NAME OF GAME______________________________________________________________________1

DESIGN HISTORY_____________________________________________________________________5
VERSION 1.10_________________________________________________________________________5
VERSION 2.00_________________________________________________________________________5
VERSION 2.10_________________________________________________________________________5
GAME OVERVIEW____________________________________________________________________6
PHILOSOPHY__________________________________________________________________________6
Philosophical point #1_______________________________________________________________6
Philosophical point #2_______________________________________________________________6
Philosophical point #3_______________________________________________________________6
COMMON QUESTIONS___________________________________________________________________6
What is the game?___________________________________________________________________6
Why create this game?________________________________________________________________6
Where does the game take place?_______________________________________________________6
What do I control?___________________________________________________________________6
How many characters do I control?_____________________________________________________6
What is the main focus?______________________________________________________________6
Whats different?____________________________________________________________________7
FEATURE SET________________________________________________________________________8
GENERAL FEATURES____________________________________________________________________8
MULTI-PLAYER FEATURES_______________________________________________________________8
EDITOR______________________________________________________________________________8
GAME PLAY__________________________________________________________________________8
THE GAME WORLD___________________________________________________________________9
OVERVIEW___________________________________________________________________________9
WORLD FEATURE #1___________________________________________________________________9
WORLD FEATURE #2___________________________________________________________________9
THE PHYSICAL WORLD_________________________________________________________________9
Overview__________________________________________________________________________9
Key Locations______________________________________________________________________9
Travel_____________________________________________________________________________9
Scale_____________________________________________________________________________9
Objects____________________________________________________________________________9
Weather___________________________________________________________________________9
Day and Night______________________________________________________________________9
Time_____________________________________________________________________________10
RENDERING SYSTEM__________________________________________________________________10
Overview_________________________________________________________________________10
2D/3D Rendering__________________________________________________________________10
CAMERA____________________________________________________________________________10
Overview_________________________________________________________________________10
Camera Detail #1__________________________________________________________________10
Camera Detail #2__________________________________________________________________10
GAME ENGINE_______________________________________________________________________10
Overview_________________________________________________________________________10
Game Engine Detail #1______________________________________________________________10
Water____________________________________________________________________________10
Collision Detection_________________________________________________________________10
LIGHTING MODELS____________________________________________________________________11
Overview_________________________________________________________________________11

Lighting Model Detail #1____________________________________________________________11

Lighting Model Detail #2____________________________________________________________11
THE WORLD LAYOUT________________________________________________________________12
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________12
WORLD LAYOUT DETAIL #1_____________________________________________________________12
WORLD LAYOUT DETAIL #2_____________________________________________________________12
GAME CHARACTERS________________________________________________________________13
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________13
CREATING A CHARACTER_______________________________________________________________13
ENEMIES AND MONSTERS______________________________________________________________13
USER INTERFACE___________________________________________________________________14
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________14
USER INTERFACE DETAIL #1____________________________________________________________14
USER INTERFACE DETAIL #2____________________________________________________________14
WEAPONS___________________________________________________________________________15
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________15
WEAPONS DETAILS #1_________________________________________________________________15
WEAPONS DETAILS #2_________________________________________________________________15
MUSICAL SCORES AND SOUND EFFECTS_____________________________________________16
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________16
RED BOOK AUDIO____________________________________________________________________16
3D SOUND__________________________________________________________________________16
SOUND DESIGN_______________________________________________________________________16
SINGLE PLAYER GAME______________________________________________________________17
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________17
SINGLE PLAYER GAME DETAIL #1________________________________________________________17
SINGLE PLAYER GAME DETAIL #2________________________________________________________17
STORY______________________________________________________________________________17
HOURS OF GAME-PLAY________________________________________________________________17
VICTORY CONDITIONS_________________________________________________________________17
MULTI-PLAYER GAME_______________________________________________________________18
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________18
MAX PLAYERS_______________________________________________________________________18
SERVERS____________________________________________________________________________18
CUSTOMIZATION______________________________________________________________________18
INTERNET___________________________________________________________________________18
GAMING SITES_______________________________________________________________________18
PERSISTENCE________________________________________________________________________18
SAVING AND LOADING_________________________________________________________________18
CHARACTER RENDERING___________________________________________________________19
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________19
CHARACTER RENDERING DETAIL #1______________________________________________________19
CHARACTER RENDERING DETAIL #2______________________________________________________19
WORLD EDITING____________________________________________________________________20
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________20
WORLD EDITING DETAIL #1____________________________________________________________20
WORLD EDITING DETAIL #2____________________________________________________________20

EXTRA MISCELLANEOUS STUFF_____________________________________________________21

OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________21
JUNK I AM WORKING ON_____________________________________________________________21
XYZ APPENDIX____________________________________________________________________22
OBJECTS APPENDIX_______________________________________________________________22
USER INTERFACE APPENDIX_______________________________________________________22
NETWORKING APPENDIX__________________________________________________________22
CHARACTER RENDERING AND ANIMATION APPENDIX_____________________________22
STORY APPENDIX_________________________________________________________________22

Design History
This is a brief explanation of the history of this document.
In this paragraph describe to the reader what you are trying to achieve with the design history. It is
possible that they dont know what this is for and you need to explain it to them.

Version 1.10
Version 1.10 includes some tuning and tweaking that I did after making my initial pass at the design.
Here is what I changed.
1.
2.
3.

I rewrote the section about what systems the game runs on.
I incorporated feedback from the team into all parts of the design however no major changes
were made.
Just keep listing your changes like this.

Version 2.00
Version 2.00 is the first version of the design where a major revision has been made now that much
more is known about the game. After many hours of design, many decisions have been made. Most of these
large design decisions are now reflected in this document.
Included in the changes are:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Pairing down of the design scope. (Scope, not design)

More detailed descriptions in many areas, specifically A, B and C.
Story details.
World layout and design.

Version 2.10
Version 2.10 has several small changes over that of version 2.00. The key areas are in many of the
appendixes.
Included in the changes are:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Minor revisions throughout entire document.

Added User Interface Appendix.
Added Game Object Properties Appendix.
Added concept sketch for world.