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HuskyGameDev / 2018-team3

Temple of the Sun
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Temple of the Sun

Revision 1.0.0 By TEAM HIGHGROUND

Last Updated: 09/23/2018

This GDD is adapted from the GDD Template written by: Benjamin “HeadClot” Stanley and Alec Markarian found here.

Overview

Theme / Setting / Genre

Core Gameplay Mechanics (Brief)

Targeted platforms

Monetization model (Brief/Document)

Project Scope

Influences (Brief)

The Elevator Pitch

Temple of the Sun is a 3D platformer, styled similarly to games of the N64 era, where the main character is adventuring through the Aztec jungle in search of hidden treasure, all the while being challenged by his rival.

Project Description (Brief)

The goal of this project is to create a throwback 3D platformer reminiscent of classic 3D platformers from the N64 era. The game’s main protagonist will be a Tiger named Reggie who is an explorer, seeking lost treasures in the Temple of the Sun. The game’s main antagonist will be a Fox named Foxtail, who rivals Reggie and attempts to find the treasure before him. We aim to keep the game lighthearted and fun, making the player laugh at times and leaving them feeling refreshed. Additionally, we aim to keep the gameplay mechanics intentionally simple so that the game is easy to pick up and play.

Our game will be developed using an Agile software development approach, namely Scrum. The game will be developed by a team of five, with Evan Overweg acting as Team Leader and Scrum Master. It is to be completed within 2 Semesters at MTU, or approximately 8 months. We aim to have Level 1 of the game, all of the character mechanics (not necessarily with animations), coins/hearts/1UP mechanics, a subset of all sounds, and a rudimentary menu system implemented by the end of Semester 1. The is what we define to be the Temple of the Sun MVP. Later levels, additional sounds, animations, and refinements will be completed in Semester 2.

Project Description (Detailed)

The goal of this project is to create a throwback 3D platformer reminiscent of classic 3D platformers from the N64 era. 3D platformers formed the backbone of games in the N64 and Playstation 1 era. Sadly, this genre of games has very little representation in the modern era, with only Nintendo consistently releasing top-tier 3D platformers. With our game, we hope to bring back the classic 3D platformer style that gamers enjoyed in the 90s. Each of our team members have distinct nostalgic memories of playing many of the classic 3D platformers as a kid. we hope to utilize our love of classic games like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie to bring an authentic experience to our customers.

The games main protagonist is a tiger named Reggie who is an explorer, seeking lost treasures in the Temple of the Sun. Reggie shares many of the same values as our intended audience for the game; someone who loves adventuring, discovering new things, and exploring. Reggie has a rival named Foxtail who is also an adventurer. Foxtail will stop at nothing to claim the treasures of The Temple of the Sun for himself.

We are aiming to keep the game lighthearted and fun, with colorful visuals and cheery, upbeat music. We want our player to feel joyous from playing our game. We want our game to evoke nostalgia in our audience who grew up in the N64 / Playstation 1 era, but also be a fun, new experience for the younger generation. The world will be relatively well lit incentivising exploration. We hope to evoke the feelings felt by gamers when they first starting playing classic 3D games.

Our game will be developed using an Agile software development approach, namely Scrum. The game will be developed by a team of five, with Evan Overweg acting as Team Leader and Scrum Master as well as programmer. Riley Mulford, Michael Spoehr and Christian Clemmons will be programmers and Abri Ingrassia will handle the artwork and 3D models. It is to be completed within 2 Semesters at MTU, or approximately 8 months. We aim to have Level 1 of the game, all of the character mechanics (not necessarily with animations), coins/hearts/1UP mechanics, a subset of all sounds, and a rudimentary menu system implemented by the end of Semester 1. The is what we define to be the Temple of the Sun MVP. Later levels, additional sounds, animations, and refinements will be completed in Semester 2.

Our team consists of several new members that are completely new to game development, so we are proceeding cautiously with our planning. We have implemented a contingency plan to account for the situation that we fall behind in implementation. New members are expected to get up to speed in Unity relatively quickly in the first semester, using the first sprint to learn the essentials.

We will be using GitHub as a source code manager, as well as a place to keep all issues/tasks. The taskboard will be the goto source of todo items and planning for the sprint. Additionally, the team will use Slack to communicate. Tentatively, we plan on having 4 hour workjams either Sunday afternoons or Saturday mornings as we see fit.

What sets this project apart?

Core Gameplay Mechanics (Detailed)

Story and Gameplay

Story (Brief)

Reggie (Tiger) goes to the temple in search of hidden treasure. Rival Foxtail (Fox) tries to stop him.

Story (Detailed)

Ever since Reggie was a child, he has had a desire to go on adventures. The young tiger would spare no one the privilege of hearing his dreams of travel and finding countless treasures, including his all-but-equal Foxtail. As Reggie’s dreams grew larger, Foxtail became angry and swore an oath to prevent Reggie from ever fulfilling his dreams. In fact, Foxtail works night and day to not only stop Reggie from finding the secrets locked away in forgotten chambers, but secure the riches for himself. After years of searching, Reggie has finally secured the location of the infamous Temple of the Sun - known to house the greatest score any adventurer could dream of. In a race against time, Reggie must survive the trials The Temple has in store from him and find the hidden treasures before his rival Foxtail.

Story Breakdown per Level

Gameplay (Brief)

The player will run, jump and fight their way through numerous levels. The player can pick up coins which add points to their score. They can pick up various objects and throw them or set them down, allowing for a single mechanic to interact with puzzles, attack, place treasure in inventory, etc. The game uses a basic 3-heart with 1UP system for player lives.

Gameplay (Detailed)

The core gameplay for Temple of the Sun revolves around the player running and jumping through each level to get to the end of the level. Running can be held an indefinite amount of time without stopping; i.e. there is no stamina mechanic. There will be obstacles to impede the player’s progress: spike pits, flame traps, boulder traps, arrow traps, temple guardians, bottomless pits, trap doors, etc. Each damage source will deal 1 heart of damage (out of three total). The player can pick up hearts spread throughout levels to recover lost hearts. If the player takes three sources of damage (3 hearts) without restoring them, they will die, resulting in the reduction of a single 1UP. If the player runs out of 1UPs, the game is over.

Coins will also be spread throughout the level. They serve two purposes: additional points added to the score at the end of the level, and obtaining additional 1UPs. After successful completion of a level, the player will receive a 1UP for every 100 coins they have collected.

The player will be also scored at the end of each level. Points are awarded for picking up coins, finding collectibles, and are taken away for losing hearts or dying in a level. There is also potential for awarding points for unusual achievements (like taking exactly 343 seconds to finish a level, or opening all doors by throwing a barrel at them). However, this will be implemented in Semester 2.

The pick-up-and-throw mechanic is the only non-movement mechanic in the game. Players can pick up hearts and coins by passing through them. These items cannot be thrown, as they have other uses. The player can pass through rocks to pick them up, and these can be thrown forward by pressing the throw button.

Assets Needed

2D

3D

Sound

Code

NPC Scripts

Animation

Schedule

Semester 1

Semester 2

Expected Release: Spring 2019

Contingency Plan

In the event that the above plan is too optimistic and we must cut back the features in the game in order to meet our release date, these are the features that we plan to cut in order of priority (roughly):

  1. Remove the picking up/throwing items mechanic
  2. Scale back number of levels and size of levels
  3. Remove direct interactions with non-Foxtail NPC’s (i.e. hazards that move)
  4. Remove direct interactions with Foxtail
  5. Reduce amount of sound effects
  6. Remove Coins/scoring system
  7. Remove Foxtail entirely
  8. Remove heart mechanics. Make all damage events insta-kill.

Remember to maintain the high ground!