Concept Document
Game Name: Starshine
Game Catchphrase: "Look to the stars."
Document Type: Game Design Document
Document Purpose: Game description
Game Concept by Kendra Islam
Introduction
Starshine is a single player, action-puzzle game following a young witch who is seeking refuge from hunters following her. The player navigates through an extensive map while collecting items and putting together the main tools they need to complete the game which are used by the player to enhance game play and increase abilities of the character.
Game Analysis
Starshine is primarily a game for exploration. The player must navigate through four sections of forest using only the detailed star map to guide them and find the pieces needed to create the tools for the witch to use. They must do this while simultaneously maintaining their energy, avoiding the hunters, and aiding villagers in need so that they will in turn aid the player and help complete the tool for the region.
Game Description
Genre: Adventure and puzzle
Game Elements: Collecting, potion making, flying, sneaking around, casting spells
Game Content: Drama
Theme: Fantasy
Style: Animated, watercolors, hand drawn effect
Game Sequence: Linear storyline
Players: 1
Game Reference
Game Taxonomy: Starshine is a Fictional Game/Narrative
Player Immersion: Emotional, mental
Game Technical
Technical Form: 3D graphics.
View: Slightly above and behind the character avatar, 3rd person
Platform: Mac, PC
Language: C#
Device: PC
Game Play
The beginning of the game is a cutscene to give the story behind the game. After the cutscene ends, the player will have an understanding of the scene, the goal, and the navigation system (astronavigation). The player will find their way to the final goal, the home of the elderly witch who will pass her knowledge on and give refuge to the player. Once they get there, however, it will be revealed that the player left their tools behind in their rush to escape and has no way to prove who they are. The old witch then tells them of three locations in the forest where they can find the materials needed to remake their tools and then prove to the witch who they are. Obstacles include the patrols of witch hunters on select paths, the villages guarded by hunters that serve as shortcuts between regions, and the villagers in need in each region which unlock the village and aid the player in completing a tool. The player loses if they are caught by hunters and get burned at the stake, returning them to their last save point. The game is won when the player collects all the tools and successfully returns to the witch's hut.
Key Features
Single player
4 regions
Replayable due to the nonlinear goals
Many hours of fun and immersion due to exploration and collection
Multilingual
Design Document
Design Guidelines
The final goal for the design of the game will be using textures and models all designed specifically for the game. Currently, however, the game is using assets from the Unity Asset Store along with other online repositories for models. The current restriction on the design of the game is the fact that there is only one person working on it. (I have only novice knowledge of art and modelling.)
Game Design Definitions
The game is won when the player returns to the old witch's house in possession of all three tools needed to demonstrate their magical ability, which will trigger a final cutscene and end the game. The game is lost if the player is touched by one of the witch hunters, which will trigger a "you died" screen with the option to try again from the last save point. The beginning menus have three save files, the option to start a new file or load a previously saved file, an options menu controlling volume and language settings, and the option to quit the game. In game, there is an inventory menu with options to use collected items (plants) as food or in potions (if the player is in possession of the mortar and pestle) as well as a menu for navigating the star map, which is an interactable map giving information on a constellation being hovered over by the mouse. The constellations in the map are real and based on the sky in the northern hemisphere around March. Accuracy was the primary goal in creating the night sky as well as the collectable plants in the game in order to teach the player information they could use in their real life.
Player Elements
Energy: the current energy level of the player, starting at 30 and going down by one point per minute.
Inventory: the items held by the player, states quantity and use for the item.
Player Definition
Default status: The player has no tools, energy is full at 30, and nothing in their inventory.
Actions: The player can move, collect items, interact with the star map, their inventory, and save.
Information (Status): The player can find controls in the menu, has the star map to navigate, and has a goal that can be read if they get lost.
Winning: The player wins the game by collecting all three tools and returning to the old witch.
Losing: The player loses by running out of energy or being caught by witch hunters, both returning the player to their last save point.
Player Properties:
Energy - the current energy level of the player.
Tools - which completed tools are in the players possession.Wand: a tool the player can collect, allows the player to cast spells such as a sleeping spell on the hunters, uses varying amounts of energy depending on the spell.
Broom: a tool the player can collect, allows the player to fly overhead enemies and at a faster speed. Consumes energy at a higher rate than walking and does not allow the player to interact with the environment while flying.
Mortar & pestle: a tool the player can collect, allows the player to create potions to use on themself or enemies. Uses the collected plants from the forest from the players inventory and energy to create the potion.
Each of these are used by clicking on the button with their sprite, engaging the tool. Clicking again will disengage.
User Interface (UI)
The UI is designed to be interacted with via the mouse. Everything is made with buttons to be clicked on or just viewed by the player. The main menu contains controls for the sound, music, and language to be played in (English, Spanish, or German).
Heads Up Display (HUD)
All information is displayed through the main menu, persistent UI, the inventory, or through the star map's UI. Energy levels, tools owned, items collected, current objective, and the position of the player relative to the sky.
Player View
The camera follows the player from behind and slightly above and is not manipulable by the player themself.
Antagonistic Elements
The sole enemies in the game are the two types of witch hunters: torch-wielding and sword-wielding. They move as a team and patrol specific paths in the map. The torch wielder is actively searching for the player and wanders the farthest. The sword wielder wanders less and looks around while swinging their sword. Whenever the player is spotted by one of them, they both will pursue the player. If the player is caught (collided with), the game is immediately over and the player is prompted to either quit or continue from their last save point.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Torch user:
Normal state: Wanders around, looking up, down, and around for the player. Stays in one spot for a short time then moves again.
Detection state: Detects the player when they enter their field of view.
Reaction state: Informs their partner the player is in view and begins to chase the player. Runs after them until they leave the scene or are out of view for enough time.
Sword user:
Normal state: Moves a little at a time, has several "bored" animations and occasionally looks around.
Detection state: Detects the player when they enter their field of view.
Reaction state: Informs their partner the player is in view and begins to chase the player. Runs after them until they leave the scene or are out of view for enough time.
Global Game Elements
Each forest path is bounded by an impenetrable wall of trees which keeps the player from wandering too far. There is no leaving the forest; it is the entire world of the game. The single camera tracks the player from behind and above and is not manipulable by the player. The other "world" in the game is the star map, which has its own camera which pans with the trackpad. The two cameras interact so that transitions between them line up in world space, rotating to match each other as though the player is spinning in place.
The Story
The beginning of the game is a long cutscene introducing the player to the main character, a young witch named Maev. Orphaned as a child, she was raised by the village blacksmith alongside his daughter, Owena. As Maev grew up, her magic started to appear when she held certain objects which channelled it, and she was forced to move to a small cottage on the outskirts of the town to hide her nature. She and Owena fell in love, and Owena joined the guard to protect her. Alas, secrets always seem to come to light. After a regime change, xenophobia grows and witches are being hunted down for their differences. Owena hears that Maev has been exposed and that the guard is coming for her that night.
The opening cutscene is Owena arriving at Maev’s house, warning her of the danger and their frantic escape when the hoard arrives much sooner than anticipated, leaving Maev without any of her tools to protect herself. While her house is burned to the ground, they slip into the woods. It will then cut to a scene of them lying in the grass, having lost the guard, where Owena shows Maev (and the player) how to navigate via constellations. There will be no world map provided to the player, this is the sole tool for navigation. Once that lesson is complete, the guard catches up to them and the pair will be forced to separate, Owena forcing Maev to run while she distracts the hoard. The game begins with Maev alone, where she must make her way to the home of an old witch Owena knew, Zatara. Owena hoped that Zatara would take Maev in and teach her, and she urged Maev to make her way there on her own.
Upon arrival at Zatara’s cottage, the elderly woman tells Maev that she cannot trust her word alone, and, as she has no magical tools, Maev can’t possibly demonstrate her power to Zatara. Therefore she must endeavor to replace her tools. As the player explores the forest searching for materials, she must avoid the patrols of witch hunters who are looking for her. They can be evaded through either stealth, using one of her tools to escape, such as flying over them or using a spell to put them to sleep, or helping someone along the side of the road, in which case they will vouch for her and the witch hunters will leave them alone. There will be towns along the way, and the only way to gain entrance is by escort of a villager she’s already helped. Select towns will be the gates in between the different sections of the map, and the villagers will also be key to putting together the final tools using the materials collected. Once all three tools are finished, Maev can return to Zatara, prove herself, and finally be safe.
Level Design
Each "level" is one of the four sections of forest. Level 1 is the northeast quadrant, where Zatara's cottage is. Levels 2, 3, and 4 are the other three, with the broom pieces in the southeast, the wand in the southwest, and the mortar and pestle in the northwest. These are not meant to be played in any particular order, the game is designed to be nonlinear and open for exploration.
Audio & Sound F/X
The main score for the game is the "wandering" music, which follows the player throughout the forest. It gets overridden by "danger" music for paths patrolled by witch hunters, "village" music for exploring the villages, and unique tracks for each "special" location (finding pieces of tools, the old witch's house, etc.). There are clips for footsteps, background animal sounds, talking with people, interacting with the UI, using tools, and a few others.
Game Architecture Overview
The style choices for the game were made to represent the fantastical and magical nature of the story. Mist and fireflies and music and particle effects come together to immerse the player in the world. The UI also represents this with font choices and sprites chosen to blend seamlessly with the environment.
Technical Document
System Requirements
PC, mouse, and keyboard.
Code Structure
The main script running the game is the PlayerController which controls animation, movement, and stores all the current information about the player. There is an overarching class, Starshine, which stores save file information and initializes PlayerController if loading a save file. SaveLoad controls which save file is loaded from the menu and stores current game information in the current save file. Other scripts control the UI interaction, such as ToStarsCamera which switches cameras and changes the control to NavigateStars instead of PlayerController which displays information about the constellation currently selected, moves by touching the side of the screen, and pauses the game. There are buttons with scripts to go to the inventory, save the game, use tools if in possession, etc. There are also scripts controlling the cutscenes, with triggers to start the script upon colliding with the player. Enemies have AI scripts to control them and run independently. Most scripts either do not communicate with anyone or only communicate with the main three scripts: SaveLoad, Starshine, and PlayerController.
Concerns and Alternatives
Currently the game is in more of a rough stage and these scripts are bound to change depending on how the controls and game develops.
