Monday, June 6, 2011

Game Designer Portfolio - Part 3

I would like to show you a game I created recently. Since I have not yet implemented the tutorial I will also post the User Guide that goes with the project. It is far from perfect and I am by no means an expert in writing guides. That is why I am interested if the guide actually helped you understand the game, add a comment and tell me what you think.



Here is the link for the game: BATTLE FOR THE ISLE OF DAWN
(Use the "Play flash fullscreen" option to view in fullscreen mode)

And here is the guide for the game. (Just a note, it is quite a bit detailed.. and probably confusing at times, oh well.)

If you have any questions/suggestions/anything feel free to message me!

Edit: There seems to be a problem with the stats window (upper left) both in low and high res. Enemy unit count might not be visible sometimes.

Update: Problem should now be corrected when the game is played in fullscreen mode.



Battle for the Isle of Dawn
User Guide


I.                   Requirements

Battle for the Isle of Dawn is a game of conquest, resource and army management. You will be required to do all three to achieve victory. To run the game you are required to have any of the following.

Adobe Flash CS3 or above.
Flash Player (to run the executable in .swf format).

*If resolution is a problem (game is set at default 1280x720) please open
View -> Show All on your flash player.


II.                 Instructions and GUI Elements

This section details the elements you will see in the game and what they mean in addition to rules and regulations of the game.



This is the game board and this is where most of the action takes place. There are 24 areas marked with a letter-number combination (A1, A2, D3, F1, E4 etc.). Each area is selectable and when selected the following window will open.



Now let’s see what does this window allows us to do while playing. Here is another image with some areas highlighted.



As you will notice the white boxes (two in the yellow areas and two more under them) are input boxes. This means that you may write numbers and letters into these boxes. This is in fact the way the game works and 
how the human player declares their moves.

To move units first SELECT AN AREA on the game board. The movement window will pop up on the left side of the screen as shown. In the BLUE CIRCLE in the upper right corner of the movement window you will see the area YOU HAVE CURRENTLY SELECTED. In the input box next to the “Move to:” text, write the DESTINATION (TARGET AREA) where you would like your forces to travel. For this example it is E2. Always make sure you enter a NEIGHBORING area to the one that you have SELECTED. In case you enter an invalid “Move to:” location you will get an ERROR and be allowed to try again.

On the right side under the blue circle there is a count of what units are currently into the area you have selected. Consult that information before entering how many units of any type you would like to move to the target location. In the example case it is TWO FOOTMAN from F2 to E2.




AFTER you successfully execute a move the window to the left will pop up automatically. It is the RECRUITMENT WINDOW and it allows you to recruit (Build, Train, Make) new units on the board according to your resources.

This is also the way the board looks after move from F2 to E2 of 2 Footman has been executed from the previous example.

Here you may recruit new units by first typing the RECRUITMENT LOCATION at the input box next to RECRUIT UNITS AT in the upper side of the box (upper yellow circle). For the example the F2 area is selected for recruitment. Next to each unit FOOTMAN, KNIGHT or PALADIN there is also a blank input box in which the player may enter the amount of that unit they wish to recruit. The COST of each unit is printed against it on the recruitment window. Player RESOURCES are shown on the lower right side of the game screen (yellow ellipse).

IMPORTANT: UNITS MAY ONLY BE RECRUITED AT FOUR AREAS ON THE BOARD (CALLED CASTLES), THOSE ARE:


      F2,      D2,      C3,      A2



In addition you must be IN CONTROL of the area you want to recruit units at.
After you have selected where (if at all) you wish to build you select the RECRUIT button in the lower right corner to recruit or alternatively the SKIP button to skip recruiting this game round and save resources for the next.



This is an example of an area and what are its attributes. F2 is an area that has a Castle Icon, a Gold Mine icon and a House Icon. Some areas only have one or two and other areas have NONE of these ICONS


.

CASTLE – they are important for two reasons. One – they allow recruitment. Two – they are worth a lot of Conquest Points.



GOLD MINE – at the end of each GAME ROUND an area with this ICON will provide ONE GOLD to the player that CONTROLS the area.



HOUSE – at the end of each GAME ROUND an area with this ICON will provide ONE MANPOWER to the player that CONTROLS the area.



            In Battle for the Isle of Dawn players constantly try to control any number of areas by moving forces into them. An area is CONTROLLED by one player or another whenever:
A)     There are forces PRESENT in the area that belong to that player
B)     There WERE forces in the area that belonged to that player and the ENEMY has not ENTERED the area yet to claim it for themselves.

LARGE GREEN DOT – Indicates the presence of HUMAN PLAYER forces in the area.

SMALL GREEN DOT – Indicates there the area is under HUMAN PLAYER CONTROL but there are NO HUMAN PLAYER FORCES PRESENT at the moment.


LARGE RED DOT - Indicates the presence of AI forces in the area.


SMALL RED DOT – Indicates there the area is under AI CONTROL but there are NO AI FORCES PRESENT at the moment.



Whenever you mouse over an area you will notice this window in the upper left side of the screen.


This window shows the STATS of the area that the mouse is over at the moment. It details who CONTROLS the area, GOLD INCOME, MANPOWER INCOME and the various forces present.


BATTLE BEFORE IT IS RESOLVED                               


                                                 

BATTLE AFTER IT IS RESOLVED




BATTLE OCCURS whenever two opposing armies find each other in a single area. If this happens the game is INTERRUPTED and the window on the LEFT appears. It details where the battle is happening, what are the units involved and prints a TOTAL ARMY STRENGTH value for both players. Each player then is allowed to PLAY A CARD and reveals it to the other player instantly and simultaneously executing the CARD EFFECT. A card is selected by clicking on it.

ONCE A CARD IS PLAYED IT IS DISCARDED AND MAY NOT BE USED UNTIL THE END OF THE GAME!!! THIS IS TRUE FOR BOTH THE HUMAN PLAYER AND THE AI.

Cards range in power as some multiply your whole Army Strength by 2 “x2” and others are more situational like “FK +2” which gives +2 STR for each Footmen-Knight you have in your army for the battle. In that case it would be “+4” whereas “x2” would be “+6” for the battle. Discover what other cards do on your own!

After you select a card the AI reveals its card and you see the BATTLE RESOLVED WINDOW on the RIGHT. In that case the AI played “-9” card and deducts 9 of the players TOTAL ARMY STRENGTH. The played had played “FK +2” gaining 4 which gives him 10 and -9 from the AI card leaves the human player at 1 total army strength. The AI has 2 and 2 > 1 therefore the AI wins the battle. WHOEVER LOSES THE BATTLE LOSES ALL UNITS IN THE BATTLE. The game then continues as usual. 

In case of a TIE another card is played by both players until resolved.





Last but not least the VICTORY CONDITION.

To win the game a player has to acquire 150 CONQUEST POINTS.


Each CASTLE CONTROLLED provides from 0-20 depending on the player.

            For the HUMAN PLAYER:
            F2 = 0 points.    D2 = 5 points.   C3 = 9 points.   A2 = 20 points.
                       
For the AI:
            F2 = 20 points.  D2 = 9 points.   C3 = 5 points.   A2 = 1 point.

EVERY OTHER AREA CONTROLLED provides 2 CONQUEST POINTS at the end of the game round.



Game Round

Step 1: Human Player Movement
Step 2: Human Player Recruitment
Step 3: AI Movement
Step 4: AI Recruitment
Step 5: Gain resources and Conquest Points (Both Players)


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Thank you for reading, until next time.

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