Game Design Document
Frozen Traveler is a single-player, 2D side-scrolling adventure game. You play as a human-made snowman who is born in a protected landscapes area and decides to go to Antarctica. Along the journey, our protagonist will meet many animal friends and gradually realize the human impact on the environment. The game is narrated based on the dialogues between our protagonist and animals along the journey.
The game takes inspiration from Winged Migration, a documentary film showcasing the immense journeys routinely made by birds during their migrations, as well as the Human Impact on the Environment page of Wikipedia. Human activities have created many things that do not exist in nature, but they also cause serious damage to nature in many aspects, such as habitat loss, ocean trashing, and so on. From these, we come up with our protagonist, an artificial snowman.
As a 2D side-scrolling adventure game, the main goal will be moving across the map to reach the goal, avoiding traps along the road. Also, the player will be able to collect tools and equipment for collection purposes and to overcome specific barricades.
- We hope by playing our game, people can obtain some inspiration of protecting nature, and we also hope the game can combine fun and education significance.
- Building some interesting levels for players to explore.
The platform will be Android/IOS. Unity will be used for implementation owing to the current team’s experience, and it’s readily extendable framework.
Our target audience is 6 to 12 years old children. Our levels incorporate natural scenes, many of the obstacles and enemies are concrete manifestations of natural damage caused by human activities. We hope when playing our game, they can realize the importance of protecting nature. This is a game that combines fun and education significance.
Our protagonist is an artificial snowman, living in a beautiful protected landscapes area. This protected landscapes area was once a filming location, the members of the props team used artificial snow to build him, so the snowman has a natural affinity for humans, thinking humans will always create something magical and wonderful to the world.
One day, the snowman met a flock of birds who were migrating to Antarctica. Those birds are seriously affected by human activities, complaining about what they have seen along their migration. Disagreeing with those birds, the snowman decides to start an adventure to the Antarctic to see the world with his own eyes.
As an artificial snowman that will not melt due to the increase in temperature, our protagonist needs to drink water to keep himself not falling apart. Also, the snowman can throw out snowballs to attack the enemy or as a way of producing a footer.
The core mechanic is exploring the 2D world controlling the main character.
The main character can obtain certain ability after getting corresponding item, including:
- Bucket - Be able to use snowball attack
- Scissors - Be able to cut fish net
The game will follow a standard third-person platformer's movement schema.
The first level is going to take place in a forest. In this map, the snowman’s main task is to protect himself from getting hurt. Human activity is one of the biggest contributors to global warming, which has been a key factor in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires. On the map, some ground is on fire, so the snowman needs to jump over them. In some unnoticeable places, there are hidden spike traps that humans use to catch animals. The snowman needs to avoid spike traps by jumping or climbing to other floors. If the snowman hits a sharp object, he will return to the starting point because of crushing. During the trip, the snowman needs to collect food to help the animals suffering from food shortages and collect gold coins to exchange for tools that will be needed in subsequent travel. In the game, the snowman will have two different forms. When the snowman is in a special form, it will have the ability to crush rocks. Players can pass the level through multiple routes, which adds incentive to the game.
In level 2, the stage is the beach and cliff. The main aim is to collect some items. To cross the sea, the snowman asks a turtle for help. The turtle could help if the snowman saves other animals on the beach. There are some animals who suffer from the trash dropped by human. For example, turtles and seagulls are tied up by finishing nets. To help the animals, the snowman needs some tools, like scissors to cut the net. The snowman needs to pick up trash and shells to exchange tools. And maybe need to beat some crabs and conchs, or to avoid touch them, because of the sting on their shell. By the end, the beach finally becomes clean, but more trash is dropped by human from ships. So, the snowman could help the animals temporarily but not permanently.
| Week | Task |
|---|---|
| 1 | Team set up and proposal |
| 2 | Game Design Document draft and proposal finalize |
| 3 | Design of Level 1 |
| 4 | Implementation of Level 1 |
| 5 | Implementation of Level 1, UI and Menu |
| 6 | Design of Level 2, UI and Menu |
| 7 | Implementation of Level 2, UI and Menu |
| 8 | Implementation of Level 2, UI and Menu |
| 9 | Finalize of the midterm Demo |
| 10 | Design of Level 3 |
| 11 | Implementation of Level 3 |
| 12 | Design of Level 4 |
| 13 | Implementation of Level 4 |
| 14 | Sound and other effect |
| 15 | Finalize of the final Demo |