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Contents:

Page 1: contents

Page 2: Gameplay, Controlls, Customizable AI, (image: FFXII Gambit system)

Page 3-4: Stances:

Page 5: combos

Page 6-10: Combat details, trinities

Page 11 classes

Page 12: characters

Page 13: story

Page 14-15: visuals.

Page 16: Game Rationale

Page 17-22: research

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Gameplay:Summary: A combination of a story driven RPG with as many different classes and abilities as world of Warcraft, and an approach to combat similar to SoulCalibur from a 3rd person perspective with tactical elements. Positioning is important, and due to collision detection, formation is then important.

Controls:Controls change based on stance,but generally[ ] is for swing/\ is for hackO is for thrustX is for jump.the shoulder buttons are used for the stances, which are explained later.

Customizable AI:You can set the behaviour of your allies to a great degree;setting priority targets for each character,general behaviorsituational behaviorsituations for ability usageand more.

(somewhat similar to FF XII's Gambit system.)

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Stances:Abilities are distributed into different stances as most of them are best attributed into different modes or play styles.

WILD ATTACKS:Your default stance - This stance focuses on combat efficiency against several targets in melee range.

FOCUS (LOCK-ON):R1 is the lock on button, and by defaults sets your ability tree to use more focused attacks. This stance focuses on improving efficiency against a single target. This stance can be used in conjunction with other stances to make the abilities more efficient against a single target. Using the right analogue stick, you can switch between targets, or you can press the lock on button repeatedly till you get the one you want.

DEFEND:R2 is the block button. Upon pressing the button, you will parry, trying to deflect an attack leaving them open for retaliation. By holding the button down, you remain in this stance which focuses on greatly mitigating all damage, while hampering movement. You steadily drain a small amount of

stamina, and your other resources' regeneration are lowered. Default key-bidnings: you can press [ ] to parry, /\ to try to intercept an attack for a nearby ally and O to grab an opponent and try to use brute force to keep him busy and deal damage with a chance of knocking them down.

RANGED: Pressing L1, causes your character to dodge in the selected direction. If you hold it down, your

character will draw a ranged weapon. Default key-bindings: Pressing O will cause your character to

try to dodge again. Pressing [ ] readies an arrow, and releasing the button fires the arrow to deal

maximum damage. Pressing /\ tells your character to attempt to cripple the opponent, slowing

them down. If you're not locked on, [ ] will fire a volley of arrows dealing less damage than a

focused attack and /\ fires a net in the selected direction (if no direction is selected, your character will quickly set a trap, and dash in the next chosen direction.). This stance focuses on ranged attacks, and trickery.

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MAGIC:L2 is the magic button. Upon pressing it, you can dispell incoming magic, negating the damage, and regenerating a small amount of your resources. Dispell cannot be used in rapid sucession and will not remove damage done to allies from area of effect spells. This stance focuses on casting devastating spells that, if cast in the right order, can provide additional and more devastating effects.

Default key-bindings: [ ] casts spells focused on damage, /\ casts spells focused on control and

disruption, O casts spells focused on defence. By holding down any of the spell buttons without locking on, you start casting are of effect spells; the target location starts on top of your character, and you can use the left analogue stick to move the target location around.

SUPPORT:

By holding both L2 AND R2, you enter the support magic stance. This stance focuses on heals ([ ]),

improving allies' effectiveness (/\), shielding them (O), and various other abilities focused around defence of others. Upon entering the stance, you surround yourself with earthen walls that absorb a lot of damage before crumbling, or crumble automatically after 2 seconds. Using the lock on button in this stance causes you to target allies or yourself. It also has the vitally important "counterspell" ability which allows you to dispell the more powerful area of effect spells at a cost. Area of effect spells are handled the same way as in the magic stance.

CUSTOM:You can even create your own stances; all you have to do is set up the key-bindings for the abilities you want to use. You can save one of the default stances under a different name to have a starting point. Cast spells and strike them down with your sword without changing stances.

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Combos:You can set up your combo's in almost any way you want, simply by going into the menu, selecting an ability and selecting which ability will branch from the first. This means in essence that you can keep attacking indefinitely, not creating awkward pauses in the fight that I've always disliked.

Like most fighters, the directional input affects what abilities you use. The stances affect which archetype of abilities are available. Below examples don't show the branches with directional input.

(if we highlight cleave and press square, we get the following)

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Combat Details:Goals with combat: penalize button-mashing and penalize playing overly aggressive by making attacking more exhaustive than defending. Promote a balance of offense and defence. Discourage playing too defensively by making positioning important (if you play too defensively, you can get forced into corners or get surrounded.)

Trinity of offense:

General note: all attacks makes your next parry quicker.

Swings: are hard to avoid and do a moderate amount of damage. Additionally, they build up momentum (speed of attacks) efficiently. Weak against parry, strong against dodge.

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Hacks are easily avoided, but do a ridiculous amount of damage and break through most defences with ease. They use momentum most efficiently. Weak against dodge, strong against block.

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Thrusts do a moderate amount of damage, but are incredibly quick, making them both hard to avoid and do a lot of damage in a short amount of time. They do however drain a lot of resources, so make sure the enemy's defences are down. Weak against block, strong against parry.

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Trinity of defence: Parries deflect incoming attacks, increasing your own momentum, while decreasing your opponents', and removing damage. They do however require timing and rhythm and require that you read your opponent well. Successful parries also grants an instant burst of speed for your next attack. You can point the analogue stick in the direction you want to deflect the force of an attack, moving enemies into worse positions or even causing them to hit their allies. Weak against thrusts, strong against swings.

Blocking:Blocks effectively reduce all incoming damage considerably, but steadily drain stamina and stagnates other resource generation. You are also more sturdy when blocking, meaning abilities that would force you to move around are less effective. Weak against hacks, strong against thrusts.

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Dodging:Dodging can remove all the damage from an attack, but if used repeatedly, it becomes more draining. It allows for better positioning if used smart, and you can even do certain attacks while dodging. Weak against swings, strong against hacks.

Desired effects from combat: this basically means you need to read the fight, get a feel for the flow, and react, since each attack has its own optimal counter: hacks should be dodged, swings should be parried, and thrusts should be blocked. Blocks should be hacked at, parries should be thrust at, and dodges should be swung at. Though additional traits and abilities can change your play-style and encounters considerably.

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Classes:

First tier:

Warrior - A fighter who focuses on efficiency over all else; can reliably keep opponents busy at all times and outlast almost any opponent.

Mage -A caster who focuses on disrupting melee combatants by changing the battlefield with their elements - walls of flame, earthen spires, glacial surfaces and gusts of wind let them control the battlefield to their advantage.

Ranger - a survivor and marksman who specializes in tracking, luring, trapping and picking off enemies from afar.

Templar - A knight who will hold the line no matter the cost for an ally. with sword and shield they stand barricade between friend and foe, using their heavy frame to knock enemies around, and fast sword work to defend allies against blows they might not have been able to defend against, themselves.

Cleric - The cleric heals and invigorates allies where they'd otherwise have fallen and can even shield them from afar.

Rogue - the trickster that never learned to stay out of trouble. Relies on staying hidden or at least out of mind, before striking for devastating effects.

(2 more tiers and extra side classes)

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Playable Characters:Lucien;A man who defies his fate and will not be sacrificed for the resurrection of the fallen god, is in search of a power equal or greater than his to take his place, but, in so doing, sets the world in danger. Haydn and the others now hunt him before the situation gets worse.Alistair;A mage-knight of arcadia sent to evacuate the eastern cities from the onslaught of the harbingers, empathises with Lucien's goal and is assisting him in fulfilling it.Haydn;A young elf, who soon is tasked with great responsibility and pursues his missions with complete devotion as he believes wholeheartedly in helping those in need. He does not yet know what burden of fate lies before him at the end of his quest, nor does he know the truth of his heritage.Gwendolyn;A princess whose powers that has been kept secret are now known and has been kidnapped so they can be used. After her rescue, it is clear that she is not safe in her ivory tower from which she was taken and so is sent with her rescuers until the threats are no more.

Timolain;A prodigal mage who has just left the academy in search of his parents whom he still believes to be alive. After a while he accepts the fact that he might not ever know their fate and remains with Haydn and his group for how they've grown on him, and him on them.

Gamling "the immortal" Stark;A man who defeated a whole army. Yet despite his power, he could not stop the fall of his kingdom, and everything he loved fell to ruins around him. Fuelled by rage and the urge to protect a young girl he saved on his travels, he heads to the capitol of the invading nation to ensure the fall of the empire that invaded his home.

Mordecai;A giant even by demonic standards is sent to Hakoval to hunt down the unleashed avatar of ruin. After tracking down the beast and recapturing it, this gentle giant, whose care extends far beyond his own needs, quickly joins Haydn's group after hearing about their plight, though he leaves his love and family in waiting when doing so.

Divindir;A seraph who was betrayed and exiled and lost one of his wings in the process, now seeks to return to set his city's corruption to rest. He quickly joins the group when he hears of the opportunity to return to Keniv Celesti and stays with them out of a sense of honour and belonging.

Anastasia;Sister of the current queen of Hivel is hellbent on avenging her sister and father against the dragon who took her sister's arms and her father's life. Upon confrontation, she begrudgingly learns humility and even agrees with the motives of the dragon, thanks to Haydn and the party's persuasion, and, in gratitude and mutual assistance, joins them in hopes of finding a way to repay the dragon.

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Story:The void has lain its seeds and now stretches out from the east, as a twilight tempest swallowing nations wherever its harbingers lead. Meanwhile, the world is in chaos after the sudden absence of their god - the nations fight amongst themselves instead of aiding each other in preparation of the coming storm. There are still beautiful and untouched places in the world, where neither war nor corruption has yet reached where a young elf starting his career as a mercenary and is about to traverse this discordant world.

Haydn is this young elf's name and little does he know that he is one of the Godlings, people who find themselves with the shards inside them containing the powers, knowledge, and even memory of the fallen god. They are destined to take part in the rebirth of the god, and so are drawn to each other in the strangest ways. Grievemourne, a carrier of a greater shard of the maker, takes it upon himself to try to mend the world with the knowledge the maker has left behind, and Haydn becomes one of his greatest allies in this task. Not all the Godlings are comfortable with the burden, however, and it quickly becomes a hunt to find the Godlings, whether they are willing or unwilling.

The stray knowledge and power has inevitably ended up in the hands of those who either can't control it, or those who would abuse it - and when those who would be gods acquire the knowledge of how to achieve that goal, the hunt becomes even more frantic.

In time the godlings will have to come to terms with their fate as sacrifices for the rebirth of the god and the new world - which means coming to terms with you; for you are their fate, their guide, and as your unseen presence becomes apparent to them, they'll either loathe or revere you as you handle both their problems and the world's. Will your grip hold, or will they turn against you?

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Visual:The style would be close to 'Uncharted', or 'Up' (or other pixar movies for that matter), in that the visuals are pseudo realistic, with effects and lighting that lie close to reality, though the models don't necessarily reflect that.

The setting is varied to say the least:

The world of Hakoval, year 17 of the godless age;The void has laid its seeds and now stretches out from the east, a twilight tempest swallowing nations wherever its harbingers lead. Meanwhile, the world is in chaos after the sudden absence of their god and his guidance - the nations fight amongst themselves instead of aiding each other in preparation of the coming storm. There are still beautiful and untouched places in the world, where neither war nor corruption has yet reached but for how long remains to be seen.

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You will travel to unlikely places:

Viscidel, The island suspended between two worlds, once floating freely, it is now chained to the middle, surrounded by a wheel of water. Also called the twilight island for when there is night at one side, there is day on the other. Not much is known about the place, but there are still mysteries uncovered about the place, and there are all kinds of valuables in the surrounding seas.

Vael'Shagoth,The home of the dark elves, unlike their light skinned cousins who work together in harmony with nature, these dark woods are warped and bent to their will and vision. Great forest sanctuaries

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formed like houses to make their city. The dark elves are known for their close pact with the spider spirit, and even the spiders themselves are a defense against invaders. Despite these facts, they are surprisingly hospitable.

Drakenborg,One of the great dragon fortresses, it is now a hollow shell for the lesser drakes to live in as all dragons are thought dead. Also called cocoons for their shape they float aimlessly.

Arcadia;The greatest city in the world: home of the largest academy of sorcery, centre of trade, and a sight to behold. Shaped like a compass, this circular city is still filled with mystery and can, according to legend, take to the skies when the need arises.

You will even travel to other worlds:

Kalo-yndmir,The elemental realm; a world where the seasons turn like a wheel of elements, befitting of the world of change. There is more to see here than you may think, sprites, imps, even humans who have traveled here ages ago before the closing, and of course, the true home of the dragons.

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Acherok,The realm of chaos, where the demonic tribes are being rallied for the first time into a unified nation under a fallen angel preparing vengeance against those who exiled him. The portal which sent him here remains wide open allowing attacks to both factions at any time. The tunnels and caverns here are disorienting due to the pattern-less pull of gravity; you can meet friend and foe from any direction. The place is savage, but filled with an untamed beauty that has flourished in its freedom.

Prima Valenti;The realm of order, where the seraphim are on the brink of a revolution as political corruption has spread across its several airborne islands. There is also much turmoil over the twilight tempest that has appeared that seems to be behind the missing seraphs. They call it the angelus errare, 'where angels lose their way', and it is the portal to Acherok.

The Otherside,The Otherside is the poeticly named realm of the dead which is a near mirror image of Hakoval, placed on the underside of the flat world. The water that flows over the edge of Hakoval seem to fall skyward, from their perspective, to gather into a pool that flows back down to the spire of Palanthea, the citadel of souls. The light dances across the landscape from the water refracted light.

Game RationaleThe game should appeal to a lot of people as it is uncompromisingly a RPG, an action game and a fighting game. It does not water down any of the important elements. The gameplay is quick,

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responsive and satisfying. The fighting system allows a feeling of complete control, there is always a way to fight back, always something you can do, no matter the disadvantage.

Whether you win by reaction, instinct and honing your combat expertise; by planning and preparation; by strategic adaptation; or by a combination of these skills, it will always leave you satisfied, and maybe even surprised, at what you can accomplish.

Due to this unique combination of gameplay mechanics, it fills the role of rpg, fighter and action game, but also becomes something unique to itself, giving players the feeling they are playing something new and exciting while still feeling familiar and approachable.

The game grants an almost infinite, though not steep, learning curve and progression through a vast array of abilities categorized by, but not isolated to, around 30 different classes - each with a distinct feel. These abilities often work in conjunction with each other, promoting experimentation; such combining 'glacial surface' with 'gust', you can send enemies skidding along the ice, completely unable to move against the wall of wind.

This arsenal of abilities should allow players to differentiate themselves, not just by how they look or what abilities they have, but how they use them. If anything, it's the sort of game I'd personally want to play.

Through carefully chosen palettes, and carefully planned concept art, the aesthetics of each area should be distinct, varied and altogether awe-inspiring, granting visions beautiful, strange, and above all else: grand.

The approach to the story is also something special which actually tries to use the fourth wall as part of the narrative and as a mechanic for the story:

It brings up the question of what it means to be alive - whether we consider the ability to reproduce as an apt definition, or whether the ability to feel is what we find to be the most important trait - and if the latter, than what is it that reveals something as alive for us? When someone laughs, do they not feel joy? when they cry, do they not feel sorrow? What would you do if you realized you were nothing but code in a program?

When the AI in the game start become aware of the truth behind their existence, they start questioning their worth, mortality, morality, and what it means to be alive. The story also brings up questions of fate and choice, as the player basically acts as fate and the guide of the Playable Character's in the game. It also goes a step further as you directly intervene and make decisions for them. As the Playable Character's and the players themselves become aware of the player's presence and role in the game, all decision and consequence should now weigh on the player and no longer their avatar. The Character's also start questioning their freedom, whether they have any at all and whether they can make any choice at all without the player's involvement.

ResearchThere are a lot of reasons why I chose this as my game to design, but in the end, I did it because it's the kind of game I'd like to play, myself - and maybe my perspective is a bit skewed, but I can't really

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think of a better reason - there's also around 200 games worth of experience seeing what works and what doesn't - but if you want more reasons:

These statistics mean nothing unless we know why, and since it isn't an exact science I've decided on giving my own reasoning. I'll try to stick to genres relevant to my game.

Shows that action games are among the top selling - probably partly because it's such a broad category, and there are games that border to other genres, but are categorized here. They're still visually appealing with a lot happening on the screen, and like shooters grant instant gratification.

Role-playing games have become less popular, mostly due to hybridisation; which is that almost all games have over the years picked the best part of role-playing games, moving the popularity to other genres. Even call of duty, a game considered through and through a shooter, has RPG elements even in the multiplayer through the perk system and ranking up system. Bioware has proven that the most important element is the story - which makes it easy to forgive a games' other shortcomings. Story isn't exactly considered RPG exclusive, however, so again the elements that made the genre popular are found in other genres, decreasing the RPG's popularity.

This wouldn't necessarily be a problem if RPG's managed to do the same and pick up on successful elements from other genres, but they don't. I think this supports my theory that genres shouldn't be considered exclusively different, because what makes one game great should make another just as good, despite our need to classify and categorize.

Fighting games aren't particularly popular, but again, let's look at the (potential) reasons: a lot of games actually have you learning the game gradually - in most games, the learning is a secondary objective, though, and you're tasked with saving the world or whatever as a main priority. In most fighting games, learning is your objective; and you learn through repetition. Not everyone is planning on winning the next Tekken MLG tournament, though, so the appeal is limited to playing with

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friends; and only 1 friend at a time (unless you play in teams, but who does that?). There is no sense of progression, no real goals - the gameplay is fine, even great in many cases, but there's rarely lasting appeal. There is also an unfortunate lack of possibility to play alongside each other.

People say you can't satisfy everyone, but when I ask why they either respond with "because people are different" or "because it's hard." Neither of which seem to be valid arguments: Climbing everest is hard, but has been several times at this point - people are different, but there are usually elementary traits shared with almost everyone - and there are games and movies that appeal to more people than others do; Shawshank Redemption, Dark Knight, World of Warcraft - there are mothers, fathers, even grandpas; whole families playing World of Warcraft.

I believe it was David Jaffe who said that you can either do something new and different or do something well to make sure a game sells, when he was talking about god of war, and how he decided to do something well. I think we can agree that God of war was a huge success - but there's no reason you can't have both; it's just that it's hard to do something well if it hasn't been done before since there's nothing to reference for inspiration or look at what works and what doesn't.

So what am I making?A fighting game supporting several players, with an unending sense of progression, tactical elements, customizable appearances, party set up, and even ally behaviour as well having an engaging and unique story. I'm not making something completely different: I'm building a combination that hasn't been done before, but there's enough to reference to figure out what works.

God hand proves to me that fighting game mechanics in the third personperspective can work well at a high pace and with several opponents:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Hand

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Soulcalibur has always had the best feel out of the fighting games i've played, from deflection, dodging, blocking, to impact of each different attack from each of the characters.

(each square represent an item or ability)World of warcraft has provided classes with distinct feels between the classes, providing more variety than most RPGs through those means.

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(the dotted buttons represents a formation.)

Baldurs gate was one of the first games where positioning and formation was important even in small groups. Avoid clustering when a fireball comes flying, and hold the front line when enemies come rushing after the mages. Despite its age, many return to it even today.

Experience:I've also had a lot of discussions with different people about different genres what they like about them, what they like in general and that sort of thing - and though it's not exactly a science nor accurate, neither are statistics in general, but there's a lot to be gained from an actual conversation with different people on these subjects, as things are mentioned that don't appear on statistics, and are things you might not usually think about.

There seem to be a couple of common truths in games in general for what works.

Story: story is something everyone is interested in, it gives context and meaning to your actions.

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Controls need to be responsive: There are games that don't give fast enough feedback, and everything seems sluggish; there are also games that lock you into certain animations and don't allow you to take action if you regret the decision.

there's been a long discussion in world of warcraft about the "stun lock" situation, where the class of rogues were capable of removing a targets ability to fight back, by stunning them, and they had several abilities of that kind; these abilities were both their defense and offense, and so relied heavily on them - for the target, however, they couldn't fight back, they never even got the chance to - so they either survived the stun lock and won, or they didn't and died. It was rather binary.

There are less severe scenarios where a player dies, because his character is locked in a "damaged" animation, and can't fight back, even though he usually quite easily could win had it not been for that the were enemies attacking at just the right frequency. It's not that it's hard that's the problem; it's that the player can't do anything about it, so it's frustrating - you might as well give them a loading bar for when they can take another action.

Variety and pacing:Despite how well a game mechanic may work, it often wears thin, unless there's variety for it; using the mechanic differently, granting different situations, or straight up giving a different mechanic or gameplay sequence.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6447/pacing_and_gameplay_analysis_in_.php?print=1

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/episode-07-pacing

in truth, it isn't as simple as just a curve - there is a curve for each emotion, and you should make sure that each one is catered to for the richest experience - it's also a good way to keep the pacing going if you can make sure you transfer from one emotion to another, to avoid emotional fatigue - each emotion has an attributable hormone which is just a chemical - if you've used up the resources for that chemical - you can't feel it as strongly as you'd want - but instead of taking a overall break, you can focus on catering to a different emotion.

aesthetics:despite how many people fight about the importance of graphics in games - the aesthetics are important - and it goes beyond the polycount - aesthetics are the overall feel of the game; visual, audio, impact of an attack, impact of a statement, subtleties of movement, well timed lens flare and composition of every area.

Extra credits say it well.http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/graphics-vs.-aesthetics

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Appearances are important:http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/622-Patch-4.3-Transmogrification/and it's also a way of expressing yourself - expression has shown itself more as an important element recently, and it is very important to a lot of people. Expression is closely related to impact - almost everyone tries to make sure they leave a mark of their existence and usually affects most decisions subconsciously.In fact, that's why we hear the buzzword "choice" thrown around in games so often, and why so many visual items have been the main method of free to play games to make money, and why customization in general has become more prominent - and why more games try to share this information with your friends... (what's the point of leaving a mark, if no one can see it).

I believe customization goes beyond the visual, though - which is why I think the freedom to gain every ability in the game, though it may seem like too much choice on the surface, I believe it's more effective in defining your character and playstyle from other people when you're all given the same options, but you get to choose whether to use them, and how you use them is more effective in differentiating you from others, than some arbitrary class boundries. And it's not like all of the abilities are granted from the start, so there will be plenty of time to pick, choose, and learn.

All parts considered:One thing that holds true in my experience, is that you can't compromise an entire are/discipline for the sake of other areas one considers more important, unless you can eliminate it as a factor completely:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/no country for old men doesn't have to worry about the quality of the music because, well, there isn't any. It also gives it a distinct feel and adds to, rather than detracts from the experience.

But in situations where you can't remove it as a factor, you need to patch up the worst areas, rather than polish what's already golden, because as important as it may seem to make one part as good as possible, like it or not, the game, movie, or otherwise, is the sum of its parts, and if one part is just way off, that dramatically skews the experience. If all parts are equal, gameplay at a rating of five, and aesthetics at a rating of 5, it's 5x5 =25. If the gameplay is 0 and the aesthetics is 10, it's 10x0 = 0. It's not as simple as that, but my point is that everything is part of the experience, and the player or viewer isn't going to ignore the bad parts for anyone's sake.

Though some of these things don't help in the planning of the game, they help in the execution, which is equally important.