shards of order · the action in shards of order is similar to such games as konami’s castlevania...

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OTHGAMES DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 1751 RICHARDSON, SUITE 2.206 • MONTREAL, QUEBEC • H3K 1G6

PHONE: (514) 788-1300 • FAX: (514) 999-4121 COPYRIGHT 2005, OTHGAMES DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

SHARDS OF ORDER OTHGAMES Development Corporation

SHARDS OF ORDER


PHONE: (514) 788-1300 • FAX: (514) 999-4121 C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 0 5 , O T H G A M E S D E V E L O P M E N T C O R P O R A T I O N

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

***Page 1: Cover Art: Our Hero Does a Martial Pose*** : Table of Contents (this document) Page 3: Table of Contents continued

***Page 4: 3D Model of Our Hero Wielding a Sword*** Section 1: Main Pitch

Page 5: 1. High Concept Statement 2. Genre, Features 3. Design Goals 4. Target Hardware

Page 6:

1. Target Customers 2. Game-play Mechanics 3. Game Modes 4. Multiplayer Options 5. Game Story

***Page 7: Battle Between Hero’s Father and a Triclops***

Page 8:

1. Characters A) The Crea B) The Admiral C) The Hero

2. Art Style 3. Music Style

Page 9:

1. Level Design Objectives 2. Preliminary Milestones 3. Competition 4. Core Team Members

SHARDS OF ORDER



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Section 2: Game Story ***Page 10: Storyboard: Ship is attacked by Triclops***

Page 11: 1. Story opening 2. Race: The Crea 3. Race: The Ch’i

Page 12: 1. Race: Khiidaa 2. Race: Dimos 3. Character: Admiral Lasik 4. Story, Act I

***Page 13: A Vicious Flying Enemy***

Page 14: 1. Story, Act II 2. Story, Act III

Page 15: Act III Conclusion

***Page 16: Our Hero Facing a Horde of Triclops***

Section 3: Technical Design Overview

Page 17: 1. 3D Engine, 2D Game-play 2. Locations 3. Collisions and Particles 4. Menus and Interface

Page 18: 1. Character Actions 2. Artificial Intelligence 3. Arcade Mode 4. Summary ***Page 19: Closing Art: Our Hero Prepares a Spell Blast***

SHARDS OF ORDER Game Design Overview



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3D Model of our Hero with Sword




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igh-Concept Statement drive you. Your creators and their armies bar you.

Succes ction.

enre f Order

H

Pride and vengeances will drive the galaxy into chaos. Failure will drive your species to extin

Only one thing can be saved: your galaxy, your species, or yourself. You decide. GShards o is an action-adventure game rife with fighting, magic and intrigue.

eatures mersive story that enhances game-play.

rgent storyline. er and inhabitants.

gh

• de an elaborate story mode and a pick-up-and-play

• tions allow two players to cooperate in story mode, and up to four

esign Goals

: With a killer combat system, fast action and coordinated, intelligent

F

• Im• Extensive character customization and dive• Unique settings to explore, each with varying gravity, weath• Multiple paths to victory within every level. Fight, fly or slip undetected throu

thousands of enemy forces. Single player options incluarcade mode. Multiplayer opplayers in cooperative/competitive arcade mode.

DHeart-poundingenemies, Shards of Order is designed to keep the player’s adrenaline pumping. Immersive: Complex game universe and an epic story will subsume the player into the

ick-up and play arcade mode will allow players and their friends to enjoy game world. Social: Our pShards of Order together, anytime or anywhere. Target Hardware

gning Shards of Order We are desi for the hand-held market, with the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable [PSP] especially in mind. Designing our game for the Game Boy Advance [GBA] is also possible.




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Target Customers Thirteen to twenty-five year old video game players are our target audience. Game-play Mechanics Shards of Order is a side-scrolling action-adventure game. The player will fight, fly, or sneak his way through enemy forces, using a combination of skill, guile and magic. The game will have an engaging combat system, and a challenging AI that will allow enemies to work together against our Hero. The player will have many items and abilities to choose from, allowing each player to create their own play style. Game Modes The game will have two main modes: story mode and arcade mode. In story mode, the player will have to complete plot-based objectives, using whatever means are deemed necessary. Different approaches yield different results. This mode will feature multiple branch-points, allowing for several distinct outcomes. Story mode will also open up features in arcade mode.

In arcade mode, the player will have free rein to fight through scores of enemies. Because arcade mode will use random level generation, every play-through will be different. Character information will be retained from session to session. Multiplayer Options Story mode allows two players to act cooperatively. Each player will view themselves as the primary protagonist, with their ally in the background. In arcade mode, game-play can be either cooperative or competitive, and each player’s character data will be distinct. Game Story Our Hero is a member of a super-race designed by the Crea, the shadowy rulers of the Galactic Imperium. He is on a quest to win freedom and respect for his people. Our Hero is opposed by Imperium forces, headed by the being responsible for the death of his parents. He cannot defeat the Imperium alone, and so must find others of his kind who also seek freedom. He is fighting a losing battle against the tides of war, and even if he succeeds, his species may be doomed…




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Battle Between Hero’s Father and a “Triclops”




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Characters The Crea:

These mysterious beings have the ability to create new life-forms, seemingly out of their own metabolic energy. The Crea are able to create new intelligent life, classified as “Children of the Crea”. They have used this ability to populate Imperium space with servants and supporters to give themselves absolute rule of the galaxy. Our Hero will have to contend with them and their creations if he ever hopes to free his people…

Admiral Lasik of the Imperium Fleet:

As the man commanding the Imperium forces against the rebellion, the Admiral is a powerful being, rebuilt mechanically; driven to hate our Hero’s race, which cost him his original body. He is a brilliant tactician, and will use everything at his disposal to fulfil the wishes of the Imperium and get his revenge. Hero (name up to the player):

Of a race designed by the Crea to be perfect beings, our Hero was born of the unsanctioned mating of his parents. The “Children of the Crea”, which includes our Hero’s race, have always been denied full freedom; everything they do is closely controlled by their creators. Our Hero’s illegal birth and his great power heralds the beginning of a galactic civil war.

Our Hero has the potential to be the most powerful member of his race. His aim is to win freedom for all the “Children”. He is a young and naive being, who tends to hold unrealistic expectations and ideals. Many of these preconceptions will be shattered as he is forced to choose between the safety of his people and the fate of the rest of the galaxy… Art Style The game will use three major art styles. Normal game-play will use 3D models in a 2D field of action. Cinematic mode will use high detail versions of the 3D models. Journal Mode, which will be a unique feature of the game, represents the Hero’s interpretation of what has happened. Journal art is meant to be a highly stylistic representation of events. Every Journal image will reflect a distorted version of game reality, though it will never be entirely unrecognisable. This will give our Hero’s journals more personality and interest than in any other game previously seen. Music Style The game sound effects will be generated in-house. The music in Shards will be appropriate to each setting and situation within the game. Montreal is a city with a rich musical culture, so we will explore the viability of using local bands to record tracks for our game. This mix of local and in-house sound production will give our game the auditory edge it deserves.




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Level Design Objectives

Our key considerations in level design are player choice, challenging game-play, player reward, effective story and the fun factor.

To create player choice, each level in story mode will be designed to allow the player multiple paths to victory. Our character is able to sneak around quite effectively, he can fight extraordinarily well and he is able to fly while doing either. The player will be able to explore the stage from the air, sneak past enemies to gain information, or cleave through the opposition with brute force.

We will have multiple difficulty levels, and will create battle situations which are constantly fresh and challenging. Our goal is to immerse the player in our game with a combination of challenging enemies, a compelling plot and impressive locales. We aim to have unique environments with many variables such as gravity, weather, day-night cycles, etc.

To keep people playing, the game will reward the player with new items, weapons, abilities and information. The information the player discovers in-level will drive the intricate story-line of the game. The story, with its deep plot and branch points should be enough to instil a desire to play and re-play the game.

Our overriding concern in designing our game is always the fun factor. We want players to enjoy themselves, and this consideration trumps all our other concerns. We do not want to create a playable movie or a simple beat-’em-up. We hope that our combination of action and story will create a uniquely entertaining experience that the player will want to come back to again and again. Competition The action in Shards of Order is similar to such games as Konami’s Castlevania series, while the story is as engrossing and intricate as an RPG. We believe that our game has a unique mix of action and story that sets us apart from other side-scrolling action titles such as Capcom’s Viewtiful Joe or Megaman Zero. Core Team Members

Eric Webber – Administrative Director (President) Pat Combat – Design Director (VP Production) Richard Donato, B.Eng. – Programming Director (VP Research & Development) Van Tan Prak, B.Eng. – Senior Programmer Marianne Martin – Artistic Director Geoffrey Rollins – Lead Writer

SHARDS OF ORDER Story Design Overview



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Story Overview In the beginning… Our story starts off with our hero and his parents on a covert mission to recruit more fighters to their cause. We find them in rebellion against a group of mysterious being known as the Crea, leaders of the Galactic Imperium. Little of the true implications of their rebellion will be revealed at this point, as they hurtle towards their rendezvous on a small, backwater trading planet. As their ship goes into orbit, a strike force of Imperium ships emerges from behind the planet’s moon and takes them by surprise. Their engine is hit, explodes, and kills our hero’s mother instantly; her husband is almost frozen by shock. The ship goes down, killing most of the crew in the crash. Our hero and his father are of heartier stock, bred to be able to survive in almost any environment, and so defend themselves when the Imperium troops move in for the kill. The Imperium grunts fight well, but are slowly losing ground to the awesome power of the two rebels. One positions himself behind our hero, and fires a strange new energy weapon. Father sees the weapon, and, still distraught over the death of his wife, unthinkingly leaps in front of the blast to absorb the blow. Our hero witnesses his death, and loses control of the vast magical forces within his body… When the smoke clears and our hero awakes, his is in the midst of a huge crater, created by his uncontrolled power. All that is left of his parents and their mission is the sword carried by his father. Now utterly alone, our hero must seek out his people, who have gone into hiding from the machinations of the Crea. He also wants to help the rebellion and continue the struggle initiated by his parents, but everything he does seems to move the galaxy further towards chaos and destruction. He must find allies, and a way to end the war without destroying galactic civilization in the process.

Characters / Races The Crea:

The Crea are a secretive race who have the ability to create discreet life-forms from their own metabolic energy. There are many “Children of the Crea”, often highly specialized life-forms that fill specific roles within galactic society. The hero’s race, the Ch’i, were the Crea’s greatest creations. The Crea use their creations to cement their power within the Imperium. With the Children as subjects, the Crea have access to a vast civic and military force with which to impose their version of “Order” upon the galaxy. The Ch’i:

Almost invulnerable, beautiful, vastly talented, the Ch’i are able to survive in almost any environment. They are the locus of vast magical powers, the only magical race the Crea ever made. In the past, they have been used as the ultimate servants, able to go anywhere and do any job from cook to diplomat to enforcer. The Crea considered them living art, and treated them as the jewel in their ruling crown, but the Ch’i did not want to be treated as objects. When the hero’s parents called for a rebellion against their masters, all of the Ch’i left Crea service. Most Ch’i chose exile over rebellion, however, as they did not relish fighting their creators. In the beginning of the game, our hero decides to seek out his kind, either to convince them to join the rebellion or to join their exile. He is not prepared for what he will find…




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The Khiidaa: An insectoid race, they work as mercenaries and scavengers on the fringes of Imperium territory. They have their own reasons for despising the Imperium, and take our hero under their chitinous wings. Our Hero travels with them, seeking his people, hiding from Imperium forces and helping the rebellion when he can. Little does he know that one of his protectors is also his betrayer, seeking his destruction in a grab for power. The Dimos: A fearsome race created specifically to destroy the Ch’i, these fearsome beings are bred with absolute loyalty to the Crea, and an in-bred hatred of the Ch’i. They will be dogging our hero across the galaxy as loses his grip on events. The Dimos will force our hero to choose between saving the Galaxy, saving his people, and saving himself. Admiral Lasik of the Imperium Fleet: The Admiral is a genius of military tactics and the former commander of the hero’s father. It was the Admiral’s order to slaughter a group of surrendering troublemakers that pushed Father into rebellion. Forced by the Admiral’s command to draw a line, Father refused to follow the Admiral’s order. When the Admiral attacked him in rage, Father broke the Admiral’s neck with a precise blow, paralyzing him from the neck down. The Admiral was thought dead for many years, only to re-emerge with a powerful mechanical body thanks to the advanced technology controlled by the Crea. He is now determined to prove himself superior to the Ch’i by destroying each and every one of their rebellious kind. The Admiral is our hero’s main opponent, the mastermind behind the Imperium’s military plans.

Important Events: Act I Towards the end of the first act, while traveling on the Khiidaa ship, our hero will discover one of the planets that his kind had fled to. He will be overjoyed, believing that he can rejoin his people and convince them to join the rebellion. What he finds are cynical, apathetic beings who have lost their way. They feel that leaving Crea service was wrong, that their status as head servants was better than the skulking nature of their current existence. They blame our hero and his parents for their current situation and refuse even to let our hero join them in their self-imposed exile. Our hero is crushed, disheartened by their lack of empathy for the plight of the rest of the galaxy. These beautiful, capable beings seem only to care about their own comfort or lack thereof. As our hero is leaving the planet in shame, he is betrayed by one of the beings he trusted most. The second in command on the Khiidaa ship, in a bid for power, contacts the Imperium forces and reveals to them the location of our hero and the planet. Our hero returns to a mutiny in progress, as the second in command and his supporters together with Imperium troops fight to take over the ship. Our hero fights his way to the bridge, where the second in command gets our hero to lower his guard long enough to be knocked unconscious by an anti-magic field. Our hero is captured and taken to a prison asteroid.




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A Flying Enemy




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Act II In this act, our hero tries to take the fight to the enemy, rather than running from it. He attempts to organize the rebellion into a more cohesive force, led by the former captain of the Khiidaa vessel. He manages to secure some victories, and with the help of some friends from outside Imperium space he finds the new Ch’i homeworld, the true home of the exiles. These exiles are not listless cynics as the other Ch’i were, but are actively supporting the rebellion and its cause. The enemy, however, has not stood still. The Dimos are in the open now, a lethal force that has managed to find and destroy almost every Ch’i not on the new home world. The Admiral is using the Imperium forces as a wedge, dividing the rebellion into smaller, easily destructible groups. It seems that for every victory our hero and his allies gain, the Imperium forces manage to deal them two stunning defeats. Even with allies, our hero cannot be everywhere at once. He is facing an enemy that has controlled most of the galaxy for thousands of years. Their resources far outnumber his. Indeed, it almost seems as if thousands of Imperium troops are appearing out of nowhere, vastly more then they had anticipated. Our hero decides that the only course of action which can ensure victory is a direct confrontation with the Admiral. He sneaks into the enemy compound, and a titanic battle ensues in which our hero defeats the Admiral and does irreparable damage to his robotic body. Victory seems assured. Act III In this act, the rebellion begins to fall apart. With the apparent destruction of the Admiral, and the resultant reduction in Imperium attacks, many of the rebel factions no longer felt threatened. The various races within the rebellion begin squabbling amongst themselves for territory, power and privileges within the newly chaotic galaxy. Our hero tries desperately to hold them together, knowing that the reduction of Imperium military pressure is merely a lull in action while they repair the Admiral’s robotic body. Unfortunately, he is distracted from his task by a new crisis: his people are dying. On the new home world, the Ch’i are falling ill. This seems impossible, as the Ch’i were bred to be completely immune to illnesses. Our hero suspects the disease may be a new weapon, and seeks its source. He finds out, to his horror, that the creators of the Ch’i are also their destroyers. For a long time, our hero had believed that the Admiral was the source of the drive to wipe out the Ch’i. Even after the appearance of the Dimos, he believed that it was the Admiral that had pushed for their creation. Now, our hero discovers that the Crea have devised a super-virus to destroy the Ch’i. Not because they are dangerous, or powerful, but because they are a threat to Order. The Crea, in their obsession with Order, see the Ch’i as the ultimate destroyers of order. When they left Imperium service, they destroyed the entire hierarchy of Children created by the Crea. The Crea were killing themselves producing the soldiers and civil servants they would need to re-establish Order. Our hero decided that the only way save his people was to confront the leader of the Crea: the Emperor himself.




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After making his way to the emperor’s chambers, our hero is forced to fight the captain of the Dimos and a re-built Admiral in a final battle for the fate of the galaxy. He defeats them, but the true battle lies inside. When our hero confronts the Emperor, the Emperor reveals to him that a true galactic civil war is looming; one which could mean destruction for thousands of races. Our hero’s rebellion has destabilized the galaxy, creating racial rivalries and conflicts that can only end in genocide. The only being who could possibly bring order back to the galaxy is the emperor. The rest of the Crea race is dead, destroyed in their last efforts to create the forces necessary to reassert Order. Those forces were in place now, the Emperor confides, but need his guidance to restore order. Our hero has the choice of killing the Emperor and dooming the galaxy to generations of war, or letting him live and perhaps returning to the stagnation ignominy of Crea rule. Our hero makes his choice…




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Our Hero facing a Horde of “Triclops”

SHARDS OF ORDER Technical Design Overview



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1. Engine 1.1. 3D Environment, 2D Game-play

While the visual environment is fully three-dimensional, the action takes place on a two-dimensional plane. The environment will be captured by a camera that is perpendicular to the action. Although scripted scenes may occur on other planes, and enemies may move from other planes to the action plane, actual combat elements are restricted to the action plane.

1.2. Locations Locations within the game have atmospheric variables such as day/night

cycles, weather effects, ambient magic/anti-magic and different gravity levels. These variables are stored as part of the level data. This allows us to create environments that feel distinct even if they share the same art.

1.3. Collisions and Particles Unlike many side-scrollers in which the player’s character takes damage

by merely touching the enemy, in Shards of Order the character must be hit by an attack to take damage. Simply colliding with an enemy prevents the player character from entering the enemy’s space.

Every entity and particle in the game has an “allegiance” attribute. This

allegiance dictates what this entity can damage and what can damage it. When an entity creates a particle, it generally creates one with the same allegiance. Not only does this prevent friendly fire, but it avoids the side effect of sword swings and spell effects that may splash on to and thus damage their creator.

1.4. Menus and Interface The player can access in-game menus at any time. The menu allows the

users to assign spells and items to hotkeys, change equipment and configure the control scheme. The menu also allows the player to view the main character’s attributes and spell levels. A separate in-game menu allows the player to invoke a spell or use an item for a single use without hotkeying it. This permits the player to use a variety of abilities without having to constantly rearrange hotkeys.

SHARDS OF ORDER Technical Design Overview



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1.5. Character Actions The player controls a protagonist with versatile skills. The character can

swing a weapon, block attacks, cast spells, use consumable items, sneak past enemies, jump, and fly.

The main character’s primary attack is with an equipped melee weapon.

The attack performed depends on the direction pressed along with the attack button and the amount of charge that has been built up. Weapon charge is built up by holding down the attack button. The charge is interrupted when the character is hit, but instead of dissipating completely, the charge is proportionately translated into defensive energy and reduces the damage dealt by the interrupting attack. This is how the player blocks damage.

1.6. Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence in Shards of Order consists of more than just simple

path-finding. Enemies will use tactics that make use of their advantages and will decide upon actions based on group coordination. Enemy groups will use better tactics if they are accompanied by a leader. Enemies will also have morale ratings that will drop as their situation get worse. The enemies are not automatically aware of the hero. With the aid of some stealth spells and discretion, the player can sneak past enemy defences.

1.7. Arcade Mode Arcade Mode is a feature added so that a player can pick the game up and

play the action aspect of the game. In this mode, the game will generate random environments based on settings adjusted by the player. The player can select the location style, weather patterns, gravity and sound track, as well as how often a boss is seeded among the rooms. The engine will generate random rooms, using the validation guidelines of our proprietary Level Editor Tool.

2. Summary

By making every program component modular and applying our incremental methodology, we are able to ensure stable, efficient coding with great flexibility and reusability. This facilitates testing, and reduces the time needed to fix errors and adjust play balance. We at OTHGAMES are dedicated to well-engineered, versatile code that will bring out the best aspects of any hardware system.

SHARDS OF ORDER



shards of order · the action in shards of order is similar to such games as konami’s castlevania...

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