3.0, boasting all the graphics capabilities and performance
enhancements that only DirectX 10 can offer (for users of the upcoming Microsoft
operating system, Windows Vista).
Half-Life 2 might be another competitor. It’s already been out for a few years, but it
has a deep and involving single-player experience (with a story involving the
enslavement and destruction of mankind), as well as several multiplayer modes
(Half-Life 2 deathmatch and the mod Counter-Strike: Source).
Quake IV involves fast-paced close-quarters combat. Its story involves a race of
genetically and cybernetically engineered creatures (human-type and others) that are
trying to wipe out the entire human race.
F.E.A.R. doesn’t share any similarities with our game story-wise, but this game
features realistic close-range combat.
Far Cry features modern combat in wide-open tropical areas that are great for
extreme long-rage combat. The game also has quite a bit of close-range combat as
well.
The Rainbow Six games as well as a number of other FPSers on console and PC
that feature squad-based tactical combat are similar to our game in the way that
missions are accomplished by the player and a team of NPCs that the player can
issue orders to. A few of these games also feature co-op mode for single-player,
where two or more human players act as part of one team to accomplish objectives
and missions. This is also a feature that our game will have.
On the console side, a few games come to mind. One is the Halo series, which has
a story involving an intergalactic war between a race of aliens called the Covenant
and humans. Halo features variable types of gameplay, including normal and ranged
combat, vehicular-based combat and sniping. The Halo series also eventually makes
its way to PC.
The PlayStation 3 game called Resistance: Fall of Man involves a race of
grotesque creatures taking over the world in the 1940s and 50s, starting with Russia.
World War II never happened because of these creatures. These creatures also
have a virus which turns humans into more of their kind. These creatures possess
futuristic technology and weaponry.
Players will choose to play our game because the action is fast, furious and nonstop; the story is excellent; and finally because this is a full-length (approx 12-15
hours) fully-featured game with a low price of $19.99.
Rules:
Players: 1–32. 1-5 for single-player, 2 to 32 max for multiplayer. Some maps like
Training Site 1 have a max cap of 6 players.
Length of game:
Concept: 12 – 15 hours.
For our levels (Training Sites 1 and 2): variable. Multiplayer maps like these can
have time limits set by the players, or have no time limit. There can also be no frag
limit, which would cause the match to go on forever. It’s all up to whoever is hosting
the match.
Victory and Loss Conditions:
Training Site 1 – eliminate all opponents and be the last one standing, or get to the
frag limit first (depending on if game type is last man standing or deathmatch / team
DM).
Training Site 2 – same as above.
Scoring: 1 kill = 1 point (or “frag”).
Game End: the match is over when you satisfy the victory conditions listed above.
Gameplay (step-by-step):
Training Site 1 – Match starts, and players spawn in. You run around, taking cover
where possible and collecting power-ups and weapons. If the game mode is last man
standing, you must shoot and kill all opponents while avoiding death yourself. If you
run low on health, grab some health power-ups to regain health. If the game type is
deathmatch, you must kill your opponents (and thus rack up points or frags) to reach
the frag limit before your opponents do. You and the other players can respawn
infinitely. In team deathmatch, every player’s frag total counts toward the total for the
entire team. Friendly-fire can be switched on or off, but if a player team-kills, a frag is
subtracted from the player’s (and thus the entire team’s) frag count total.
Training Site 2 – Match begins and player spawns in at strategically placed spawn
points. Spawn points are located in places with good cover so there is not too much
“spawn killing”. Players must find cover or if he/she is good enough, can stand in the
open and dodge and snipe. The same rules apply for the game mode as it does in
Training Site 1. In this level, there is an option to play a game of capture the flag.
The objective is to capture the enemy’s flag and return to your base without dieing.
Your team’s flag must be at base in order for your team to score.
Challenges:
Challenges for Training Site 1: Exploration, chase, outwit, reaction times.
Challenges for Training Site 2: Exploration, race, chase, outwit, reaction times, and
capture and rescue for only the capture the flag gametype.
Strategies:
Strategies for Training Site 1: Make sure you take the time to be aware of your
surrounding. Know where as many of your enemies are as you can. Get behind
cover when under fire. Use obstacles to your advantage. Stand on higher ground to
get a better vantage point, but be aware that you will be more exposed to enemy fire.
Find areas to hide in, especially when low on health – places like tall grass and in the
pool of water make good hiding spots. Know the map, know where all the weapons
and power ups are. Know how to get around to different areas of the map. This map
is small, so getting to know the map doesn’t take long. Also know that your
opponents may know the map as well as you or better. Think quick and react
quicker. Dodge enemy fire and try to flank and surprise your opponent. And on top of
everything, go for those headshots!
Strategies for Training Site 2: Always move. Standing still will place you as a
sitting duck and a quick kill for an opponent. Use the environment to your
advantage. Trees, buildings, and landscape can be used as places to hide behind in
case of heavy fire in your vicinity. Tall grasses can be used as cover/camouflage to
snipe covertly from. Know where the ammo is, because running out of sniper ammo
in the middle of a fight is a sure death. Move around the level strategically, zigzag
and dodge jump. Look for areas that are less noticeable when sniping from, for
example, climbing up a mountain to blend in with the rock face. Know all popular
sniping locations and quickly glance at them to see if they are occupied.
Game Balance:
We are using the game difficulties that come with Unreal Tournament 2004. Our
levels are designed with a simple layout that players can learn quickly and easily. All
players have easy access to all items and weapons. Training Site 1 has no places for
players to hide and camp. Training Site 2 has good sniping positions all across the
map.
Audio:
As far as this project is concerned thus far, there are no voice-overs. Or at least at
this time we don’t have the capabilities or the time to include voiceovers. All the
sound effects we will be using are including with the Unreal Editor. Same goes for
the music tracks we will be using. The audio is looping audio.
Roles and responsibilities of each team member:
Cliff Ferguson II – Designing and documenting Training Site 1. Putting together all
documents and text for the GDD and the Initial Game Data Document. Came up with
name for main character. Came up with title for the game.
Mike Couture – Designing and documenting Training Site 2. Writing some parts of
the GDD and the Initial Game Data Document. Came up with names for all
characters except the main character.
Schedule for Cliff and Training Site 1:
Before Oct 23rd 2006: All space and scale testing done, all practice with Unreal
Editor done (terrain editor, volumes, general building).
Monday October 30th 2006: Have the terrain done. Have the skybox done. Pool of
water done.
Monday November 6th 2006: Basic construction done.
Monday November 13th 2006: Static meshes implemented.
Monday November 20th 2006: Volume work done.
Monday November 27th 2006: Texturing work done.
Monday December 4th 2006: Item placement done. Initial play-testing has
commenced.
Monday December 11th 2006: Refinement of level, and modifications (if any).
Monday December 18th 2006: Further play-testing and refinements done. Final level
has been completed (gone “gold”).
Schedule for Mike and Training Site 2:
Monday, October 30th - Complete terrain (complete mountain boundary, create
skybox with appropriate texture, ravine for river)
November 6th - Begin and hopefully finish caves in mountain boundary.
November 13th - Fill ravine with water texture, put appropriate volume on
water. Begin building warehouse and sniper tower.
November 20th - Continue with warehouse and sniper tower.
November 27th - Add static meshes (trees, bushes, grasses, appropriate lighting for
caves/warehouse)
December 4th - Add health/weapons/ammo
December 11th –Test/Debug
December 18th - Test/Debug