ASSIGNMENT FOUR DESIGN DOCUMENT CIS487 Computer Game Design and Implementation University of Michigan Dearborn Dearborn Michigan Mark Maratea 17 December 2002 I Overview MERCWars is a tactical combat game The year is 2236 The Imperial Guard is all that remains of a once powerful intergalactic monarchy Many of the star systems have split off and joined together in loose federations or trading empires The Imperial Guard still controls most of the core systems and many of the industrialized outer planets They are constantly battling for control of systems they once held To battle the threat of the Imperial Guard many systems have created strong fighting forces Others employ the services of trained mercenaries whose battle skill and mercantile wit combine to form a fierce fighting force In MERCWars you are the commander of a mercenary company You have been hired by the Colonial Loyalists to defend Sigma Alpha 6 against the elite forces of the Imperial Guard Your goal is to survive the battle while maximizing your profits This includes minimizing casualties taking prisoners for ransom salvaging vehicles and equipment and spending the minimum on starting equipment I Game Mechanics Overview MERCWars is a god view overhead 2D game in the tradition of Civilization or tabletop games like BattleTech MERCWars is a simplified version of the game whose primary purpose is to demonstrate the use of a title type engine programmed in C and using DirectX 8 0 The goal is to use your units to defeat the computer units through one on one combat Camera The camera is fixed overhead showing the main map board It is a fixed view 2D game using sprites and bitmapped graphics User Interface Design The game map takes up the majority of the player s screen The game is done in 800 x 600 pixels at 32 bits per pixel The score is posted in the upper right portion of the screen Your active unit is highlighted by a yellow halo to signify it Replaying and Saving Due to the short nature of the game there is no save game feature The game can be replayed easily and frequently Control Summary User controls consist of the following Up Down Left Right arrows used to move game units around the screen Enter used to end a turn You are prompted on the screen when to push enter Escape used at any time to exit the game It is also posted on the screen Game Play Details The game is a turn based strategy TBS game The conceptual origins draw upon games like Civilization Jagged Alliance and BattleTech Inception or Revenge There will be up to 8 units on each side of combat For each unit type there will be different chassis Each chassis has unique features such as number of weapon mounts base speed base armor hit points and movement types These features are expressed through the attributes offense and defense Each is a value between 2 and 20 with higher being better Combat consists of the player s side and then the computer s side Each side moves its units and attacks until all units have been moved Combat is resolved immediately Destroyed units are removed from the field Game success is tracked by your score Your score is a composite of the profit or losses you are making by these battles Time to complete each campaign 3 missions should range from 1 minutes easiest level to 3 minutes most difficult Cut Scenes This game has no animated cut scenes Prior to every level a briefing screen appears The screen details the current situations as well as the goals for the mission Storytelling The overall game story line is advanced through combat The story has reached its climatic phase and the player must complete the story and kill the enemy units The first stage has the player commanding a small recon force engaging the lead elements of the invaders The second stage has the player fighting a more advanced force with worse numerical odds The final level has the player being heavily out numbered and attempting to flee the planet Level Summary Level 1 is an exploratory level where the player sends out a small recon force to attack the enemy s screening forces Level2 is a screening mission The enemy forces are moving over the countryside and encounter a friendly patrol The player must direct the patrol against this enemy ambush Level 3 is the final battle The enemy has brought overwhelming force to bear and the player must lead his her remaining units and flee the area fighting as they go II Artificial Intelligence Opponent AI The AI is a rather simplistic entity It exists to engage the player s units and attempts to destroy the player Future versions of the AI will bring in reinforcements version 1 5 and will be able to custom fit units version 2 0 in order to better challenge the player Player Detection The tabletop nature of the game means that all units have line of sight with each other Detection is automatic All units have an attribute called Status boolean Status is true as long as the unit is alive Destroyed units have their status bit set to false Motion The computer units move identically to the player units The can travel up down left and right Path Finding The computer uses a simple goal reduction technique to find the path to the nearest player unit It first determines to closest unit by applying the distance formula to each player unit It then reduces the horizontal distance Once it is next to a player it reduces the vertical distance Special Actions This version of the AI has no special actions Future versions will have reinforcement options Combat Combat occurs when 2 units of different leadership occupy the same sector Combat is instantaneous Each unit has a base value for offense and defense between 2 and 20 These values are compared and a random factor is applied 5 to 5 The formula is Attacker Offence Defender Defense Random then Attacker Wins Else Defender Wins NPC The enemy units consist of up to 8 units represented by 4 icons There are no major NPC identities in the game Puzzles and Traps There are no puzzles or traps III Game Elements Items IDF Tank T80U3 Tank M1 Tank 2S Tank Hummer Red Tank Character Bibles MERCWar is an action game and lacks many characters The two main actors are Commander you Experienced leader of your mercenary unit You ve been the victor of many successful and lucrative military actions Originally and Imperial Soldier you resigned your commission 10 years ago to follow your wallet You have a reputation for astonishing tactical genius and manage to make the job look easy Your last engagement was
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