The Haunted Hotel
(workname)
Design Document v1.1
Teemu Huhtiniemi
13 18.4.2010
- Theme
As the butler in a haunted hotel your job is to keep the ghosty visitors happy!
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The player controls Winston, McMaggot's trusted Butler on his mission to keep the ghosty hotel visitors happy. This happens by delivering certain items the ghosts wish for to the appropriate hotel room doors. All of the items must be delivered before time in the on-screen timer (2 mins in the first level) runs out. If all deliveries are made in time the ghosts are happy, the level is cleared and the player is given access to the next level. If time runs out the player fails as ghosts leave the hotel and take over town.
Gameflow cycle
The simple core cycle is explained below. Even though along the way the player might have to accomplish certain tasks to reach the goal the overall flow is always the same.
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Pre-action overlay infoscreen
Before the action starts a overlay infoscreen is shown on top of the ingame view.
Elements on pre-action infoscreen:
Level name and number
for example "Level 1 : "The adventure begins!"
Objective
Info text explaining the objective of the level (same as illustrated in "core cycle". Usually unchanged)
Keys Keys
Info text explaining the ingame movement and action keys. The controls may also be
explained via pictures.
Best time
The highest time the level has been beaten
Pressing any key leaves the overlay infoscreen and the game is set in motion.
A moment of calm
The game begins in the hotel lobby stationed bottom-left of the screen. A briefcase appears in the lobby. Hostile NPCs and mobile environmental objects such as the elevator start moving. Player is give ncontrol of the main character. However the timer does not begin the countdown until the player picks up the first briefcase. This moment of peace is there to give the player some time to take a good look at the level, take notice of the enemies and obstacles he's about to face and plan his route a bit ahead before plunging into frantic action.
Picking up the briefcase
The uses the movement keys to direct Winston to the briefcase. As soon as Winston touches the briefcase it disappears from the game environment and appears in the item slot in HUD. The player is now carrying the briefcase. At the same time a big white arrow appears above the door the player is to take the item he's now carrying.
The color of the item always defines the color of the door the player is to take the item. For example if the briefcase is red the arrow appears above a red door.
The journey to the door
The player now starts his journey to deliver the briefcase to the appropriate door. There are usually more than one route to the marked doorway and the player is given the freedom to choose which route to take. Some routes are slightly faster than others so there's a bit of strategy involved.
On his way he'll most likely run into obstacles such as hostile NPCs or environmental hazards. The way these obstacles affect the character is explained in further detail later in in this document.
Delivering the item
When player reaches the door marked by the big arrow the item is automatically dropped down on the floor in front of the door. The arrow above the door and the item in the item slot disappear. A small animation plays to signal the delivery of the item (the door opens revealing a ghosty lookin guy in the doorway, the door closes and the item is gone).
Hooray, the item is now delivered!
The player gets rewarder with 20 additional seconds in the countdown timer.
Returning to lobby
After delivering the item a new item instantly appears in the lobby downstairs. The player must now hurry down to fetch it. Once again the route to take is entirely for the player to decide.
At this point the gameflow cycle starts basicly from the beginning.
Winning the game
On each level there are three different colored briefcases to deliver. The player wins the game when all briefcases are delivered before the timer reaches zero.
Level-end overlay infoscreen
When all deliveries are made in time the action stops and a infoscreen containing the level stats appears. Windston does a cheesy victory dance as confetti rains down.
Level-end overlay infoscreen
This infoscreen is displayed when the player succesfully completes a level.
Elements on the infoscreen:
Large text
"Level clear!"
Level time
The time the player had left in the timer when the level ended.
Best time
If the broke the best time record there will be a text congratulating the player.
Game Over-overlay
If the timer is allowed to reach zero the "game over"-overlay appears. The overlay is basicly just a large "game over" text. A player is given the choise of either retrying the level or exiting to the main menu.
Noteworthy things about items:
-The next item will not appear until the item the player currently posesses has been delivered. This way it is always a surprise which color the next item is going to be.
-Once an item has been picked up there is no way to drop it. The only way to get rid of an item is to deliver it to the appropriate door.
-There can be only one item in the item slot at a given time.
Example of a game session (Tämän osion voitte jättää toistaiseksi huomioimatta, lisään tähän selventävät konseptikuvat jokaisesta vaiheesta piakkoin )
picture 1 (to be added)
The level starts with a small overlay helpscreen to explain the level objective and relevant keyboard commands. By pressing any key the help screen disappears and the game begins.
picture 2 (to be added)
The game has begun but the countdown won't begin until the player picks up the first briefcase. This moment of peace is for the player to have a good look at the level, take notice of the possible obstacles he is about to face and to make plans of possible movement routes.
picture 3 (to be added)
The player walks to the red briefcase which causes Butler to pick it up. A small icon representing the briefcase appears in the inventory slot to implying that the player is now carrying the red briefcase. Also a big arrow appears above a red door to indicate the exact position the player is to deliver the briefcase.
picture 4 (to be added)
As soon as player reaches the door, the briefcase automaticly drops down on the floor. A short animation plays (room door opens revealing a ghost in the doorway, room door closes and briefcase disappears). The red briefcase is now delivered and the player is rewarded with extra time in the game timer.
pic 5 (to be added)
As soon as the player delivers a suitcase a new suitcase appears down at the hotel lobby. The player must make his way back to hotel reception and repeat the process of taking the right colored suitcase to the appropriate marked door. The player repeats the cycle until all suitcases are delivered (success) or the player runs out of time (failure)
Rewarding the player
In order to uphold fun and enjoyably game experience the game rewards the player periodically for accomplishing certain tasks.
-Delivering a suitcase by a door rewards the player with 20 seconds of additional time to the timer.
-... information about other rewards to be added...
Handling damage and failure
If Winston gets touched by a hostile NPC (possessed cabinet, ghost...), an environmental hazard (falling skull, swinging chandelier...) or falls down the heights of two rooms (or more) he gets knocked out and momentarily stunned for three seconds. After Winston regains conscience the game continues as usual. There is no concept of health in the game so Winston can never die. The only way to fail the game is to allow the timer reach zero.
Noteworthy:
The wandering ghost is an exceptional NPC. Instead of knocking Winston unconscious it kicks him around the level or can even throw him all the way to the rose bush (beginning location of the level)
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