Working on this design document helped me flesh out the components of the game that had previously been amorphous. Considering more components of the game made sure that I was not ignoring critical functionality such as ensuring enough player decisions were available and considering how to incorporate and weave in a narrative that didn’t feel bolted on.

In order to maintain levels of creative design and push the boundaries of common tropes, understanding the taxonomy of incremental games and how to push beyond these was critical.

Tying in a narrative design to account for the desired prestige mechanic will be done through the use of “eternal recurrence” - the concept of reliving the same life over again.

Exploring the hours required to produce this game is going to be a significant challenge. My initial goal was to attempt a little of each element personally, so as to target becoming a V shaped game designer. I think this is an achievable goal, making use of asset packs for sound effects, limited use of animation, and a very simple UI concept. This is going to be a very shallow horizontal slice of the final game. I will also have to supplement my initial tile and pixel art designs with asset packs to focus on the programming elements to ensure we have a functional upgrade tree, and functioning combat system.

1. Game Mechanics

Command and manage a pirate ship. Gather booty to upgrade ships. Increase pirate skills and upgrade equipment.

2. Genre

Pirate themed RPG, with elements of an incremental game.

3. Player Fantasy

I want to be a pirate captain.

4. Platform and Controls

PC Platform - Basic keyboard controls. Mouse for some targeting.

5. Spatial Abstraction

2D play space. Tiled. RPG Style. Buildings and boats span multiple tiles.

6. Avatar

The player controls a pirate captain on land and a ship at sea.

7. Camera Perspective

RPG style 2.5D. No forced perspective. The camera will be centred on the player and bound by the room size.

8. Goals and Scores

The goal is open-ended as most upgrades trend towards infinity. Scores are determined by resources gathered during each lifetime. The goal of each lifetime is to die with more than you had in the previous life to achieve prestige upgrades.

9. Progression and Variety

Each upgrade you buy to the ship increases the power, speed or accuracy of a melee or ranged personal or ship weapon. Skill upgrades allow for increased loot or resources gained from each combat encounter. Prestige allows for increased crew and fleet sizes and other automation “generators”. It crosses multiple boundaries of categorizations described in Alharthi et al. 2018.

10. Tension and Rest

The combat is the most active area. Returning to the ship port for upgrades, or the brief respite for prestige upgrades after each death allows for some rest between the combat. Once more advanced prestige levels are unlocked, the game becomes an optionally fully idle game.

11. Obstacles and Penalties

Initially, death will feel like a challenge, only for it to be a reward. Upon iteration, death can be a penalty if not enough resources were gathered during that life cycle. Certain enemy types require certain upgrades which must be learned through combat or learned from specific prestige upgrades. There is no way to lose the game, the worst is that you slow down progress or lose some progress.

12. Resources

The main currency is loot, known as pieces of eight. Secondary resources include ammo which is required for successful combat, and other ships which can be used in later iterations of the game when fleets are unlocked. The prestige currency is used for upgrading traits and unlocking new features.

13. Decisions

Limited decisions are available in an incremental style game, and come down to choosing upgrade paths, and which kinds of boats to attack looking for booty.

14. Simulation and Chance

Combat is largely automated, and in later iterations can be played entirely idle if desired. Combat win chance is random, but influenced by player purchased upgrades.

15. Storytelling

The story of the son of a sailor who becomes captain, and has aspirations of being commander of a large pirate fleet. Eternal return - the concept of perpetual reincarnation covers the new game + prestige mechanic. Elements of the story are told through dialog.

16. Art Direction and Style

Pixel art, low resolution, bordering on programmer art.

17. Animation and Visual Effects

Animation during combat, particle effects on gunfire and damage. UI

18. Sound Design

Custom sea shanties are played during combat. Sound effects are limited to combat and UI interactions.