EDIT: This has pretty much turned into a thread at this point so check out the latest replies!
Hey guys! A few days ago I wrote a story for a game and I’ve turned that story into a design document. Tell me what you would add or remove. Remember this is just core prototype for the game.
Game Design Document
Story
You are a cat in Lyon, France, a quaint and somewhat closed-off city. One day, while exploring, you stumble into an oriental-themed room and discover a mysterious ancient Chinese artifact—a small statue with the words “Quest Master” engraved on its base.
The curious cat decides to take the statue and ventures out onto the narrow cobblestone streets. Shortly after, the cat spots a mouse who immediately flees at the sight of the feline. You, as the cat, decide to follow the mouse through the streets, only to lose track of it.
This marks the beginning of your journey. Looking up at the Parisian-style apartments, you notice peculiar mushrooms growing high on the ledges. Your first quest begins: climb the buildings and gather these mushrooms.
As the story unfolds, the mouse reveals itself to be an enlightened guide, leading the cat on a series of quests involving the gathering of ingredients to create a culinary masterpiece.
Mechanics
Core Abilities:
Jumping, ledge/rope walking (balance)
Tiptoeing to avoid making noise and alerting humans in the apartments.
Basic interactions like collecting mushrooms & upgrading the cat.
Guided Exploration:
The mouse acts as a guide, subtly leading the cat to the next objective while maintaining the illusion of being chased.
Objectives:
Complete quests to collect unique ingredients scattered around Lyon.
Use these ingredients to prepare dishes, adding depth and progress to the gameplay.
Controls
Movement:
Jump, climb, and traverse the environment seamlessly using basic WASD controls.
Stealth:
Tiptoe to stay quiet and avoid detection by humans. Activated by pressing Shift.
Interaction:
Upgrade the cat with the mushrooms.
Character Personality
The Cat:
Clever and curious, with a touch of sass.
Wears a small beret, adding a quirky French flair.
Has a sense of humor and a touch of weirdness, complementing its unique adventure.
Always carries the ancient Chinese artifact, symbolizing the journey’s mystery.
Genre
Adventure, Stealth
Target Audience
Fans of adventure and story-driven games.
People who enjoy cozy, whimsical experiences with a touch of humor and mystery.
Suitable for a broad audience, including casual gamers and adventure enthusiasts.
Color, Mood, and Feel
Color Palette:
Warm and inviting tones: white and beige buildings with cobblestone streets.
Contrasting light and shadows: antique-style lanterns illuminate the roads at dusk, adding charm and coziness.
Mood:
Fun and adventurous, inspiring a sense of curiosity and joy.
A cozy, whimsical atmosphere rooted in the charm of a French town.
Orthogonal Design
To keep the game engaging, introduce variety in objectives and mechanics:
Instead of just collecting mushrooms, later quests might involve other ingredients like herbs from gardens or spices hidden in market stalls.
Diverse tools for traversal, like balancing on laundry lines or riding moving carts, keeping exploration dynamic.
Seems really similar to Stray, not my favourite from Annapurna, but still not bad. I guess try not making it too similar to Stray or you might be copyrighted.
Honestly, I got the idea from a mix of imagination and my experience as a cook. Since I cook for a living, I thought it’d be fun to create something related to that. While browsing YouTube, I noticed different thumbnails that inspired the story. One had a small statue in a Chinese-style video thumbnail, which caught my attention, so I included that. The words engraved on the base, “Quest Master,” also came from another YouTube thumbnail. So, most of my inspiration just came from my surroundings—mainly YouTube in this case.
FISH and cat, what if we made it stranger? More comical?
Yeah I guess both are games about cats and I believe they can both be fastly different. A comical cat who cooks in france and finds ingredients by chasing an enlightened rat. Crazy stories, crazy cats, sounds good or not?
You know, I think it’s very wise to post your game ideas because, ultimately, we, as developers, are here to share and inspire other developers. You can keep your projects and your ideas behind closed doors and hoard them through your whole career, but really, you don’t progress in that way, and neither do other people. And I think we are here to influence and to inspire other developers. Now, if I make a game and you make a game, those are gonna be very different games. So that’s my view. I want to actually share, I want it to be open.
Probably another animal, instead of a cat, probably make it look different with a hat or whatever, and name it something, and probably have a narrator of some sort, kind of like in the Stanley parable. That’s kind of creative right?
Well, you know, 100%, absolutely. What animal would you suppose? Of course, it has to be an animal that would be roaming the streets in France, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be like that. It can also be another environment. I do love the idea of a narrator, but the question would be, would you have the narrator in specific parts or throughout the whole game? I do think these are very creative. Yeah, so share your thoughts.
I see, you want to make some Mickey Mouse-type stuff—put some clothes on! No, but I like it! But do you mean like a multiplayer game, where one player is a dog (with clothes, of course) and another is a cat? Or do you mean different characters you can play as in a solo game? Or maybe do both? Let me know.
EDIT: This has pretty much turned into a thread at this point so check out the latest replies!
What made you want to play it?
