Last Stand - GDD

GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore
Game Design Document
v1.2
10/27/2005
An Exodus Games Production
GAM 400
Fall 2005
Instructor: Mike Moore
Producer: Josh Bell
Game Designer: Ryan Thorlakson
Technical Director: Brenton Anderson
All content 2005 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.
Table of Contents
1 Executive Summary
1.1 High Concept
1.2 Game Description
1.3 Back Story
1.4 Example of Play
1.5 Marketing
1.5.1 Target Audience
1.5.2 Target Rating
1.5.3 Competitive Products
1.6 Milestone Overview
1.7 Budget Overview
1.8 System Requirements
2 Game Design
2.1 Terrain and Environment
2.2 Player Movement
2.3 Player Combat
2.3.1 Player Weapons
2.3.2 Field Deployable Equipment
2.4 Controls
2.5 Resources
2.6 Structures
2.6.1 Walls
2.6.2 Turrets
2.6.3 Upgrades
2.7 Special Abilities
2.8 Enemies
2.7.1 Ants
2.7.2 Grunts
2.7.3 Soldiers
2.7.4 Commanders
2.9 Scenarios
2.9.1 Win/Lose Conditions
2.10 Game Interface
2.11 Projectiles and Explosions
2.12 Sound
2.12.1 Samples
2.12.2 3D
2.12.3 FMOD Designer
2.12.4 Hierarchical Event Tree
2.12.5 Event Hierarchy Key
2.12.6 Event Hierarchy
Appendices
A Scenario List
B Game Data
C Tech Tree Charts
D Game Flow Chart
E Team Summary
Section 1 Executive Summary

1.1 High Concept
Turret Defense is a fast action futuristic first-person real time strategy game with personal
weaponry and strategic building of turrets, walls, and traps to defend against oncoming
alien hordes.
1.2 Game Description

Turret Defense is a new twist on the classic first person shooter genre. Along with
personal weaponry such as a blaster and grenade launcher, the player will be able to
construct a base to defend the critical hatch point. The player will need to place walls
and turrets in a strategic way and decide how to allocate resources, whether to upgrade
personal weaponry or the base to best take out the attacking enemy alien swarms.
Enemies will be coming from all directions, giving the player a feeling of being in
constant action. Lulls between alien waves will give the player a breather to repair and
further expand his defensive base. If the aliens manage to tear through his defenses, they
will reach the hatch that leads down to the helpless civilians and the mission will be lost.
The emphasis of the gameplay will be on the defensive strategy the player employs. He
must intelligently defend against several different enemy AI types. He must defend
against swarms of ants that individually are quite stupid, but in a massive group they
learn and adapt to your base by laying scent trails. Other alien types behave more like a
traditional small tactics squad to analyze and attack the players weak points. The player
himself is invulnerable. The object is not to defend yourself, but to protect the hatch
from the aliens that are trying to tear it open.
The terrain is fully deformable. The enemies can use this to their advantage to dig
trenches and ravines to hide in, so the players turrets become less effective. Also,
explosions will cause the terrain to deform. As the battle rages on, the terrain will be
scarred. This lends the game a more realistic and high-action feel.
1.3 Back Story

Turret Defense is set on an alien planet that has been colonized by cutting-edge space
explorers. The harsh planet surface was unsuitable for human life, so the explorers
tunneled underground and built a colony beneath the planet surface. Unfortunately, the
colonists did not study the planet closely enough. The planet is already inhabited by an
alien race. The aliens are protective of the resources on the planet and are not very happy
about the intruders! The player takes the role of the lone space marine posted at the hatch
that leads to the civilian colony. He must defend it at all costs against the assaulting alien
hordes.
1.4 Example of Play

Marines log
September 21, 2385
There I was, standing on the surface of a barren planet. I had recently heard the alert that
alien swarms were quickly approaching my small, fragile base. I did some
reconnaissance work with my jetpack and saw some small ant creatures approaching
from the east. I knew that part of my base was week, so I used the resources that
Command had supplied me to drop some wall and turret structures onto the terrain. The
ants approached my base, but were stopped by the wall and were torn apart by the turrets.
I knew that wasnt the end of the assault. Bigger aliens were coming. I used the
resources I had gathered from the ants to upgrade my turrets and walls. But that wasnt
enough! I had underestimated my new opponents. Teams of larger, more humanoid
aliens were working in a strategic group to circle around my base and attack the
vulnerable west wall! I flew out with my jetpack and used my personal machine gun to
take them out just before they had smashed the west wall to bits.
The sun was setting, and it was getting a bit hard to see. I could tell that all the turret fire
had scarred and deformed the terrain. And then I saw them, coming out of a crater.
Hundreds of ants! Quickly, I built a few more turrets. The turrets were effective in
taking out the ants at first, but somehow they learned the danger of the turrets and began
forming trails around my turrets. They began massing up on my north wall, quickly
taking it down. I did my best to lay down suppressive fire, but there were too many of
them. They were headed straight for the hatch leading to the helpless colonists!
I was out of options, so I activated my secret weapon: a tactical air strike. Missiles
quickly began raining down on the north face of my base, obliterating the alien ant
presence. When the smoked cleared, I looked along the horizon in the moonlight. No
more aliens could be seen. I had successfully defended our colony for another day!
1.5 Marketing
1.5.1 Target Audience
Turret Defense will appeal to male gamers 15 25 that typically play FPS and RTS PC
titles. In particular, fans of Sci-Fi themed games, movies, and books will be immediately
attracted to Turret Defenses setting and theme.
1.5.2 Target Rating
Turret Defense will have an ESRB rating of T (Teen) for ESRB Content Descriptor of
Violence (i.e. scenes involving aggressive conflict), suitable for ages 13 or older. To
conform to the wishes of the publisher, DigiPen Institute of Technology, Turret Defense
will not use blood or any other content that would lead to further ESRB Content
Descriptors related to violence.
1.5.3 Competitive Products

Turret Defense is a fresh spin on traditional RTS and first person shooter games. It is
inspired by Warcraft IIIs tower defense maps, and takes imagery from Starcraft and
the Half-Life mod Natural Selection. Turret Defense will place the player right there in
the action, which is a departure from traditional RTS games.
Starcraft for the PC
Warcraft III for the PC
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Half-Life mod Natural Selection for the PC
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1.6 Milestone Overview

Milestone 1: First engine proof
Due Date: 11/18/2005
Description: Game engine complete. All menus accessible. Transitions into the game.
Player can move around the game world and build structures. Enemies have basic AI.
Turrets and player weapons can destroy enemies. Sound implemented. Graphical engine
implemented using shaders. Static models can be loaded and displayed.
Milestone 2: First Playable
Due Date: 12/9/2005
Description: Support for multiple scenarios added. All AI is complete except for
commander units, which have only prototype AI. Terrain generation and deformation is
finalized.
Milestone 3: Alpha
Due Date: 1/30/2005
Description: Animated models can be loaded and displayed. Day/night cycle
implemented.
Milestone 4: Beta
Due Date: 3/12/2005
Description: All levels have been created. All audio and art assets are finalized.
Milestone 5: GOLD
Due Date: 4/18/2005
Description: All bugs worked out. Scenarios are play tested and balanced. The user
interface and controls have been focus group tested and refined. Game installer is done
and all marketing material is completed.
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1.7 Budget Overview

Software
Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional
Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
Autodesk 3ds Max 7
Developer Workstations
Total
Position
Producer
Game Designer
Technical Director
Total
Annual Salary
$65,000
$65,000
$95,000
-
Units
3
1
1
3
-
Cost Per Unit

$399.00
$399.00
$3,495.00
$2,000.00
-
Total Cost
$1,197.00
$399.00
$3,495.00
$6,000.00
$11,091.00
Project Total (est. 8 months)

$44,000
$44,000
$65,000
$153,000
Total Cost: $164,091.00
1.8 System Requirements

The game will require the following system requirements to run on minimum settings.
Windows 2000/XP
Pentium III 1Ghz or greater
512 MB RAM
OpenGL 1.5 complaint video card with 32MB of texture memory
200 MB Hard Drive Space
The following are recommended system specifications.
Windows 2000/XP
Pentium 4 2Ghz or greater
1 GB RAM
OpenGL 2.0 complaint video card. Fragment and vertex shader compatible
hardware with 64MB of texture memory or greater.
200 MB Hard Drive Space
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Section 2 Game Design

2.1 Terrain and Environment
The terrain in Turret Defense will be completely deformable. It will be based on a height
map, so the playfield remains a 2D space, but hills and valleys can be created using
height values. Various game actions such as explosions or enemy digging can cause dirt
to get thrown around the playfield, making one area lower and another area higher. Also,
no slope in the game will be allowed to exceed a certain steepness. If any slope is too
steep, the dirt will roll down the hill, filling up the lower parts and taking away from the
higher parts.
The player and enemies can use the terrain to their advantage. Terrain can obscure turret
fire, so the player would be wise to build his turrets up on top of hills so they get the most
visibility. Also, enemies walking up slopes will be slower, so the player might put turrets
near where the enemy would be walking up a slope to maximize the time the turret can
fire.
Terrain is randomly generated, not pre-computed. It will be different each time the game
is played. It will be generated based on overall parameters to the level, and from these
parameters random hills, valleys, mountains and other features will be laid down on the
default flat terrain.
The environment is set on the surface of one of four alien planets. The difference
between these planets will be the overall color scheme, the terrain and skybox textures,
the overall feel of the terrain (how hilly or random it is generated) and possibly the
amount of gravity. Otherwise, game play is exactly the same on each planet. There will
be no additional features based on planet type.
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The rotation of these planets is extremely fast, so the sun and moon will rise and set
approximately every minute. When the sun is out, a warm daylight will color everything.
When the sun sets, the moon will come up and everything will be bathed in a cool
moonlight. Specular mapping on the terrain and objects will catch the sun and give a
unique, 3D looking appearance.
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2.2 Player Movement

The player has two basic movement modes: walking and jetpacking.
While the player is walking, he will be able to walk anywhere, only obstructed by
structures and the edge of the map. The player will be able to walk through enemies as if
they were not there. If he is up on top of a wall, he will be able to walk along it, and drop
off onto the ground. Player movement will use standard first person shooter controls
using the WASD keys for movement and the mouse for looking around.
To activate the jetpack, the player will press the spacebar key. When the player uses the
jetpack, he will drift up to a certain height above the terrain. He can then move around
on this higher plane using an acceleration-based movement scheme. Maximum velocity
using the jetpack will be four times normal walking speed. The purpose of the jetpack is
to quickly reach far-off locations, as well as getting over structures. The players height
will tend to stay a fixed distance above the ground, so he can go down into valleys and up
over mountains. Controls will be the same for moving in the jetpack plane: WASD for
movement and the mouse for looking around. When the player releases the spacebar key,
the jetpack will be de-activated and the player will fall to the ground. We prefer having
the player hold the key to use the jetpack instead of toggling it, because from testing it
seems to gives better control.
The player can use the jetpack indefinitely. While the player is using the jetpack, he will
not be able to use any player weapons. The jetpack is to be used as a transportation mode
and for a higher perspective when building the base, not for fighting enemies.
In addition, we will implement a second jetpack mode, where the player will hover high
above the action (roughly 3 times higher than normal jetpack mode). In this mode, the
player will only move at the speed he could move while walking on the ground. The
purpose of this mode is to give the player a better RTS perspective, so it is easier to
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place buildings and upgrade them. The player will activate and de-activate this mode by
pressing the CTRL key.
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2.3 Player Combat

2.3.1 Player Weapons
There are two weapons that the player can use personally, the blaster and the grenade
launcher. Neither weapon is necessarily available by default; this will depend on the
settings for the scenario. They may have to be researched using resources. See the
appendix for costs of researching. The players weapons cannot damage himself or any
structures. The grenade launcher weapon can deform the terrain.
Weapons will be 3-D models, displayed at the bottom of the screen, in front of anything
else in the game world so the player can always see them (as in standard FPS games).
The weapon model will stay static, except when a shot is fired. When firing, the model
will show a firing animation. The weapon cannot be used again until the animation is
done. Upgrades can cause the animation to play faster.
There is no ammo. To switch between weapons, the player will press the corresponding
key (1: blaster, 2: launcher).
The blaster is a direct line-of-sight weapon. The player will aim using the mouse, then
click to fire. The blaster will instantly hit the first enemy found along the players line of
sight. The blaster has three states of upgrade. The first is the standard blaster. The
second version is a more powerful blaster with less cool down time. The third version
can be fired continually by holding the mouse button down. See the appendix for exact
damage, cool down time, and cost of each upgrade. A graphic of the weapon will be
displayed in the game, showing it firing. Tracer rounds will show where the bullet has
traveled. The animation of the firing will give an indication of the cool down time before
another shot can be fired. This animation will speed up for better upgrades. The image
for the weapon will also change.
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The grenade launcher is an area-of-effect weapon. It is aimed with the mouse and
launched by clicking. The grenade will fire in the players line of sight. It will travel
through the game world over time, being pulled down by gravity. When it detects a
collision with the ground or an enemy, it will explode with an explosion graphic. The
explosion will also cause a depression in the ground, lowering the terrain. Dirt particles
will be thrown up into the air, and as they land, they will re-deposit into the land.
Damage will be applied to all enemies within the blast radius. There are three states of
upgrade for the grenade launcher. The first is the standard grenade launcher. The second
version has less cool time, is stronger, and the blast radius is larger. The third version is a
similar upgrade. Each version will look different in the game world, and the animation
will give an indication of the cool down time. See the appendix for exact damage, cool
down time, cost of upgrade, and radius of effect.
2.3.2 Field Deployable Equipment

There are three types of field deployable equipment. These are used by the player out on
the field, but are different than weapons because they are deployed as their own entities
and have effects on the surrounding area even if the player leaves the area.
The first piece of equipment is the emergency turret. After researching the emergency
turret, the player will be able to place emergency turrets anywhere on the playfield.
These turrets do a high amount of damage and fire very quickly, but are easily destroyed
by alien attacks. They also have a timer on them so they break down after a certain
amount of time. The player can use these turrets as a quick fix to help defend against a
big alien swarm. The AI of the turret is to attack the closest enemy within the turrets
field of view. If no enemies are in the field of view, they turn to face an enemy outside
the field of view. There are two states of upgrade for the field deployable turrets. The
number of field turrets the player has available increases every set amount of time. For
each upgrade state, the maximum the player can have in reserve to use increases, and the
time to add one turret to the reserve decreases. See the appendix for upgrade costs,
maximum reserves, and time to add a turret to the reserves.
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The second equipment item available to the player is pheromones. The enemy ant swarm
units lay scent trails as they walk along the terrain to guide other ants toward safer areas.
By placing pheromones in an area, the player can attract ants to the area, confusing the
purpose of the ants. In this way, the player can lure the ants into more dangerous areas
for them. There are three upgrade states of the pheromones. Each state increases the
amount of scent placed and the radius of effect. See the appendix for upgrade costs,
amount of scent, and radius of each upgrade state.
The third equipment item is the targeting beacon. This beacon is used to place the target
for the special abilities of the ultimate turrets. For more information, see section 2.6.2
(Turrets). There is a reuse timer on throwing the targeting beacon. See the appendix for
the amount of reuse time for each targeting beacon.
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2.4 Controls
The controls for the game will be re-configurable by the player in the menu.
Menus are navigated with a mouse cursor. The mouse is used to select and click on menu
items. The build mode of the game is treated in the same way. The mouse is used to
place structures and select upgrades.
In the game, pressing the escape key will pause the game and bring up a dialog asking if
the player would like to quit to menu, quit the game, or resume.
The HUD will have a display in the top left of what weapons are available, and the one
selected will be in a highlighted color.
PLAYER CONTROLS
Mouse Movement Player Look
Left Click Fire Current Weapon or Use Current Equipment
W, A, S, D Keys Movement
Spacebar Hold to activate jetpack
Shift Switch to build mode
1 Select Blaster
2 Select Grenade Launcher
3 Select Field Turret
4 Select Pheromones
5 Select Targeting Beacon
BUILD MODE CONTROLS

W, A, S, D Keys Movement
1 Place machine gun turret
2 Place laser turret

3 Place shell turret
4 Place slowing turret
Shift Switch to movement mode
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2.5 Resources
The unit of resource in the game is the cel. Cel is a form of energy that the space
colonists have harnessed to use in their machines. Cel is collected by killing enemies.
See the appendix for the cel value of each enemy. Cel is used for many things in the
game, including building structures, upgrading structures, and researching new
technology.
When killing an enemy with personal weaponry, the player will receive four times the cel
value of that enemy. This is to encourage the player to go out and fight the enemies
instead of letting the turrets do all the work.
To spend cel on items such as upgrades and turrets, the player must be in build mode.
For more information, see the sections on building turrets and upgrading.
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2.6 Structures
The player will be able to build structures to help defend his base from attacks. The
purpose of structures is to provide the player a strategic way to spend his resources
towards more permanent solutions against enemy attacks. There are five different types
of structures that the player can build, and each structure built will have its own upgrades
that the player can purchase to further customize and reinforce his investment.
Structures are built when the player is in build mode and they can only be placed on even
sized grid segments. Every level will have a grid laid out on it that spans the entire level,
allowing the player to build wherever he wants. While in build mode, the player will be
able to select a free grid space and then choose if he wants to place a structure there. If
the player has the resources to build the structure, then those resources are subtracted
from the player's resource count and the building is immediately placed on the grid.
When a structure is built, there will be no waiting time before it will be considered in
play and start working. Structures coming into play will be shown flying from the sky
and smashing into the grid selected as if they were sent to land there from space.
2.6.1 Walls
One of the structure types is the wall. A wall is meant to be a cheap and simple way of
providing protection for your more expensive structures. Walls can also be used to filter
enemies and bunker up your base. Walls are meant to take a lot of damage. Walls can
not be built within a close proximity to hatches. This prevents the player from simply
bunkering up his hatches and thus eliminating several game design elements.
2.6.2 Turrets
The other four types of structures are turrets. Turrets have different attack properties and
purposes in the game. There is a machine gun, laser, shell and slow type turret. The
machine gun turret is meant to be a close range, high rate of fire type turret that can shred
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through enemies when they get up close to the turret. The laser turret is mean to be a
medium to close range type that has a medium rate of fire but higher damage per hit. The
shell turret type launches shells into enemies which will explode upon impact with the
ground or an enemy. The shell turret has a very long range but can not fire at things with
a medium or short range. This turret is meant to soften up your enemies from afar before
they reach your base. The last turret type is the slow turret. This is a strategic turret that
isnt meant to do much damage, but instead slow the movement rate of your enemies
down. It has a medium to close range of attack.
2.6.3 Upgrades
Every structure can be upgraded multiple times. The purpose of upgrading is to provide
yet another layer of strategy to the player. Because building space will be limited, it will
eventually become more viable to the player to upgrade his current structures rather than
just build more base structures.
Each structure can be upgraded to different ranks. When a structure is first build,
whether it be a wall or a turret, it starts out at rank 1. Each structure can be upgraded
individual up to a maximum of rank 4. So the player could build a machine gun turret of
rank 1, then spend resources to upgrade it to rank 2, then do the same to upgrade it to
rank 3, and again to rank 4. Rank 4 structures will be special in the game and because of
this, the player will only be able to upgrade 1 structure of each type (wall, machine gun,
laser, shell and slow) to rank 4, all other build structures can reach rank 3.
With each new rank, structures become more powerful. Additionally, some structures can
get new abilities and access to further purchasable upgrades that change the attributes and
abilities of the structure. For example, a rank 1 machine gun only has the rank 2 upgrade
available to it. But when that machine gun turret gets rank 2, it then gets access to be
upgraded to rank 3, and 2 new upgrades also become available that can either increase the
turrets rate of fire, or increase its range. For full details of all the data associated with
upgrades and in what order and structure they exist in, please refer to the appendices.
2.7 Special Abilities

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The player will be given access to special abilities as he researches further into the
technologies available to him.
Each type of structure (wall, slow turret, machine gun turret, shell turret and laser turret)
can be upgraded from its initial state named Rank 1 up to Rank 4 (or Ultimate Rank, or
just Ultimate). There can only be one Ultimate structure of each type though on a map at
one time. Thus the player can upgrade all of his machine gun type turrets to Rank 3 if he
wanted to, but only one of them could be upgraded to Ultimate Rank. The same applies
to walls and the other turrets.
Each Ultimate structure has a special ability that it provides to the player. Those special
abilities are listed here.
Machine Gun Turret
Ultimate Rank Ability
Rain of Bullets
The player gets access to a unique beacon as part of his personal weaponry. If the
player places this beacon out on the field, then this turrets ability gets used. Shortly after
the beacon is placed, a rain of bullets will come down and deal massive damage to enemy
units over a circular area centered on the beacon. This ability has a two minute cooldown before the player can use it again.
Laser Turret
Defense Grid
The player gets a unique remote control as part of his selectable weaponry. When
the player uses the remote, the players Ultimate Rank laser turret will radiate out a
sphere of laser energy, dealing massive damage to enemy units, but leaving all of your
own structures unharmed. The laser sphere emanates from the center of the turret and
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reaches out a limited distance, so it is best to have this turret at choke points. This ability
has a two minute cool-down before the player can use it again.
Shell Launcher Turret

Toxic Barrage
The player gets access to unique beacon as part of his personal weaponry. If the
the beacon is placed, a barrage of bio-chemical missiles will come down and poison
enemy units over a circular area centered on the beacon. Enemies affected by this poison
will take damage over time and also spread the same poison to other enemies they come
in contact with. This ability has a two minute cool-down before the player can use it
again.
Slow Turret
Stasis Field
The player gets access to unique beacon as part of his personal weaponry. If the
the beacon is placed, a large spherical electrical stasis field centered on the beacon's
location is held in place for a short period of time. While the stasis field is up, enemies
within it or who come in contact it will be frozen in time, unable to move. This ability
has a two minute cool-down before the player can use it again.
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2.8 Enemies
2.8.1 Ants
Ants are the basic swarm unit of Turret Defense. They are about one fourth the size of
the player. Ants are melee units. The purpose of the ant unit is to slowly erode the
players defense. The strength of the ants are in the sheer number of enemies. An ant
alone is very easily destroyed, but many ants together can pose a threat. An ant will
attempt to walk generally toward the hatch and will attack any structure it runs into.
Ants will lay an invisible scent trail wherever they walk. Other ants will be able to pick
up on this scent, and it will influence their decision of where to walk. Ants will be more
likely to walk on ground that other ants have recently walked on. If an ant is killed, a
negative scent is spread through the immediate area, making other ants less likely to
move there. Scent gradually dies off over time, so if a spot seems dangerous at first, ants
may begin to move there again after a while. The emergent behavior should be that the
ants tend to group up and go to where they are least likely to die, making the ants seem to
move together to assault the players weak points. This constant attrition will make the
player need to constantly repair minor damage all over the base between waves of aliens.
See the appendix for health, speed, attack strength, and resource value of the ants.
2.8.2 Grunts
Grunts are the first of the human-sized enemies. They are a melee unit. In absence of
orders from the commander, the grunts will simply move toward the hatch. The grunt
will be aware of his immediate surroundings. If his way toward the hatch is significantly
impaired by turret fire or walls, he will attack whichever structure he is closest to. These
units are relentless zealots of the alien hordes, unafraid of death. Grunts have the ability
to pound the ground, sending dirt flying, but they will not use this ability unless
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instructed by a commander (see 2.7.4). Grunts have a considerable amount more health
than the ants and do more damage. See the appendix for health, speed, attack strength,
and resource value of the grunts.
2.8.3 Soldiers
Soldiers are the second human-sized enemies. They are ranged units. Without
commander orders, soldiers will do their best to stay out of range of any turrets and fire
on any player structures. They will usually be out of range of close-range machine gun
turrets, so laser turrets or mortar turrets will be needed to combat them. They are less
aggressive by nature than the grunts and can be devastating on poorly defended bases.
Soldier health and damage is comparable to that of grunts. See the appendix for health,
speed, attack strength, and resource value of the soldiers.
2.8.4 Commanders
Commanders are the brains of the alien forces. Most of the AI work will be done in the
commander units. The players base will be analyzed for weak points or possible weak
points. The commanders will then collectively decide on a strategy. They will move
around the map, shouting audible alien gutteral orders to nearby grunt and soldier units.
By doing this, they will collect a troop of enemy units. By organizing these troops, the
commanders can deliver a powerful punch on any weak point of the players base. The
commanders will find the best place to attack by analyzing how heavily areas are guarded
by turrets and how clear the path to the hatch is. However, the commanders will not
always pick the optimal strategy so the player does not get the sense that the AI is
cheating. They may pick the 3rd or 4th best strategy.
One strategy commanders can employ is building a trench so the aliens are better
defended as they approach the base. There must be grunts in the commanders troop to
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build these trenches using their ground pounding ability. The commander issues the
order to pound the ground, and each grunt will begin pounding for a set amount of time in
the direction toward the base indicated by the commander. On each pound, some dirt will
fly out of the pound area and toward the base, sinking the grunts area down and creating
a bunker ahead. If enough grunts work together on this, they can build an effective
mound to hide behind. The commander can then make tactical decisions such as making
this a safe rally point for his troops.
Commanders will have a very high amount of health compared to the other units. They
have no direct attack, they only organize squads of grunts and soldiers. If the player
manages to kill a commander, the commanders squad will break up and each individual
unit will carry out its own individual AI. The player would do well to personally assault
commander units as quickly as possible to minimize the enemys organizational ability.
See the appendix for health, speed, order-shouting range, and resource value of the
commanders.
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2.9 Scenarios
The game is divided into scenarios, which represent different challenges the player can
face. Each scenario is independent of the others. All scenarios assume the same basic
story of a space marine who must defend his helpless colonists. The following are factors
that can change between scenarios:
-Size of the map
-Initial base layout and position
-Initial funds
-Structures, weapons, and upgrades available to the player
-Time to survive
-Number, type, size, and location of enemy waves
-Which planet surface
Each planet will have two scenarios. See the appendix for details of each scenario.
The game will keep track of which scenarios a player has passed. It will save this
information in a file, so the scenarios will still be passed the next time the player plays
the game. This is simply for sense of accomplishment and does not unlock any special
features. When selecting a scenario from the menu, the word Passed! will be displayed
near passed missions (but you will still be able to select and play them if you wish).
The game will also keep track of the first time a player does key things such as opening
the build menu, placing each structure, and researching new weapons. For each of these
events, a helper message will be displayed describing relevant information for new
players.
Scenarios are specified in a scenario file format we will create. This will make it easy to
create new scenarios. More scenarios may be added as time allows.
33
2.9.1 Win/Lose Conditions

The victory condition of each scenario is always to survive for the amount of time
indicated in that scenario. This time will roughly correspond with the time it takes to
destroy all waves of aliens in the scenario, although the player may simply slow down the
alien progress enough to win the scenario even with many enemies still in play.
Any scenario is lost if the enemies do enough damage to any hatch structure to break it
open. Hatches have 3000 hit points, so they take quite a beating before breaking open.
34
2.10 Game Interface

The game will not only have HUD elements associated with a simple first-person shooter,
but also menus used to build structures and make upgrades.
The following elements will be part of the players HUD and will be displayed at all
times during a scenario: radar, text event window, resource count, selectable weapons,
short-cut keys to bring up tech tree menu, current weapon model being held by player,
current ammo count for weapon and a scenario timer.
There will also be 3 different types of menus that the player will be able to bring up.
There will be one for global upgrades, one for building structures, and one for upgrading
a selected structure. Each of these tech tree menus will look very similar but their
functionality will be different. Only one of these windows can be brought up at a time.
The game play does not stop while the player is using a menu.
The radar will show where your structures are placed on the terrain in relation to the
players position along with nearby enemies. Because your radar is centered on the
players location, it will only show structure and enemies within a short range.
The weapons available to the player will be shown on the left side of the screen. Only
the weapons that the player currently owns will be shown. When a weapon is currently
equipped, it will be highlighted to show this.
The players current resource count will be shown at all times at the top left side of the
screen.
When in build mode, the players mouse movement will move an actual pointer on the
screen. The player will be able to interact with menus and buttons on the screen in this
fashion. This is how the player will use the tech tree menus to make selections.
Layout for the HUD
Example of Tech Tree Interface
Image taken from World of Warcraft
35
36
2.11 Projectiles and Explosions

The projectiles and explosions in the game will help immerse the player deeper into the
thick of the action by making his environment appear very dangerous and alive.
Seeing how there are basically two types of projectiles in the game (types that shoot out
straight and target single enemies, and types that explode upon impact with the ground or
an enemy and cause damage over an area), there is going to be a similar graphical special
effect that is associated with each type.
Every time an explosion occurs in the game, it if happened on the destructible terrain,
then dirt sprites will be flung up into the air to show dirt being flung along with other
sprites that will convey smoke, fireballs and other elements that go into the explosion.
The deformable terrain will depress from an explosion by about 1/3 of the height of the
player.
37
2.12 Sound
2.12.1 Samples
All samples used in game for playback should be sampled at one of the 3 common
recording frequencies, depending on their use:
Sample Rate (in Hz)
22500
44100
48000
Label
NA
Red Book
Pro Audio
Usage
Low fidelity samples
High fidelity samples
High fidelity samples
The use of stereo vs. mono samples is unimportant as 3D sound handles spatial
positioning.
2.12.2 3D
The games audio engine will fully utilize 3D sound. All sound events associated with
anything in 3-space (i.e. player, enemies, turrets, etc) will have an associated position and
optional velocity. Velocity will only be supplied on fast moving and predictable objects,
such as weapon projectiles, to produce a Doppler effect. To match the correct view of the
player, an orientation will be generated to match the cameras current view.
Any sound that needs to be played in 2D, such as events associated with menus or the
HUD, will not have the orientation transformation applied to them.
2.12.3 FMOD Designer

To facilitate an easy-to-use audio content pipeline, and to correctly match up with the
games event-driven audio engine, the authoring of all audio events will be done using
Firelight Technologies FMOD Designer tool. The use of this tool decouples audio
38
editing from the game engine, allowing whoever is responsible for creating the games
audio to design and tweak events without interfering with the project source code.
2.12.4 Hierarchical Event Tree

All in-game audio will be organized into a hierarchical event tree, allowing events to be
accessed easily from code by only supplying an event path string. The base nodes of the
tree are listed below:
Node
Player
Enemy
Base
Environment
GUI
Music
Usage
SFX associated with the player and associated actions (i.e. weapon firing)
SFX associated with the enemies
Base structure SFX
Random environment SFX (i.e. wind)
Button clicking, etc
Covers all the music for the game
2.12.5 Event Hierarchy Key

Group
Subgroup
Sound Event (parameter)
Music
All sounds are 3D unless marked 2D
All sounds do not have Doppler unless marked Doppler
2.12.6 Event Hierarchy

Character
Player
Walk (velocity)
Jetpack (velocity, height)
Land (velocity)
Ant
Crawl (velocity)
Bite
Die
Grunt
Walk (velocity)
Punch
Pound
Damage
Die
Soldier
Walk (velocity)
Fire
Damage
Die
Commander
Walk (velocity)
Shout
Damage
Die
Wall
Damage
Die
Turret
Damage
Die
Weapon
Turret
MachineGun
Fire (level)
Impact (level)
Laser
Fire (level)
Impact (level)
Shell
Fire (level)
Travel, Doppler
Impact (level)
Slow
Fire (level)
Impact (level)
Blaster
Fire (level)
Impact (level)
GrenadeLauncher
Fire (level)
Travel, Doppler
Impact (level)
EmergencyTurret
Throw
Fire
Impact
Pheromone
39
Throw
TargetingBeacon
Throw
Environment
Dirt
Release
Impact
Wind (height)
Creature (day, night)
GUI (all 2D)
Button
Press
Release
Music
Menu
Scenario
40
41
Appendices
A Scenario List
Rock Planet 1: Aliens!
CONCEPT
This should be the first level the player tries. It gives an introduction to the three basic
alien types (no commanders). The player should have very little trouble defending.
TIME TO SURVIVE: 5:00
STARTING RESOURCES: 1000 cel
TECHS
Upgrade levels 3 and 4 disabled for walls and turrets. Field turrets, pheromones disabled.
Blaster researched.
MAP & BASE
Thin map running north and south. Base placed on south end. One wall on the north
side. One of each basic turret behind the wall.
ENEMIES
0:30 30 ants north
1:30 30 ants, 5 grunts north
2:30 30 ants, 5 grunts, 5 soldiers north
3:45 45 ants, 10 grunts, 10 soldiers north
Rock Planet 2: Corridor Assault

CONCEPT
42
Aliens are strung along a corridor of turrets that whittle them down before they reach the
players base at the end of the map.
TECHS
Blaster learned
MAP & BASE
Thin map running east and west. Base with hatch placed on west end. Five forward
bases placed along the map to the east. Player starts in east most base. Each base starts
with 4 disconnected walls and 2 laser turrets.
ENEMIES
0:15 50 ants east
1:00 50 ants, 5 grunts east
4:00 80 ants, 20 grunts, 2 soldiers east
5:00 80 ants, 20 grunts, 5 soldiers east
6:00 80 ants, 20 grunts, 10 soldiers, 1 commander
7:00 100 ants, 30 grunts, 20 soldiers, 3 commanders
Vegetation Planet 1: Were Surrounded!
CONCEPT
The easiest scenario involving enemies coming from all directions.
43
TECHS
Blaster Learned
MAP & BASE
Square map of moderate size. One base in the center. Two ranks of disconnected walls.
One machine gun and one laser turret at each of these 8 walls.
ENEMIES
0:15 10 ants each direction
1:00 30 ants, 5 grunts each direction
3:00 80 ants, 20 grunts, 2 soldiers, 2 commanders random side
4:00 80 ants, 20 grunts, 2 soldiers each side
Vegetation Planet 2: Jungle Bunkers
CONCEPT
The player has two hatches to defend which are in two separate bases relatively close
together. Commanders become a problem.
TECHS
Blaster Learned
MAP & BASE
Moderate sized square map. Two bases in the center, about 5 second jetpack apart. Each
base has 4 connected walls. Each wall has 3 machine gun turrets.
ENEMIES
44
1:00 50 ants each direction, 40 grunts 5 commanders random direction A

2:00 50 ants each direction, 30 grunts 20 soldiers 5 commanders direction A
3:00 50 ants each direction, 40 grunts 30 soldiers 10 commanders direction A
4:00 100 ants each direction, 50 grunts 40 soldiers 10 commanders direction opposite A
Ice Planet 1: Frozen Technology
CONCEPT
The player must make do with limited technology.
TECHS
The 3rd and 4th upgrades are disabled for all weapons, turrets, and walls.
MAP & BASE
Base is placed on southwest side of the map. Disconnected walls on east and north face.
Three machine gun turrets on each wall.
ENEMIES
0:15 50 ants north & east
1:00 100 ants, 20 grunts north & east
2:00 100 ants north & east, 40 grunts, 3 commanders east
3:00 100 ants north & east, 30 grunts, 20 soldiers, 5 commanders north
4:00 100 ants, 30 grunts, 30 soldiers, 3 commanders north & east
Ice Planet 2: Malfunction!
CONCEPT
The technology center has broken down. The player must survive with only his personal
weaponry and slowing turrets.
45

TECHS
Blaster and Grenade Launcher researched. All wall and turret building disabled.
MAP & BASE
The map is a strip going north and south. The hatch is placed at the north end. No
structures protect it. A few basic slowing turrets are scattered along the strip.
ENEMIES
0:15 30 ants south
1:00 50 ants south
2:00 30 ants 5 grunts 5 soldiers south
Lava Planet 1: Strategic Encounter
CONCEPT
Three hatches must be defended, and the hatches are not especially close together.
TECHS
Blaster, Grenade Launcher, Field Turrets, Pheromones researched
MAP & BASE
Map is large size. Three hatches are placed on an equilateral triangle in the center area of
the map. Each hatch has two ranks of disconnected walls, each with 1 machine gun and 1
laser turret.
46
ENEMIES
0:15 100 ants, 20 grunts, 20 soldiers, 5 commanders all directions
3:00 500 ants, 100 grunts, 100 soldiers, 10 commanders random direction
Lava Planet 2: Doomsday
CONCEPT
Lots of funds are given, but they are desperately needed because of the massive amount
of enemies to defend against. Short time between waves.
STARTING RESOURCES: 10,000 cel
TECHS
Blaster, Grenade Launcher, Field Turrets level 2, Pheromones level 2 researched
MAP & BASE
Base is in the middle of a moderate sized map. Three ranks of disconnected walls. Each
wall has 2 of each turret type behind it, upgrade level 2.
ENEMIES
0:15 500 ants each direction
1:00 200 ants, 50 grunts, 50 soldiers, 5 commanders each direction
47
48
B Game Data
The following lists all statistical data associated with every structure, unit and ability in
the game.
Notes:
All distance values are in terms of graphical units. As an example of scale, a structure
takes up a 10x10 amount of space.
Rate of fire is given in terms of how often the structure will shoot per second.
There are two ways that a structure can target something. It can either target something
singly (Single), or have an area of effect for a target (AoE). If a target is of type AoE,
then the number following AoE indicates the radius of the circle of effect.
The number given for resources is the resource count that will be spent to build the
structure or upgrade. All upgrades and structures are completed instantly.
Speed of enemy units is given as a velocity in terms of the games graphical units per
second.
Attack speed is in terms of number of attacks per second.
Attack power is the number of hit points subtracted from a unit when attacked.
Velocity is stated in terms of graphical units per second.
Capacity is the maximum number of that item that can be held or the maximum ammo
capacity.
Regen is how much of an item is regenerated or how much ammo is regenerated per
second.
Values under the heading resources indicate how many resources are needed to purchase
that thing.
Attack range is given in terms of graphical units.
DPS is short for "damage per second" and is calculated by multiplying attack power with
attack speed.
49
ENEMIES
Name
HP
Atk Range
Move Speed
Atk Power
Atk Speed
DPS
Ant
0-5
10
Resource Dropped
5
Grunt
50
0-5
10
0.5
20
Soldier
40
30 - 50
0.8
5.6
20
Commander
100
0 - 30
N/A
N/A
N/A
50
WEAPONS
Name
Resources
Atk Range
Atk Type
Velocity
Atk Power
Atk Speed
DPS
Capacity
Regen
Blaster (Rank 1)
100
0 - 150
Single
Instant
15
30
Blaster (Rank 2)
300
0 - 150
Single
Instant
28
40
Blaster (Rank 3)
600
0 - 150
Single
Instant
45
50
Launcher (Rank 1)
500
0 - 150
AoE: R5
50
10
0.3
N/A
0.1
Launcher (Rank 2)
750
0 - 150
AoE: R10
55
15
0.4
N/A
10
0.1
Launcher (Rank 3)
1000
0 - 150
AoE: R15
60
25
0.5
N/A
15
0.1
RPG (Ultimate)
1000
0 - 150
AoE: R15
65
25
N/A
0.1
DEPLOYABLE
Name
Resources
Life Time
Atk Type
Atk Power
Atk Speed
DPS
Capacity
Regen
Turret (Rank 1)
300
15
Single
10
40
30
Turret (Rank 2)
750
20
Single
15
75
25
Land Mine (Rank 1)
250
60
AoE: R10
35
N/A
N/A
30
Land Mine (Rank 2)
600
60
AoE: R15
50
N/A
N/A
25
Beacon
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
30
Bug Bait
500
30
Special
N/A
N/A
N/A
30
DPS
STRUCTURES
Name
Resources
HP
Atk Range
Atk Type
Atk Power
Atk Speed
Machine Gun (R1)
250
200
0 - 30
Single
Machine Gun (R2)
650
250
0 - 30
Single
1.2
7.2
Machine Gun (R3)
850
300
0 - 30
Single
1.4
9.8
Machine Gun (R4)
1500
500
Special
Special
Special
N/A
Laser (Rank 1)
250
200
0 - 50
Single
0.5
Laser (Rank 2)
650
250
0 - 50
Single
10
0.6
Laser (Rank 3)
850
300
0 - 50
Single
12
0.7
8.4
Laser (Rank 4)
1500
500
AoE: R25
Special
Special
N/A
Shell (Rank 1)
250
300
50 - 80
AoE: 5
10
0.2
Shell (Rank 2)
650
400
50 - 80
AoE: 10
15
0.2
Shell (Rank 3)
850
500
50 - 80
AoE: 15
20
0.2
Shell (Rank 4)
1500
650
Special
Special
Special
N/A
Slow (Rank 1)
250
300
0 - 40
Single
0.4
1.6
Slow (Rank 2)
650
400
0 - 40
Single
0.5
2.5
Slow (Rank 3)
850
500
0 - 40
Single
0.6
3.6
Slow (Rank 4)
1500
650
Special
Special
Special
N/A
Wall (Rank 1)
100
500
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Wall (Rank 2)
200
750
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Wall (Rank 3)
450
1000
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Wall (Rank 4)
1000
1500
AoE: R40
N/A
N/A
N/A
C Tech Tree Charts

The following shows the individual tech trees for each of the different structures.
Available structure abilities and the order in which they can be purchased are shown in
individual charts. These charts are the individual tech trees applied to each individual
structure built.
Following this is a final chart that shows the global tech tree that affects the players
personal arsenal and global upgrades that affect the different types of structures.
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
D Game Flow Chart

Turret Defense is a fast action futuristic first person shooter with personal weaponry and
strategic building of turrets, walls, and traps to defend against oncoming alien hordes.
57
E Team Summary
Josh Bell
Producer
Responsibilities: Sound, Scripting, Interface, Menuing
Previous Games: Orblitz
Super Power: Works for Microsoft
Marital Status: Single
Ryan Thorlakson
Designer
Responsibilities: AI, Terrain, Input, Engine Components, Game Logic
Previous Games: Damage Control, Run Time Crash
Super Power: Runs a web based game
Brenton Anderson
Technical Director
Responsibilities: Graphics, Application Code, System Framework, Game Logic
Previous Games: Atmosphere, Run Time Crash
Super Power: Orchestrated several live action video game parody films
SIGN OFF
Josh Bell
____________________________________
Ryan Thorlakson
____________________________________
Brenton Anderson
____________________________________
58

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Game Design Document

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

Section 1 Executive Summary

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

1.2 Game Description

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

1.3 Back Story

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

1.4 Example of Play

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

1.5.2 Target Rating

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

1.5.3 Competitive Products

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

Starcraft for the PC

Warcraft III for the PC

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

Half-Life mod Natural Selection for the PC

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

1.6 Milestone Overview

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

1.7 Budget Overview

Cost Per Unit

Project Total (est. 8 months)

Total Cost: $164,091.00

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

1.8 System Requirements

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

Section 2 Game Design

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

2.2 Player Movement

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

2.3 Player Combat

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

2.3.2 Field Deployable Equipment

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

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GAM 400 Turret Defense by Exodus Games Mike Moore

BUILD MODE CONTROLS