Allergic Reaction

Design Document for:

Revenge of the Dust Bunnies

David vs. Goliath with allergies

“Dust with attitude!”™

All work Copyright ©2011 by Allergic Reaction

Written by: Daniel DeMaiolo, Derek DeMaiolo, Kristy Cunningham, & Hyun-Woo Lee

Template by Chris Taylor

Version # 1.00

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsDesign HistoryGame Overview

GoalsGame Design Goal #1 - Little Hero, Big WorldGame Design Goal #2 - Game Engine & PlatformGame Design Goal #3 - The Clothes (and Items) Make the Dust BunnyGame Design Goal #4 - Acchooo!

Common QuestionsWhat is the game?Why create this game?Where does the game take place?What do I control?How many characters do I control?What is the main focus?What’s different?

Feature SetGeneral FeaturesGameplayVictory Condition

StoryDustin’s StoryThe Hero’s Story

The Game WorldOverviewSmall is BigThe Hero is the VillainKey LocationsTravelScaleObjectsWeatherTimeRendering SystemCamera

Zoom in and zoom outFollowing the avatar

Game EngineOverviewWater

Collision DetectionLighting Models

OverviewDirectional LightingPoint Lighting

Game CharactersOverviewDustin: Dust Bunny HeroOther Dust BunniesHeroPrincess

User InterfaceMagical Items

OverviewDust FeatherSnorkeling MaskTinfoil ShieldDust ShroomRefrigerator Magnet

Musical Scores and Sound EffectsOverviewMusic and Sound Creation3D SoundSound Design

Appendices“Objects Appendix”“User Interface Appendix”“Story Appendix”

Design History This section details any changes or modifications made to the game. As the team continues to work, new versions will be updated. The purpose of the design history is to allow for team members to see any modifications or changes that are made to the design document that could effect the overall game. Without a design history, team members may not realize that something in the game has changed which could lead to inconsistencies in the design of the game.

Game Overview

Goals

Game Design Goal #1 - Little Hero, Big WorldThis game is trying to allow the players to feel the helplessness of being a small creature in a big world. With this in mind, the game world will reflect this theme by featuring items such as a boot and magnifying them exponentially to create an immersive world. Because the team has limited modeling abilities, a dust bunny character was chosen because it fits into this theme and is simple to manipulate. Also, the avatar will have the ability to change size based on the amount of dust collected which fits into the theme. By changing size, the dust bunny will be able to knock over larger items and ride drafts of air. Eventually, the dust bunny character will confront his gigantic counterpart - the hero.

Game Design Goal #2 - Game Engine & PlatformThe game is built in Unity and will run on both Windows and Mac platforms. This decision was chosen because the team is enrolled in a course which features Unity and must complete a final project to synthesize a semester’s worth of knowledge in Unity.

Game Design Goal #3 - The Clothes (and Items) Make the Dust BunnySimply rolling around collecting other dust bunnies and growing bigger makes the game kind of dull. Because the dust bunny resides in a classic video game castle that a hero would explore (such as Peach Castle), items such as a feather (which allows him to jump), a snorkeling mask (which allows him to swim underwater), and tinfoil armor (which allows him to walk through flames) are pivotal for the player to access new areas and explore the castle. Other possible items include: dust shroom (modifies the size of the avatar) and refrigerator magnet (allows avatar to cling to surfaces).

Game Design Goal #4 - Acchooo!Revenge wouldn’t be complete without getting the place filthy! As a dust bunny, your goal is to not only find and destroy the hero, but also trash his beloved Princess’ castle with dust!

Common Questions

What is the game?The game essentially allows players to take on the role of a dust bunny who must manipulate the environment through size and items in order to get revenge on the video game hero. To extract revenge, the player must roll over surfaces and leave a trail of dust as well as knock over items such as chairs in order to climb out of the basement and into the hero’s bedroom.

Why create this game?This game is being created as a means to test the culmination of all of the team’s Unity knowledge and experience into a portfolio piece. While some of the mechanics resemble that of Katamari Damacy among many other fun games, Revenge of the Dust Bunnies innovates in the sense that players can manipulate their size and use that change (in addition to new abilities gained from items) to advance throughout the castle. For example, to get hidden items inside a treasure chest, the character will have to shrink to slip through the keyhole. The experience the team is going for mixes a 3D person adventure game with the innovation seen in a lot of casual games.

Where does the game take place?The game takes place inside of a Princess’ castle where the hero resides. As found in a lot of games such as Super Mario 64, there are often a lot of unique secret areas to explore with a lot of hidden items. The player will essentially explore the castle and use different items to eventually confront the hero in a final battle of “epic” proportions. It is a true David vs. Goliath story.

What do I control?The player will control a dust bunny which can change its size. Essentially, the dust bunny can only roll at the beginning of the game until he discovers items such as a feather (which allows him to jump), a snorkeling mask (which allows him to swim underwater), and tinfoil armor (which allows him to walk through flames) are pivotal for the player to access new areas and explore the castle. Other possible items include: dust shroom (modifies the size of the avatar) and refrigerator magnet (allows avatar to cling to surfaces).

How many characters do I control?Although the collected dust bunnies follow the avatar and allows players to change size, the player can only control the main dust bunny.

What is the main focus?The main focus of the game is to destroy the hero by advancing from the dark basement to the hero’s room. In order to do this, the dust bunnies must manipulate their size and find unique video game items in order to advance.

What’s different?This game is different because of the bizarre perspective, characters, and story. While some games attempt to create the little character in a big world environment, not many utilize unique items to convey a 3D adventure game. In addition, there are very few games that allows the player to freely manipulate their size in order to manipulate the environment.

Feature Set

General Features● Small character in a huge world● Manipulate size of multiple dust bunnies● 3D graphics● Puzzle-based challenges

Gameplay

● Collect and manipulate size of the dust bunnies in order to solve puzzles● Collect unique items to explore new areas such as:

○ Dust Feather○ Snorkel○ Tinfoil Shield

● Spread dust throughout the castle● Explore a castle from the dark basement to the lofty bedroom

Victory ConditionDestroy the Hero’s relationship with the Princess by turning her castle into a mess, thus breaking the Hero’s heart, making him sneeze, and defeating him once and for all.

Story

Dustin’s StoryDustin’s little world is in chaos. He’s knows there is a big world outside the castle, and that the Hero is an important part of it. However, the Hero has been nothing but trouble for his kind, the Dust Bunnies. Since the Hero rescued the Princess and brought her home to his castle, the Hero has began to massacre thousands of helpless Dust Bunnies using mops, brooms, and feather dusters. This event is called the “Cleaning Massacre.” The few who are left now live helplessly in the basement, that is, except Dustin. Dustin has had enough of this tyranny and wants revenge. If he can convince enough of the remaining dust to join him, he’ll be able to trash the castle with filth, causing the Princess to leave because of allergies and break the Hero’s heart. This revenge is what he desires most in the world.

The Hero’s StoryThe Hero is the pride of the larger World. He recently rescued the Princess from the villains plaguing the Kingdom and brought her home to his castle. However, because he has been so busy with quests, the castle is full of dust and the Princess is allergic. Demanding that he clean up or she will leave him, the Princess put her foot down. Therefore, the Hero scrubbed the castle from tower to dungeon … or at least that’s what he told her. She never goes to the Dungeon anyway. Between bouts of cleaning, the Hero is generally saving the Kingdom for his Princess, stopping only to stash loot in the Dungeon and do the Princess’s bidding. This story is told by photos of the Hero and Princess, notes from the Princess, and voice overs from other rooms.

The Game World

OverviewThe world should emphasize the idea that Dustin is a little guy in a big world. The basement is the main overworld where Dustin can explore and rescue Joe and Hoolio, fellow Dust Bunnies, who will help him grow in size. Using his friends, Dustin can access many of the hidden treasures branching off from this location. Locations branching off from this area include: Mousy Mase, Heavenly Heights, Leaky Lake, and Mt. Inferno.

Small is BigThe world emphasizes the Dust Bunny’s world is where small objects become large. To him, crates are like buildings and walls are mountains. In a way, this makes the mundane items of the world, larger than life, creating the vision of the little guy in a big world.

The Hero is the VillainThe world is filled with Dust Bunny scrawl complaining of the destruction ravaged by the hero. There’s a lot of Dust Bunny hate written on crates and walls.

Key Locations

Mousy Maze: A small corridor in the wall, Mousy Maze has several sharp nails that the player must avoid. At the end of the tunnel, Dustin will find Marty, a Dust Bunny, and a locked treasure chest containing the snorkel. As he tries to escape, he will find a not so cuddly friend awaiting him...

Heavenly Heights: Heavenly Heights consists of several fans that form a bridge to the feather which allows Dustin to jump. In order to access Heavenly Heights, Dustin must ride drafts of air coming from ducts to the top of the bookshelves. From there, he must make the perilous journey across the fans with a stained glass window serving as a backdrop.

Leaky Lake: Accessing Leaky Lake is trickier than it sounds. Set inside a sink basin, Dustin

cannot access the treasure at the bottom until he acquires the snorkel in Mousy Maze and has acquired at least four of his friends to give him enough weight to sink to the bottom. After slipping through the drain, Dustin must grow to 4x his size in order to slide down the giant water slide pipes and reach the bottom where he will find Walter the Dust Bunny and another treasure chest containing the Tin Foil Shield.

Mt. Inferno: This is the castle furnace that is surrounded by hot coals. Similar to Mousy Maze in terms of mechanics, Dustin will have to carefully navigate the furnace without running into the scorching hot flames from the flamethrowers. The shield isn’t the Golden Fleece, after all! At the end, he will find Fred the Dust Bunny.

TravelThe player’s primary way to travel is by rolling the Dust Bunny through the environment. The player acquires different items in order to gain further ability to travel, such as jumping, exploring watery depths, and rolling through fire. Using pipes, wires, and manipulating the basement’s objects and other environmental hazards all challenges our hero, Dustin, will face.

ScaleA dust bunny is usually only an inch or two long on its own. So therefore, the the avatar,

everyday objects are huge. A tipped coffee mug, for example, could be a small shelter and a ruler a bridge. The premise behind the game is to think what would look large if you were only a small a few inches tall? How would the sense of scale be different? Essentially by keeping these questions in the back of our minds, we should be able to create some dynamic settings using common, everyday things to populate the game environment with.

ObjectsVarious Dust Bunnies: Although they all look alike, different textures or colors can be applied to them to make them look like several different characters. It is suggested that there are eight total Dust Bunnies. Treasure Chest: These boxes contain magical items such as the Snorkel and Tinfoil Shield. The only way to access the treasures inside is for Dustin to find the feather in order to jump through the keyhole. Castle Furniture: Very regal in nature, the castle furniture really establishes the location of the game world. Items to consider include: chairs, tables, sofas, and bookcases. Besides that, they might be useful in climbing up higher. Dust Mites: Not very clever fellows, these monsters have Joe trapped and are circling him ready for a tasty snack. Mousey Maze (and other walls): These objects confine Dustin and make the environment seem indoors. There is also a mouse’s nest at the end of the tunnel. Loose Boards: These could throw Dustin into a nail! Sharp Nails: These hurt Dustin. Avoid them at all costs! Stained Glass Window: Serves as the backdrop of Heavenly Heights and has ambient lighting streaming in. This also encourages the player to explore this area first in order to get the dust feather so the other items can be accessed. Vents: Lifts Dustin to Heavenly Heights. Fans: The main bridges in Heavenly Heights, the fans consist of a few blades that move rather slowly in an attempt to not make the game too hard for players. Leaky Lake Sink Basin: Contains a faucet and water. Once Dustin acquires the Snorkeling Mask, he can explore the depths. Leaky Lake Slides: The real fun part of Leaky Lake because it lets Dustin slide down.

Mt. Inferno Furnace: The furnace will have a glowing fire and several hot coals around it. Flamethrowers: Found inside Mt. Inferno, there are several flamethrowers that will disintegrate Dustin upon contact. Dust Feather: Allows Dustin to jump. Snorkeling Mask: Allows Dustin to explore Leaky Lake. Tin Foil Shield: Allows Dustin to explore Mt. Inferno.

WeatherAs the game will take place in doors, weather will be largely unimportant. To simplify exteriors, it is either sunny or rainy. Rainy can add additional complications in the castle environment, such as a leaky roof.

TimeA day in the game world is represented by the action that takes place in the level. This allows different “quests” for the Hero to occur during this time. Between levels, when he is home, he drops off more loot in the basement, and throws away more item tidbits for our friendly Dust Bunny Hero, Dustin.

Rendering SystemRendering will occur using Unity 3d, Adobe Photoshop (for 2D textures), Sketch Up for architectural and man made 3D assets, and Blender for organic objects and FBX exporting. GUIs will mostly be designed in Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign.

Camera

Zoom in and zoom outBecause the character grows and shrinks, the camera must zoom in and out to allow for this. The core mechanic in the game is size manipulation and because of this, we’ll need the camera to be able to adjust according to the size of the main character so players are able to see their avatar at an appropriate distance.

Following the avatarThe camera will follow the avatar, Dustin, with a slight look ahead function to allow for a better view of the level. This view will be cheated slightly above the avatar in order to help “map out” the level for the player.

Game Engine

OverviewFor the purpose of this project we are using Unity 3D. Unity 3D has a very approachable feature set that is perfect for the purposes of our game.

WaterUnity has several options for rendering water within the scene, as well as particle effects. It will be straightforward for the team to create cartoony or reflective water.

Collision DetectionCollision detection is easy to implement using colliders and Rigid Body physics within Unity. The physics engine allows more than one way for collision detection to be used to enhance features of the game.

Lighting Models

OverviewWe are using the lighting system built into Unity. If performance becomes an issue, there are several opportunities to improve it within Unity. Because the setting is primarily in a dark, damp basement, the lighting will be ominous and eerie.

Directional LightingWe are using directional lighting to light our world through the means of windows shining light into the dark basement. Although it is not directly in the scene, we’d like to create the effect of dusk by having a color palette for the beams of light that would seem like a sunset/sunrise.

Point LightingPoint Lights will be used for occasional interior details and to highlight positions of items. It essentially will be used to direct the player’s eye towards the area they need to go. There will be several Point Lights near power-ups, treasure chests, solutions to puzzles, and throughout the basement for realism purposes. Point Lights might also be placed near the stained glass windows to create a more subtle sun effect that also enhances the mood.

Game Characters

Overview The majority of characters within the game are dust bunnies, yourself being the lead dust bunny and protagonist. Also in the game are the Hero and his Princess, your antagonists that keep the castle too clean.

Dustin: Dust Bunny Hero

Dustin is a small sized bundle of ferociously cute energy. However, being a Dust Bunny, his overt rage toward the hero is mildly disguised with cuteness. He is a rather enchanted Dust Bunny, and stands out from the others that he collects in order to grow. The hero moves at a furious pace, squeaking about his commands to other Dust Bunnies, and uncovering more horrors of the Cleaning Massacre committed by the nefarious Hero.

Other Dust Bunnies

The other Dust Bunnies, though duller and smaller than are hero, are still cute. They are followers, not leaders, and obey the Dustin’s every command, as they are too scared to stand up to the Hero themselves. They tend to cower in corners or pace nervously until joining the Dust Bunny Hero.

Hero

The Hero is a hero in the larger world, but the bane of the Dust Bunny Hero’s existence. On the orders of his precious Princess he committed the Cleaning Massacre. With mops, brooms, and feather dusters he destroyed or forced into exile, thousands of Dust Bunnies in the castle. The only room he did not eliminate Dust Bunnies in was the basement. Although he often takes his loot downstairs, he seldom cleans it, as the Princess thinks it is too dank to spend any time down there.

Princess

The Princess is bossy and has the Hero under her thumb. She demands a clean castle, but will not get her own royal fingers dirty. However, she is beautiful and heir to the Kingdom. She keeps the Hero around to clean and destroy monsters wrecking up her future Kingdom.

User Interface The user interface is a keyboard based control system. The player moves by using the arrow keys. If the player has acquired followers, he/she can press “E” to grow in size and “Q” to shrink. There is a gauge for number of followers, how many followers you can collect, and items collected. There is also a score board showing the amount of dust you have spread throughout a level. Finally, there is a dust gauge to determine how much energy you have left.

● Main Menu GUI - Start, About, Credits● About GUI - How to Play, Story Overview● Credits GUI - Team Roles● Pause Menu GUI - Resume Game, Quit Game● Game Over GUI - Scene of Dustin cleaned up● End Game GUI - Scene of Dustin, Princess Dust Bunny, and Filthy Castle

Magical Items

Overview Essentially, the dust bunny can only roll at the beginning of the game until he discovers items such as a feather (which allows him to jump), a snorkeling mask (which allows him to swim underwater), and tinfoil shield (which allows him to walk through flames) are pivotal for the player to access new areas and explore the castle. Other possible items include: dust shroom (modifies the size of the avatar) and refrigerator magnet (allows avatar to cling to surfaces).

Dust FeatherThis prize that the Hero has neglected allows Dustin to jump, a skill he would not have without it. The feather is shiny and clearly enchanted.

Snorkeling MaskThe Snorkeling Mask allows Dustin to swim underwater, and is an item left by the Hero that he no longer uses. It is an average looking Snorkeling Mask, perhaps while the Hero doesn’t want

it. That and the mask clearly was shrunk at some point, perhaps by the Hero’s nemesis.

Tinfoil ShieldTinfoil Shield allows Dustin to go through flames. Rather cheesy looking, it does the job. The tinfoil is discarded metal from a shield the Hero had forged, giving it special properties.

Dust ShroomThe Dust Shroom is a potential item to increase Dustin’s size beyond his Dust Bunny Follower limit.

Refrigerator MagnetThe Refrigerator Magnet allows Dustin to cling to surfaces and walk on walls. This is very convenient. How the magnet became enchanted may have something to do with the pixie in a jar found next to it ...

Musical Scores and Sound Effects

OverviewMusic and sounds will be created using digital composing tools. 3D sounds will be created using the Unity engine. The soundscape will be cartoony and heroic.

Music and Sound CreationMusic and sound effects will be created using Soundtrack Pro and GarageBand. Sound files will be either AIF or MP3 format, in order to provide consistency and manage the project file size.

3D Sound3D sound will be created using Unity 3D. Sounds will be attached to an audio source on objects in the game world.

Sound DesignSounds will be upbeat and cartoonish, in order to maintain a positive and humorous game experience. Inspiration for sounds will be taken from classic cartoons, such as Looney Tunes, and games such as Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda.

Appendices

“Objects Appendix”● Dustin Character Model● Various Dust Bunny Character Models (8)● Dust Mite Character Model● Coffee Table● Chair● Treasure Chest● Fans● Stained Glass Window● Dust● Sharp Metal nails● Mouse Nest● Spider Webs● Table● Loose Boards● Snorkeling Mask● Dust Feather● Tinfoil Shield● Blocks● Various Dust Particle Systems● Faucet● Various Water Particle Systems● Sink Water Slide● Furnace● Flamethrowers● Hot Coals● Various Coins● Various Vents● Various Grime obstacles● Vacuum● Pictures, Notes from Princess, and other Easter Eggs

“User Interface Appendix”● Main Menu GUI● About GUI

● Credits GUI● Pause Menu GUI● Game Over GUI● End Game GUI● Health Bar● Timer● Dust Bunny Follower Gauge● Inventory

“Story Appendix”Little creature, big world. Dustin, the Dust Bunny, wants revenge on the “Hero” of the Game World who has just come back from a quest to save the Princess. He’s sick of being swept under the rug and wants revenge. By finding fellow Dust Bunnies and growing in size, he will be able to find different magical items and confront the villainous Hero.

Copyright (C) 2011 Allergic Reaction – All rights reserved