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Casting Shadow Design Document

Contents
Executive Summary
Overview
Demographic
Unique Selling Point
Platform
Glossary
Interface
Aesthetics
Story/Setting
Plot
Core Gameplay Loop
Mechanics
Ten Minutes of Play
Commercial

Executive summary
Play as a revolutionary, new to the cause, as you try to bring down the
authoritarian government of an isolationist city state by uncovering its dark
secrets and bringing them into the light of day. A stealth/espionage game in
which the player infiltrates urban establishments to collect evidence and
turn the people against the government and thus start a revolution.
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Overview
The player will travel between levels set out on a city map of
Vysograd. The map is split into five sections, one for each caste except for
the Scholar caste. Each section will contain a number of levels which the
player can explore. Every day the player will be given a copy of the Voice of
Vysograd, a daily paper. The stories contained within the headlines will give
the player the cues he needs to know where to go find evidence of the
governments misdeeds.
Having gone to the right level the player will then have to navigate his
way to the objective, which he will have to find. There will be guards
throughout the complex; if they see the player they will sound the alarm and
attempt to apprehend the player. The player can attempt to fight but is very
likely to lose the guards, as trained enforcers, are far more capable in a
fight than the player. Therefore the way to proceed is through avoiding being
detected by the guards, by using essence to cause distractions and
disturbances or simply taking unconventional routes (also aided by essence.)
After evading the guards, finding the evidence (a letter, conversation
recording or a memory) and escaping again the player then has to
distribute the evidence to the people. This involves infiltrating a propaganda
centre (equivalent to a modern day broadcasting centre but using essence
based devices) and broadcasting it.
Each distribution will raise the Civil Unrest meter in the sector which
the player distributes in. Higher unrest will attract guards from other
sectors, making some places easier to infiltrate and others harder, thus the
players choice of where to distribute has significant consequence. The
ultimate objective is to raise the civil unrest to 100% in each sector at which
point that sector will revolt. When all sectors have revolted the government
will fall and the game is complete.

Demographic
The game is aimed at an audience primarily late teen to
early twenties, those who have a desire for mental challenges but
also free time.

Unique selling Points

A unique mix of small scale stealth and large scale strategy with the
opportunity to influence your route in complex and exciting ways.

Platform
The game will be made for the Steam download market. Gameplay will
require an investment of more than 5 minutes at a time and will need to
make use of the greater specs offered by a computer. It has strong potential
for expandable content and modification, both of which are simplified and
flourish through the steam platform.

Glossary
Vysograd The City Name
Essence The general term for magic related things. Living things contain
essence and can use it similarly to a resource.
Castes The people are split into 6 castes, which loosely define their
occupation.
Civil unrest meter the percentile gauge of each sector indicating the
current mood of the people in that sector
Spells Specific ways in which to use essence. The player will have access to
a number of these and may use them to assist his progress through a level.
Infiltration The time whilst a player is attempting to navigate a level.
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Leeching The citizens of Vysograd practice great restraint in the

use of their essence. However their bodies naturally produce
essence and a large build-up of essence can become toxic.
Therefore they use specially grown leeches to remove the essence
from their own bodies this is called leeching.
Voice of Vysograd Daily paper run by the Beacon caste.
Reports everything that happens in the city but with an obvious
bias in the favour of the regime. Also used by the player to find clues as to
where to go for evidence.

Interface
Although the game will be released on the Steam market it will be
designed for use with a console pad, the traditional xbox/playstaion dual
analogue layout.

Aesthetics
Serious dark and tense. Similar to cold war. V for Vendetta. Lots of
black and red.

Story/Setting
The game is set in the city of Vysograd. Long ago, in order to
escape

the endless magic wars, the people of Vysograd used

their magic to create

an impassable mountain range (the

Barrier) that rings their city,

separating them from the outside

world. As a side effect of the

creation of the Barrier an Abyss was

also

created that

rings

the city of

Vysograd even more tightly than the Barrier.

The people have always had magic, and so learnt to solve all their
problems through the use of magic rather than technology. However, due to
the destruction caused by magic the people decided to limit their own use of
it. Thus the caste system was created. Each child is assigned a caste at their
birth ceremony and from then on they are trained to use magic in very
specific and focused ways, relevant only to the purpose of their caste.
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The castes and their roles are as follows:

Beacon They are the spiritual and political leaders of

Vysograd (in practice but not officially.) The Beacon caste is
the guiding light of Vysograd, responsible for the mental
well-being of citizens. Their magic is focused around
telepathy, sensing moods, long distance communication

and, in extreme cases, reading minds.

Harvester They are responsible for the physical health of the people.
They provide the food for the city and medical care. Their magic
focuses on manipulation of essence within life. Accelerating growth

and healing for example.

Builder They are responsible for the collection of resources and the
maintenance of the city. Their duties include surveying the land inside
the Barrier, mining resources and repairing buildings and making new
ones. Their magic is used to manipulate physical material for example

changing the shape of stone.

Justice They are the police and public order officials of Vysograd.
Their duties include anything concerning state law and its
enforcement; they are the police, the judges, the jailers and the
executioners. They also act as the agents of the Beacon caste. They
use magic to manipulate force and energy, so they are capable of
producing a light and throwing a man across a room then restraining

him.
Artisan These are the inventors and artisans of Vysograd. They are
responsible for researching and experimenting with magic as well as
production of complex objects or devices used by the city. They build
the mass communication devices as well as things like clothing. They
use magic to enchant materials or objects with specific uses for
example making a coat more resistant to cold or a platform that will

move when magic is channelled into it.

Scholar A small percentage of people are born without any magical
aptitude as mutants. These citizens handle administration, recording
information, and logistics. Sometimes as a punishment citizens from
other castes are reassigned to the scholar caste where their duties
dont require them to use magic at all. Scholar members are often
discriminated against and seen as lesser than the other castes despite
their importance to the running of the city.
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Plot

Intro-

The

player

character
works

as a

harvester

caste

member. Eats a mango and gains memories from it of one of the previous
Beacon leaders. Proof to him of how the government abuse and mistreats
the people for no real reason.
The character then resolves to bring down the government he has
become a rebel.
Narrative8

Narrative will be delivered through environment, the Voice

of Vysograd and the various pieces of evidence found by the
player. For example, guards will have conversations discussing
recent stories or break-ins (performed by the player earlier.) The
evidence will describe bits of the decline of Vysograd (the rise of
the abyss monsters and the failure of the city to cope with its
size.)
PlotThe player will bring down each sector of the city one at a time but in
the order he chooses all the while the changes in mood of the citizens will be
reported by the paper.
The last Sector to be brought down will be the Beacon sector, that is,
the heart of the city. Once that falls all people will revolt and the current
regime will be abolished.
The player will often have more than one story worth investigating in a
day. These stories will fall loosely into two categories: the governments
misdeeds and the Abyss Creatures. The player may choose which stories to
distribute this adds a second more subtle layer to Civil Unrest;
Government and/or Abyss. If the people are truly made aware of the Abyss
Creature problem then they will leave Vysograd and the Barrier at the end.
If they are made aware of the governments actions they will abandon their
current regime and way of life. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Core gameplay loop

Primary time consumer within the game is navigating levels to acquire
or distribute evidence.
The player has to get to a specific location without being detected by
the guards or any alarm systems.
This is done through character movement and manipulation of the
environment via spells.

The guards detect using sight cones, hearing and essence radiuses.
These specifically are what the player has to avoid. He does this by using
spells to determine the physical range of the guards detection areas. Then
the player can decide which way to go given the options he can recognise
(the player will learn to recognise various possible routes through playing as
well as more routes becoming available.)
Sometimes the player will come across guards that he cannot simply
avoid because they are posted at a specific location, they are patrolling a
route or they are investigating a noise or sight. The player may wait in a
concealed position or use a spell to incapacitate the guard, cause a
distraction elsewhere or escape from the guards path.

Mechanics
Player Actions:

Movement The player character will be able to move freely on

the ground but cannot move upwards normally. Movement

speed will be variable from a very slow walk to a slow run.

Rolling The player can dive into a roll in order to move faster,

but during a roll cannot change direction.

Crouching The player can crouch, this will make the character
much smaller and therefore enable him to remain out of sight
behind low objects like walls and boxes. Whilst crouched, the

player will move more slowly.

Climbing the player may climb onto an object of a certain
height the same height that requires crouching to remain
hidden. The player may climb a series of these objects like
stairs. The player may also move off an object to drop down

below. There is no damage associated with falling.

Casting The player will have spells available that he can use at
any time during infiltration. Each spell will have a certain time
required to cast and then an effect that varies based on the
spell as well as a cost in essence that will immediately be
removed from the player.

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Different Guards There will be different types of guards,

identifiable by their appearance, which the player will encounter
whilst infiltrating. Each Caste has its own guard, save for the
scholars whom rely on the Justice caste. Beacon caste member
are the most effective, followed by the Justice. In game terms a
guard can counter spells with its own magic if the caste type
matches. Justice caste are trained better and so are more
suspicious and persistent in a chase and Beacon caste can detect the
players essence aura.
Guards sight cone Guards have an invisible cone of view; if the
player is within the boundaries of that cone then he can be seen by the
guard. The cone has two divisions, close and long range. If the player is at
long range then the guard will move closer and attempt to confirm sight (i.e.
move until the player is within the close range division.) The guard will move
to the point where it last saw the player, therefore if the player is out of the
sight cone once the guard has finished moving the guard will abandon the
search.
Guards hearing radius Similar to the sight cone except in the
shape of a sphere centred on the guard. There is no subdivision, instead if
the guard hears a noise it will always investigate.
Essence radius Every person in the city of Vysograd gives off
an aura of essence which can be detected by certain people trained to do so.
The majority of guards the player encounters will not be able to detect the
player through his essence aura. Some however, will. The players aura
strength is dependent on how much essence has built up in the player at
the time and projects a set distance from the player in all directions. It
projects more the stronger the aura. If a guard capable of detecting aura
comes into contact with the players aura it will attempt to confirm sight like
as with hearing, however if the city sector the player is currently in has a
high civil unrest then the guard will instead raise the alarm.

Guard Type
Beacon
Justice
Artisan

Suspicion
High
High
Low

Spell Counter
Mind
Energy
Augmentation
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Sight Range
Standard
Long
Standard

Harvester
Builder

Low
Low

Essence Alt.
Manipulation

Standard
Standard

Player essence The player characters essence will grow at

a steady rate and is depleted when the player casts spells or when
he Leeches.
Leeching The player may choose to leech at any time provided he
has a sufficient supply of leeches. Applying a leech will quickly drain
essence from the player, until the player stops or the leech dies from
excessive essence at which point the player may use a new leech. This will
allow the player to tailor his essence value for each level and individual
encounter.
Night and Day The player can do one mission in the day and one
mission in the night, thus two missions a day.

Day - Doing a mission during the day will mean more guards
around, however they will be less suspicious and it will be easier

for the player to move around unobstructed.

Night At night there will be fewer guards. Guards will have
reduced vision unless within an area lit by light crystals.
Guards will be more suspicious investigating immediately if they
detect the player.

Mission Types The possible mission types all involve similar

gameplay but have different objectives:

Acquiring Evidence Infiltrate a facility; find the evidence type

and then escape.

Distributing Evidence Infiltrating a distribution centre,

broadcasting evidence and then escaping again.

Escort citizen The player makes his way to the target citizen.
The citizen will then follow the character at a fixed distance. The
player then has to escape without getting himself or the citizen
caught.

Spells All spells fit into 5 categories associated with the 5 castes
other than Scholar.

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The categories are:

Mind Beacon training.

Augmentation Artisan training.
Energy Justice training.
Manipulation Builder training.
Essence Alteration Harvester training.
The player will learn spells when he helps another citizen

escape, by escorting them to a rebel agent. The spell he the player learns will
depend on the caste the citizen he escorts belongs to.

Detection Shows the sight cones and detection radius of

guards. (Similar to the radar in Metal Gear Solid, though in

main game window not a mini-screen.)

Push Push an object at a distance away from you.
Pull Pull an object at a distance towards you.
Hop Propel the character upwards and forwards to a height

equal to the characters body height.

Alarm Enchant a space so that it will let the character know if

a guard enters it.

Noise Create a noise at a distance away from the character

that a nearby guard will immediately move to investigate.

Sleep Put a guard to sleep at a distance.
Flame set fire to an object, creating a distraction or removing

an obstacle.
Fracture Make an object fragile so that a force will break it.
Darkness Put out the crystal lights so that guards cannot see

well. Only works at night.

Summon Calls nearby creatures towards you. Can have

unpredictable results.
Control Make a target at a distance from the player aggressive

to others nearby.
Weather - Create rain; make guards in the affected area seek

shelter. Create fog; lower visibility during the day.

Alter wall visibility change the structure of a block so that

the player can see through it.

Clone illusion Create an illusionary clone of the player that
will then run away in a set direction. If a guard sees the clone it
will investigate.
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Polish floors Any character that moves over an

affected space will slip in a random direction, ending
up in an adjacent space and being unable to move for
a short time.

Spell
Detection
Push
Pull
Hop
Alarm
Noise
Sleep
Flame
Fracture
Darkness
Summon
Control
Weather
Alter Wall Vis.
Clone Illusion
Polish

Type

Essence

Magnitude/Duration

Alteration
Energy
Energy
Energy
Augmentation
Mind
Mind
Augmentation
Manipulation
Augmentation
Alteration
Mind
Alteration
Manipulation
Alteration
Manipulation

Cost
1/second
10/size
10/size
30
30
10
100
25/size
50
2/second
100
100
150
3/second
50
30

Activated
Based on target size
Based on target size
Body Height
60 Seconds
Immediate
10 seconds
Based on target size
Indefinite
Activated
Indefinite
5 seconds
30 seconds
Activated
20 seconds
Indefinite

Ten minutes of play

Starting from the home city screen. The player has a view of Vysograd,
on it he can see the time of day (a visual difference, displaying a binary
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change between day and night; it mostly gets darker for night) and
the various areas that can be entered for a mission. There is also
the newspaper icon which the player activates to view the days
news and finally the metres for each sector showing the public
disorder ratings.
Reading the paper the player is presented with three
stories, within which three separate locations are highlighted. The
player then makes a decision to do mission one, during the day.
So he uses the cursor to select the courthouse location in the
Justice Sector (getting the location from the first paper.)
The screen changes to an over the shoulder perspective of
the player character in front of the main entrance of the courthouse. The
player chooses to scout around the building and see if theres another route
in besides the main entrance. Going to the left the player comes across an
alley going right, exposing the side of the courthouse (just before an invisible
wall that would stop him going any further left.)
Going down the alley the player sees a window on the 1st floor of the
courthouse. The window is currently out of his reach, so the player carries
on. Further down the alley the player sees a large storage box among some
general debris. Using Pull, the player moves the box to underneath the
window. Then the player climbs onto the box and from there through the
window onto the 1st floor.
The player finds himself in an office with no-one in it and two doors.
He uses Alter to make the wall translucent and see if there are any guards
outside the first door. The player sees a long corridor with one guard
patrolling up and down it. The player waits until the guards reaches the
door and turns around. Then quickly the player opens the door and comes
out behind the guard. The player attempts to use sleep, but finds he has not
enough essence left and so instead follows the guard down the hallway,
hoping to be able to stay behind the guard when it turns around. The player
is successful and now enters the room at the end of the corridor whilst the
guard is moving down the corridor again.
Inside the room is another office and on the desk highlighted is
deliberately large envelope. The player picks it up and is then given the
option to read the letters.
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Now the player simply has to escape again to finish the mission.

Commercial
The aim of this game is to deliver an enjoyable and complex experience
primarily, however monetisation is still important. The intention is to sell the
game for a small initial fee, along the lines of 10. Outside of that, due to
the contained nature of the levels further revenue can be created with the
release of additional mission locations as premium DLC.
As the gameplay focuses on the mechanics, the graphical fidelity
doesnt need to be on a scale equivalent to a game like Crysis for it to be
successful as such a small scale development can handle it. The budget aim
will be 100,000 with a ten man team.

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