Difference between revisions of "Design Documentation"

Revision as of 17:28, 6 September 2007

as we are still in the experimentation phase there isn't too much design documentation yet.

chatlogs

to get an impression of what we have in mind you can read these chatlogs :

• http://ghoulsblade.schattenkind.net/sfz/chatlogs/sfzchat_design_07.08.2007.txt
• http://ghoulsblade.schattenkind.net/sfz/chatlogs/sfzchat_29.08.2007_1.txt
• http://ghoulsblade.schattenkind.net/sfz/chatlogs/sfzchatlog__06.09.2007_gameoverview.txt

style

we are currently discussing art style, and are considering a slight toon shader to avoid photo realism

• forum thread : http://freegamer.schattenkind.net/index.php?t=msg&th=209
• chatlog : http://ghoulsblade.schattenkind.net/sfz/chatlogs/sfzchat_2007.09.05_artstyle.txt
• GraphicStyleBrainstorming
• CellShadingNotes

ship internals

• forum thread : http://freegamer.schattenkind.net/index.php?t=msg&th=169&start=0

combat system suggestions

there is a discussion and in the forum : http://freegamer.schattenkind.net/index.php?t=msg&goto=1432

as there are several very different and interesting suggestions a compromise might leave most of us equally unhappy, so we might capsule the combat system in such a way that it is easy to replace by plugins/mods.

suggestions :

• CombatSuggestion SimpleAndIntuitive

Draft

short description

TODO

gameplay aspects

very important

• lan based coop multiplayer
• fly/control a spaceship
• walk inside spaceships
• possibility to create own ships and design their interior
• explore planets, ships, spacestations ... (you can enter them)
• trading
• collecting things (ie. different types of flowers)
• drive vehicles on the planet surface
• quests

nice to have

• share content (collected stuff, ship design...) online with other players

scenario, environment

TODO

graphic style

TODO

design

• we want to minimize grinding, this affects many design decisions, see also below "anti-grinding"
• no unlimited fleet size / fleet management : that would turn the game into a strategy-game and we don't want that
  • no remote autopilot : ships don't move when not directly piloted by a player
  • maybe a small amount of npc pilots, but not unlimited (limit could be explained by mutiny)
  • taxing ships/shipsize and crew wages cannot be used for balancing/limiting fleet size (see below : "anti-grinding")

• all players are in the same team (it is a coop game)
  • not fighting against other teams, but all players agains the npc-universe or somthing like that
  • players don't have individual property (e.g. everything belongs to the whole team)
  • the team itself makes progress when doing mission (aquires new equipment construction plans)
  • players can join / leave at arbitrary times
    • there should be no need to aquire enough equipment or experience for a player to be valuable (see also anti-grinding below)
  • multiple players can be inside the same spaceship
  • repairing stuff inside the ship might be interesting for combat
  • cooperatively playing a campaign would be cool, e.g. doing story-related missions and collecting equipment plans as rewards
  • no individual savegames/property of players, all belongs to the TEAM,
    • so arbitrary number of players can share stuff, anyone can join/leave at any time.
    • no individual power/level differences, this elegantly avoids strong-player+weak-player problems (see also "anti-grinding")

• death/ship-destruction = loss of equipment
  • no instant respawn with the same ship
  • dying will hurt a bit, but you'll be back on track quickly (see below : "anti-grinding")
  • no gameplay/story/campaign progress will be lost, equipment-construction plans etc are not destroyed
  • when your ship is destroyed, it is gone, no respawning with the same equipment, so you need a new one
  • the team can capture a new ship for the player (see "boarding")
  • you can have a simple fighter
  • equipment itself is easy to replace as the construction plans for it are not lost (see below : "anti-grinding")
  • if the team has a big mothership/carrier with multiple fighters in the hangar, the player can just take the next fighter until they are all gone
  • maybe : you can have more than one ship but only fly one at once

• not too much RPG
  • no complex skill tree's, but simple jobs/professions/specialities are ok (mechanic, medic, ...)
  • in a scifi-scenario with highly advanced software, the speed, hit-chance in combat (of the ship) etc should depend on equipment, not on the human-skills.
  • no experience/skill grinding, probably just pick the skill at start and change profession at stations

• exploring and collecting (equipment-plans,decoration,plants,animals..) should be important gameplay elements

• the amount of equipment/weapons in use is limited by the available reactor power
  • energy management is interesting in combat with batteries being recharged by the reactor while you don't fire
  • while your shields restore themselves they require more energy than while they are up
  • maybe an energy consuming afterburner for extra speed in combat ?
  • energy consuming equipment like anti-missile, shieldboost, maneuver-boost, cloak ...

boarding

• enemy ships can be crippled/disabled and boarded.
• when the shields are down and armor is damaged to below something like 30% the ships is "disabled"
  • alternate : this only happens with emp weapons (lightning-tesla-like weapon, emp-torpedo/missiles) ?
• a "disabled" ship cannot move or fire
• player ships can dock to the disabled ship
• players can then overcome the crew of the ship (either decided via random or later with real indoor fighting)
• if they succeed, they can take cargo,equipment, or even switch ships
• if the ship is small enough it might be added to the hangar of the mothership

shipedit

• ship properties (speed,turn..) might be affected/based by/on components assembled via ship editor
• ship-editor balancing :
  • hardcap : only one reactor per ship, but differnent types (with different mass/energy output)
  • energy management : reactor produces energy, other components consume energy (shield,engine,weapons...)
  • maybe heat management
  • more ship components means more mass -> less maneuverability
• cool blueprint images could be automatically generated
• damage to the outside could be accurately reflected on the inside

anti-grinding

see also http://freegamer.schattenkind.net/index.php?t=msg&goto=1280

• we want to minimize grinding (repetitive, non-entertaining gameplay to aquire ressources,money or experience)
• making things expansive cannot be used as primary balancing, that'll only lead to more grinding
  • taxing ships/shipsize and crew wages cannot be used for balancing/limiting fleet size
• discouraging grinding might even lead to better balancing, as grinding will not be rewarded
• a game not focused on grinding will be more suitable for occasional fun without longterm engagement (more casual?)
• we consider a money-less trading systems

• mission rewards : construction plans for equipment
  • cooperative progress when doing missions : the team aquires more and more equipment plans
  • motivation for doing specific missions is not to gain the most money, but an interesting equipment part
  • players can build as "many" equipment parts as they want, but can only use a limited number of them at once
    • so grinding does not lead to super-power
  • gathering ressources for equipment should be quick, no mindless asteroid mining for hours, more like seconds
    • resource gathering could be made interesting and combined with exploration by requiring different materials
    • there should be more places to gather minerals than asteroids : gas giants, space-nebulae, planets : plants,liquid-lakes,mining
    • chemical reactions and modification like smelting would be interesting and make crafting interesting