Steam Boat Document Version 1 3 “ 1987 . Nuclear is overrated S team is true energy We at The Entity invite you to our facility to see the wonders of imagination and steam - powered innovation . The gift of sight forces order into how we perceive the world, here we unlock real creativity. ” Version history Version Changes made 1.0 Finished initial document 1.1 Correct errors and add addition information to gameplay mechanics and Marketing 1.2 Adding File types 1.3 Adding Asset table including audio and Refer ence image s for theming Contents General Information / Overview Mission statement Document scope Project scope Important dates & Feasibility Market Target audience Demographic Psychometric Types of games for this target audience Legal and ethical related to target audience Market research Competitors Unique selling point Technical Platforms Target platform Limitations of platform Strengths of platform Software Game engine Code language and system specs Visual Audio File types list for development Creative Narrative/Story/Lore Storyline / Synopsis Inspiration and feel / style Game World Environments Characters & Enemies Important assets Style Art Style Audio Gameplay Core gameplay loop Basic mechanics & Gameplay Controls Game Structure Gameplay modes Recursion Unique selling point / fun factor Concepts Characters Character 1 Character 2 Environments Environment 1 Environment 2 Assets Asset 1 Asset 2 Misc Production schedule General Information Mission statement Steamboat aims to test the player’s memory and tracking skills. Using their blindness to their advantage and developing a feel for how the studios of The Entity have corrupted over the years. The game should increase popularity in games that limit the user’s senses in peculiar ways , just like how Steamboat removes the player’s vision for the entirety of the game. The old science centre is designed to purposefully trap and confuse the player while still slowly leading them in the right direction unconsciousl y. Document scope This document is designed to tell anyone who’ll be working on the project everything they’ll need to know . This will mainly be just myself in this instance, but nonetheless it is a great document to have to have all information about Steamboat within it The document should be detailed and include many pieces of information that will be necessary to the creation of Steamboat to be effective and efficient. Project scope & Feasibility The project would hypothetically be on the large scale, with a full island map and the entire science centre. Of course, to reduce the amount of work, many places will be inaccessible and only detailed within the player’s vision. The mechanics of the game will be incredibly difficult to produce due to my lack of knowledge in the field of game production. This project would definitely be a challenge but there is nothing saying it can’t be done, I believe that it could be completed within a year with resilience and commitment. Important dates Models of the Island, Science Centre and Creatures Rendering the models Create sound effects Design creature animations and in - game item movements (e.g. Falling notes, gas leaks) Create the user’s screen (all white with the breath animation that reveals the map) Market Target audience Demographic My average target audience would appear as males who enjoy adventure and creativity, ages ranging from 16 – 21 - year - olds. They enjoy games that slowly reveal narrative to them and like small details that they have to search for within the game. My target demographic enjoys thriller games that make you think and react quickly with the majority of players liking the sense of the unknown. On the whole, the demographic struggle to afford expensive games and prefer free - to - play games. Psychometric My demographic is driven by exploration and learning. Discovering the world around them and immersing themselves in the game . They use video games as an escape from reality, allowing themselves to feel a part of something else, as if they were truly in the game. Types of games for this Target Audience Attracting players that play unknown and new games are crucial for the uprising of Steamboat, they typically will play games that have a small fanbase and release videos or streams that’ll grow the game’s popularity incredibly fast. Some elements in indie games that attract these people are new and unseen features. This is the main reason for Steamboat’s unique method of gameplay, using steam to let the player see not only brings a new idea and challenge to gaming, but also allows for deep and interesting lore to be introduced that people haven’t typically seen before , causing a rise in storytelling in games. Legal and ethical related to target audience Within Steamboat, there is a clear lack of representation of diversity, however this is due to the lack of other characters in the game. This is caused by the fact that the location you play in is abandoned and many people have been killed there, leaving you as the sole survivor . A way that this issue could be resolved is by allowing the player to select themselves to be a female or male character, this will only affect the few voice lines within the game . This would give players either a feminine or mascul ine profile to play with. The game will be given an age rating appropriate to its style and themes, this rating being a 12+ . This is due to the dark themes within the story and overall difficulty to process at a younger age. There could be many legal issues with a game like this , one of the main ones being the textures used on models. Making sure that any unoriginal texture is copyright - free or paid to be used. Another issue that could be risen is the accusation of copying another game made by another studio. For example, Steamboat is heavily inspired by “Bendy and the Ink Machine” made by The Meatly , this means that if my game appears too similar to another, then it can be copyright claimed and heavy consequences can come out of lawsuits in that matter. To fix that, we have to ensure that even if the game is inspired by another, that it doesn’t follow similar plot lines or mechanics that people can directly link to said inspired game. Market research Competitors Other competitors in the gaming field will be small indie companies and solo game developers who are wishing to reach the same target audience as me. This is clear to see across many fields of entertainment for indie studios will struggle to gain followers and downloads on their games. This is why they’ll be looking for people who purposely look for smaller games to support , just as what I would be searching for. As to get the right people playing your game , can massively improve its visibility on the internet. Most of my competitors would also be reaching out to the younger people of society due to their uprising with games and better appreciation for n ewer complex games, whereas older gamers will pursue old games that feel nostalgic to them. Unique selling point (USP) Steamboat is incredibly unique in its ability to make the player adapt to a new environment that they can’t even see. Using its main game mechanic to make the player learn when and how to most effectively use their breath to navigate the world around them. Other games that have done this have succeeded massively, one example being “ scanner sombre ” by introversion software. The game made $ 589 ,128 in gross revenue and although int roversion had actually suffere d from the game’s supposed “bomb” , for a solo developer like me, this revenue would be a very successful outcome. Technical Platforms Target platforms Steamboat will run on PC, t his is due to the complexity of the game’s controls and overall feel for the aesthetics , if I hope to achieve high definition in Steamboat’s design and a PC will be able to run this much smoother than any other platform Limitations of platform There is a lot of high upfront costs to having a PC that many people can’t afford to spend . Also, unlike the consoles, PC struggles to connect communities by not having immediate friending and chatting options, whereas XBOX or Playstation give players these features instantly. Strengths of platform PC provides the user with a superior hardware performance and graphics options , enabling higher frame rates and better resolution that consoles. PC is, by far, the most successful platform when it comes to the rise in games for many gamers will own a PC, and the ones who don’t have been known to watch players that do have PC’s play games online through YouTube or Twitch. Software Game engine The game engine I will use will require high processing and graphics, being able to hold a lot of information and models for the game. I don’t have much knowledge in this field and would need to learn substantially more before I can truly say what I need from a game engine. Code language and system specs To be confirmed once the game engine has been chosen. Visual Steamboat will be using 3D software such as Maya to create full and well - designed characters and landscapes , things that 2D art can recreate but not at the level in which I wish to achieve . Furthermore, I will continue to use Maya to create animations for the game using the models that I will make, for it will be much easier to keep everything within as lit tle places as possible so it can be all traced back to one or two software platforms. Audio As a whole, I’d hope to create my own audio for I believe this will be quicker to do then to go through thousands of Royalty - free audios to find the right one and it ensures that every piece of audio I use is 100% authentic and Royalty - free. File types list for development 3D - OBJ 3D(Animation/Rendered) - F BX 2D - PNG; JPG Audio - MP3; WAV Creative Narrative/Story/Lore Storyline / Synopsis Steamboat follows the story of either Peter June or Amy June, depending on who you pick to play as. The year is 1987, a year after Chernobyl and people are beginning to doubt nuclear usage . The Entity are an old company that used to prevail in the science of Steam energy and in recent years, began to mysteriously fade away from people’s memories , being hidden by the looming presence of nuclear power However, you find yourself being sent to a deserted island which belonged to The Entity ’s science laboratory, and very quickly you begin to regret that choice. You black out and wake up in the centre of the facility, with no clear memory on how or why you were here. You quickly realise that you are blinded and can’t see anything, one heavy sigh and you notice that your vision has r eturned through the mist , forcing you to breath constant big breaths to see ahead. As you explore you find that the old building has been destroyed and smashed up by what could have been a rampaging elephant . Notes and scratched walls inform you of the dangers lurking here and the importance of escaping. After reading, you discover a creature that appears to be following you, moving within the blindness and freezing at your line of sight. It appears to know where you are anytime you read a note. Once you’ve found you’re way out you stumble across a message about an old boat that can ensure your safety, the only problem being that it passes directly through the creature’s lair . However, once you arrive, there appears to b e more creatures than you thought. After you reach the boat, you power it up with your steam and escape the island, returning your vision back to you and abandoning the creatures without a second glance. Inspiration and feel / style The story will be dark and mysterious, leaving a lot of detail up to the player to try to fill in . T he player should feel nervous in th is game as they unlock more of the story, learning the true nature of The Entity’s practices. Game World Steamboat is heavily inspired by Bendy and The Ink Machine and as such, should relay similar feelings to the player of mystery, confusion and solitude. Specifically, the unnerve that comes in solitude, the feeling of being watched , this feeling being enhanced in the abandoned science centre built by The Entity. Environments The main theme will be abandonment and a post - nexus feeling, using destroyed walls, doors and furniture to suggest that something bad had happened in the centre. The outside will appear quite dead, with many plants being shrivelled and dark , making the island look very bland and desolate. Characters The two main characters are Peter June and Amy June. These two characters are one - in - the - same. Meaning that if you choose to play as one, then the other won’t exist in that playthrough. Peter and Amy are the player based on personal choice and both lead the game with a confused and horrified expression. The Entity is a steam - power company formed many years ago with an unspecified starting year. They excelled in the development of steam engines and all the creative freedoms made possible with the power of steam energy. However, over the past few years, they appeared to disappear from the media and all that is known of them now is an old, abandoned science centre that used to be used for tours. The Entity eventually turn out to be the villains of this story, unknowingly creating their own ruin. Enemies The enem y of this game is a n almost angelic looking creature , at least one that has been thrown from heaven and left to rot. For the majority of the game, this being is left unnamed and forever hunting the player . The notes only ever referring to it as “the Monster”. It has the ability to warp the vision of anyone close to it, with only steam and mist breaking the blind n ess . It’s sharp claws twitch and form little clicks and taps against one another, informing the player of its location. Furthermore, it can only move when it is hidden within its blindness, if it is visible to the player then it freezes in place. The most horrifying feature it has is its ability to know where the player is at all times, however it is slow when far away . Whenever a player reads a note it can trigger the creature to your location, giving it a speed boost to get to you faster . Finally, as the game progresses, you find that the more you’ve irritated it with your presence, the more it reacts to you. Duplicating itself and spreading it self across more of the map . However, this will reduce its ability to know where you are. Eventually, you as the player will get to the creature’s lair, and when you face the original copy, a larger and somehow more demonic form of what they were before , it speaks to the player, revealing the true nature of The Entity and how he came to be. His name was Marvin Invidia and that name sounds familiar to you, he was a man who had destroyed government and brought chaos to th e rest of the world. As Marvin continues to grasp and attack the player he continues to speak, as if it’s his inner monologue speaking out to you. He states how The Entity brought him here to run experiments, and they turned him into this creature removing his conscience and forcing him to be their puppet, to entertain the ideas of “new creativity” and generate millions into their funds. Important assets The main props in this game will be notes and a steam pipe . The notes are the main feature that progress the story and tell players what is going on and where to go. Whereas the steam pipe is a peculiarly crafted tool made by The Entity for tours to use to experience the “creativity of steam” generating wide puffs of steam to reveal the world around you. This will be found by the player if they do their own exploring and lore discoveries. It is a non - essential item to progress in the game but is very handy to have. Style Art Style I want the game art to give the player a n old feeling to it , relaying back to the 1980s, but the industrial side of it. Showing a combination of the new technology at the time, mixed with The Entity’s old - fashioned steampunk - styled tech. Art such as those done by Anna Airy bring a good example of how I view the industrial side of the science centre to appear like. Some parts of the centre, specifically where the public would have been , will appear more modern with hints of steampunk running through it such as many pipes and spinning gears. Audio Across the game, I’d like to have the music shift between certain environments and scenes. Referencing Bendy and The Ink Machine, a lot of The Meatly’s music for the game heavily influenced how the game felt to players, a lot of the music generates curiosity and adventure, the best one to mention being “ Former Glory” . Other than environmental music, sound effects within the game will be simple and minimal effort with still an impactful immersion. Examples being footsteps and smashed glass crushing. However, there will be harder sounds to produce, such as the sound of the creature and pipes bursting with steam emitting out of them. Here is the link to a video of Former Glory https://youtu.be/jCoCCNbSBOE?si=OwGe8jI4RLZx_lnK Gameplay Core gameplay loop Basic mechanics & gameplay PC controls Movement W, A, S, D Look around Mouse Jumping Space Breath /release steam Right click Interact Left Click Un - interact Left Click Sprint Shift (Hold) Listen E Pause Menu Esc There are a few interactions here that need to be explained, “Breath” is the action see to see in the game , releasing a breath in front of you. “Listen” is used to stop your movement and remove your vision to increase your sense of hearing, allowing you to hear the creature further away and in more detail. “Interact” is used to pick up notes, read wall scratchings and open doors. Controls XBOX controls Movement Left thumbstick Look around Right thumbstick Jumping A Breath/release steam Left T rigger Interact X Un - interact B Sprint Right Trigger (Hold) Listen Y Pause Menu Start Game Structure Gameplay modes There will only be one mode, Classic, which plays the game as intended. However, there could be later development into a Challenge mode where every note read has an 100% chance to spawn the creature near you and has a 50% chance of creating a duplicate later in the game’s progression. Gameplay recursion The game continuously has the player reading notes, these notes will increase the spawning chance of the creature, this increase will grow until the creature has spawned, at which the rate will be lowered back down to the original 5% chance of spawning. Ass ets Here is the Asset table for everything within the game that could be briefly pictured to be necessary for the game ’ s success