Design Document: Play With Fire

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4.       Structure

4.1.        Overview

The game is divided into field lists or Quests which consist (in general) of six fields. (The term Quest is used in game documentation, but in the design document the term Field List is used). The player must play through all six fields to complete a field list. However, they can exit their current set of six fields by pressing start and choosing exit from a pause menu.

The game is made of three paths – Fun, Puzzle and Challenge, which are accessed from a central Hub screen. Each path consists of 10 field lists, for a total of 60 fields each or 180 overall. There may, however, be up to 40% reuse of material between the different paths, meaning the game will actually consist of between 108 and 180 fields.

Medals are earned for hitting certain combo targets in field lists. These unlock the field lists from the Challenge path.

Additionally, every block the player burns earns 1 point of Ash. A running Ash total is used to unlock additional materials in the Fun path.

4.2.        Ash

Ash is earned for each block burned. It is used to progress along the Fun path. The target Ash values for the Fun path will rise exponentially.

4.3.        Rewards

4.3.1       Medals

Every field list has a target Chain total associated with it. This relates to medals as follows:

·          If the sum of all Chains scored for all six fields is equal to or exceeds the target Chain for the field list, a Gold Medal is awarded. Whenever the avatar is close enough to the Quest block in the Hub for that field list, a gold medal icon is shown. When a Gold Medal is awarded, a Silver medal is automatically awarded as well.

·          If the total Chain scored is between 50 and 99% of the Gold Medal score, a Silver Medal is awarded. This is also shown as an icon when the avatar is close to the relevant Quest block in the Hub.

Whenever the player completes a field list, they are shown the amount of Ash earned. Plus:

·          If they scored a Silver Medal, this icon is shown, and the Ash total is multiplied by 2 (x2 is shown).

·          If they scored a Gold Medal, this icon is shown, and the Ash total is multiplied by 3 (x3 is shown). When a Gold Medal is awarded, a Silver medal is automatically awarded as well.

Medals are used to advance along the Challenge path.

4.3.2       Summary

The following summarises the ‘prizes’ that can be won:

4.4.        Front End

4.4.1       Overview

The game front end operates using the main game engine. The player moves around between objects (which are kept well-spaced), and when near an object, text appears indicating what will happen if they burn that object.

This saves developing a separate front end.

4.4.2       Quest Blocks (Hyperobjects)

The Hub field consists of a number of blocks, which are regular game objects – but that cause fields or Quests to be run when they are burned by the player. In effect, each block is a menu option that the player selects by moving to it and burning it.

The blocks displayed in the Hub will be either Leaf, Wood or Stone.

4.4.3       Unlocked Quests

Any Quest that has been unlocked is displayed as a single Leaf Block.

This is exactly as is currently implemented

4.4.4       Completed Quests

Any Quest that has been completed is displayed as a single Wood Block.

This means:

• Players won’t trigger these by mistake, as they must Slam to burn a Wood block
  
  
• Players can immediately see which Quests they have completed

4.4.5       Next Quests

The next Quest to be unlocked in each Path is displayed as a single Stone Block. Clearly, this cannot be burned, and so the Quest cannot be played.

Above the block is the description of how the Quest is unlocked – see Section 4.8 for details.

4.4.6       Ash Total

While on the Hub field, a large, graphically pleasing display of the players total Ash should be shown at the bottom of the screen.

4.4.7       The Hub

The main game functionality is accessed from a game field which is the hub map. It consists of a set of blocks that fit into three paths:

·          Fun Path: consisting of easy and entertaining fields. The Fun path advances from the acquisition of Ash.

·          Puzzle Path: consisting of challenging but cerebral fields, which don’t require fast reactions or arcade control skills to master. The Puzzle path advances from the completion of Quests.

·          Challenge Path: this consists of challenging fields which may require good reactions and arcade control skills to master. The hardest fields are in this path. This path will advance through Medals.

All three paths are arranged to radiate from a central point. The Options area is in the fourth position, as follows:

The player begins facing the first object in the Fun Path.

4.5.        Auto-saving

The game automatically saves after completing a field list. Any completed field lists are recorded, as are any medals awarded, plus the player’s Ash total and the highest combos scored for each field list.

No manual save is provided.

If the player exits a field list, the game still saves – any Ash earned is still ‘banked’.

4.6.        High Level States

4.6.1       Key

The following is the key to the state diagrams used in this document:

4.6.2       Start Up Sequence

The states in this diagram are as follows:

·          Start: game begins

·          Settings file exists? Check for settings file; action varies according to whether this is present.

·          Language Select Screen: if there is no settings file, a language select screen appears displaying the flags of all the countries whose languages are supported in a vertical column.

·          Select Language: The player selects their language by selecting a flag and pressing X or Start.

·          Autosave Settings: saves the language setting to a (new) settings file.

·          Settings Load: alternatively, if a settings file exists it is loaded.

·          Publisher Logo: In the best case, it would be nice if this could be “painted” onto a wall of blocks that could then be burned by the player. However, a single static image flash up can be used instead. In either case, pressing Start (joypad) or Esc (keyboard) should advance the screen to the next screen.

·          Developer Logo: International Hobo Ltd will use the Fantasy Labs logo as their developer logo for this game. As above, in the best case, it would be nice if this could be “painted” onto a wall of blocks that could then be burned by the player. However, a single static image flash up can be used instead.

·          Title Screen: After the publisher logos, the player should be dropped into the Title Screen field (Title.L.easy.spiral.fsf). They can either move into the exit, or press Start (joypad) or Esc (keyboard) to move to the Hub.

·          Autoload: after the Title Screen, the save file is automatically loaded, restoring any game progress, medals and Ash total.

4.6.3       Main High Level States

The states in this diagram are as follows:

·          Start up: see the Start Up Sequence flow diagram.

·          Hub: the game hub. If the player goes near a Field List Object, becomes slightly different state (see below).

·          Hub – Near Field List Object: in this state, the game should display any Medal and/or Ribbon for that Field List. If the object has not yet been unlocked, the condition for unlocking it is displayed (see Path Progression, below).

o         Burn Option Object

o         Change Option/Replace Option Object

·          Burn Field List Object: this is the trigger for starting a field list.

·          Begin: play visual and audio effect to show start of field list (this is the same as the visual and audio effect at the beginning of any field – the Begin Fanfare).

·          Begin Field List & Begin Field: these are defined as states for reference only.

·          Field: the game.

·          Pause: pause screen; accessed when player presses Start or Esc.

·          Continue: return to the game.

·          Quit: return to the Hub.

·          Repeat Field Button: player presses Select or Tab.

·          Exit: player enters the Exit object.

·          Field Clear: the field clear screen, showing the word ‘Clear!’ and the Ash/Ash Target values, as well as the highest combo value.

·          Last Field? Conditional; if it is the last field, go to Autosave, else Next field.

·          Next Field: play the sounds and visual effects for starting a new field, then start the next field.

·          Autosave: save progress. The ‘Secret Ash’ referred to here is the actual total amount of Ash the player has earned. This is different from the Total Ash value which the player sees as the Total Ash is only updated when returning to the Hub (just after the autosave).

·          Field List Clear: play the appropriate effect for any Medal earned, and update the Total Ash so that it matches the Secret Ash (i.e. show Ash ticking up until it is equal to Secret Ash. Secret Ash is the real amount that the player has burned, Total Ash is just what the player sees at any given time.

4.7.        Overlays

4.7.1       Introduction

This section describes the HUD-style overlays used in the game. The components of these overlays are as follows:

·          Message Bar: this is a ‘box’ in the top left hand corner which displays information in text. It should not have a line around it; the text should be shown on its own.
All overlays

·          Ash Total: the total Ash the player has accumulated so far. It is suffixed by the word Ash to clearly denote it’s meaning.
Hub overlay

·          Ash Score / Ash Target: the amount of Ash earned in the current field and the maximum amount of Ash that can be earned.
Pause overlay

·          Combo: the current combo.
Game overlay

·          Highest Combo: the highest combo scored so far
Pause overlay

·          Audio Player: this displays the current track. The player can push left and right to change the track.
Pause overlay

·          Quit/Continue: this displays the instructions to the player to either quit the current field list (and return to the Hub) or continue with the current field.
Pause overlay

4.7.2       Hub Overlay

The following is the Hub overlay:

Example:

4.7.3       Game Overlay

The following is the Game overlay:

Example:

4.7.4       Pause Overlay

The following is the Pause overlay:

Example:

4.7.5       Message Box

The message box displays up to 32 characters.

The following table shows the behaviours of the Message Box:

4.7.6       Audio Player

On the Pause screen will be displayed the controls for the audio player:

·          The current track name is shown between two enclosing triangles e.g.
◄ Red Birds ►

·          Left and right on the Pause menu will change the track.

·          The tracks that are available will include an option “Off” (which disables music until the player uses the Pause screen to re-enable it).

·          By default, the music plays in sequence, however, a “Random” option can be included in the track list to enable them to play in a random sequence.

4.8.        Path Progression

4.8.1       Fun Path

This will remain based upon Ash.

A new Ash value sequence is included later in this document.

4.8.2       Challenge Path

This will still be based upon Medals, but instead of the incoherent Silver and Gold threads currently used, we will switch to a single Medal count:

·          Silver Medals count as 1 medal

·          Gold Medals count as 1 medal, but if the Silver was not previously earned it is counted too (so that if you have the Gold Medal for a Quest, you have 2 medals – 1 Silver and 1 Gold)

A new sequence is included later in this document.

4.8.3       Puzzle Path

To progress in the Puzzle path the player simply has to beat the Puzzle Quests in sequence.

4.8.4       Credits

The credits should now play when all 10 of the main stages (1 to 10) in a Path are completed for any Path – e.g. if Fun 01 through to Fun 10 is completed, whenever the last of these is completed, the credits should play.

4.8.5       Conditions

The following table describes the progression of the three Paths: