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Pocket Pet Rogue - Part 1 - Design Document

This is the design document for Pocket Pet Rogue, my little game project for a, at the time of writing, yet to be made handheld. We will use this to plan out and execute the rest on my learning journey on how to make a game and a game system.

See Part 0 for my general battle plan or check after the break for what i have on my mind for the game.

Pocket Pet Rogue, PPR for short, will be a game where one tells a wannabe hero what to do and watch him grow. We tell the hero what dungeons to raid, what to eat, when to sleep, what to wear and what to craft. The hero set up camp next to a small village that has some problems with monsters and we are here to manage him. We send him off to missions where he either succeeds or fails, with failing being penalized.

This brings brings us to the core elements of this game:

• Person management, when we tell the hero what to wear, when to sleep and what his meal is.
  All affecting his effectiveness.
• Inventory management, space is limited and might grow with game progress, with what to sell and maybe buy to or from the nearby village.
• Crafting, while looting the hero might find raw materials that we can either sell or tell the hero to craft things with.
  More experience means better crafted gear.
• Exploration, finding new dungeons, new story elements and maybe even the core of the monster invasion.
• Befriending the villagers by doing quests for them resulting in better offers in the shop and other benefits. Who wants to live in a camp for months when the villagers give you a permit for a house?

The hero might be good with his weapons but is otherwise rather dense and would charge a dragon with a stick, heroically respawn at the local temple just to do it again. So he needs guidance.

At the start of the game the hero has a backpack with three or four inventory slots and can wear a weapon, a shield if the weapon is not two-handed, armor and an accessory.

With time he can fit his camp with a container for item and food storage, for more he would need the house bought from the villagers if they like him enough.

The hero also amasses gold coins that he can use in the village to buy better gear and food. You can also send him to hunt for food and the hero can find food rations in dungeons he explores and loots.

You can let the hero recycle unneeded items for raw materials that the hero can try to craft into new and better items. Also food can be crafted into better food with the right ingredients.

When the hero explores the lands and wanders trough dungeons he will stumble upon new areas to go to. The main goal is to find the source of the monster invasion and stop it. You can still continue to play after that tough.

The villagers don't really trust your hero at the start of the game and he needs to earn that trust by doing quests for them. This will give him benefits like more inventory in the shops, discounts and even being offered a house.

You will also be able at some point to gift the village materials so that they can protect themselves better, which will also earn your hero trust.

As said the main goal of the game is finding the core of the monster invasion and stop it. After that you can still play and gain more and better gear and amass that mountain of gold you always dreamed of.

This draft should give us a general idea of where to go, i will come back to this document and append to it to leave the design ideas all in one place, leaving a simple update notice as the newest item on the blog with a link to this entry.

Seriously, if you don't want to spoil the story or any game details stop here!
You have been warned!

The hero will soon stumble upon the Disciples of the Core and might stumble upon the hidden fallen temple in the dark forest. Here he will learn his first clues about what they are trying to achieve and that the core can only be stopped from the other side. So begins a scavenger hunt for how to open a portal, what items are needed and where to find them. Once the hero can open a portal he needs to find the core in the Corrupted Lands and destroy it, with it the evil Corrupted Lands.

This is some idea gathering. Some might be, some details might change and some might not make the cut. I will play around with this list, come back later for updates or even some day the final form.

• Bandits Cave - 1 Level - The starter dungeon - 1/10
• Forgotten Tower - 4 Levels - Goblins made themselves a home here - 2-3/10
• Mad Dwarves Mines - 7 Levels - Dwarves that got mad from power and riches - 4/10
• Fallen Temple - 6 Level - The disciples of the core have an outpost here - 4-6/10
• Mystical Glade - 1 Level - Quest level
• Warlocks Hideout - 1 Level - Quest level