These are my Ideas as far as the game goes so far, what can be done to polish them and what needs to be cut? I'm trying to put together a good idea so I can apply to my local game design school in which the requirements for application are.
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- Successful completion of the VFS Foundation Visual Art & Design program
- OR -
- A 1-page (maximum) synopsis of a game that you are passionate about creating. Explain the concept, vision or idea. Include the genre of game you would utilize. Make references to other games to explain how you would make your game. In addition, provide a 1-page (maximum) outline detailing your story, possible levels, and characters. Provide 1-2 pages (maximum) of diagrams explaining any features or game mechanics and a simplified map of the game world described in your synopsis.
I would really appreciate you're input on how I can make this game work. Right now I'm focused mainly on how all the mechanics will work together.
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Perfect Apocalypse (Working Title)
Game Type:
Active Time Strategy
Tactics
RPG
Game Mechanics:
Statistics: All characters will have a varied but set amount of statistics making them unique. Statistical points will be spread across five Attributes. ALRICS will be the term used when referencing all five attributes hence forth.
ALRICS:
Agility Affects,
-Dodge rate
-Stealth score
-Agility saves (Dodging a sprung trap or surprise attack)
-Movement speed in Active time
Luck Affects,
-Dodge rate
-Hit rate
-Critical hit rate
Reaction Affects,
-Action Bar fill rate in Active time.
Intellect Affects,
-Ability Bar and regeneration
-Magic damage
-Magic Research time
-Ability Research time
-Awareness
Constitution Affects,
-Health bar and regeneration
-Regulating Temperature
-Regulating fatigue
-Regulating Hunger
Strength Affects,
-Carrying Capacity
-Physical Damage
-Strength Saves (Being knocked down, being held)
-Strength Checks (Breaking down doors, carrying or dragging people, pinning someone down ect.)
Free Roam: At this time speed all of you're characters action bars are constantly full and moving does not cause them to empty. This is the main speed in which the player will do things like talk to townsfolk or buy supplies. Some puzzles will be solved in Free Roam.
Some basic things you will be doing while in Free Roam are:
-Buying and selling supplies and armaments
-Checking into an Inn or Hospital
-Looking at Abilities and Magic in Libraries
-Gathering Information from townsfolk
Active Time: The next game speed is Active time, Active time can be activated two ways, the first is intentionally; you can enter Active Time by pressing a button. All characters Action Bars will be full and ready to accept commands when you start Active Time in this way. The second way you can enter Active Time is when you are attacked, in this case, the enemy has taken the initiative and you're action bar will start empty, though begin charging immediately. Attacking, most magic and most abilities can only be used within active time. Some puzzles will be solved in Active Time.
Some basic things you can do once your Action Bar has filled up are:
-Attacking an adjacent sprite with a melee weapon
-Firing or reloading a ranged weapon
-Using an Ability or Magic
-Using an Item the character is carrying
-Moving your character an amount of spaces determined by their Agility Statistic
Generally you will have to wait for the characters Action Bar to reach max before the character will execute their command (though commands may be issued at anytime and will be fulfilled when possible). One exception to this rule is turning to face a different direction, which only costs a quarter of an Action Bar. This is important because like in most Tactics games, you have a higher chance of dodging or defending attacks you receive from the front, opposed to the sides or from behind.
Paused Time: You can pause at any moment during Active Time and issue commands between all of your characters. This will make managing your different characters on the battlefield more manageable.
Leveling Up: Levels will be managed in the form of Combat Experience (CE). CE will influence the characters Dodge, Hit and Critical Hit rates, Identical to the Luck Statistic.The more Active Time fights the character participates in the higher the characters CE will become. CE is not permanent and will begin to rust if the character is swapped out or has not participated in a battle in a lengthy amount of time.
Character Controls: You will be able to control each character individually by scrolling between them. You may also set a party leader and having the rest of your characters follow in a set formation. Battles that you fight in Active time while separated must be fought alone unless additional characters can reach the battles position within the constraints of Active Time. Some areas of the game will require you to split your party in to two or more groups to solve puzzles.
Time Skipping: Over the course of the day your characters will eventually fatigue. Fatigued characters will not preform optimally in Active Time. You can choose to end the day and start the next at any time, even outside an inn or hospital (Though doing so unprepared poses risks) Alternatively you may also skip weeks, this will give your characters the chance to make full recoveries from any damage they sustained from battle. Each character has a unique special ability that can be used when time is passed in weeks (Characters checked into hospitals cannot take advantage of their ability in this way). This could be for example- a profession or trade that will earn income when you resume play, gathering information about the current quest or mission, or aiding in the recovery speed of injured allies. Alternatively all characters have access to the towns library where they can study new magic and abilities.
Time is kept track of and character sprites and stats will change as they come into age (though this is a very slow process) after reaching 70+ a hidden number (influenced by Constitution) will be determined and added on to 70, that is when the character is scheduled to die. Some in-game herbs and powerful magic can halt the effects of aging temporarily.
Temperature: Every characters current temperature can be accessed by looking at their status, a character sleeping outside without a blanket or sleeping bag will be subjected to the cold winds and unforgiving weather of night severity will depend on season. There is a good chance your character could catch a cold or worse. This process can be circumvented by staying at an in when possible and being prepared when not. Some spells can affect temperature by radically dropping or raising it causing hypothermia, heat strokes or instant death. The amount of resistance a character has to changing temperatures is dependent on their Constitution statistic.
Hunger: Characters must eat or they will eventually become starved- reducing their efficiency in Active Time. If left starving long enough, characters can die. When ending the day in a hospital or Inn, food will be taken care of and hunger will be reset. If you end the day outside characters will automatically consume enough rations to reset their hunger. Characters with more Constitution require less rations to sustain themselves.
Fatigue: Fatigue a status effect induced primarily by being active for too long without ending the day (Some Abilities and Magic can also induce Fatigue). Fatigued characters will not perform optimally in Active Time and if left fatigued for long enough, will eventually pass out. Passed out characters must be carried or dragged by allies to move (Strength Based). If left alone and still alive, the character will wake up at the beginning of the next day having faced night unprepared. You can bring the character back to the main group by controlling him individually (See: Character Controls)
Healing: Healing Magic is very limited and healing is still done using conventional means, bandages, first aid ect. Damage will cause trauma that must be tended to, for example cuts will cause bleeding damage over time if not bandaged, loss of too much blood will cause fatigue. Damage will heal over time, the speed of which is determined by a characters Constitution as well as their conditions of rest.
Stealth: A character or group of characters that know the stealth ability can activate it in Free Roam or Active time. Using stealth characters can sneak past enemies that would otherwise try and fight them. Stealth is opposed by Awareness, the higher someones awareness the harder it is to sneak by them undetected. Stealth is affected by the Agility Statistic and Awareness is affected by the Intellect Statistic.
Inventory: Inventory will be managed in list form sorted by weight, the amount of weight a character can carry and thus the characters inventory space is determined by the Strength statistic.
