Foreword
This is the 1st iteration of Unify’s
Game Design Document.
Unify is developed from a concept created after
a research project into the relationship between the USA, South Korea and
consequently North Korea. This project looked at the cultural, political
sociological and theoretical outcomes and history of the relationship.
Unify reflects the sociology of North Korea and
the movement to reunite the two nations.
The art in this document is conceptual and
not final; the placeholders are comprised of mock ups from some very talented
pixel artists, these are designed to communicate the art style, quality,
aesthetic and feel of the game. These artists would be top candidates to
collaborate with to create art for Unify.
The characters in this
document are created from a Bitizen creator by Deviant Art user jonarific, Bitizens are property NimbleBit and are used as a graphical
stand-in at this stage of the concept.
Contents
Unify
Game Intro
Unify is a side-scrolling platformer. The player assumes the
role of Charlie, a child whose parents have recently divorced. Designed as a
commentary on uniting North and South Korea the player must do what they can to
re-unite the mother and father. Charlie begins by talking to the people in the
town, the villagers seem distant, unconcerned, perhaps brainwashed, many are
distracted believing their problems are greater than Charlie’s. The player has
to pander to each by completing a quest or request, rewarding Charlie with a
memento from their parents’ past.
Character Bios
Charlie
(Player Character): An androgynous character and should never be directly referred to as
either male or female. Similarly the visualisation of the character will be
ambiguous on this subject also. The player can customise Charlie’s by
collecting clothing items throughout the game.
Charlie is a selfless
character devoted to equality and greater good as many children are, but may
come across as naive as a result of living in the sheltered village society. Like
all of the North Korean characters Charlie has a low pixel count.
Picture of Charlie; some costumes
Mom and Dad: Charlie’s parents who have gotten a divorce. These two characters –
although featured heavily in the narrative – do not appear in game very often.
They are featured during the premise of the game, but for the majority of the
playthrough will be elusive, either away, missing, sleeping or locked in their
house.
The
Villagers always talk about the parents as if they have only just become
unavailable (before Charlie came home they were available), and will relay
messages from them, adding to the layer of suspicion gathering in the player’s conscience.
Like all of the North Korean characters Mom and Dad have a low pixel count.
Picture of mom and dad; villager telling Charlie
about parents
Villagers: The villagers make up the majority of the game’s population and although
each character is unique many hold similar traits – they are conceited and
selfish. Many even deny that Charlie’s parents were ever together. Whilst some
of the villagers do empathise with Charlie none offer to help without Charlie
fixing their problems for them first.
Some of characters come
across as obnoxious, but the majority hold the same naivety the whole village
seems to drip with.
Picture of villagers
Wise Old Man/Elder: This is the only character in the game that seems to be on the same
wavelength as the player, who talks sense and empathises with Charlie. The
character is initially introduced as creepy, mysterious and avoidable, but Charlie
quickly learns not to judge.
The Wise Old Man is also
the only character who can be found outside of the village, the player will
bump into him sporadically throughout the game. The Wise Old Man is used as an
exposition tool to further players’ curiosity, similar to a narrator.
Picture of old man; meeting old man in level
Animals: Sporadically throughout the game Charlie’s path will be blocked by
animals, there are several animals that Charlie will encounter all of which are
native to the environment in which they are situated.
The animals are used as
roadblocks, preventing Charlie from passing. They will not chase or approach
them, but if the player gets close the animal will lash out in self-defence,
pushing Charlie back to the nearest checkpoint. Charlie must acquire the
Slingshot to pass them.
Animals
Plot Overview
Plot Summary
Unify chronicles a
child’s struggle to reunite their parents. Charlie demonstrates that they are
willing to travel the unknown in the hope that the brainwashed village can
overcome its differences and normality can be resumed.
Story Abstract – Unknown to the player until finale
Charlie is a North Korean child growing up in a village of rural North
Korea. Charlie’s parents get a divorce (symbolising the division of North and
South Korea), resulting in the villagers acting brainwashed and naïve, many
denying the divorce ever happened, some claiming reasons totally fictional,
reflecting the brainwashed closed border attitude that North Korea puts on its
people.
The game starts prior to Charlie’s parents’ divorce; this is
a 20-30 minute segment where the player is introduced to the game, characters
and controls. During this time the player will explore the secluded village and
fulfil a few fetch tasks for the villagers. This introduces the player to the
village layout and the “normal” villager mentality (love thy neighbour) prior
to the divorce.
The divorce occurs –
cutscenes in Unify are storyboards with an annotation or
voice over.
The player is left to their own devices in the village,
forcing the player to explore, they will notice the change in attitude and the
only real information gained is the location of each parent. The paths to the
outside worlds have been covered up and forgotten by the villagers. Charlie’s
only comfort is found in the Elder of the village, the only character who has
remained himself.
The Elder speaks to
Charlie about how to fix their parent conundrum. He tells them about their
parents’ journey around the world, hinting toward the Love Letters and Mementos
that have since been lost. And to help
the player on their way he also reveals the first path to the world outside.
From here the player will quickly unlock all of the paths
and travel between the outside worlds and the village. The
Narrative of the game is designed to culminate to an end-point where the Korean
metaphor is revealed. The
placement of the Love Letters (exposition) and Memento’s (granting access to
new areas) in the game’s design guides the narrative while the player feels like
it is unfolding as they progress. The player will unknowingly come across
subtle references to the Korean Peninsula, seeing an empty city in the distance
or a huge unfinished structure for example. Subtlety ety
Gameplay Description
1-2 paragraphs describing each distinct mode of gameplay, starting with
core gameplay. For instance, Half Life 2 would first describe general running
around and shooting, then twists on the core gameplay (such as the gravity
gun), then vehicle sequences.
Inspired by the efforts
of Okhwan Yoon - a Korean man who has travelled the world by bicycle since 2001
in the effort of reuniting Korea - Charlie must travel the world to re-unite
their parents. Picture of Okhwan Yoon (?). Gameplay
starts in the Village which serves as a central hub, from here Charlie can
access each of the 6 areas which will be unlocked throughout the narrative. Picture of the village, with 6 smaller images of the
worlds beneath. Most quests will
originate from the Village and Charlie will have to return to the Village each
time they need to travel to a new area or turn in an objective. Charlie’s core functionality includes moving
left and right, jumping, and interacting with switches, people, items, and
doors. Picture of Charlie jumping? Movement
will be aided at times throughout the game with the inclusion of moving
platforms, ladders, springboards, ropes and by collecting and equipping
mementos allowing Charlie to reach new areas. Picture
of Charlie on ladder.
Players are recommended
to use a gamepad especially for the harder platforming/movement based elements.
Game Mechanics
Letters to a Loved One:
The mysterious narrative of Unify is exposed by collecting the parents’
love letters which are scattered across the worlds. The letters pull the player
into the alluding narrative keeping them ever curious, the letters aren’t
specifically organised, however the flow of the game encourages them to be
discovered in a rough order. This is achieved by using the memento’s to hold up
and move the story forward. These letters amount to an epiphanous, revealing
ending.
Screenshot of a letter once opened
Quests:
In order to get their parents back together Charlie must appease the
brainwashed/naïve villagers. These side quests usually entail some kind of
object fetching exploited in different ways; the player may have to talk to
another villager or buy the item from a shop or an item from the outside world
may need to be retrieved. Completing the quests advances the players
progression through: rewarding mementos, clothes or coins so items can be
bought from a village shop.
Charlie talking to a villager for a quest
Mementos:
By completing the quests set by the townsfolk Charlie can collect
mementos from their parents past. These can be equipped in-game each granting a
different bonus. These are used to reach new/secret areas, granting access to
more letters. Each is unlocked to the player once
they have reached a certain section of a world – the player won’t be able to
advance without it and will have to return to the village to do so.
All of the Mementos will be needed in each world to complete it.
Charlie receiving a memento
Rope
Given in:
World 1 – Jungle
Allows
Charlie to aim with a lasso, glowing objects can be targeted. If the target is
a something sold like a branch or hook Charlie can pull themselves up. If it is
a lever or item Charlie will pull it. Ropes pull levers, slingshots push them.
Picture
of Rope
Slingshot
Given in:
World 2 – Grassland
Allows
Charlie to launch rocks; this can be used to hit things at range, which would
usually need touching i.e. a button or lever. It can also be used to scare off
an animal which is blocking the player’s path. Ropes pull levers, slingshots
push them.
Picture
of Slingshot
Sunglasses
Given in:
World 3 – Desert
Shield
Charlie’s eyes from the blinding sun, revealing sections that could not be seen
or accessed before.
Picture
of Sunglasses
Torch
Given in:
World 4 – Coast
Allows
Charlie to enter places of darkness which are otherwise impenetrable, this
could be a cave, tunnel, dense forest or just an unlit building.
Picture
of Torch
Pick
Given in:
World 5 – Mountains
Charlie can
smash boulders in order to clear a path, unveil a tunnel, or to drop down what
was previously on top of the boulder.
Picture
of Pick
Fishing
Rod
Given in:
World 6 – Arctic
Can be used
on any body of water that Charlie comes across. Although not all of these will
hold anything, those that do may return a key, an item of clothing, an item for
a quest, tender or even dislodge a series of platforms. Water either hold an
item or it doesn’t, it is not down to luck.
Picture
of Fishing Rod
Saving
Unify saves the game at
each “level complete” screen or when Charlie goes to bed in the Village. The
game always loads to Charlie’s room, but as this is in the Village all sections
of the game are easily accessible from this point. Picture
of Charlies Room
The player can quit a
level at any point; however they cannot keep their items or progress unless
they leave via the path at the beginning and end of each level. In some
circumstances mCharlie’s path will be blocked because they have not yet
obtained a certain Memento, places like this will also have a shortcut back to
the world’s finger post.
Health
Unify has a 1-hit health
system, but checkpoints are evenly spaced throughout the levels for Charlie to
fall back on. Checkpoints only keep Charlie’s progress within that level.
Quitting the level will put progress back to the beginning of the level rather
than to the previous checkpoint.
Shops/Coins
Coins take on the look of the Sam-Taegeuk, a Korean symbol representing the unity of Heaven,
Earth and Humanity – the aim of unifying Korea. Each level has coins,
collecting all the coins in every level in a world will unlock special costumes
for Charlie. Each coin can only be collected once.
Charlie will collect coins
by completing quests too. Coins can be used to buy items from the village shop
for example new items of clothing for Charlie or items for a quest.
Sam-Taegeuk; coin; Charlie at the
shop interface
Artistic style outline
Unify is presented in a
pixel art format. This retro art style helps to communicate the themes of the
game, but also falls into the resurgence of retrogaming, joining the likes of Minecraft,
Cave Story and Super Meat Boy in the modern retro movement. Example of gameplay
The Korean Villagers and
the Village environment are very low in pixels compared to the rest of the
game, showing them as simple minded or sheltered. Example
of village/villagers
The backdrops of Unify
utilise Colour Cycling Pixel Art, transforming them into flowing, alive
environments. Many of the environments have weather and day/night cycles, this
adds depth to the world and can be used to convey emotion. The colour cycling
effect adds an aesthetic that most modern gamers have not seen whilst also
being accessible through its roots in pixel art. Example
of a back drop
HUD Example
Unify has minimal HUD.
When collected Unify will display the number of coins Charlie has accumulated.
Similarly it is shown when coins are spent at a shop.
Show Charlie collecting coins
Show Charlie collecting coins
Memento’s and customised
clothing can be seen on Charlie’s character. Customising Charlie’s clothing can
be accessed in Charlie’s room; actions like this involve a pop-up window which
shows the inventory on screen. The village shops work in this same way. Show Charlie changing clothes in their room
Dialogue is presented
on-screen using pixelated speech bubbles (advanced by player prompt). Example of Charlie in dialogue
Charlie has no health but
can die; the use of a 1-hit health system is accompanied by having checkpoints
evenly spaced throughout levels, allowing the player to rest on their laurels. Picture of a checkpoint
Menus
User Interface and menus
are likewise presented in a pixel art format.
The opening screen of
Unify is up in the clouds, prompting the player to “press any button” activating this the camera pans downward through
the clouds coming to rest on the village – with the door to Charlie’s room in
the centre. Show opening screen
The player is now
presented with; New Game, Load Game,
Options and Quit Game.
“Options” provides the player the
ability to customise the Audio and Visual settings of the game and change the
controls or controller.
Choosing to start the
game (New/Load) the menus will fade and Charlie will walk out of their room.
Gameplay begins.
By pausing the game the
player can: resume, access the settings of the game, or quit. The player can
also view their objectives, Mementos and Letters by bringing up the alternate
menu. This provides the player with a quick refresher of what they have, what
they can do and where they should go. Show pause
screen
Sound Design
Sound design in Unify is
used to communicate emotion and atmosphere when coupled with the visuals. Create pleasant atmospheres with light and
emotive background music. Sound effects are on the subtler side and help fill
out the serene locations.
Controls
Unify has very simple controls and visuals, and as a result
would be suitable for almost all platforms.
Picture of controller
World Breakdown
Game Layout Diagram
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Similar to the System Breakdown, but for visual assets, text and sound.
Art Assets: List each major area of artwork (Player, Enemies, Worlds,
UI/Menus, HUD, Effects), specifying roughly how detailed animations and states
will be, and however much you know at this point about the pipeline/programs
used.
Text Assets: Identify major areas (tutorial, tips, scripted
dialogue/quests, dynamically presented dialogue, narration), and attempt to
gauge the amount of effort required on each section.
Sound Assets: Similarly, the major areas (In-game sound, UI/HUD feedback
sound, music, voice) should be detailed and described.
The village -> World 1 Finger post -> Level1
-> Level2
-> Level3
-> Level4
-> Level5
-> Level6
-> Level7
-> Level8
-> Level9
-> Level10
-> World 2 Finger post
-> Level1
-> Level2
-> Level3
-> Level4
-> Level5
-> Level6
-> Level7
-> Level8
-> Level9
-> Level10
Worlds
The world of Unity
encompasses 7 distinct areas. Throughout these worlds Charlie will come across
references to the Korean Peninsula with varying degrees of subtlety. Examples of references?
The Village
The central hub of the game. A primitive
village in the woods of rural North Korea. The aesthetic of the village should
be somewhere between Superbrother’s art for Sword and Sorcery and Tony Redmer’s
work for Kung Fu Killforce.
The Jungle
A dense environment the
jungle takes Charlie from the forest floor to the canopy, encountering
waterfalls, swamps and gorges. The Rope Memento can be acquired in the Village
to ascend the great trees, cross gorges and pull levers from afar. Pictures
The
Grassland
The grassland is an open environment
taking the player through open plains, lakes, moors and savannah. The Slingshot
Memento can be acquired in the Village to knock down objects, push levers from
range and scare off animals. Pictures
The Desert
A sprawling dry landscape
encompassing dunes, canyons, shrub-land and rocky cactus populated sections.
The Sunglasses Memento can be acquired in the Village to block out the sun’s
rays revealing previously hidden details and sections. Pictures
The Coast
The coastal world takes
Charlie along cliffs, through caves and tunnels, along the shore and through
the rock pools. The Torch Memento can be acquired in the Village to access dark
places, places of shadow that are otherwise impenetrable. Pictures
The
Mountains
A dangerous environment
filled with pitfalls, peaks, cliffs, caves and passes. The Pick Memento can be
acquired in the Village the pick is used to clear Charlie’s path of boulders
which may block the path, or secret section. Pictures
The Arctic
A cold wasteland the
arctic covers frozen lakes, icebergs, glaciers. The Fishing Rod Memento can be
acquired in the Village to advance by using it on the ice fishing holes. Pictures
Game Flow Diagram
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The intent of this section is to lay out, step by step, what the player
experiences from as soon as they turn on the game until the end. While this can
be generic and use a lot of loops (ie. Start Game -> Cutscene -> Tutorial
-> loop(Cutscene -> Level -> Results Screen) -> End), it's probably
a good idea to attempt to envisage how your game might be able to break up the
monotony that is evident in that design.
The great thing about this section is it gets you really thinking about
what your game is and how it is presented, as opposed to the amalgam of
disjointed ideas in your head. The deeper you get into this Game Flow Diagram,
the more confident you will be about what your game is precisely made up of,
and what the experience of playing it will be.
Level Example
^^^^^^^^^^^^
60 Second Gameplay Example
0-5 Seconds
6-10 Seconds
11-15 Seconds
16-20 Seconds
21-25 Seconds
26-30 Seconds
31-35 Seconds
36-40 Seconds
41-45 Seconds
46-50 Seconds
51-55 Seconds
56-60 Seconds
Suggested Project Timeline
Here's where we get to the part where hearts break and tempers are lost
- laying out a rough schedule for the game's development that utilizes the
breakdowns that were made earlier in the document. Schedule aggressively, but
be realistic - you're probably not going to get all of your menus in and
working in a day. You don't have to be specific about where and when - the most
important information to end up with here is the number of man hours per team
member required, and exactly who will be responsible for what.
Additional Ideas and Possibilities
This final section is a bit of an amalgam of everything that didn't fit
in the sections before hand. It's an appendix of all of the things that you
didn't think were necessarily core to the game, but you'd like to consider
along the way. It's also for alternate possibilities - for instance, if you had
two main characters in mind, put the better one in the main document, and then
the alternate here. Finally, if you have any ideas that you're not sure about,
but would like to prototype, then this is the place for that stuff as well.
