I’ve been overthinking and putting off this post because it could have ended up really complex, and I’ve simply been consumed with job hunting. So to force myself to just get it out there, and get moving I’m posting it in note form.
We had a team of 7 chosen from applicants for the first go at an intensive game design course to coincide with Canada’s 150th to represent the university, and Canada at the now-cancelled 2017 CVGA that were to be held in Ottawa.
Much of the core concept was dictated to us by the product owner, which made for an excellent experience in designing around someone else’s vision. What follows are slightly trimmed notes taken from those initial meetings with the product owner.
Premise
- – setting
- – sci fi future canada
- – post plague apocalypse
- – rebuilding
Theme
- – canada + 150th anniversary
- – values
- – confederation (+ cooperation)
- – avoid violence
- – look to future
- – scale
- – landmarks
- – regional variety
- – sparse population
- – values
- – apocalypse
- – scarcity
- – desperation
- – antagonist is nature (winter is major obstacle)
- – goal: emotional realism
Inspirations
- – rogue-lites
- – unforgiving
- – trial and error via restarts
- – variety through RNG
- – king of dragon pass
- – others
- – Fallout, Civ, Master of Orion, Oxygen not Included, Plague Evolved
Mechanics
- – goal + time limit for rebuilding
- – stabilize a settlement in X/Y regions
- – stability based on things like population, health, culture, education, comfort
- – stabilize a settlement in X/Y regions
- – worker placement/management
- – exploration -> discovery -> reclaim/repurpose
- – plague sickness
- – no cure, to be endured
- – levels of affectedness: asymptomatic, contagious, dying
- – easy to get 1 settlement, but then must branch out
- – seasons
- – major effect on gameplay
- – vary by region/location
- – population growth -> negative feedback (more to provide for)
- – quest + event system
- – offer choices of investment vs consumption via assets/opportunities
- – potential resources
- – population
- – food
- – water
- – happiness
- – electricity
- – culture
- – transport infrastructure
- – hope
- – education
- – government
- – health + safety
- – order/defenses
Major Systems
- – population management
- – resources
- – city map
- – regional map
- – national map
- – building reclamation (acts as tech tree)
- – seasons
- – quests events
I’ll be following this up shortly with more in depth looks at the project, and my own contributions, and forcing myself to post more frequently even if it comes out less polished.
Design Doc 