Design Document
Clarifies the processes the game development went through from beginning to end.
The process is divided into 4 distinct categories:
Focus Statement
The final project is a two-player game where the players take control of either one of two characters: the Dreamer or the Nightmare. In the narrative of the game, the Dreamer is trapped within the Dreamscape and must wake up before the Nightmare catches up. Whenever the Dreamer is caught, both must descend further into a nightmare until the moment at which the Nightmare possesses the Dreamer and is able to escape. Both the Dreamer and the Nightmare are fighting to wake up and escape the Dreamscape.
Overview
Each level the players experience a varying level of dream: level one is a bad dream, level two is a neutral dream, and level three is a happy dream. Each level has a very specific environment and color scheme to give the correct look and feel to the dream level. Level one is red and black, using shadows and scary music to give the level a creepy, nightmarish feel. Level two is quiet and green, containing a lot of trees and water, nothing too scary or too happy. Level three is very pink and uses pastel and cotton candy colors to give a very happy dream state. There are whales and bubbles in the sky with soft, warm colors everywhere, giving a playful, elated feeling to the players. Basic core mechanics are very simple. Game play switches from being the Dreamer to being the Nightmare. The game automatically switches between the two every 10 seconds. The Dreamer is trying to escape the Nightmare by running through the doors, while the Nightmare is trying to catch up to the Dreamer.
Dreamscape is not set in any kind of real world environment, but rather is formed of three distinct fantasy realms. Removing the player from any kind of real world to map comparisons allows the player to immerse themselves into the world created by the game.
Story:
Player One is the unnamed Dreamer who has woken up in the Neutral dream world. After wandering around for a while, they realize one fact: they are not alone in this dream world. There is a Nightmare that is following them, and the Dreamer must escape this Nightmare. The only way to truly escape the Nightmare is to ascend all levels and eventually wake up. However, the Dreamer quickly realizes that if he does not escape the Nightmare in time, it will catch up to him and knock him down a level until he finally cannot be knocked down any more. At this point, much to the Dreamer’s dismay, the Nightmare has now become the Dreamer and the Dreamer is now the Nightmare.
From the Nightmare’s point of view, he has been stuck in this three leveled Dreamscape for years and the only way he is able to get out is to catch up to the Dreamer and use him to escape the dream world. This is his last chance at being able to wake up and will do all in his power to catch the Dreamer. If he escapes, he will wake up in place of the Dreamer, leaving the Dreamer-Turned-Nightmare behind in the dream world, waiting for the next unsuspecting Dreamer to fall asleep and wakeup in a Dream.
Audience and Platform
This game, while not specifically targeting any one particular audience, would do best with a teenage or young adult demographic, simply so that they truly understand the point of the game and how each part of the game (music, environment, color scheme, etc.) is used to enhance the experience of the players. This game would also do well with a younger audience since there is no violence or gore in Dreamscape. Dreamscape is all about the player experience through the use of environment.
However, something that might restrict the audience is that this game can only be played on the PC. This was not a decision made specifically to restrict a certain type of player from being able to enjoy the game, but rather for the ease of actually making the game. Hopes are that once day, the game would be able to be played not only on the PC but also using Virtual Reality gear in order to fully enhance the player experience while in the game.
Competitive Analysis
Dreams, an upcoming video game developed by Media Molecule for the PS4. This game is fundamentally different from Dreamscape in that it requires the player to actually create their own dream world to be shared with the larger gaming community. It focuses mainly on the “play, create, share” module, creating an interface for players to essentially create their own maps and dream worlds.
In that sense, Dreamscape is entirely different because there are three very specific maps that force the player to experience a specific type of environment based on their position in the game. The purpose of this is to better control the experience of the players, ranging from the scary Nightmare levels to the fantastical Happy level.
Some similar games that involve the establishment of a surreal, sublime, explorative map that the player must navigate through include: Ultraworld, LSD, Flower, Dear Esther, and Journey.
Dreamscape highlights certain points like a very specific soundtrack per map level, and open map to explore, and a first person view in order to make the experience fully immersive. Dreamscape brings together the right amount of scary and surreal to create a wide range of dream-like environments. There is only one other player so there is a distinct acknowledgement of the fact that you are not alone in the map; that someone may be watching you. The slight moments of player interaction keep you from getting too lost in the dream world.
Game Play
Overview:
Dreamscape is a third person 3D exploration game, similar environmentally to Skyrim. It is very different, however, in the fact that there is little to no focus on battle or skills. The game is mainly based on exploration and gaining an understanding of three different environments that create the Dreamscape world. Core gameplay in Dreamscape focuses on two main interactions: player to player interaction between the Dreamer and the Nightmare, and player to environment interaction. All prototypes for Dreamscape focused on understanding the environments and figuring out how to make them as interactive and experiential as possible.
Detailed Game Mechanics:
Two players play on one computer. Each player is given a set time of 10 seconds before switching control of the keyboard to control his or her character. There are three levels: The Bad Dream, the Neutral Dream and the Happy Dream. The game begins on the Neutral Dream. Each time the Dreamer is caught by the Nightmare, the two characters descend a level. The Dreamer is able to ascend by trying to discover a door upwards and out of the dream. When Dreamer or Player One descends below the Nightmare Level, the Dreamer and Nightmare switch roles since in the narrative the Nightmare has possessed the body of the Dreamer. At this moment Player One who was originally Dreamer becomes the Nightmare and Player Two becomes the Dreamer from the Nightmare giving Player Two the chance to wake from the Dreamscape. There are a number of doors scattered throughout the dreamscape. One of the doors ascends upward towards waking up. The false doors create a random effect that may aid the players of hinder them.
Camera:
In the game, one player will control the Dreamer and the other player will control the Nightmare. Both cameras will be a third person view in order to allow the players to see their character in the Dreamscape world. The camera will always point in the direction the player is looking, allowing for better player control over the view angle without making the camera swing around and confuse the player too much.
Controls:
Dreamscape uses both the arrow keys and the WASD keys for movement – one for the Dreamer and one for the Nightmare. Use the spacebar to lay down barrels for land marking.
In-Game GUI:
In order to keep the main screen as clean as possible and dedicated mainly to the immersive environment, there is only one overlay on the screen: a timer showing the players how much time they have left on their turn.
General Movement:
Both the Dreamer’s and the Nightmare’s movement speed is the exact same, to avoid giving either character an advantage in terms of movement. The character will move only in the direction the camera is facing.
Sloped Surfaces:
The character will generally be able to move over any flat or gently sloped surfaces. There will also be mountains in the environments that the character will not be able to climb. Instead, they will slide down the surface.
Development Schedule
Designers' Roles
Week 1
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Develop Concept behind the game
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Develop a physical playtest
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Begin website
Week 2
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Create prototypes of the levels for the game
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Reanalyze ideas influenced by physical playtest
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Complete main layout of website
Week 3
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Official playtest game levels
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Refine code for working game mechanics
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Update website
Week 4
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Finish a working prototype with working environments and game mechanics
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Play around with idea of Virtual Reality
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Further refine game levels and code
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Update website
Week 5
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Complete Game details
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Complete documentation
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Final website update
Ashwini Karve – Website Design, Documentation, Concept Design
Edmund Pfeil – Coding, Concept Design
Matt Phan – Environment, Concept Design
Peter Yang – Coding, Concept Designs
Game Elements
Environment:
Doors: These are the portal gates that will allow the characters to move up or down a level.
Trees/ponds/grass: While the characters are not able to directly interact with these elements, they are meant to further enhance the gameplay by creating an immersive environment for the players to occupy.
Coins:
There are coins that spawn in the middle of the game map that control add to the speed and timer of the player who collects the coin. Gold coins increase the speed of the player while silver coins give the player more time for their turn, changing it from 10 seconds to 15 seconds.
Land marking:
The players have the ability to drop objects to use as landmarks so that they do not get lost in the map as easily. They can drop 10 wooden barrels each per game level to mark where they have already been. However, the barrels dropped by the Dreamer look the same as those dropped by the Nightmare so they can easily, and purposefully confuse the other player.
Characters:
The Dreamer: Player one controls the Dreamer, a young adult who has fallen asleep only to wake up in a dream world. He must find a way out of the dream world, escaping the Nightmare in order to wake up before the Nightmare catches up to him.
The Nightmare: Player two controls the Nightmare, a demon-looking character who has been stuck in the dream world waiting for a Dreamer to enter. He is tall and muscled, with a terrifying face and physique meant to scare away anyone he gets close to.