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FEEDBACK OR IDEAS WANTED. PLEASE REACT INSTEAD OF JUST READ.
GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT ATTACHED TO THIS POST
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Since I'm working on my RPG first, I'll be writing down my latest idea, something I'm not able to create with my current knowledge of DarkBASIC.

Quite simply put, inspiration came from two sources: My father, and the game BioShock. My father told me yesterday that games seem to be very land/air orientated, and that he and a friend of his had been discussing this terrible issue.

At first, I countered him, saying there's not enough interesting stuff down there, when he said: "But, it's a game! You can put anything you want down there!". And then I figured it out.

BASIC CONCEPT
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The story is simple. It is the year 2097 as huge mechs start fighti... oh wait, that's One Must Fall 2097. Sorry.

It's the year 2097 as the space programme starts to seriously investigate the possibility of putting large domes on other planets. For this cause, they first decide to build several of these domes on the bottom of the ocean/sea. Built of the most powerful materials known to us at that given date, several domes are constructed and closely monitored. Basically without outside help, the volunteers have to survive in the dome as good as possible. So far so good. But, the scientists, or at least, the organisation doesn't feel comfortable about the monitored dome. They secretly decide to build an additional dome, rally up survival experts and without any outside monitoring, transport them to the Seadome. Twelve men, ten women are to be left in the Sea Dome for 15 years. After this period they will all be rewarded with a small bag of money, well, essentially, a huge bag of money.

Of course, you play one of these survival experts. One of the males, preferably. You start after 12 years in the dome, and everything is going well. Structures have been built with the aid of robots, including the Dome tower, the central tower which rises till the roof of the dome. Everything is fine. Until then, ofcourse.

After the tutorials, in which all is well, there is a sudden explosion and electricity is severely damaged (just because I like flashing lights and stuff). That's not much of a problem, but the dome has been breached. Water is slowly filling the dome, and there will be no help from the outside. That ís a problem, I'd say.

Now, the thing in Seadome is that the water fills the dome in realtime. Most of the time you will be trying to stay ahead of the water, before that hatch closes, before water crushes the door or pressure locks the exit. Sometimes, you'll have to dive through area's, but all the time, the water level is slowly rising (with increasing speed since the dome is spherical). The only enemies in the game are the other survival experts.

There used to be twelve single-man submarines for emergency situations - but the explosion shut down power and shortcircuited the hatches to eleven of them - so, there will be only one survivor. Of course, nobody likes to die, so after a short time of cooperation more and more of the team start to turn against each other.

These 'enemies' would mostly be trapping the player - putting him for a puzzle to escape from a new difficult position. Ofcourse, at one point, the player would have to fight the others, or trap thém. Direct confrontations are avoided except for 'boss fights'.

Scene's I could imagine would be near the place where the water roars down, fighting one of the 'bad guys'. A room where the water is electrified, a fight. Being trapped in a room in which the water is slowly filling in.

Objectives could vary from opening a door to reaching a safe place. De-electrifying water. Destroying a hacked robot (which could be an enemy). Avoiding the enemies. Find something, a suit or air. Escape from a room. Sabotage. Well, anything.

Weaponry will be nearly unexistent. Most combat will be melee (first person) or with sea-like weapons. Harpoons, manual gun, grappling hook. Ammo is sparse, almost non-existant. Skills as hacking will be vital (interactive, preferably). Weapons will have a fully realistic effect - shortly said - one hit is usually fatal. This also goes for your enemies, ofcourse, although they will be equipped with body armor (at least, the latter ones). 

HUD is non-existant. When reloading a magazine, you've got 8 bullets. The maximum of magazines is 2 - so at any time, 16 bullets. Harpoon will have a single arrow at max, but will pierce most body armor. Also, harpoon ammo can be regathered. The grappling hook, as in Quake 2, does damage but does mostly serve as transporting unit. Health stats will be shown with a Mono-like system (if you don't know the Binary Zoo game Mono, you should check it out now!). Blurred effects when heavily damaged. Edges of the screen darken, reddish glow around things. Health restore can be done by resting (at the cost of a few millimeters water rise) or with health kits that take a few seconds to apply.

Saving is done only at save points - scattered through the game in the form of computers or books or something similar. This to keep the game challenging. With saving, all stats including water level are saved.

Summarized: the gameplay focus will be in this order: Survival, Adventure, FPS. Examples of gameplay are found in Metal Gear Solid, Deus Ex. Stealth, speed and survival are most important.

Most important to the game will be looks. The looks are what is going to carry the game, should it ever be developed. A convincing, dark, watery look. The waterfall. The dome, through which a small part of the depths of the ocean can be seen. Flashing lights. Shadows. Water effects. Whatever.

LOCATIONS/LEVEL
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- Dome Tower, about 130 metres high. Central to the dome and will function as hub for the player. The player will always find a save-point in the tower.

- Engineering Bay, about 20 metres high. Contains a robot facility, maintenance, several contruction rooms and controls for a lot of facilities in the game. Will need to be visited early.

- Encampment. 35 metres high. Contains most of the living space. Where the player starts out the game. Will later turn out to contain something to have the player return to it (when it's submerged). Small corridors/rooms.

- Observatory. 30 meters high, with on top a dome of 15 metres (so total of 45). Will contain a lot of information about the SeaDome and controls for many locations. Large, open, rooms and views to the outside.

- 3 Science labs. (20, 25 and 25 metres high). The Doom-esque labs but basicly just built for investigation sea-life and machinery (of which some Quake-esque) Later on, will be stage for one of the confrontations.

- Oxygen plant. 15 metres high. A building attached to the dome's flank in which oxygen is filtered from water. Ofcourse with huge vents, maelstroms ect. Steam vents ect.

- Resource plant. 30 metres high. A large processing plant for nearly everything. Ofcourse again with deadly processing units. Large rooms with large cannisters.

- Submarine Bay. 15 metres high. Containing the emergency submarines but heavily damaged. Sparks, small corridors as only built for emergency. All submarine doors are locked except for one, but the emergency door unlock code is located somewhere else. Attached to the dome's side next to the oxygen plant. Final stage and part of the intro (after the disaster).

- Power Plant. 30 meters high. On top 2 huge pipes of 40 metres. Total 70 meters. Small rooms and corridors. Heavily protected by computer turrets and security. Metal Gear Solid Power Plant-like layout with elevators.

- Vehicle Bay. 15 meters high. Containing vehicles (non-usable or maybe at start once driving around (interactive look-around cut-scene?)). Lot of floors, elevator platforms ect.

- Greenhouse. Jungle-like environment with dense vegatation. Nice for a melee fight or something similar. Glass building so collapses under the weight of the water.

- Park. For the relief and recreation of the test subjects. Scenery, I'd guess.

How the USP regged the building plans for the SeaDome.



GAME HIGHLIGHTS/(SEMI-)UNIQUENESS
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I'm at most creating a design doc. I got a main character list which will consist out of 7-8 hostiles. A lot of the people will get killed in cooperation, by other, the aftereffects of the explosion or by security. Survivors will range from a programmer to a athlethe. For every character, I've got a first and last name, nickname, age, nationality, reason to be in the dome, former profession, reason for selection, specialty and the 'actual test results from the appliance test'.

I got a storyline, building outline, I actually have the first 30 minutes of conversation including a tutorial lined out. I've got two sketches of how it shoúld look - I got three architectural sketches for the SeaDome. I got sketches for the internal of two of the buildings.

The SeaDome exists as an experiment. The USP, the then-to-be Space Program is researching the effects of being completely independent in a limited environment in extreme situations. Several domes are built and monitored, but the USP builds another dome in secret for a 'realistic' test. There will be no USP interference in-game as they dropped the 'team' in the Dome and would return in 15 years. There is a small 3D sketch of the dome in my second post. Besides, I've got several sketches laying besides me but no scanner. I'll try and remake them in PhotoShop later.

There will be little/no effects due to the depth. Only noticable thing is high frustration levels contrasting with the high level of friendship. As soon as disaster strucks, the main things will depend on survival instinct (and at several points, friendship or love).

The lack of one-men subs is actually on purpose, but I realize it might look as an error - the point is that the USP is experimenting with the limited amount of escapal submarines and the effects that has. After all, you will not be able to supply enough escapal methods for an entire Metropolion Bay on for example, Mars. You were supposed to find that out after the explosion through hacking or storytelling. The fact that there are only 12 escapal subs is a total surprise for the team, though, who are fully convinced there are 22 subs, or better said, 11 two-man subs - there is an emergency lock on the escapal submarine bay which the leader of the team may only open in cases of emergency. In my original draft, there was actually just a single sub.

For Data: 'Unique'/Feature factors:
Probably nothing really Unique, but at least special in combination.
* Total immersion. No HUD.
* Limited level, clear walls, realtime water level and thus changing level.
* Hasted gameplay due to the water - game time is limited to 7-8 hours preferably (hard to keep it fun longer than that).
* Dynamic environment. Due to the water, easy-to-reach area's can turn impossible to reach and unreachable area's can become simple to reach.
* Limited hostiles. Six to Eight boss-fights including a programmer capable of reprogramming the bots.
* Very limited weaponry. The FPS aspect will be rather minor.
* Adventure/Survival gameplay. Stay-ahead-of-the-water gameplay. Don't show yourself, stealthish gameplay unless armed or armored. Limited save-points.
* One shot, one kill (or close).
* Diving suits with about 20 minutes of air capable of being destroyed, slowing the player by 50% on land and increasing visibility. 
* Awareness of hostiles from sound, movement and shadows, no visual aids.
* Trap/Detrap system. Trapping enemies to take them out. Detrap attempts by AI. Also, AI setting traps for the player of which several scripted.
* First-person cutscenes - no out-of-person-cutscenes.
* Hacking system similar to Deus Ex - possibly a minigame.

Game Highlights:
Not giving away too many, but consider the next two scenarios:
* Final fight for the final diving suit at the top of Dome Tower while water rised in realtime.
* Fight against the programmer, who has reprogrammed several of the security bots to stand by hís side.
* Trapped in the Power Plant where the water is slowly rising to the point where the electric equipment will be in contact with the water.

PDG-8, the only real gun in the game. Further weapons are harpoon and grappling hook.


Example Screenshot rendered as if a n00b like me created this game for real.


I could write the entire story, a storyboard, and hey, if anyone would like the create the game, it would be great if you'd notify me and let me help. But I'm not starting this project. I ain't good enough yet.

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hey, i like this idea quite a bit. its a lot different from most FPSs and is really unique. and a hacking minigame would be really cool. the only thing that was kinda fuzy was: how big is this dome? at first i thought it was relatively small, but your description of the game says it has multiple rooms, a tower, robots, and everything to sustain itself. so is the dome quite large, but just small in comparison to other domes that you talked about?

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The dome is in fact a small city sized location. I'd estimate it to be about 230 metres high and 1 or 2 kilometers wide. The dome would have a lot of rooms, more like seperate buildings. It would have a tower of about 190 metres high with a view over the area. The other domes wouldn't be shown in the game, since this last dome is a black op of the space agency.

It should be claustrophobic but not small. The use of floors in buildings is crucial as as the water gets higher the player gets access to new floors and thus area's. With (limited) diving suits, he could then revisit area's under water to unlock doors on higher floors ect.

I was thinking a hacking minigame as well.

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I've been making some sketches. I'll do better sketches later but for now imagine the dome a completely independent submarine location. Inside are:
+ Code Snippet

- Dome Tower, about 130 metres high. Central to the dome and will function as hub for the player. The player will always find a save-point in the tower.

- Engineering Bay, about 20 metres high. Contains a robot facility, maintenance, several contruction rooms and controls for a lot of facilities in the game. Will need to be visited early.

- Encampment. 35 metres high. Contains most of the living space. Where the player starts out the game. Will later turn out to contain something to have the player return to it (when it's submerged). Small corridors/rooms.

- Observatory. 30 meters high, with on top a dome of 15 metres (so total of 45). Will contain a lot of information about the SeaDome and controls for many locations. Large, open, rooms and views to the outside.

- 3 Science labs. (20, 25 and 25 metres high). The Doom-esque labs but basicly just built for investigation sea-life and machinery (of which some Quake-esque) Later on, will be stage for one of the confrontations.

- Oxygen plant. 15 metres high. A building attached to the dome's flank in which oxygen is filtered from water. Ofcourse with huge vents, maelstroms ect. Steam vents ect.

- Resource plant. 30 metres high. A large processing plant for nearly everything. Ofcourse again with deadly processing units. Large rooms with large cannisters.

- Submarine Bay. 15 metres high. Containing the emergency submarines but heavily damaged. Sparks, small corridors as only built for emergency. All submarine doors are locked except for one, but the emergency door unlock code is located somewhere else. Attached to the dome's side next to the oxygen plant. Final stage and part of the intro (after the disaster).

- Power Plant. 30 meters high. On top 2 huge pipes of 40 metres. Total 70 meters. Small rooms and corridors. Heavily protected by computer turrets and security. Metal Gear Solid Power Plant-like layout with elevators.

- Vehicle Bay. 15 meters high. Containing vehicles (non-usable or maybe at start once driving around (interactive look-around cut-scene?)). Lot of floors, elevator platforms ect.

- Greenhouse. Jungle-like environment with dense vegatation. Nice for a melee fight or something similar. Glass building so collapses under the weight of the water.

- Park. For the relief and recreation of the test subjects. Scenery, I'd guess.

Computer/Security is ofcourse damaged so you could say all settings have been overwritten and the computer systems are hostile to everyone now. Attached you find a quick 3D sketch of the dome.

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Good, well, feedback is low, but I'm working on some sketches and architectural plans for the dome and several of the buildings. I'm writing character descriptions and story background. I hope people would just react a bit more to the above - it's an interesting idea, isn't it?

Well, please state so if you do, and explain why you don't think so if you don't. Are there weak points? Do you have critics? I don't know, hit me!

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ya, this all sounds really nice. its true though: a lot of people just look at a post and dont respond to it. especially in the game design forums. it used to be more active than it is now...

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Seems so. It's a shame, really, I wonder why that is... Game Theory is an ideal board for concepts that can't be made by the person him/herself - but it would be ideal to expose idea's and maybe have them realized by someone else.

I actually got the 3D model above running in DBC with collision, realtime rising water level, walk, swim and submerged movement. It seems most of the game creation would exist from creating graphics, story and AI plots/traps (events).

Well, I'm back onto my RPG - Awakening, but I'm not dropping this idea.

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It's like Condemned meets Bioshock. Which is a good thing, mind you. I think the game would need a definite sense of style and an incredible atmosphere to really work. If you could nail that down, then congrats.

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Yup, style and atmosphere, but it's not getting Condemned meets Bioshock. See it more like Splinter Cell meets Bioshock meets Metal Gear Solid meets Condemned and Spy vs. Spy. Put some Deus Ex there too.

Sneaking, staying silent and clear from your enemies, in a submarine environment, with action elements and boss fights which require thinking and speed, in a scary - dark environment, trapping and getting trapped while hacking and disabling/avoiding security systems.

Thanks for your comment, it's too silent on these boards .

PS> Dragonforce! For Victory we Run, Fury of the Storm!

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I like the story and the details you added but it would be nice if these posts about game stories included a bit more than just the story (not to pick on this specifc thread but to point out on all threads). When designing a game you need to prove to the reader that your game is unique in more areas than just the story. No matter how great your story is you need to make the reader visualize and become interested and excited in a game idea so it makes them say 'I really want that to become a game!' Personally, reading game stories never tells me how good this game would be, a story can show potential but thats it. A detailed plan of the gameplay would in my opinion be much more useful to the developers in these boards than just a story. Also include diagrams, sketches, models, and anythign else you can. Even if you are not a programmer or modeller and just are designing a cool game, you can still provide concept art and possibly simple maps of your game worlds. Explain controls and any other technical details. This would really interest the reader.

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i dont know... i read quite a bit of concept in that. sure, there was a story, but at least i could envision how the level would be made and how basic gameplay would be...

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perhaps, but if you pick up a book on game desgins docs you'll see all the criteria that must be included in a design, Im not saying this specific post is very bad, Im just saying I wish all these stories would include a bit more than that granted that I didn't see the pictures in this post until now.

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I think you have a very good idea and concept here. With plenty of scope for different styles of game play and eviro based puzzles.

However, I agree with Data, you REALLY need a do a game design doc.

Maybe you already done one, but im worried that this is too much off the bat, due to what ive seen so far.

What I mean is, that you have a really good idea here, but you really need to break it down and start asking question to yourself about things.

The main thing that makes me think your doing off the bat, is a mistake right at the start. You say there 22 persons (12 men 10 women) yet only 12 single men subs before the inncident. If this wasn't a mistake on your part, then it seems that who ever is in charged, never planned for them all to leave in the first place.

Also, you not made it clear why the bio dome was built. I know you said it was kind of a contest, but you have to ask your self is, what is the real reason behind it. Why this black Op group really want their own bio dome, or is it really black op at all. It could be a some one totally different.

The purpose of why the Dome was built, should have a heavey effect on how you design of the dome come out.

I really like the fact you only got a cast of 22 characters, with minor roles being taken up by robots and sea life. Creating believable human characters is hard. Keeping your main character list small will help you focus and stop it becoming too complex.

The more of your characters info you get down on paper, the better you be able to see that character in your head, and the easier it be to bring that character to life. Ask your self, what skills does a specailist need, why they were choosen for their roles, and what other skills they may have. Give them a background, explain how they ended down their, what their intrests are and what makes them tick.

Also remember, that you said they been down there 12 years, without contact with the world above. How has this effective these characters. Friendships would have formed, hate with others and maybe one or two have gone off the deep end.

By understanding your characters better, you can better figure out how they would react and fight. Are they planners, or prefer to react when needed. Do they prefer stealth attacks, or prefer head on attacks, or prefer others to attack for them.

The more you plan it out, the more believable your game will feel to the player.

As i say, i really like this idea, and wish you all the best in it

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I'm not creating any game of this caliber, as I stated in the first post. I lack the time, resources and mostly skills. If someone is interested in creating it, I would be happy to assist with my Design Document, sketches or graphical work. Well, with anything.
+ Code Snippet

I'm at most creating a design doc. I got a main character list which will consist out of 7-8 hostiles. A lot of the people will get killed in cooperation, by other, the aftereffects of the explosion or by security. Survivors will range from a programmer to a athlethe. For every character, I've got a first and last name, nickname, age, nationality, reason to be in the dome, former profession, reason for selection, specialty and the 'actual test results from the appliance test'.

I got a storyline, building outline, I actually have the first 30 minutes of conversation including a tutorial lined out. I've got two sketches of how it shoúld look - I got three architectural sketches for the SeaDome. I got sketches for the internal of two of the buildings.

The SeaDome exists as an experiment. The USP, the then-to-be Space Program is researching the effects of being completely independent in a limited environment in extreme situations. Several domes are built and monitored, but the USP builds another dome in secret for a 'realistic' test. There will be no USP interference in-game as they dropped the 'team' in the Dome and would return in 15 years. There is a small 3D sketch of the dome in my second post. Besides, I've got several sketches laying besides me but no scanner. I'll try and remake them in PhotoShop later.

There will be little/no effects due to the depth. Only noticable thing is high frustration levels contrasting with the high level of friendship. As soon as disaster strucks, the main things will depend on survival instinct (and at several points, friendship or love).

The lack of one-men subs is actually on purpose, but I realize it might look as an error - the point is that the USP is experimenting with the limited amount of escapal submarines and the effects that has. After all, you will not be able to supply enough escapal methods for an entire Metropolion Bay on for example, Mars. You were supposed to find that out after the explosion through hacking or storytelling. The fact that there are only 12 escapal subs is a total surprise for the team, though, who are fully convinced there are 22 subs, or better said, 11 two-man subs - there is an emergency lock on the escapal submarine bay which the leader of the team may only open in cases of emergency. In my original draft, there was actually just a single sub.

For Data: 'Unique'/Feature factors:
Probably nothing really Unique, but at least special in combination.
* Total immersion. No HUD.
* Limited level, clear walls, realtime water level and thus changing level.
* Hasted gameplay due to the water - game time is limited to 7-8 hours preferably (hard to keep it fun longer than that).
* Dynamic environment. Due to the water, easy-to-reach area's can turn impossible to reach and unreachable area's can become simple to reach.
* Limited hostiles. Six to Eight boss-fights including a programmer capable of reprogramming the bots.
* Very limited weaponry. The FPS aspect will be rather minor.
* Adventure/Survival gameplay. Stay-ahead-of-the-water gameplay. Don't show yourself, stealthish gameplay unless armed or armored. Limited save-points.
* One shot, one kill (or close).
* Diving suits with about 20 minutes of air capable of being destroyed, slowing the player by 50% on land and increasing visibility. 
* Awareness of hostiles from sound, movement and shadows, no visual aids.
* Trap/Detrap system. Trapping enemies to take them out. Detrap attempts by AI. Also, AI setting traps for the player of which several scripted.
* First-person cutscenes - no out-of-person-cutscenes.
* Hacking system similar to Deus Ex - possibly a minigame.

Game Highlights:
Not giving away too many, but consider the next two scenarios:
* Final fight for the final diving suit at the top of Dome Tower while water rised in realtime.
* Fight against the programmer, who has reprogrammed several of the security bots to stand by hís side.
* Trapped in the Power Plant where the water is slowly rising to the point where the electric equipment will be in contact with the water.

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sounds good, seems like you've done a lot of work

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I like working out concepts and idea and for some reason this sounded unique to me. If Í think something is unique, usually it is at least special - I've been playing nearly all types of games and I at least got knowledge of nearly every game since 2001. Game Theory is one of my favorite spare-time passings (besides girlfriend and sports). I could post some more stuff here, I'll do later.

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BUMP - Hoping for more comments. Will upload GDD soon.

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Sig test for SeaDome. Uploaded Game Design Document.

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No comments on the GDD? Bummer...

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PDG-8. Have upgraded ammo for the PDG-8 to 24 - but you'll find few clips to use in the entire game. It's a SeaDome, not a military base.

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Updated first post to HOPEFULLY make the post more attractive - I want some more reactions, please!

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An 'example' screenshot, rendered as I think it would look but then made by a n00b as me.

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And finally, a logo for the game.

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And a short map of the area as I see it.

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Wow, nice screenshots, looks like this is progressing!

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yea this is nice, let me know when its done.

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Yeah, it's progressing. I'm starting up a website, as was recommended by several people around here to show off the concept and the done media. I'm trying to work everything out as good as I can being one person with limited programming knowledge.

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Website is now available. Check the Top-post for the link.

Also, active recruiting has started. I'm looking for 2 or 3 people to help me on this project. Further details are on the website.

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This is a really good idea. You've clearly thought it out and it's one of the most original stories I've heard in a while. I'd love to see this made. One thing that would be really cool would be different endings depending on what you do in the game.


Good luck with this idea!

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Well, that would be possible indeed for except for several events in the game (mostly at start and end), the game would be as little scripted as possible.

Thanks for your comments, Blitz, for I was starting to give up all hope of getting comments, feedback or a team through this forum . Also, glad you like it .