1 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
Perplexed
GDD 0.9
3/7/2016
Team Infinite Sadness
Chris Glass
Adam Henderson
GAM400
Summer '06
Instructor:
Michael Moore
Contact: Chris Glass (Cglass@DigiPen.edu)
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2 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................3
High Concept.........................................................................................................................................3
Game Introduction.................................................................................................................................3
Brief Description ..............................................................................................................................3
Puzzle Mode ................................................................................................................................3
Action Mode ................................................................................................................................3
Zen Mode ................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Core Game Play ................................................................................................................................3
Target Audience ....................................................................................................................................3
Requirements .........................................................................................................................................4
Budget & Schedule ................................................................................................................................4
Reference Products ................................................................................................................................4
Team Mission Statement .......................................................................................................................5
Example of Gameplay ...........................................................................................................................5
Game Play Mechanics ................................................................................................................................5
Components of the game .......................................................................................................................5
Game Flow ............................................................................................................................................5
Pieces .....................................................................................................................................................6
Victory/Loss Conditions .......................................................................................................................6
Items ......................................................................................................................................................6
Multiplayer ............................................................................................................................................6
AI ...........................................................................................................................................................6
Audio .....................................................................................................................................................6
Graphics ................................................................................................................................................7
Descriptions ...............................................................................................................................................7
Art..........................................................................................................................................................7
Audio .....................................................................................................................................................7
Sound Effects:...................................................................................................................................7
Music: ...............................................................................................................................................8
Appendices .................................................................................................................................................8
Controls .................................................................................................................................................8
Keyboard Controls:...........................................................................................................................8
Piece controls: ..............................................................................................................................8
Misc controls: ..............................................................................................................................9
Mouse controls: ................................................................................................................................9
No piece held: ..............................................................................................................................9
Piece held: ....................................................................................................................................9
Screen shots .........................................................................................................................................10
Porting .................................................................................................................................................11
File Names...........................................................................................................................................11
Budget .................................................................................................................................................11
Detailed Schedule ................................................................................................................................12
Sign Off ....................................................................................................................................................14
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3 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
Introduction
High Concept
Perplexed is an exciting 3D block puzzle game with the feature of being able to create
your own puzzles
Game Introduction
Brief Description
Perplexed is a 3D puzzle game. The player will manipulate blocks to fill a larger
wireframe object. The play can be done with solely the mouse or keyboard or a mix of both, with a
control style meant to be intuitive to everyone. The art style will be a simplistic interface making
minimal use of textures, so as not to distract the player from assembling the object. The objects will
start out simple and as levels progress they will grow in size into complicated pieces.
Puzzle Mode
The player simply must fit all the pieces into the object, thereby granting him access to the next
level. He will be able to manipulate pieces, even after placing them. He will also be able to put them
back into a tray, as well.
Creative Mode
In creative mode, the player is allowed to create their own puzzles and save them for others to
be able to play. When the player chooses Creative Mode, the player is introduced to a special screen
where he can create his own arena in which to place the pieces in. Afterwards, the player sees the same
interface as in Puzzle mode, except it adds all of the playable types of puzzle pieces in the tray, in
which an unlimited number may be placed in the arena.
Core Game Play
By completing an object successfully, the player will feel a strong sense of accomplishment.
Initially the puzzles will appear complicated, but still be easy to solve, making the player feel smarter
and more proud than he initially is, similar in style to Sudoku.
Target Audience
We anticipate the game will receive an E rating from the ESRB. The game should be primarily
played by stay-at-home mothers in their late 30s and other fans of casual games.
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4 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
Requirements
Operating System: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
Processor: Pentium 400MHz
Video Card: 16MB Video Card (NVIDIA TNT2 class)
Processor: DirectX compatible Sound Card
RAM: 64 MB RAM
CD-ROM: 6x CD-ROM
Processor: Mouse and Keyboard
Budget & Schedule
Units needed to be sold to break even: 14,527 (self-published)
Units expected to ship: 25,000
Expected Profit: 20,000 units sold = $247,800.00
June 2nd – GDD
June 9th – TDD and Timeline
June 30th – Engine Proof
July 21st – First Playable
September 30th – Revised GDD
October 10th – Alpha
November 10th – Beta
December 2nd – Gold
Reference Products
3D Tetris
3D-Tetris was a fairly obscure 3D title. Using a top-down view, you
manipulated tetrads in 3D space trying to fill a plane, instead of a line. Unfortunately, because the area
needed for a clear was exponentially larger than a line, and because of the interface, the game was
slow-pased and quite boring.
Fulfillment
Fulfillment is an online flash-based game from HomoKaasu.org. The object in
the game is to arrange a randomly generated set of pieces into a grid that increases with each level. It is
free to play and quite addicting for the fast pace. Our goal for Perplexed would be to mimic this game
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5 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
successfully in three dimensions.
Eggmania
Eggmania is a current-gen console and handheld game where two players
compete using 2D blocks to build a tower to the top of a level. It sold quite poorly because it felt
random and unpolished. Our game will have more substance and consistency, therefore becoming more
successful.
Team Mission Statement
This is a huge undertaking for us. In our previous years, neither of us has coded the
engine to the game, merely made other components such as the GUI, AI or Physics. We hope to get a
fairly functional 3D engine implemented that's impressive enough to the average person and cover it up
with special effects.
If that becomes difficult, the game can still stand on its own without fancy effects,
allowing us to work on other aspects of gameplay, such as automatic level generation and a jukebox.
Example of Gameplay
The player selects Puzzle mode and the game loads. Perplexed finds his jukebox and
begins playing some Aerosmith as the unfilled object spins into view and the first piece is queued up.
He puts it flat onto the bottom layer, spins it once and locks it in, seeing a flash and hearing a cue
indicating so. The next piece advances on the queue and he places it opposite the other, making a Ushape in the back. Then he gets a square, which he uses to fill the gap. Play proceeds until he has filled
the object, at which point, the outline disappears, the object rotates and fanfare plays.
................................................... Game Play Mechanics
Components of the game
Object – The overall object the player needs to construct.
Piece – The building blocks of the game.
Tray
– Holds the pieces the player has not placed inside the object. (Puzzle/Zen Mode)
Timer – Displays the current time elapsed.
Game Flow
The player begins with a zero'd timer, a full tray of pieces and an empty object. In
puzzle mode the first piece will appear translucently in the object and the player must manipulate it into
a position. Once he sets it, he chooses another pieces to place in and continues until all have been
placed. He can also manipulate existing pieces to his liking. Once the object is filled 100%, he is
congratulated and the next level begins. In action mode, he has no control over piece-choosing and
must instead work as fast as possible, trying to avoid overlaps and edge overflows.
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6 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
Pieces
Initially the game pieces will be simple two or three block shapes and slowly ramp up to
more complicated designs. Below are shots are all the possible 4-block or less pieces.
Victory/Loss Conditions
The game ends in puzzle mode when the player manually quits or completes all the puzzles.
Items
No. There are none.
Multiplayer
The players can compete to get higher on the high score list. Or just hack the save file that
stores the data.
AI
Perplexed will have very minimal AI. The only choices the computer needs to make is what
pieces to give the player in action mode and what object comes up next. If time allows, we may
develop an object generation engine that will make an endless combination of objects.
Audio
The sound in the game will also be very basic. Sounds for piece movement and placement will
be quiet click-type sounds. If time allows, a jukebox for playing music will be introduced, or we may
possibly include ambient music. Level completion will trigger a fanfare. When the life bar is low in
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7 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
action mode, the music may speed up, as well.
Graphics
Because of the team size and shared experience, the graphics will be kept simple. Particle
effects will appear when the player is moving pieces and locking them in. They will also appear as
fireworks upon object completion. The menus will be very dynamic and animated in a style consistent
to the game play. Textures will be used sparsely. The pieces may have simple textures on them to
differentiate them from other shapes, as will the plane the object rests on. However, time persisting,
those will be customizable.
Descriptions
Art
Each piece in the game will have a custom texture, to help players recognize the difference between the
variety of pieces. The general theme will be stones, like marble, granite, etc.
The skybox will be fixed and 2D.
The particle effects will all be derived from a gray ball and the engine itself will affect the coloring of
it.
The object outline will also be generated from the engine, no art needed.
The GUI will be partially transparent with a slightly-transparent sharp look.
In the tray, the pieces will still be rendered in 3D, slightly rotating back and forth with a glow behind
them, albeit scaled back to be smaller than when taken out.
The text will be white Arial with a black drop shadow to help contrast.
The game logo will be a static image. While it is just text, some characters will be modified beyond
what a text output could provide, so it will be a custom image.
Audio
Sound Effects:

Menu choice

Menu highlight

Game Start
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8 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06

Piece highlight

Piece movement

Piece rotate

Piece repicked up off object

Invalid piece position

Puzzle completion

Jukebox – Next song

Jukebox – Pause

Jukebox – Volume Adjust

Jukebox – Show/Hide
Music:

Title screen

Puzzle mode
Appendices
Controls
The game can be played with either the keyboard or mouse or both.
Keyboard Controls:
Piece controls:
W/↑
– Move piece away from player.
S/↓
– Move piece toward player.
A/← – Move piece left on the plane.
D/→ – Move piece right on the plane.
Q
– Shift piece up one layer
E
– Shift piece down one layer
I
– Rotate piece 90 degrees around X-axis
K
– Rotate piece -90 degrees around X-axis
J
– Rotate piece -90 degrees around Y-Axis
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9 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
L
– Rotate piece 90 degrees around Y-Axis
U
– Rotate piece -90 degrees around Z-Axis
O
– Rotate piece 90 degrees around Z-Axis
Misc controls:
Space – Place/Pickup piece that cursor highlights (In 3D or tray space)
F
– Rotate camera counter-clockwise
H
– Rotate camera clockwise
T
– Zoom in
G
– Zoom out
Ctrl
– (While Held) With WASD, manipulate cursor
Esc
– Pull up exit menu
F1
– Enable/Disable layer display
F2
– Enable/Disable queue/tray
F3
– Enable/Disable plane
F4
– Enable/Disable text display
Mouse controls:
Left-click
– Grab/Place highlight object
No piece held:
Scroll Wheel – Zoom in/out
Movement

– Move camera
hold LMB
– Move cursor to pick piece
Piece held:
Movement
– Shift piece around XZ plane

MMB
– Y-Axis: Around X-Axis

MMB
– X-Axis: Around Z-Axis

RMB
– X-Axis: Around Z-Axis

RMB
– Y-Axis: Around Y-Axis
Scroll Wheel – Move up/down layers
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10 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
Screen shots
In-game:
Title Screen:
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11 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
Puzzle Select:
Porting
Because of the simple graphics of the game this game could even work on the GBA or
DS. Porting will mainly be focused on making the controls work. Dual-analong and shoulder buttons
will be necessary for easy porting.
File Names
All media will be in the /Art folder. Graphics will be tgas. Sound will be numbered and
end in ogg or wav.
Budget
1 Producer / Programmer - $70,000.00
1 Technical Director - $70,000.00
Computers and Software - $40,000.00
Total Cost: $180,000.00 over eight months.
Cost Per Unit: $2.60 ( CD & Quick Install Leaflet )
Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price: $14.99
Units needed to be sold to break even: 14,527 (self-published)
Units expected to ship: 25,000
All content © 2006 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.
12 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
Expected Profit: 20,000 units sold = $247,800.00
Worse-Case sales forecast:

10,000 units sold

$56,100 Lost
Best-Case sales forecast:

25,000 units sold

$309,750 Profit
Detailed Schedule
June 2nd – GDD
June 9th – TDD and Timeline
June 30th – Engine Proof
+ 3D Engine in place
+ Pieces controllable
+ Early User Interface
+ Basic particle effects
+ Piece selection
July 21st – First Playable
+ Puzzles solvable
+ Action mode implemeneted
+ Improved particles
+ Mouse control
+ Zen Mode started
September 30th – Revised GDD/Pre-Alpha (Ignore this, see new schedule)
+ Modes revised and rebalanced
+ More puzzles implemented
+ Early sound engine in place
October 10th – Alpha
+ Menu system
All content © 2006 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.
13 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
+ Finalized controls
+ Amazing particles and texturing
+ Zen Mode completed
+ Basic sound
November 10th – Beta
+ Skybox
+ Jukebox
+ Puzzle creator
+ Piece animation
December 2nd – Gold/Final
+ No bugs
+ Balanced gameplay
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14 - Perplexed – Team Infinite Sadness – GAM400 – Summer '06
Sign Off
By signing my name below, I verify that I have read and understand all material in this
document and agree that this is the game that I want to create. I will do the best that I can to create the
game based on the design presented, and I will accept any changes and modifications to these rules
based on the decisions of the designer during development.
Adam Henderson (Producer)
____________________________________
Chris Glass (Designer)
__________________________________________
All content © 2006 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.