2. Basic idea
The game would be a colony sim game with a heavy focus on survival,
building and exploration set in a Tolkienesque fantasy world. The main
goal of the game would be to create a thriving village which is able to
withstand the worlds threats.
3. Basic gameplay
The game would feature a growing cast of randomly generated
characters who can be controlled by the player both directly and
indirectly. The player would be able to give important tasks higher
priority when the need arises.
The characters in the game would work on their own based on the
priority system so instead of constantly giving every character an
individual task the player would be able command all the characters at
once.
The research tree would serve as one major system of progression,
granting the player access to more useful items the further they
progress.
4. Here are some example characters I made for a Craftsman, A mage and a hunter.
Although these characters were made with a specific role in mind in the actual game
they would be randomly generated and could potentially fit multiple roles.
Craftsman Mage Hunter
5. Characters
The characters would be generated with a wide array of skills which
would change what the character can do, these skills include: farming,
crafting, hunting, alchemy (medicine), construction, cooking, mining,
magic, animal handling, strength and accuracy. They would also be
generated with a number of positive and negative traits such as “strong
constitution” for a positive, which would make them less likely to get ill,
and “light sleeper” for a negative, this would make them more prone to
waking up through the night which might have a negative effect on
their mood.
Characters would be obtained through several method, three will be
granted at the start of a playthrough and others could be rescued
during quests.
6. Needs
Every character will have needs, both general needs such as: food,
water, sleep and entertainment. And character specific needs such as:
dietary requirements and medicines.
Failure to meet a character’s needs might cause them to do less work,
leave the village or die.
7. Resource gathering
The player would need to gather resources in order to build things and
keep their village growing, some examples of resources include stone
and wood which could be used to construct buildings. Stone would be
obtained through mining and wood would be obtained by cutting down
trees. later down the research tree the player may unlock other
building materials such as clay bricks.
Large tree Small Tree
8. Construction
The player would be able to command their characters to build things
such as houses. The houses would be able to be built in any shape and
size though columns may need to be added in some places to support a
roof. The wall tiles will adapt to other nearby walls as seen below.
Single Wall
Three walls in
an L shape
9. Hunting and Food
Hunting would be a potentially major aspect of the game, as the player
would have to gather increasingly large amounts of food in order to
feed all their characters. Larger animals will require more effort in order
to hunt but will grant a larger amount of food and resources such as
pelts.
Hunting can be made easier through the use of items, such as better
weapons, and spells.
The player would also be able to gather the food in other ways such as
farming crops and foraging, this is good in case a player doesn’t have a
good hunter or has a vegan character.
10. Hunting and Food
The player would be able to farm both crops and animals in order to try
and automate food production, though this might get harder and take
up more space as the players villages grows. Farming will require a
source of fresh water for the crops and animals. This could be achieved
using a well.
The player would also be able to use some tamed animals
as pack animals allowing them to carry more stuff while
traveling on the map.
Well
Blueberry bush for foraging
Small animal which could be
hunted or farmed
11. Events
The game will feature random encounters such as goblin raids,
wandering traders and plagues. These events will keep the player on
their toes trying to fix problems as they arise.
12. Combat
The combat mechanics are intended to be slow and tactical, the player
would have to experiment with different formations to find out what
works best for them. Good strategy would be crucial to succeeding in
combat.
The game would feature boss battles such as dragons which would
serve as a long term goal for the player to beat.
13. Crafting
The player would be able to command characters to craft items,
crafting items will require the player to construct specific crafting
stations, one example of such is a forge. The forge would be able to
take ores from mining and refine them into ingots which then could be
crafted into weapons and armour.
Copper Ore Forge Copper Ingot Copper Sword
14. Quests
The quest system will be the main source of short and long term goals
for the player. Quests will be given randomly throughout the game.
Some example quests might be “rescue this person from goblins” or
“craft 12 swords and deliver them to this village” the player will be
rewarded for completing the quests and as the difficulty of the quests
increases the value of the rewards will too.
The player will frequently have to travel large distances in order to
complete quests. This nudges the player towards other systems, as
they will need to bring more food and items while traveling.
15. Map
The map would be randomly generated and feature a multitude of
different biomes and terrains. The map would be comprised of
hexagonal tiles all of which feature a representation of the area.
The player would be able to form caravans and send some characters
to quest locations. This would also allow characters to travel to other
civilisations where they can trade for gear and resources.
16. Multiplayer
The multiplayer system could work in two ways. The first way is that
each player gets their own village and they can work together or
against each other. The second way is that players work on the same
village but each player would have a set amount of characters that they
can control.
In the second option the amount of characters given to a player at the
start of the game would need to be reduced from three to either one
or two depending on the amount of people playing.
