This page is a guideline on how to develop the game, what is there to prioritise and a reference for new ideas to add to the game.
The pillars are important because they’re referred to when there is content developed into the game. Having guidance adhere to a common list of expectations (The pillars) keeps all game development choices consistent and interlinked.
Pillars
- I want players to earn a sense of flow whilst navigating through a fairly layered process of completing commissions
- I want to create a game where there are a lot of solutions / variety to repairing one thing, so the player feels like they can improvise on how they complete their commission.
- I want players to feel pressure during the working day, and relaxed during the night, creating two distinct feelings
- I want players to clearly see the significant link between gameplay and the narrative.
Why I want these pillars
- I think a sense of flow is satisfying to play, as you feel like you’re getting things done without thinking a lot about it. I would like the players to earn it so they can feel the satisfaction of mastering their environment and see the difference between how they first repaired something to how they now do it.
Terraria is a big inspiration because it has punishing gameplay and quite a slow progression. However, the game allows you to fight previous bosses youve defeated, if you have better loot than before, you can get a sense of how much you have progressed through the game.
- I think this gives a sense of freedom because when you repair something, there isn’t one way to do it. It creates a sense of novelty of which makes the game interesting. I would like a sense of pressure to come not primarily from time, but more from how they decide to repair things.
There’s not one way to beat a boss in hollowknight, get todays wordle or play your next chess move, and that’s what makes it fun. Having variations happen on each game increases its novelty and lets people think more about the game because it is always different. - Initially, I wanted players to be fully calm, however, it risks feeling boring. Instead, I want a big contrast between pressure and calm, so after the working day, players appreciate the downtime.
Huge parts of R.E.P.O, terraria and Dave the Diver, have gameplay where there are lots of low stakes times to just relax and not think so much
A lot of this is for the story telling too. Grandpa Greg will represent a company that cares for you, is a superior, is ‘like family’, is fully infatuated with digital tech and expects everything to be done fast.
Storyline-Dialogue-Persona - I want people to understand how the gameplay is linked because it will strengthen the story. If what you play is relevant to how the story goes, then the player will understand the story deeper. This is my criticism of AWC. I found the story very irrelevant to the game and it didnt build up to anything. Observations, Inspirations and Analysis.
What do these pillars mean for development?
- It will take a lot of gametesting to understand the balance between having too much stuff that overwhelms the player versus having too little things to do which makes the player bored. Ideally, there should be multiple ways you progress with lots of variety and advantages or disadvantages.
- There will have to be multiple variations to everything, such as what items need repairing, how they’ll need to be repaired, in what order / how many commissions there will be and what tools and materials you have. All of these things and more will have at least some chance behind them, which will lead to each playthrough to be different.
- I want players to feel pressure from the amount from the responsibilities that the player has to take on. The grandfather will accept commissions and you can set a deadline on a pop-up calender. You dont have much of a choice. You will have to work out yourself on how to complete it all. The more commissions the player has, the more they’ll start using the night to plan out the next day.
- Making people read the premise and the development of the story, to make sure its understandable throughout is good. Also noting how they feel about the story pacing as they play the game is crucial too.
Vertical Slice
A vertical slice is important because it helps potential investors in your game understand whether or not they want to fund it. It may aid as a demo release or for a trailer to help potential buyers to know what your game is about. A vertical slice features a small sample of every aspect of the game, to recreate a similar experience as though you are playing the released version. Some vertical slices are more polished than others.
I will be using the MoSCow system to determine what is more or less important in my game.
MUST
– Clear telling of narrative using dialogue
– Working Commission system for the game
– Clear understanding of the two stages of the gameplay – Day and Night
– Character design
– Workshop and Gregs room
SHOULD
– Music and SFX beyond free assets
– Rooms to have ambient animation – like a pulsing calm sunlight in the workshop or many LED’s flickering in Gregs room
– Animation of the characters in game
COULD
– Implement polished UI
– Implement details
– Animation of the characters when talking
WONT
– Different designs of the rooms for every season as the vertical slice will only showcase one day of one season
– The climax of the story
– Multiple different types of commissions