Game Design
Last update: 11 May 2005
This section defines the fundamental game design for the SunDog Resurrection project. As far as possible, this section attempts to set aside specific implementation details (including user interface design). By so doing, our goal is to come up with a game design that is compelling in and of itself, and not merely because of eye candy, situation immersion, and other such lures.
Game Drivers
First and foremost, we must decide what type of game we're trying to create, and what its driving principles are. These drivers should be applied consistently throughout the game design and implementation, so as to avoid the inconsistent and unsatisfying design often found in games.
Having decided on these drivers, we can then consider different aspects of the game design as listed below. These are in a rough sequence of consideration, but they interact so much among themselves that they can't be considered independent or in a fixed order.
Player
In the contect of the driving principles of SunDog Resurrection, the next question is simply: what role does the player take?
Gameplay
Given the player's role, the next focus isthe heart of gameplay within SunDog. What is the goal of the game? What are the things that we (as players) want to do or to be able to do in order to reach that goal?
Setting
We have to define the setting for the game: history, intellegent species, governments, economics, technologies.
Universe
We also have to define the physical universe within which the game takes place. How do we model reality and to what extent?
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