Design Documents
2020 - 2021
One Page GDD
Design Process
For the documentation style we had a few attempts at Stone Librande’s style of documentation however, we had to squeeze in the the aspects such as, the casual competitive element and what would differentiate it from other cap com fighting games. Upon reviewing Librande’s seminar, I decided to create a rough flow for how I would like to present information. I also wanted the document to feel like a DMC doc so I made sure the doc fits the U.I style of DMC V.
The feedback I received from the first pass was I needed to use more of the blank space to add more detail to the design, to add more detail I added more information of the casual and competitive element of the game. This will include movement and gunplay. For the second pass I also showed how these mechanics will work and leaned towards using visual examples and diagrams to explain this without breaking the flow I’ve already established.
For the second pass the feedback was for refinement and expanding the possibilities of the combat for example, what if the player attacks high medium and low.
The brief was: Capcom wanted a well-established series to have a fighting game made for a competitive audience.
Devil May Cry V (DMCV) was the game of choice as its a beloved title and the games use of guns, swords and combos are conventional to fighting games.
Expanding DMCV's gunplay made this feel different to capcoms's other fighting games, guns can start maintain, finish combos, deal damage and knockback.
One crucial design choice is incorporating movement and defence for standard and pro gameplay (see document). These systems allow pro players who learn the mechanics to have an advantage over players who do not.
I also wanted to show the character types and from these characters there will be other characters inheriting the base of character a or b with a few alterations for the stats to make them feel different. An example of this is captain falcon and Ganondorf in Smash Brothers.
For this one page GDD I have three core areas and I wanted to convey it in the middle of the document. I have also catered to the competitive and non competitive crowd with the areas on the outer edge of the document i.e. movement, defending and gunplay. The goal was to communicate the core concept via visuals and use the space in the page effectively.
Game Feel Document
This game feel document expands on my one-page document of DMCV Versus. I wanted to relate the game to competitive fighting games and shonen anime as the Devil May Cry series has exaggerated moves like anime. The intention was to make the game feel sharp and responsive with core actions and inputs like movement and shooting. I wanted players to internalise the player's actions, and I did academic reading to support this finding out about the rhythmic feeling in video games via Walter and Larsen "Rhythm".
For this game I researched: Steve Swink’s game feel for a starting point then Walter and Larson’s 2019 paper for an expanded look into game feel. This was to understand mechanics as rhythmic instruments to create a flowing feeling for the characters.
To respect the source material: I researched over the top action and shonen anime and to see how this can fit in with DMCv, I’ve noticed to achieve this there must be an agile and punchy feeling to the moves.
The goal was, how can the mechanics be clear while relating to the character archetype (via polish and mechanical methods). This is the spine for most of the detail and relating it back to the papers I’ve researched and the goal I’ve created to respect the source material.
To please the competitive audience: Upon discussing with E-sport professionals I extrapolated how range and timing can be communicated and different inputs for each archetype will feel distinctly different. A rule for effects in this game they will not hinder the clarity of actions.
All that has been listed, were the layers of decisions I made when evaluating the game feel for each mechanic and system presented originally in the one page GDD.
Pitching Document
Design Process
The brief was: Criterion wanted an action-adventure game on the switch utilising its features with a teen age rating for an un-adapted TV series. I went with the Mandalorian as it's a highly acclaimed TV series, rated for teens and has not been adapted.
I wanted to make this distinctly different to a Star Wars game, the beauty is in the limitations of Mando. I wanted to show him as a smart and resourceful character and his mechanics like the jet pack, vehicles and grapple hooks are tools for the player.
To understand the character and the world better I watched Mandalorian S1 to help me uncover the actions he takes throughout the series, from this I derived the core actions of the game. I also had a look at a polygon article as an extremely rough starting point as this article does not even state how these levels will work or how Mando will interact with the environment.
I wanted him to have the ability to reason with characters and leave how the player wants to complete the mission up to the player as they would be traveling to the various planets related to the show.
For the feasibility of this being made, Criterion would have been an excellent fit having worked on Star Wars games in the past and it will feature the same engine tech that is capable of open environments and similar assets can be used which would drastically reduce the cost and time of making the game meaning more focus on making this unique and different to the star wars games.