Game DEVELOPMENT - game DESIGN DOCUMENTATION

[FLOWER OF LETUM] 

 

___________________________________________________________________

GAME DESIGN DOCUMENTATION

1. Basic Information

• Game Title - [Flower of Letum]
  
  
• Team Name / Members - 
  
  • Muhammad Zaky Aulia (0367842)  
  • Sophia 
  • Annika  
    
    
• Genre - 
  
  • Dark Fantasy
  • Platformer
  • Action  

 

2. Concept and Purpose

•  Game Overview - 
  
  Flower of Letum will be a 2d pixel-art platformer set in a medieval dark-fantasy setting, following a nameless knight in their journey to deliver a flower to the Princess of the Letum Kingdom. The Nameless Knight has to trudge through multiple dangerous areas, from an overgrown forest filled with harmful druids and stone golems left abandoned to a once mighty and powerful Kingdom that is now left eroding to time.
  
  
  
•  Story & Narrative - 
  
  Flower of Letum starts from when a Nameless Knight picks up a beautiful flower called the "Lunamchra". This Lunamchra only grows in the heart of the Molina Forest, therefore the story now follows the Nameless Knight on their journey to deliver the Lunamchra to the Princess of the Letum Kingdom. The Nameless Knight has to fight their way out of the Molina Forest first, defeating Druids who have went mad from the passing of time and at the exit of the forest, there lies a Stone Golem who shall test the Nameless Knight if he is indeed worthy enough to deliver the Flower. 
  

  
  

  After getting himself out of the Forest, the Nameless Knight continues their track and finally they reach the Kingdom of Letum, a once mighty and powerful Kingdom, yet now is a husk of its former self. The Kingdom seems to be abandoned, the high and powerful walls are now eroding, and old compatriots of the knight have lost their ways. It is now the Nameless Knight's mission to get past through them and to go through the roaring massive castle to deliver the Flower to the Princess. However this isn't their last stop, the Nameless Knight's destination lies beyond the Castle, a flower field they needs to go to.
  
  At last, the Nameless Knight has reached his final destination, the field of blooming flowers that the Princess used to adore. The Nameless Knight recollects his memories of his time here with the Princess, however, that fleeting moment was obstructed by the King of Letum. One last obstacle before the Nameless Knight is finally able to deliver his flower to the Princess. The Protecting King stands in-front of the Nameless Knight and challenges him, it is a test, to see if the Nameless Knight is worthy enough to give his beloved daughter a gift. Finally, after the Knight bested the King, he continues on walking, to the center of the Field of Somnium. There, lies a patch with Lunamchra flowers growing on top of it, it is the grave of the Princess. The Knight has reached the final destination, there he rests with the Princess, until time tells. 
  
  

•  Game Objective -
  

  The objective of Flower of Letum is to reach the end of the level without the Lunamchra Flower dying, this means that the Nameless Knight has to defeat enemies and such without taking enough damage that would let all of the petals of the flower to fall off.   

•  Target Audience - 
  
  • 15 year olds above
  • Fans of the Dark Fantasy Genre
  • People who enjoy action/platformers
  • People who enjoy a good story-telling
  • Casual gamers
  • Gamers that want shorter games 

•  Inspirations -
  
  • Dark Souls -
  • Hollow Knight -
  • Blasphemous - 
  • Bloodborne -
  • Nine Sols - 

3. Game Design

• Game Mechanics -
  
  
  • Core Actions 
    • Attacking -
    • Blocking -
    • Dashing -
    • Grappling -
    • Tending the Flower [Upgrades] -
    • Magic - 
    
    
    
  • Rules 
    • Health -
    • Stamina -
    
    
  •  Interactions 
    • Upgrade Items - 

•  Controls -
  
  • Movements/World 
    Mouse + Keyboard Configuration:
    
    • Walk Right     -    ["D" Key]
    • Walk Left       -   ["A" Key]
    • Jump              -   ["W" Key]
    • Go down        -   ["S" Key] 
    • Dash               -  ["Shift" Key]
    • Grapple          - [ "F" Key]
    • Pick Up Item  - ["F" Key]
    • ToggleItem     - ["R" Key]
    • Use Item        -  ["E" Key]
      
      
  • Combat
    Mouse + Keyboard Configuration:
    
    • Attack             - ["LeftMouse Button"]
    • Block              - [Hold "RightMouse Button"]
    • Parry               - [Click "RightMouse Button"]
    • Magic             - ["SPACE" Key] 
    • ToggleMagic  - ["Alt" Key]   

•  Game Setting/World Building -

  • Environment - 
    

    Flower of Letum is set in a world or at least a part of the world that is already past its prime, a world where nature is taking back what it originally was theirs. This can be seen from the overgrown forest of Molina Forest, which is filled with Druids who have gone mad from betrayals, and Stone Golem forgotten by time. 
    
    This theme of being set in a long abandoned world is also enforced with the second level, which is set in the Castle Ruins of Letum. A Kingdom which was once a powerful symbol in the country, a high and mighty tower of the world, but now reduced to ruins, eroded to time. Knights who have lost their way haunt the corridors of the ruins, some perhaps may be old compatriots of the Nameless Knight.
    
    However, this theme of abandonment is spun backwards with the final level being set in a beautiful flower field. A field grown with the beautiful Lunamchra flowers, where one would question who has been taking care of such a place. The shine of the moon illuminates the field. 
    
    
  • Time Period -
    The time period for Flower of Letum is not exclaimed at all, but the setting is inspired by the medieval period or age, where castles and kingdoms still stand, and monarchy is the default government for most countries in the world.
    
    
  • Visual Style -
    We decided that Pixel-art would be the best art-style suited for the game itself. The reasoning for this choice is because our team thinks that pixel-art would be great to pop out the art and simpler for a platformer. An inspiration for this art-choice would be the game "Shovel Knight".
    
    

•  Level Design-

  • Layout -
    
    • Molina Forest -
      
      
      
    • Castle Ruins -
      
      
      
    • Flower Fields - 
      
      
      
      
  • Structure/Blueprint/Skeleton -
    
    
    
  • Difficulty Progression-
    Flower of Letum will be a challenge for people as it will be a semi-"bullet-hell" -- meaning the player has to dodge certain projectiles, and Flower of Letum would also have an intense melee-combat focus, the focus being on precision and timing. 
    
    Each level of Flower of Letum would have their own difficulties and challenges. For example, the first level of the game --which is Molina Forest--, would be more heavy on the projectile-avoiding, due to it being filled with the druid enemy type. The druid enemy type shoots out projectiles of different patterns and effects towards the player, more explanation on the druid enemy type will be provided later in the document. 
    
    The difficulty in the second level would be more physically-oriented, and leans more into the timing and precision aspect of the combat, the player would have to utilize the dash and dodge abilities a lot in this level.
    
    The third level, which is the flower field, the only enemy would be The King, who is also the final boss of the game. The King would test both the player's ability to dodge the projectiles and parrying The King's attacks. 
    
    
    
    
  • Game Loop-
    The gameplay loop of Flower of Letum would surround around its combat;
    
    

    • Combat Gameplay loop
      The combat gameplay loop will involve the multiple mechanics that are given to the player character, this includes the attack function, guard, dashing, and parrying. The player character will have to fight against enemies, mostly using the attack button that will allow the PC (player character) to slash against enemies. 
      
      The PC will also be able to defend themselves from the enemies with the guard function which would allow the PC to defend themselves with a dome created from the Lunamchra flower, however the usage of the guard function would deplete the stamina bar, and whenever the bar depletes completely, the player character would get stunned.
      
      The Parry Function would allow the PC the deflect an enemy's physical/projectile attack, which would increase the player's next attack slash.
      
      The Combat involves the player character utilizing all of these mechanics to ensure them that they will survive and best all of the enemies the game throws at them.

    
    
    
  • Game Balancing-
    
    
    
    

 

 

4. Game Design

• Main Character Design
  
  • Protagonist Abilities
    
    • Protagonist's abilities
    • Personality
    • Role
      
      
       
  • Personality
  • Role
    
    

•  Enemy Design
  

  • Types of Enemies
  • AI Behaviour
  • Difficulty 

•  Enemy Design
  

  • Allies
  • Story-driven characters