What's it all about then? - game dev part 1

Now where was I...?
Oh yes, creating a Game Design Document for "People of the Dawn".

Quote:0.0 Game Synopsis
People of the Dawn is a game of group survival in the Paleolithic age, 20 thousand years ago.

Simple and to the point and hopefully provides the reader with a basic (very basic) (very, very basic) idea of what the project is about.

Quote:0.1 - What it is
People of the Dawn is a First Person perspective experience blended with Real Time Strategy control elements, allowing the player to manage her tribe as well as participate within the environment. The story and goal is simple: Man versus Nature or the elements. Simply put: Survival.

Game time is measured in Seasons and Years. The player must discover and take advantage of what food and resources each season has to offer. When lead correctly, the tribe will grow and flourish. The alternative is tribal extinction.

The game ends either at the player's discretion or if she looses the tribe to poor leadership or disease (read: bad luck)< Note to self: if disease hits the tribe, perhaps some members build or have immunity (beneficial mutation) to the virus. This is passed on to any offspring of the survivors. >

The game has several environments for the player to choose from each presenting unique challenges of climate and topology, varying flora and fauna, and other resources that are available to the player.

Okay, so we now know that the game has no real ending if the player does well at leading their tribe. It simply comes down to him deciding whether there are enough challenges and interest to keep going or start a new tribe (new game).

Obviously I'll need to do a quick prototype early on as a "Proof of Concept". That will be the key to ensuring the game play is really there. :)

Quote:0.2 - What it Ain't
People of the Dawn is not typical in that intertribal conflicts (fighting/combat) are not its main focus. Although conflicts may occur in the game, the player will be more concerned with managing resources and tribal health. In this respect, the game play will be familiar to the RTS player.

The real "adversary" in People of the Dawn is the natural world. Whether hunting, surviving a harsh winter, picking berries before the birds get them or taking on a Cave Bear solo, the player and her tribe will rely on each other for success.

Success in People of the Dawn terms means survival.

It looks like the game will rely heavily on AI but even the best AI is not the same as playing with friends and as I hinted above, I've some thoughts on that as well:

Quote:0.3 Multiplayer
People of the Dawn will have a multiplayer aspect that will allow players to work together within the same tribe - Co-op play. They will be able to "chat" and support each other, thereby ensuring the survival of their tribe together.

Future development will allow different tribes to interact with each other, cooperating and trading, managing conflict, in a much larger interconnected prehistoric world.

That's the beginning I think. Design docs are like any other production document, a living thing and I expect to come back to this and modify it as I go.

The detail will come out in the body of the document but I hope this gives people reading it a good idea of what I'm trying to do.

I have no illusions here. I do not plan on building a complete game on my own nor do I have any grand illusions of publishing this game. In fact, if all I manage to do is build the art assets for this, I'll be more than happy.

In fact, let me share with you my goals here:
1. Write my first Game Design Doc
2. Develop the flow and structure
3. Create conceptual paintings
4. Design and build the GUI screens
5. Design and build the assets for the game
6. Create one environment modified to represent four (4) seasons.

And that's enough I think :)

As always, all feedback, suggestions and questions are very welcome.

Until next time