Time Traveling Scientist Game (TTSG) (working title)1 Executive Summary1.1 Abstract of game story2 Game Play Look and Feel2.1 Appearance2.2 Player roles and actions2.3 Strategies and motivations2.4 Level summary / story progression3 Development Specification3.1 Hardware3.2 Software3.3 Algorithm StyleMichael QuistCIS 587Fall 20082D Game Design PitchTime Traveling Scientist Game (TTSG) (working title)1 Executive Summary1.1 Abstract of game storyA hooded stranger recruits Doc Franklin to lend a hand in the Time Lab, in which an accident has released dangerous temporal rifts while sealing off the machinery needed to clean up the mess. The good doctor must travel backwards and forwards in time, manipulate objects in the lab, and interact with his own past and future selves to fulfill hismission and unlock all areas of the damaged lab. However, the power of time travel comes with a catch: future selves must remain hidden from their counterparts in the past to avoid the threat of temporal paradox. Doc Franklin’s future self is his best friend, and his past self his worst enemy, as he seeks to penetrate the mysteries of the Time Lab.Figure 1. Main menu screen.2 Game Play Look and Feel2.1 AppearanceTTSG is a puzzle game in which the player slides blocks and uses found items to make his way through each level. In addition, the player can use temporal rifts to travel backwards in time. The time-travel mechanic effectively creates multiple copies of the player that are able to work together to solve puzzles. This collaboration can only flow inone direction, because the player cannot allow his past selves to see any evidence of his current activities.Figure 2. Sample screenshot.Figure 2 shows a sample screenshot containing many of the gameplay elements. Stars, keys, and grey blocks are examples of collectible items; once picked up, they appear in the player’s inventory, at right. Keys unlock doors within the level. Stars activate other in-level triggers. Grey blocks (which can be carried) and blue blocks (which can only be pushed) can be used to obstruct line-of-sight; blue blocks, of course, can also present navigational challenges. Temporal rifts (purple swirly things) send the player back in time. In the screenshot shown, the active player character is highlighted in green; the character in the lower left is a pre-time-travel version.Doc Franklin’s line-of-sight plays an important role in the TTSG puzzles. As indicated by the greyed-out squares, the character cannot see past blocks or the boundaries of the maze; line-of-sight is symmetric, so the fact that the character cannot see his past self means that the past self cannot see him. This state of affairs must be maintained at all times: if the past self ever sees the current self, a paradox is created, after which the player must “undo” one or more moves and try again. The restriction also applies to objects: objects seen once by the character at a particular location and time must remainat that location at that point in time, which constrains the actions the player may take while time-traveling. For instance, the player may pick up and use a key while in the distant past, but must replace it before his past self notices it has been moved.2.2 Player roles and actionsThe player assumes the role of Doc Franklin, who is drawn into the Time Lab under somewhat mysterious circumstances, but is willing enough to help. Initially the player’s motivation is simply to unlock the locked areas of the lab, under the direction of the hooded stranger, who also serves as a source of in-game hints and narration. This will require the player to use the time-travel mechanic in increasingly complex ways as levels contain more elements.Figure 3. Level selection screen. Levels marked with a lock icon are notyet accessible. As the player completes levels, the completed levels aremarked with green check marks. When enough levels are completed,additional levels are unlocked for play and have their lock icons removed.Certain levels begin with an interaction with the hooded stranger thatadvances the plot.As the plot develops, the player will acquire the technology needed to clean up the temporal rifts, and will need to go back through the existing levels doing this.2.3 Strategies and motivationsFigure 4. Concept level designs for three “easy” levels.The strategies required to effectively use the time-travel mechanic depend heavily on the details of the level. The challenge of designing the levels, which has not been fully met in the present version, is to increase the solution complexity as the user gains proficiency in thinking about strategies for deploying his “past selves”. Figure 4 depicts early designs for a few levels that are intended to be fairly easy. In the first level (upper left in the figure), the player needs to escape through the exit in the upper-right square, which is behind a door that requires two keys to open. Since there is only one key on the level, theplayer needs to borrow that key from the future. A solution is for the player to do the following: push the block right, pick up the key, enter the warp, travel into the distant past. In the distant past, push the block north, pick up the key, unlock the door, push the block back to where it was found, place the key back where it was found, and exit the level. In the second level (upper right in the figure), the player needs to collect the stars and escape through the exit. To do this, he must work his way past the blue block using the temporal rift, twice, before leaving the level. The details are left for the reader. Finally, in the third level, the blue blocks are connected by a pole that causes both to slidewhen either one is pushed. Again the details of how to reach the exit are left for the reader.2.4 Level summary / story progressionThe intended story progresses through three phases, and the nature of the puzzles changeswith each phase. In the first phase, Doc Franklin is simply attempting to unlock more and more areas of the damaged lab, which involves solving traversal puzzles (make it from the entrance square to the exit square) of increasing complexity. At the end of this phase, Doc Franklin recovers the rift destabilization device, which gives him the ability to wipe out temporal rifts. In the second phase, the player is revisiting old levels and visiting new levels, with the goal of erasing
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