Game Design Document

SUMMARY

Beer Run is a 3D first-person endless runner game for mobile devices which uses the

accelerometer to control the character. The player’s aim is to run as far as they possibly can across five lanes before they lose in order to achieve a high score, which they can then try to beat. The player controls Barry, or “Bazza,” as he runs around the outside of the MCG while holding a beer in his left hand. By tilting the device, the player must avoid the oncoming obstacles and NPCs while also trying not to spill the beer they are carrying. If the device is tilted too much, the beer will spill. If the player hits an obstacle, it is game over. If the player loses over 40% of their beer, the game is also lost.

GAMEPLAY

The game is from a fast-paced first-person perspective, with the main focus on the beer in the character’s right hand. The character runs around the MCG passing shops, people and obstacles, and it is the player’s objective to tilt their device left or right in order to dodge obstacles that may appear before them. They may collect kangacoins, the game’s currency, along the way while also encountering the occasional power-up.

If the player runs into an obstacle - whether it is a person standing in the way or an unfortunately positioned bin - the player will lose a set amount of their beer. If the player loses more than forty percent of their beer or collides with an obstacle, it is game over. Obstacles will vary between people, rubbish bins, wet floor signs, mop buckets and NPCs standing around. Guards, which are also an obstacle of sorts, will run toward the player to pose a moving threat.

The game will feature coins that the player must collect along the way, which contributes to their score. The score is displayed on the HUD up the top of the screen, as well as the number of coins and the player’s high score. The coins may also be used to purchase upgrades for power-ups as well as potential customisable items for characters. Coin packs will also be available for purchase with real money in the app’s in-game store.

Art Style

Beer Run aims to appeal to a wide audience (teenagers to adults) with its theme, the popular style of gameplay, and its cartoony appearance. The graphics of the mobile game Subway Surfers is similar to what Beer Run aims for. The subject matter is intended to be humorous, and therefore has appropriate stylised graphics to complement the tone.

The bright colours help to convey the fun, playful vibe we want to use to appeal to our players. Assets such as environmental art will be simple, low-poly and also cartoonish. A black outline will accompany the objects and characters to aid with the stylised effect. The perspective is first-person, which provides just as much chance for stylisation as a third-person game would. Bringing the world to life hinges greatly on the quality of the art and a consistent style, which we certainly want to achieve.

Characters

The main character, Bazza, is a youthful skinny male wearing stereotypical Australian

clothes (denim shorts, work boots, flannelette shirt). The model will have a low-polygon count to maximise the effectiveness of the game given that it is for mobile devices. This will give our game and our playable character a more cartoonish look which fits in with our aesthetic. There is a secondary female character, Sharon or “Shazza,” who is also going to be characterised as a bogan. She does not have concept art yet.

NPCs

The non-playable characters in Beer Run will be only those who act as obstacles in the way

of the player’s path. These characters will be rather simple in design and will also have a low polygon count, similar to the 3D art in the rest of the game. Security guards are a major part of the regular gameplay. Their bulky forms are designed to be intimidating so that the players instantly know to avoid them where possible.

Obstacles

Obstacles will appear in the player’s path to present a challenge. Players will have to avoid

them in order to keep from spilling their beer. The following obstacles are all in the game:

Bin with boxes Wet floor sign and mop A row of bins

The obstacles appear randomly as the player runs down the lanes. Future plans include “kits” that appear in the same order every time, but appear every certain increment of distance. The obstacles are vibrant in appearance and are intended to be obvious hazards. The collectible currency in Beer Run are Kangacoins, which the player can use to purchase power-up upgrades and others in the in-game store.

Environment

Due to the fact that Beer Run is set in a sports stadium, the list of assets and

environmental art will be relevant to a sports field. Examples of environment assets are as follows: concrete ground, walls, seats, shops interiors, stairs, toilet signs, posters, banners, and the obstacles listed above. The aim with the environment is to have it bright, prominent, and pleasant to look at. The ground has painted lines to make the player’s lane position obvious.

Sound

The sounds present in Beer Run are happy to fit the mood, light-hearted and catchy. The

quality for sounds must be very good to keep up with the standard of the game. Assets that sound muffled, have audible static, or are lossy files will not be suitable. Audio is very important for player feedback, and when it’s of a lesser quality, each sound’s impact is greatly suppressed.

All assets will be royalty free unless there is a need to purchase a track or some sound

effects that cannot be obtained freely. A full disclaimer document accompanies the documents for the game, and the music and sounds will be credited in the game’s credits if applicable. Sounds present are for the following segments of the game:

Background music

Obtaining power-ups (unique to each)

Colliding with obstacles

Guard vocalisations

Crowd ambiance (cheering, booing, etc)

Five tracks for the dancing power-up

UI sound effects

Collecting coins

Controls Originally the only control for the game was going to be the accelerometer. However,

upon doing further research, we discovered that it would be better to have some alternative ways to control the game. This would be good for a number of reasons, from making it convenient for people due to preferences to giving those who are unable to use the accelerometer a fair chance at using the game, whether it’s due to injury or disability.

Each available control will have a brief tutorial to accompany the gameplay tutorial, which

is shown to the player when they first open the game to play it (not yet integrated). Tilting the device By tilting the mobile device to the left and right, the player can control the character’s

position on the screen and glide between the five lanes. Tilting controls both the player’s position and also the level of the beer in the glass, meaning that tipping too far to one side or the other will cause beer to spill. The player must therefore find a balance between tipping enough to avoid the obstacles while making sure that they do not spill their beer.

Using the slider If the accelerometer settings are changed in the game’s options menu, then the player has

the option to use their finger to control a spring-based slider on the screen. The player has just as much control over whether or not their beer will spill if they use the slider than if they use the accelerometer.

Touch controls A future setting that we plan to add will look to accommodate for those who may not like

the slider or the accelerometer, or who may not be physically able to use either of those control methods. This will be a simple touch system; the player can simply tap either side of the screen to control Barry’s movements. The invisible ‘buttons’ will be placed along the height of the device so that the player can tap as far up or down as they wish.

Power-ups

There are five power-ups in Beer Run which can contribute to the player’s game

experience and overall score. Only one can be purchased in the in-game store, and the other four can be encountered while playing the game regularly. However, those four power-ups can be upgraded in the store up to ten times each. It costs in-game currency to buy each upgrade, and the higher the upgrade, the more expensive it will be to buy.

The available power-ups are as follows:

Multiplier – a bottle cap with x2 written on it Effect: the player collects double their score while this power-up is active. The player’s UI

will catch fire and excitable text will flash on the screen for an exaggerated effect. Upgradable. Unavailable for purchase in store.

Freeze – an ice cube Effect: the player’s beer freezes over and cannot be spilled while it is active. The player’s

screen also gains a frosty tint around the edges, and a freezing sound plays. Upgradable. Unavailable for purchase in store.

Shield – the player’s hand goes over their cup Effect: shields the player from an obstacle for one hit. Not upgradable. Available for purchase in store. <no image yet> Beer Refill – a beer tap Effect: refills the player’s beer while they run by a certain increment. Upgradable. Unavailable for purchase in store. <no image yet> Bust-a-Move – a boom box Effect: makes the guards stop running and start dancing while one of five tunes plays. Upgradable. Unavailable for purchase in store.

Scoreboard & Facebook Players have the option to connect to Facebook. If they choose to do so, they are able to

invite their friends to play Beer Run and they may also gain access to a worldwide scoreboard which shows the world’s highest scores. Alternatively, the players may elect to simply compete against themselves and have a scoreboard tailored only to them. If they do connect to Facebook, they get a reward of a sum of coins.

GAME STATES

Splash Screen

The splash screen needs to be updated, but this is the current one, showing Barry, our game’s

main character, running with a beer. This sums up our game and its tone instantly.

Main Menu

The main menu consists of Barry dancing in the middle of the stadium ground. This is for

comedic value. Buttons available to be pressed are the options menu, which the player can access to edit their sound volume, see the credits, and control settings. The player can also connect to Facebook using a button on the menu.

The two main functions of this menu are the “Play” feature, which begins a run, and the

“Shop” button, which takes the player to a shop where they can purchase upgrades for power-ups as well as purchase additional characters or content for the game. Coin packs are also available for purchase for real money. Otherwise, the shop uses the in-game currency of ‘Kangacoins.’

Options

There is a set list of options in the “Options” menu, where the player will be able to change the language, select the credits, calibrate their accelerometer or change from accelerometer control to touch-slide control, and change the music volume.

Game State UI Up the very top, the player’s highest score is displayed. Below it is the current score for the current

game, then below that is the number of coins the player has collected. The coins add to the score at the very end, when the game ends.

One thing we are looking to add is an indicator for the beer’s percentage. At the moment, it’s only

a few numbers on the glass indicating the amount still inside—similar to a measuring cup. It’s important to have that on the screen so that the player is aware of how much beer they are losing, so that they can adjust their playing style if they find that they are losing too much. If the beer percentage was not available for the player to see, it would be an unfair playing experience.

When the player collects a multiplier power-up, the UI is meant to catch fire. This is meant to be

ridiculous and silly, adding to the experience and the player feedback. When the player encounters an ice block power-up, the whole screen takes on a frosty look.

Game Over State

The game over screen will consist of the player’s score for that current run, their coin count, and their beer percentage. Buttons that the player can tap will be the “Play again” button, which starts a new run, the “Menu” button, which will return them to the menu, a button to share their score, and occasionally a button to watch an ad for coins will appear (but not after every run.) The player will ‘ragdoll’ if they hit an object to play on the ridiculousness that we are going for, which all adds to the mood of the game.

There is also a booing audience sound when the player dies, indicating that the crowd was

disappointed with their poor performance. This is purely for comedic value.

Schedule

29th July - Wednesday Continue with design decisions, asset list, making initial documentation, etc. 5th August - Wednesday Solidify design decisions and asset list, etc. Work on the pre-alpha build. Layout defined, UI designed, assets in, basic concept working. 20th August - Industry pitch day [Need to have recorded video footage we can show.] 1-3 people in the team to pitch the game to the industry panel. Games will be culled. We need to make sure that we have a game finished enough to show off. 26th August - Further production (on pre-alpha build) Specifics fleshed out later. Assets done Mechanics in UI layout done Store done Building gameplay Extra details worked on 16th October - Alpha Build Game designed solidified. Most assets in. Only needs refinement. 6th November - Beta Build Content is complete. Game needs to be bug tested and final tweaks need to be made. 19th November - Gold/Master Build 26th November - Post Mortem For the groups only. The project by this stage is already complete. Beer Run team: Jarrod – Project Lead and Programmer Shane – Lead Programmer Xanthe – Lead Designer Dani – Lead Artist Tom – Artist Sam – Artist