Pirates Vs Pirates Design

During the first month of Game Project we created a Design Document for the game we are currently working on.  The project as a whole takes place over a period of 5 months.  Day one being the first time you meet your team members, and the last day being the turn in for the game presentation.  It is a very fast paced project as we have milestones set up roughly at the end of each month.

The game we are creating is called Pirates Vs Pirates.  It is a 3rd person game where you play as the First Mate of a stolen ship on your quest for treasure.  You must protect your Captain and the ship's mast from enemy pirates.  You must shoot oncoming enemy boats with the cannons mounted on the sides of your ship and sink them before they get too close.  If the enemy boards your boat they will run towards the mast of your ship and try to destroy it before attacking the Captain, at this point they are running around your deck and you must melee them down with your cutlass.  If you manage to survive the enemy waves you will reach the island where the treasure is hidden and win the game!

Concept art by Quinlan Septer

I was very involved in the design process of our game and it actually rekindled a love for game design that I have had ever since I was young.  It is incredibly interesting to see how things developed in a team project, especially in the early stages where all 14 of us are still getting used to each other's communication styles.  I would say that getting everyone in the same page proved to be the biggest hurdle early on, and because of this I made sure to be very visual and thorough with descriptions.

In order to create a more visual design document I ended up using Sketchup for every aspect of design elements.  It was amazing to see how helpful it was to have something in 3D to demonstrate details and in turn it allowed us to push further on many areas instead of having to focus on communication difficulties.

The way I went about this was to create a "walk-through" of how the player would see each element in our game.  From blocked out cut-scenes to in-game actions, everything was documented in one way or another.  Once everyone saw how things were to be laid out we then looked at how elements fit together and ultimately allowed us to create a better game design.  Small details aren't important at this stage, what is key is to have everyone in the same page and be confident about the design.

Enemy hits mast, health goes down!

Player repairs mast, health goes up!

With the basic elements of the game laid out we then begun to play with numbers and had very early balancing passes.  The numbers themselves might not be accurate but it's the process that is important.

It is incredible to see how smooth the process has been for us, and I have no doubt in my mind that our strong pre-pro and planning were the reasons for this.  Planning simply works, and when it comes to big teams like this it alone can make or break projects.