I.
Simulation(Murder-Mystery) Genre
The goal of this game is to provide a fun experience for the player by providing them with a simultion of a murder mystery. The player should feel like they are a cunning detective solving a difficult mystery.
II.
Intoduction
1.
Overview:
This game will play like a top-down RPG without battles. The bulk of the gameplay revolves around inspecting items for clues and fingerprints as well as getting testimonies from witnesses and pointing out contradictions. To add variety I would like to add some stealth segments and mini-games.
If time allows I'd also like to add 'Summoner' battles where Terrich and his summoned monster companion fight against other pairs in a tournament. Not only would this itself add another goal to the game, but it would also give you something to spend money on: Monster toys and food, monster decorations(fung-shui), and new monsters.
2.
Motivation:
I have always really enjoyed detective games such as Phoenix Wright, Professor Layton, LA Noire, Detective Grimoire, and snippets of Dues Ex. Unfortunately there are not many games in the genre. Feeling a personal connection to murder mysteries, partly due to my love for Detective Conan and Sherlock Holmes, I've decided to make this niche game. I'm hoping to connect with the fans of murder mysteries, older role playing games, and mini-game lovers.
I'm hoping to monetize the game either by flash ads and a sponsorship or by selling the game directly. Besides that I'm hoping to learn more about programming games for computers of multifarious ages. This game will help me with learning marketing/advertising and partly be a precursor to 'summoner' themed games I want to make.
3.
Goals and Challenges:
The biggest challenge for me will be getting the word out about my game. I hope to do better than the last game by following more indie developer blogs. Following Selatria got me a share from them and introduced me to Pixelcation. Tseng Fayt also donated towards my game. I'll also spread the word more on youtube. I'll need to make a new trailer... ug. But direct messages and staying in contact garners support as well. This time around I'm gonna make my website a landing page with quick obvious connections to my facebook, blog, youtube, and twitter. I'll be doing most of my advertising on Facebook.
A new challenge this time around will be article writing. I plan on writing at least one article every other day from now on. This will up my site's relevancy on google and help me rise higher for the keywords "detective game". It will get me more respect from my fellow developers and possibly help those trying to get into game development. The greatest boost I'll get from my blog will of course be added traffic to my landing page and thus possibly to my game.
Another challenge is making my game run more smoothly on all computers and browsers. I'm hoping by using FlxG.elapsed, a variable in Flixel that assists in telling how much time has passed, I'll be able to accomplish this.
I have two goals for this game. The first is for it to be featured on the flash game site Newgrounds. If I decide to try and get money through advertising that would be the only way to accomplish that. Also that would net me a good number of newgrounds fans which could possibly follow my Facebook fanpage. My second goal is to make money from the game. This could quite possibly just be accomplished by the first goal, but if it isn't then I'll guage everything and see if a added-content stand-alone downloadable game would be viable.
III.
Analysis
1.
Game Overview:
There will only be one murder mystery case in this game, but it'll be cut into three 'Discover The Truth' sessions. Before each session you'll be able to search for clues, talk to witnesses, play mini-games, do quests, and participate in 'Summoner' battles. The game will be about three hours long following only the storyline. It'll have about another hour of content via mini-games and 'Summoner' battles.
*Searching for clues will involve checking all the objects in rooms around the murder scene. All of these objects should have their own unique descriptions about their looks, general philosophies, or random references.
*Talking to witnesses, and npcs in general, should grant several topics to choose from. You should be able to build relationships with some characters, find out interesting truths from others, and be burdened by the oddities of all of them.
*I'm thinking about only having four mini-games in this game. A pac-man clone, a Galag clone, a Donkey Kong clone, and a management game something like RootBeer Tapper.
The game should have multiple routes to allow for multiple play throughs to increase replayability. Every section of the game should be able to be completed very quickly, but if you look for hidden routes it increases the length and challenge.
2.
Player Actions:
*Walk
*Run
*Inspect an item or furniture
*Talk to an NPC
*Select Items from a menu
*Change game options
*View medals and credits
3.
Non-functional requirements:
Originality: The game should combine detective and rpg elements in a way that makes it unique and fun. It should not feel like a Phoenix Wright clone. Hopefully the stealth segments, summoner battles, optional routes, and mini-games will do this.
Accesibility: Unfortunatley this being a text heavy game it will not do well with non-english speaking players. But I need to make the keys customizable so anyone with weird keyboards(or tastes) can play the game how they want. Test the default controls with players and see how they like it.
Addictiveness: I'm hoping by adding medals that'll increase appeal of various actions and give players more incentive to explore the game. I'll add counters for inspecting objects and talking to witnesses which show progress towards completetion. Completed actions should be recorded in the notebook and add a 'Observation Score'.
Visuals and Audio: I definitely need to add sound effects and find a new composer which is quite a shame as a main pro-point of my game was Halcyonic's music. Something that meshes well. Video I would like to change the sprites so some people don't think I'm ripping off RPG Maker.
Clare and Consistent: Everything should behave, for the most part, how the player believes it should behave. For example all of the evidence should be inspect-able before you submit it. You should be able to have a quest log of sort in the notebook that tells you where to go.
Length: The game should be 3 to 4 hours long dependent on the player's ability to solve puzzles. The game will be much longer for those who take optional paths, discover the secrets, and participate in 'Summoner' Battles/mini-games.
Difficulty: The game did really well as far as difficulty for most players. Only a few players found the game too easy. For them I'll add a new route only accessible by finding additional evidence. The new route will of course be more difficult to prove your point.
Bugs: The game should not launch with any game-breaking bugs. That will stop people from investing in the game. I need to test my game with as many players as possible to make sure of this. A few small bugs are okay, but nothing that completely ruins the experience for the player.
Performance: I need to make the game first before worrying about performance. Functionality before optimization. Once I am finished with the game I should put in trace checks throughout the game to see which functions are being used the most so I can focus on what'll improve the game the most.
4.
Functional Requirements:
4.1
Game Controls and Mechanics
*Keyboard controls are what the player will use. Nothing will use the mouse and their won't be native joypad support. Though the keys will be cutomizable.
*The player will walk, run, and teleport at nav points to travel through the game. Traveling this way should make the player feel like they can move through the game quickly.
*The player must be able to interact with every object in the game in some form. Every object must at least have a unique description, but some objects should have minor uses and interactivity to make the world feel more maleable to the player.
*The controls and collision detection should be solid and responsive. No player should find the player character rigid or hard to control. Also collisions should make sense and the player should be able to walk where they feel they should be able to.
*The basic controls should be explained gradually throughout gameplay without too many mechanics being introduced late in the game. Too much information at once will be found as boring or too hard to remember. Information presented late in the game can make the player feel like they are being treated as unintelligent. I should make all the player actions be required to use to move on past the beginning otherwise some players will not know how to perform these actions. Most players will not read long explanations. Short descriptions and images are key.
*The player must actually be able to fail segments of the game. These failures must feel due to the player's lack of ability and not due to poor system implementation or the player will find the game frustrating. The player must be allowed a finite number of attempts so they have time to improve before failing an objective. A lot of player testing will be needed to flesh this out due to the nature of this game.
*The player must have multiple ways to prove a point or show a contradiction. Thus making the game more accesible for people with different thinking patterns.
4.2
Level Design
*All of this takes place in a portion of the lower section of LionHeart Kingdom. The area should have a feel of being within a kingdom, but not being in the best repair. Save for Terrich's home as he is funded by the government for being an Exorcist.
*There must be varied NPCs/villagers to interact with. Some of the NPCs should be useful by providing information relevant to the case, some NPCs should give out hints on how to play the game effectively, other NPCs should give out lore about the kingdom and its people, and some NPCs should provide simple humor to be enjoyed. There will be NPCs that balk the player's progress and encourage the player to rise against them.
*Birds that can't be interacted with, but fly away when the player walks near them to make each area feel more alive.
*NPCs should have various animations. Talking, looking around, and interacting with objects to make the world look more real.
*Areas in the kindom should not be repetetive. Some stores should appear rather varied and provide new uses to make exploration more enjoyable. Not everywhere in game should initially be accesible to make the game simpler to play at first and again make newer areas appear to be more interesting.
*Areas in the game should have multiple pathways, some of which are hidden, to once again encourage exploration and allow more difficult paths for more skilled players.
*Entering an area should cause a momentary display of the area's name so the player can gain a better sense of direction. These areas must also have teleportation gates to allow faster navigation thus skipping walking from A to B.
*There should also be perks for walking rather than teleporting. Such as unique events with certain NPCs as well as events to capture ghosts.
*There should be a sign or npc near new objects that require the player to learn something new.
*Progress in the game should be saved at checkpoints throughout the game so the player doesn't lose progress between milestones.
*The game has six different modes. Inspection, Stealth, Capture Ghost, Discover the Truth, Mini-Game, and Summoner Battle.
*Stealth mode and Capture Ghost modes play in the same way as Inspection mode. With the player moving in his top-down perspective through the kingdom of LionHeart. Stealth mode and Capture Ghost mode will have unique flags that trigger as the player reaches a certain area or just randomly when walking from point A to B. These two modes are canceled if the player leaves the area.
*Discover the Truth mode takes place in a static place where visuals focus more on the character's profiles and icons.
*Mini-Games will be displayed within the PFP Pocket effect and each mini-game will share visual and audio themes different from the main game to make them feel authentic.
*Summoner Battle mode will take place using the usual graphics. There will be a 'Summoner Battle' word flash much like the word flash with 'Discover the Truth'. Once the mode has started the player will not move, but menus will appear at the bottom of the screen in a Final Fantasy VI fashion.
4.3
Menus and GUI
*The game will feature the following menus:
-A loading screen and preloader bar. This will be the first thing the player sees as the game loads. Perhaps controls should be displayed here.
-A title screen with a main menu which gives the player the option to dive into the game or change some options.
-Talk Option menu. Where the player chooses between which topic he'd like to discuss with the NPC. The end of a discussion should always return to the Talk Option menu and glaringly show updates. Updates made to Talk Options should be apparent in someway even if they didn't pop-up through speach. Perhaps with an exclmation mark?
-NoteBook menu. The Notebook menu should display a notebook with options to check: The overall objective, current goals and past completed goals, rising 'detective points' alongside bars showing how many objects and NPCs have been interacted with, profiles for all of the important characters the player meets with brief descriptions, and lastly all of the evidence/clues the player has collected.
-Buying/Selling menu. This should toggle between all of the player's items and a merchant's items while displaying the player's current currency and details about the currently selected item.
-Summoner Battle menu. The Final Fantasy VI alike interface where you can see the turn order and access: Basic Attack, Special Ability, Defend, and Order.
-Equipment menu. For the player's summon you should be able to see the equipped jewels and the summon's current stats and abilities.
-Ability menu. For the player's summon you should be able to see all of its active and passive abilities and their details.
-Options menu. Change options about the game. Key configure, text speed.
-Pause Menu. Where you can exit out of the game and return to the title menu.
*Equipment, evidence, and abilities should all have their own icons which make the game more enjoyable as you unlock things.
*Menu items should be represented with icons along text. To make it very obvious what does what.
