Sorry your browser is not supported!

RTS Project: Game Design Document Journal (pre-GDD)

Note: This is a pre-GDD journal to simply write down thoughts and get some ideas on how to make this RTS. I will return to this document, edit it, delete some items, add other items, and so on. Once satisfied with the overall concepts, this journal will act as the basis for a GDD. The setting I am using is modern-day, slightly futuristic. This can be changed simply by changing some of the terminology (i.e. power plants can become magical wells of power).

The concept behind this RTS game is to create a unique and unusual environment in which players can control Agents to explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. The unique play/environment will consist of elements not typically seen in RTS games. One concept at this time is an in-depth interaction between Geometry (buildings and such), the Environment, and the Agents. For example: most Agents may not be able to travel far from a Supply depot. Supply depots must have supplies, which are maintained by way of a supply chain (roads, waypoints, guard shacks, depots, and more), and the supply chain must be manned by non-military Agents.

Another factor I want to incorporate is the appearance that there is no limit to number of Agents. RTS games commonly set a limit to the number of Agents each player can create. Sometimes, there are little cheats to expand on this value, but it is usually limited (i.e. converting an opponent’s Agents over to your side could increase your maximum population). In this RTS game, I would like no obvious limits. The limits would instead be more “natural.”

For example; if you cannot feed your population, Agents will die until you can feed them. Food distribution issues will complicate the feeding factor to a point where it would be impossible to sustain a population exceeding a given (hidden to the player) amount. Other “natural” factors may be included. For example, if Agents keep running into each other, they get more “angry” (anger levels would drop over time). If an agent gets too angry, there is a chance of going “berserk” and killing other nearby agents (friend or foe) until the anger level has dropped below a set “return to normal” level. Agents inside buildings are immune to “anger.”

Specific Concepts:
• Power plants: Building must either be near, or have cables to, power plants in order to function. Types: Solar, Fossil-based, Nuclear, and Fusion
• Resource Collectors (Mines/Farms): These must be near the resource being gathered. Must have power. Must have a supply chain to a Supply Depot
• School/College: Trains labor force.
• Boot Camp: Trains Soldiers and scouts.
• Military Academy: Trains Leaders/Officers.
• Agents
o Agent Type 1: Leaders/Officers. Central agent to a unit. Under direct player control. Powerful agents, tough to kill. Expensive. Come in different ranks (Lieutenants, Captains, Majors, Colonels, Generals, and Engineers).
o Agent Type 2: Soldiers. Primarily used for combat. Form units that follow/protect leaders. Indirect player control. Medium cost.
o Agent Type 3: Laborers: AI Controlled Agents (player influenced). Primarily used for autonomous functions such as building management and supply chains. Cheap labor.
o Scout: Stealthy live-off-the-land individual. Weak soldier. Can explore beyond supply chain. Difficult to spot. Cannot join a unit.
• Artillery Base: Provides indirect long-range fire support for troops within its range (troops in range receive an attack bonus).
• Manufacturing Plants: Improve the quality of resources gathered (represented by simply increasing the quantity by a given percent).
• Armory: Makes weapons for soldiers and leaders. Weapons are delivered via supply chains.
• Supply Depot: Stores supplies. Critical part of the supply chain. Soldiers and leaders cannot advance (for long) beyond the Supply Depot’s range. Most buildings cannot be built outside of a Supply Depot range.
• Guard Shacks: Pill boxes, small towers, etc. Leaders and soldiers can fortify to improve effectiveness.
• Houses: Increase the population limit and food consumption.
• Command Center: Moral improvement for all troops in area of effect. Moral penalty to all troops for loss of any Command Centers.
• Shops: Generate money (taxes). Can trade money for supplies. Can sell supplies for money.
• Automotive Plant: Makes ground vehicles (jeeps, trucks, tanks). Units can “fortify” a vehicle. Vehicles are significantly tougher than soldiers and are often more powerful. Vehicles are expensive. Vehicles may not be added, but if added will probably be similar in nature to buildings (that can move).
• Temples: Non-military enemy agents that walk in the area-of-effect of a temple have a chance of being converted. Military agents that are outside of a supply chain have a small chance of being converted when entering a temple’s AOE.
• Hospitals: Agents can regain health quickly in a hospital.
• Roads: Agents travel faster while on a road
• Bridges: Some areas may not be accessible without a bridge.
• Shipyard: Makes boats: Combat vessels, cargo (supply chain) ships, and personnel carriers.
• Resources:
o Power: Buildings need power to operate. Shortages of power will either slow down or halt building production
o Food: Feeds the population (and helps to limit the population). Shortages of food will cause Agents to die.
o Material 1: A metal of some sort used for military buildings, weapons, vehicles, and so forth.
o Material 2: A construction material, such as stone, used primarily for buildings.
o Material 3: A soft construction material, such as wood, used primarily for non-military buildings, like houses and shops. Also used for ships.


Building Add-ons allow a building to have a limited number of secondary functions (probably limited to two). The add-ons do not operate at the same level of efficiency as the counterpart buildings. The advantage is that add-ons can save on space. The add-on takes up an add-on slot in the building. So, adding a store or a supply depot may be making a building more vulnerable to attack by using up slots that could have been used for Shields or Auto Defense. Inversely, by using Shield or Auto Defense add-ons, the building contributes less to the economy.

Building add-ons:
Shields: Reduce damage to a building
Auto Defense: Auto-attacking defense system; shoots nearby enemies.
Power Generators: Building does not need to be attached to a power plant.
Observation Tower: Increases the visual range of the building.
Command Center: Provides moral to Agents that are in range of the effect.
Storage Bins: Building may operate as a supply depot.
Shops: Allows a building to generate money.
Building Automation: Improves the effectiveness/speed of the building’s primary functions. For example: Agents are trained faster, more power is generated, or more tax revenue is created.
Medical Facility: Agents inside the building generate health faster than anywhere else (except hospitals).

Tachonologies:


=============================================================

Comments, suggestions, and ideas are welcome.

I glanced over this quickly but it looks very interesting, it has some of the same factors I thought about when making an RTS. Thats one problem I see with the current RTS games, after the optimal 3 side balance that was starcraft, everthing went down hill. Sure you can write cool backstory for the armies, and have all sorts of beautiful models, but when you get down to it, its x army tank vs. y army tank vs. z army tank, rock-paper-scissors. I think that the next generation of RTS games will have to take advantage of ned styles to break this mold. Your idea of having different Tiers of units that effect how you control them was something I had thought about before, just as in real life, more experienced units are better at doing exactly what you tell them. I think that other tactical decisions could be integrated into a similar design, instead of the Fog of War being represented by a blackened map, you could have units respondly slowly due to lack of communications, etc... Great ideas.

Thanks for the comments Black Mesa. I really want that mold to be broken with this game. Another aspect that helps contribute to that is the supply chain for soldiers. I will probably add in mobile supply stations, which can help the military extend further out. But it would still need a supply chain. The supply chain is a potential weak link. So, no just zerging an enemy to death - it won't work. The supply chain should be protected or else the army may end up dead from starvation.