Apex Trials Colossal Duty

By: Trevor Farnsworth, and Steven Brown

Table Of Content 1. Title Page ……………………………………………………………………...Page 1

1.1. Game Name

1.2. Version Number, author, date

2. Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………Page 2

3. Section I - Game Overview …………………………………………………….Page 4

3.1. Game Concept

3.2. Feature Set

3.3. Genre

3.4. Target Audience

3.5. Look and Feel

3.6. Project Scope

4. Section II - Gameplay and Mechanics…………………………………………Page 5

4.1. Gameplay

Game Progression

Mission/challenge Structure

Objectives

Play Flow

4.2. Mechanics

Movement

Combat 4.3. Screen Description

Main Menu Screen

Options Screen

Credits Screen

In-Game Screen

4.4. Game Options

4.5. Replaying and Saving

5. Section III – Story, Setting and Character …………………………………… Page 9

5.1. Story and Narrative

Backstory

Plot Elements

Game Progression

Cut Scenes

5.2. Game World

5.3. Characters

6. Section IV – Levels …………………………………………………………... Page 14

6.1. Training Level

6.2. Level 1

7. Section V - Interface …………………………………………………………. Page 15

7.1. Visual System HUD

7.2. Menus

7.3. Control System

7.4. Audio

7.5. Music

7.6. Sound Effects

7.7. Help System

8. Section VI - Artificial Intelligence ………………………………………….. Page 17

8.1. Enemy AI

8.2. Non-combat Characters

9. Section VII – Technical ……………………………………………………… Page 20

9.1. Target Hardware

9.2. Development hardware and software

9.3. Development procedures and standards

9.4. Game Engine

9.5. Scripting Language

10. Section VIII – Management…………………………………………….…….. Page 20

10.1. Budget

10.2. Risk Analysis

10.3. Localization Plan

10.4. Test Plan

11. Section X - Game Art ………………….…………………………………….. Page 22

11.1. Concept Art

11.2. Style Guides

11.3. Characters

11.4. Environments

11.5. Equipment

11.6. Cut scenes

Game Overview

Game Concept: Apex Trials, is at its core a boss rush game with a mix of gun and sword combat. A fast paced first person shooter, where the player faces off against a single

massive beast per level, learning and adapting to its attack patterns, and using

three different weapons and a variety of movement abilities to take the behemoth

down.

Feature Set:

● Epic multi-stage boss style battles against unique behemoths

● Varying combat with the ability to smoothly transition between swordplay

and gunplay

● New take on ranged combat with more focus on precision shooting and

tactical positioning

● A return to old-school gameplay without checkpoints and saves

Genre: Alex Trials is a first-person shooter mixed with an adventure styled game in which the player faces off against massive behemoths, in order to save the planet

and get vengeance for the death of their parents.

Target audience: Apex Trials is intended to be rated M, for ages 17 and up. Although not containing nudity, Apex Trials has a violent theme to it as a shooter, and a

somewhat dark storyline. The game is geared more towards casual gamers as

there's no multiplayer to support a more competitive scene; however, competitive

players will still find enjoyment in the difficulty of later levels.

Look and Feel: The look and feel of Apex Trials is a dark one in terms of both the world and story. The world being destroyed and torn apart by these massive behemoths

while humanity struggles to survive underground and a story built on pure hatred

and vengeance. The main character is by no means a good guy or knight in

shining armor, but more so a lone wolf pursuing his own personal goals. The

world itself is dark, with the life force of earth being drained by the behemoths,

the surface looks post-apocalyptic.

Scope: The goal with Apex Trials is to stay reasonable within scope for what can be done in a single year. The main focus is on threes, three weapons, three main

behemoths, and three levels. Beyond that we will have a few small cut scenes,

trying to limit the amount of animations as much as possible. The most

challenging part for the project which pushes the scope a bit is everything that

goes into making the behemoths. The behemoth ai is the most intensive piece of

programming that needs to get done for the game, as well as the behemoth models

needing to be well detailed as they are the main focus of the game. To help

balance things out in this regard, the main character model can be much less

detailed due to it being a first person game.

Gameplay and Mechanics

Gameplay Mechanic Progression: Most of the gameplay progression will occur through the behemoths that you fight rather than your own powers. Instead of introducing new

abilities for the player, the progression will be through the new abilities

and powers of the behemoths. The purpose of this is to force the player to

be strategic and adapt to the new situations they are in, without giving

them convenient or overpowered weapons and abilities. The only

exception to this is the possibility of introducing a new weapon for the

final behemoth battle, either that or an alternate fire to one of the main

weapons.

Mission Structure: Since each mission plays out like it’s own boss fight, the player will find that the majority of each mission will be spent in a single location. Along

with this, the battle will progress through stages based on the behemoths

current health. As the behemoth becomes more and more injured, it will

change up its tactics and use different moves and abilities. For example

the first behemoth (the rock behemoth) will call in minions (smaller

monsters) once it is in stage two, and will move more sporadically,

charging at the player and making reckless attacks while in stage three.

Objectives: The main objective of each level is simply to defeats the behemoth; however, doing so involves secondary objectives which depend on the

behemoth you are facing. For the first behemoth, the secondary objective

would be to damage the crystals on its legs in order to down it and climb

onto to deal massive damage.

Play flow: The game will open up with an intro cinematic, covering the backstory of the world, the player will have the option to skip the intro and go straight

to the main menu. At the main menu, the player will be able to go to the

Options and Credits pages or start the game. The options page will provide

some basic options and will have a section showing the controls for the

game. Once the player is ready to go and hits the start button. The screen

will fade to black and transition into the tutorial level in which the player

will learn the basic controls for the game. Once reaching the exit of the

tunnel (the end of the tutorial level) the game will move to the first cut

scene, showing the death of the elder and discovery of the crystal cannon.

At the end of the cut scene, the player will enter the first mission, in which

they will face off against the rock behemoth.

Mechanics

Movement: The player will use standard WASD 8 directional movement with mouse movement aiming/camera control, similar to other first person shooters.

There will also be a simple jump/double jump, in which you cannot use

WASD to make mid-air maneuvers; however, rotating the character with

the mouse will allow for some maneuvering in the air. If moving when

jumping, the player will carry their momentum in the air, and holding

another direction while performing a double jump will shift momentum in

that direction. Running is another ability available to the player, increasing

their speed at the cost of being able to shoot/attack. The final movement

ability available to the player is a dodge roll, which will launch the player

in the direction they are holding (WASD) or backwards if they are

standing still, and make the player invincible for a few short frames.

During the dodge roll, the player will be unable to make any other

movements or maneuvers and the roll cannot be performed mid-air.

Combat: Apex Trials utilizes first-person shooter combat along with a melee weapon that can be used in certain situations. Primarily the player will use

their ranged weapon to shoot at the Behemoths weak points in an attempt

to wear it down. Occasionally the Behemoth will do specific attacks that

will cause it to lower itself. During this time the player may climb onto

the Behemoth to inflict greater damage using their melee weapon.

Weapons: The primary weapon is the gunsword, which works similar to a mid range rifle/ semi-automatic weapon such as the FN FAL. The gunsword will fire

as fast as the trigger can be pulled (within limits) and will be clip based,

meaning it will need to be reloaded. One feature of the gunsword is that it

has a scope (most likely a x4 scope) allowing for precise shooting, making

the weapon ideal for dealing damage to weak points and fighting from a

distance. The gunsword will act as the player's primary source of damage

against the behemoths as it does medium damage, will have a large

reservoir of ammo, and is versatile in its usability due to the scope and

range. The gunsword is powered by blue crystalline energy, which is

gathered by standing near blue crystals scattered around each level. It will

also be able to transform into a sword (hence the name) and deal out

devastating melee damage. While in sword mode the player will have a

simple swinging combo, an uppercut to knock back enemies, and a

downward stab, primarily used on weak points when on the behemoth.

The sword will also do extra damage to crystalline parts of the behemoths

and can destroy rocks with purple crystals in them.

The second weapon available to the player is the machine pistol. This gun

has limited range and relatively low damage, but makes up for it by

shooting rapid fire (automatic) which is ideal for dealing out quick bursts

of damage. The pistol will have a relatively small clip size with a smaller

reservoir of ammo than the gunsword. The pistol uses the same blue

crystal ammo that the gunsword uses and recharges in the same way. The

firing spread will be somewhat large, but can be focused in by aiming

down sights allowing for better aim and control of recoil. The main

purpose/use of the machine pistol is to deal with smaller minions that can

be encountered during fights, quickly taking them down with bursts of

damage allowing for more focus on the behemoth.

The final weapon that the player has at their disposal is the cannon. Unlike

the gunsword and machine pistol, the cannon shoots crystals instead of

just using their energy, and these crystal cannonballs explode on impact

dealing tons of damage aoe style. The catch is that the heavy weapon

utilizes the purple crystals as ammo, requiring the crystals themselves

instead of energy from them, meaning there is a limited amount of ammo

for each fight, depending on how many purple crystal rocks are scattered

around the terrain. The cannon will be projectile based, and the crystal

cannonballs will travel in and arc, requiring skill and timing to land hits on

weak points. There won’t be any aim down sights for the cannon as it

would be very difficult to bring a cannon up to your face to aim. However,

the cannon will have an alternate fire that acts similar to a shotgun blast.

This will shoot out shredded crystals in a large spread and deal massive

damage at close range.

Weapon Damage Range Rate of

Fire

Special

Gunsword Medium long Semi-auto Transforms to

sword

Machine Pistol Low close Full-auto Heavy burst

damage

Crystal Cannon High long Bolt action

style

Projectile based,

shotgun alt-fire

Screen Description: Main Menu: The Main Menu of Apex Trials will show the shadow of a Behemoth looming over a field covered with UI buttons. These buttons will be Start

Game, Options, Credits, and Quit.

Option Screen: In the options screen the player will be able to adjust the volume of the game, and remap the game's controls to their preference.

Credit Screen: The credits screen will be a simple list of each member of the team, and what role they played in making the game.

In-game Screen: The in-game screen will be what the player sees when playing through Apex Trials. The view will be a first person of the main character, with

a simple, clean HUD on the outer edges, and a crosshair in the center.

Game Options: The options provided for Apex Trials will be split into two sections. One will be the standard built in Unity options that are available and editable when launching

the game. These options allow for a change in graphics and resolution. In terms

of resolution, there is no current plan to lock the resolution to a specific size. The

second options will be the in-game options, which will allow the player to adjust

the volume, both sfx and music, and also rebind the controls.

Replaying and Saving: Currently there is no plan to include the ability to save/load into different levels. The reason for this is because Apex Trials is a fairly short game. With the

current goal of having three different behemoth fights, most players will go

through the game in a single sitting. Another possible implementation would be

to include a life counter, to which the game would need to be restarted if the

player ran out of lives. This would add some replayability in that players could

possible die on a behemoth and play through to beat it again. Along with this

comes the possibility for more hardcore gamers to try and make 0 death runs in

which they beat the game without ever dying.

Story Setting and Characters Backstory: In the year 2062 asteroids plummeted to the Earth, raining fire and destruction

down on the population. As humanity struggled to recover from this destruction,

giant monsters emerged, hunting down humans and destroying whole cities. The

last remnants of humanity retreated underground barely escaping extinction. As

the survivors began to rebound, setting up an underground civilization,

(underground city name), they discovered unnatural and powerful crystals

spreading from the impact points of the asteroids. Using these crystals, the

survivors created powerful weapons and armor in an effort to fight back against

the monsters and retake the surface. The Old Guard were formed for this exact

goal, wielding the crystal infused technology, they ventured to the surface

hunting down the beasts. Many of the early expeditions were devastating, ending

in failure with few returning to the underground. However, with each expedition,

the survivors learned more and more about the beasts, learning their habits and

discovering weak points. One of the most notable discoveries being that the

mysterious crystals appeared to be infused on different sections of the monsters

bodies and that damaging the crystals was absolutely devastating. With this

knowledge, new weapons were created directly from the crystals, and the Old

guard began to make progress, clearing out some of the surface around

(underground city name). After many years, it appeared that the survivors had a

chance, hopes were high as the Old Guard cleared more and more of the surface,

and an expedition was organized to set up an above ground colony. Guarded by

most of the Old Guard a group of builders traveled to the surface to set up the

colonies foundations. Mere days into the expedition, everything went to hell as

the group was attacked by a monster larger than anything that had been seen

before. They were completely unprepared for the power of this behemoth, and the

entire group was quickly wiped out. The Old Guard was all but destroyed, leaving

behind some elders and new recruits, and the survivors hopes of returning to the

surface were completely snuffed out. No one stood a chance against this new

behemoth, and so slowly, over time, the Old Guard disappeared, and the survivors

gave up on the surface, settling into an underground existence.

Many years later, the survivors had settled into their underground lives,

many forgetting the existence of the surface. One orphan boy, the son of the head

builder and a member of the Old Guard, raised by the former leader, wasn’t

satisfied with a simple underground existence. The stories he was told of the

surface, along with a deep hatred of the behemoths, push him to demand training

from the elder. Though he didn’t want to send the orphan to the surface, he could

see the boys drive and passion, and so he taught the boy. He gave the boy his own

gunblade, the famous Old Guard weapon, and taught him how to use it. The boy

also studied everything that was known about the behemoths. After years of

studying and training, the day had come for the two to travel to the surface and

hunt down a behemoth. The orphan was no longer a boy; he had forged his own

armor and created his first crystal gun, the machine pistol. He also carried with

him the elders gunblade. Together they traveled through many caves, finally

arriving at the surface. There they began to hunt for behemoths. As they traveled

across a large, rocky plain, the ground began to rumble. (elder name) froze,

looking for the source of the tremors. Then a clubbed tail shot out from a giant

boulder, swinging high into the air and plummeting down towards the orphan.

The elder, with all of his power, dashed into the orphan and pushed him out of the

way as the tail came crushing down on him. The surrounding terrain crumbled

under the force of the tail sending the orphan down into the valley. After coming

to, the behemoth had jumped down into the valley, searching for the next prey. As

he got up, the orphan noticed a strange weapon nearby. Picking it up, he noticed

that a purple crystal was loaded into it. With this new mysterious weapon, the

orphan stepped out into the valley, determined to kill the behemoth.

Plot Points: There are only a few big plot points in the story since this will be a fairly short game. The first being the death of the elder at the beginning and the discovery of

the strange cannon weapon. Then the player will discover some information about

the purple crystals that had been hidden by the leader of the old guard. The

information reveals that the crystals are solidified lifeforce that the behemoths

create and use to survive. The blue crystals are made of lesser lifeforce, created

from plants and animals on the planet, while the purple crystals are made of

extremely strong life force, coming from humans. With this discovery, the player

also learns of the plan laid out by the leader of the old guard. The plan to gather a

large amount of purple crystals to use against the behemoths, by sacrificing

humans through an “expedition to the surface”. This knowledge leads to the

player finding the leader of the Old Guard, who had escaped the massacre and

lived in shame and regret of the decisions he made. After a confrontation, the

player will leave the leader to suffer, and go to hunt down the massive behemoth

that killed his parents. After killing the behemoth, the game will end with the

player visiting the site of his parent’s death, and an insanely large figure

appearing off in the distance (presumably an even larger behemoth).

Game Progression: The story progression will happen sort of tandem to the game in that the majority of the gameplay will consist of fighting a behemoth, while the story will primarily

progress through cut-scenes and snippets of dialogue/text. For the three levels that

we have planned, there is unlikely to be much progression in the sense of added

mechanics, the intention is to provide the player with everything from the

beginning but put them in situations in which they will need to adapt and use the

skills and powers they have in different ways. The gameplay progression will be

more focused on the behemoths than the player, as you take on more and more

powerful behemoths in each level.

Cut Scenes: Since the majority of the story will be told through cut-scenes, we will need to make a few for the game. The intro to the game, covering some of the backstory,

will be more of an opening cinematic, using still images and text/voice over to set

the scene of the game. After this there will be a short opening cut scene showing

the death of the elder and the discovery of the crystal cannon. Following the

defeat of the first behemoth will be a short cut scene showing the discovery of

some of the Old Guard leader’s notes on the crystals. After the defeat of the

second behemoth, a longer cut scene will cover the confrontation with the Old

Guard leader and the discovery of what happened during the expedition. The final

cut scene will occur after the defeat of the final behemoth, showing the orphan

and the gravesite of his parents and the elder, with a massive shadowy figure,

looming on the horizon.

Game World: The world that Apex Trials takes place in is futuristic Earth. In this futuristic Earth, the arrival of the behemoths has destroyed and altered a lot of the surface,

leaving only a small amount of plant life remaining and large craters scattered all

over the planet. Much of the surface is covered in a fog-like smoke that partially

blocks out the sun, making the surface dark even during the day. At the same time

that the behemoths arrived, strange crystals began to appear, both on the surface

and underground. Most common was a blue type of crystal that was partially

transparent and gave off a faint glow, while the darker purple crystals are a rare

site to see, concentrated mainly in places where behemoths have set up home, or

in large cities.

The environments that the player will be in throughout Apex Trials will be

mainly craters, and large open valleys with little to no vegetation. Players will

also explore the remains of a city, almost completely destroyed by the behemoths,

there will be broken sections of skyscrapers and houses scattered about; however,

a majority of the level will be flattened out due to the behemoths constantly

trampling the debris. Beyond the surface environments, the player will spend

some time underground, in the Last Refuge, the underground city the humans

created when they conceded the surface to the behemoths. The underground

environments will mainly be a series of cramped tunnels, with the Last Refuge

being the one exception as it stands in a large cavern. The only lighting that will

be in the underground areas will be from the blue crystals, which give off a faint

glow.

Characters: Beyond the Main character and the behemoths, players won’t really be interacting with other characters within Apex Trials. The two exceptions would be the elder,

who is the main characters mentor, and the Old Guard Leader, who is responsible

for the surface expedition massacre.

Main Character: The main character is the son of a member of the old guard and

the head builder that both died in the surface expedition massacre. Growing up an

orphan, he was taken care of by the elder, and told of stories of the surface. His

dreams of the surface lead him to train and learn everything he could about the

behemoths that killed his parents. Eventually he sets out to take revenge, his goal

to wipe out every behemoth on the surface. The main character is very much a

lone wolf. Beyond the help he received from the elder, he hates relying on others,

preferring to do everything himself. He isn’t talkative, favoring action over

speech, and only speaks when he feels it’s absolutely necessary. He is a bit of a

hot head, letting his emotions control him, and often making decisions purely out

of anger/rage (such as the decision to kill all the behemoths).

Main Character Model

Main Character model sheet/concept

Elder: The elder was the first leader, and one of the last remnants, of the old

guard. He had stayed behind in the Last Refuge when the surface expedition

massacre happened, and he took care of the main character in place of his parents.

Though, as his name suggests, the elder is in his later years of life, he is still a

very capable fighter, and with some reluctance, he trains the main character to

fight behemoths. The elder is tall and muscular, bald with a scruffy black beard,

and he wears his tattered Old Guard armor and cloak. Almost the complete

opposite of the main character, the elder keeps his emotions in check, always

thinking before acting, and he enters every situation with extreme caution. Old Guard Leader: The leader of the Old Guard is the one responsible for the surface expedition massacre. Following the massacre, he lost his heavy cannon, and spent his life searching for it while living in small caves across the surface. While he was once a rational and intelligent leader, his many years spent alone on the surface, along with the lingering guilt from the massacre, has made the leader somewhat insane.

Levels Training Level: To begin the game the player will start inside a dark tunnel, walking along with the elder. They will learn basic WASD movement and mouse aiming as they

move along. The player will first come to a pile of old mining explosives blocking

the path, to which the elder will tell you to step back, aim down your sights, and

shoot the explosives (teaching the player aiming, ADS, and shooting). The player

will then encounter a ledge which they will need to use double jump climb.

Closer to the end of the tunnel they will come to a wall of purple crystals, which

the elder will then instruct the player to break using their gunsword, prompting

the player to press E to transform their weapon into sword form. After breaking

the crystals the cave will start to collapse, and the elder will tell the player to

“RUN!”, prompting the player to hold shift with the ending of the cave being a

small gap which the player will need to dodge roll through (F), teaching them the

last bit of movement mechanics.

Level One: Level one will be a sort of trial by fire for the player, going from base movement mechanics to a full on battle with a behemoth. The level layout will be fairly

simple, a somewhat open valley with scattered rocky and crystal structures

throughout, and surrounded by large rock walls. The behemoth will be a rock type

with crystal weak points on the head legs and neck. It will also have three stages

similar to most boss fights, with the second stage bringing minions and the third

stage having the behemoth move more sporadically, almost in a rage-like state in

which it will relentlessly attack the player.

Level Two: In the second level the player encounters a new Behemoth in a ruined village. The village has clearly been ruined by some sort of disaster. It is implied the

nearby Behemoth destroyed the village. Similar to the first Behemoth the player

must battle the Behemoth in order to return back to the cavern.

Level Three-In the final level the player returns to the cavern only to find the

Behemoth that killed your parents has found the cave and is rampaging through it.

As a final battle it is up to you to take on this Behemoth, and avenge your parents

death.

Interface Visual System HUD: The HUD will be similar to standard fps hud layouts, with a few additions. Overall the HUD will include a bar for the behemoths health, a bar for the

player’s health, a display image showing the currently equipped weapon and a

number display for the amount of ammo for the weapon. In order to keep screen

clutter to a minimum, the HUD will be small and spaced out, making sure to

avoid blocking off key areas of the screen. Along the top of the screen will be the

behemoths health bar, and the player’s health bar will be vertical on the right side

of the screen with the gun image and ammo below it in the bottom right corner.

Along with these displays, there will be a different crosshair icon in the center of

the screen for each of the weapons. The crosshair will mainly be used for aiding

the player in hip firing, and there will be no crosshair while in sword mode. When

the player scopes into their weapon, the majority of the HUD will temporarily

disappear, with the only remaining piece being the behemoth health bar at the top

of the screen.

Example HUD with bottom right ammo count, player health bar on the right, behemoth health

bar on the top, and a centered crosshair

Menu: There will be two primary menus for Apex Trials, the main menu that the player will see when they start up the game, and the pause menu that can be pulled up at

any time during gameplay. The main menu will have a custom designed title with

a few menu buttons. One will be the play button that launches the game, another

will be options which will allow volume control, including controls for both sfx

and music, and control rebinding, there will be a credits button taking you to the

credits for the game, and a quit button to exit the game. As of right now there is

no intention to put in a load game button/feature as Apex Trials is relatively short

and intended to be played for a single sitting. As for the pause menu; when

opened, the menu will pause all gameplay and other inputs beyond those for the

menu itself. The options on the menu will include an options button which would

allow for control rebinding, a quit button which, on click, will open a second

menu making sure the player wants to quit the game, which upon clicking yes,

will exit back to the main menu.

Control System: Standard player movement will be WASD with spacebar to jump and mouse movement

to aim. While in the air, tapping spacebar again will give you a small upward boost,

similar to a double jump.

Holding left shift will allow the player to run, speeding up player movement, and F will

make the player do a dodge roll, temporarily making them invulnerable, and launching

the player in a specified direction (backwards if no directional key is being pressed).

Left click will shoot the currently equipped weapon with right click for aiming down

sights/alternate fire. The scroll wheel will change between the three weapons, and R will

reload them.

With the gunsword equipped, E will change the weapons mode between sword and gun.

In sword mode, left click will work as a standard attack, swinging back and forth, right

click will be a downward stab primarily used for dealing damage while on top of a

behemoth.

Audio: The audio of the game will generally switch between two different themes of calm, and quiet with not much more than the sound of your own footsteps.

However while in battle the player will experience many loud sounds between the

cries, and stomping of the Behemoths, along with the sound of their gun with the

chorus in the background.

Music: The overall tone of Apex Trials will be a mix of quite sad tones during down- times of the game, followed by intense choral themes when engaging in the boss

themes. On the title screen it will be a soft-rain theme that gives off a sad vibe.

The cavern will have a soft theme with emphasis on xylophone. The battles

against the Behemoth will have a feeling of epic, with most of them being

orchestral pieces, with a choir. Each boss will contain its own battle theme to

match its specific style of the Behemoth.

Sound Effects: The main category of sound effects is split between SFX for the weapons, player, Behemoths, and miscellaneous. For the weapons we will need sound effects for

reloading, shooting, and picking up more ammo. For each Behemoth they will all

have a roar specific to them, but will also have sound effects specific to their

attacks. The player will need sound effects for their action sequences such as

when the player does a dodge roll. Last we will need sound effects for different

smaller effects such as the rain, or rocks being destroyed.

Help System: While there will be no direct help system in Apex Trials, both the tutorial and options menu will serve as such. The tutorial level will provide the player with the

basics in terms of controls and game concepts (how to get more ammo, where to

shoot behemoths etc.). The options menu, which is accessible from both the main

and pause menu, will show the controls for the player as they have the ability to

remap controls on that screen.

Artificial Intelligence

Enemy AI: Apex Trials does contain several enemy AI that the game focuses around. For each Behemoth there will be a specific attack pattern tree that they follow that will

often focus on the different attack styles of the Behemoth. The attack pattern is

based on the behemoths distance to the player, broken into extreme close, close,

mid-range, long, and extreme long. Each distance allows the ai to choose from a

set of moves, which is decided randomly with some weighting based on the

previously used move and the behemoths current stage. The behemoth ai will also

have move sets broken into three stages. The move set used will be based on the

stage the behemoth is in (stages determined by the behemoths health).

Rock Behemoth The first behemoth, the rock behemoth, will start out with a fairly basic

move set. At extreme close, it will either do a body slam straight down, or jump

away from the player to a mid-range distance. At close range, the behemoth will

either bite at the player, or swipe at them using its front paw (either one). At mid-

range the behemoth will have multiple options. It can chase the player, following

them until its distance changes from mid to either long or close. The behemoth

can perform a pounce which will take the player's location at the beginning of the

attack, and jump a short distance to that location. If the player is not hit by the

pounce, the behemoth will be downed temporarily, allowing for the player to

climb up its arm and deal damage to its weak point on the neck. The last mid

range option for the behemoth is the projectile attack, which will launch straight

out and drop down towards the position the player was at when the attack was

started. The projectile will be a chunk of crystal and deal damage in a small area,

similar to the explosion of a grenade. At long range the behemoth will be able to

perform the same projectile attack, or charge at the player. When charging at the

player, the behemoth will get the location the player was at when starting the

attack, and travel at a high speed at the location. If the player comes into contact

with the behemoth while it is performing a charge, the player will be damaged

and knocked back, essentially stunned, to which the behemoth should follow up

with a projectile attack or swipe depending on the distance. If the charge doesn’t

connect with the player, the behemoth will run a short distance past the location

then stop moving, taking a short idle/rest before taking another action. At extreme

long range, the behemoth will enter roaming mode, moving to the nearest node on

its roam path, and quickly moving through each node until the distance between it

and the player changes back to long range (at least).

The second stage of the behemoth will add on the ability to call in minions.

This move will come in the form of a roar that occurs immediately upon transition

into stage 2. After the roar, minions will steadily spawn around the map. Beyond

the minion ability, the behemoth will prefer most direct attacks over movements

and overall movement speed will increase.

The third stage of the behemoth will increase the behemoths damage as it

enters enraged mode. It will also prefer dangerous attacks like pounce and charge,

which deal out massive damage, at the risk of taking massive damage. Their will

be changes in charge and pounces speed, making both have a faster windup and

overall shorter time to complete. The projectile attack will launch three crystal

shards, with a short pause between each shot, each shot retargeting on the position

of the player as they move. Another change will be a shortened time in which the

behemoth stays in the downed state after pouncing, and a similar shortened time

in which it idles after charging.

Stage Moves Damage Speed Extra

1 Pounce, charge, jump

away, bite, claw swipe,

projectile attack, roam

standard standard none

2 Adds roar(minion spawn)

and double claw swipe 1.5x 1.25x Favors More

aggressive

moves

3 Adds increased minion

spawn, triple projectile,

tail swipe

2x 1.75x Favors Pounce

and Charge,

shorter time

spent in

downed state

Rock Behemoth Minion The Rock minions will have very simplistic ai, aiming to be more of a

minor added difficulty, rather than an entirely different challenge. Minions will

spawn as the behemoth enters its second stage, and will spawn at a specified rate

for the rest of the battle. Spawn locations will be scattered around the outskirts of

the level, and minions will only spawn on locations that are further away from the

player, that way the player doesn’t have minions spawning inside/on top of them.

The ai for the minions will have them running straight for the player, without any

extra pathing, and once they are within range, they will perform a single melee

attack. Minions will not flinch from damage, and have no critical hit point, which

makes up for their low health.

Rock behemoth Behavior Stage 1

Technical

Target Hardware: The target hardware for Apex Trials is PC, as it will reach a wider audience and requires no additional port work to release on PC.

Development Hardware and Software: Apex Trials will be developed primarily on Windows OS. 3DS Max will be used for creating models, with Adobe Photoshop for textures, and programming will be done through Monosoft development.

Development Procedures and Standards: Every Friday the team will meet and begin working on their specific tasks. These tasks will be listed in the Google Drive and will be worked on until completion. Some outside work will be required as the semester goes on.

Game Engine: Apex Trials will be created in the Unity engine, specifically version 4.5.

Scripting Language: Since Apex Trials is being made using the Unity engine, we will be using C# as the game’s scripting language.

Management Budget: Due to Apex Trials being made for a college course, no finances will be needed for the production.

Risk Analysis: One of the largest risks of Apex Trials is the intended scope. Creating a shooter is a daunting task and the addition of unique and complex ai for each of the battles makes the game that much more of a challenge. Another risk is that Apex Trials is releasing into a market full of shooter games, which could affect the game’s overall popularity and success if our marketing is unsuccessful in making Apex Trials stand out.

Localization Plan: Since Apex trials is intended to be a somewhat small scale release, the game will be English only, with no intention of translating for other languages/audiences.

Test Plan: The plan for testing the game will be broken up into multiple steps and tests, which will each have a specific focus. The tests in order will be: primary controls, combat, stage 1 ai, first level/UI, stage 2 ai, second level, stage 3 ai, third level, full build. The plan is to make edits and changes after each test, and following the first full build test, we will make changes and repeat the test until we feel the game is finished and fully polished. Each test will be done by a small group of peers (most likely game design majors) with the intent of each test being done by different people. The full build tests will be opened up to a much larger group and include past testers as the goal for these tests is to get as much feedback as possible. Primary Controls test: this test will have players use and provide feedback for the character controller and movement abilities, including walk, run, jump and dodge roll. Players will give feedback on both the functionality and feel of the controller. Following the test, we will make changes to the controller as needed, and fix any reported bugs. Combat Test: this test will focus completely on the functionality and feel of the four weapons available to the player. Players will use the gunsword in both forms, the machine pistol, and the heavy launcher, testing them all out on an early version of the stage 1 behemoth, and its minions. While the ai will be available in this test, the focus will be completely on how the weapons function and if they feel good to the players.

Stage 1 ai Test: this test will focus on the behavior of the stage 1 behemoth an

it’s minions. The major focus here is to find any issues with the ai, in terms of

situations in which the behemoth may become glitched/bugged, or perform an

action that it shouldn’t. While this test will also be for checking if the behavior of

the behemoth feels right, the major focus will be in making sure that the

behemoth does what it’s supposed to, without any bugs/glitches.

First level/UI: this test will focus on the functionality, and more importantly, the

fun of the first stage. Players will navigate from the main menu into the first

stage, and play it through. The goal here is to make sure that the first stage is one

- beatable/functioning properly, and two - enjoyable/fun for the player. The test

will also gauge the functionality of the main menu and pause menu.

Stage 2/Stage3 ai Test: these tests will be copies of the stage 1 ai test in focus

and goal, with the change being the stage and behemoth.

Second/Third level: these tests will be copies of the first level/UI test, except they

will not need to test the functionality of the UI, unless there is a glaring issue. Full

Build Test: this test will look at Apex Trials as a whole complete package. Players

will start from the main menu, and play through all three stages of the game test

both functionality and fun. This test will be a last resort to catch any bugs that were

missed on previous tests, and will be a check for us to see if players are enjoying

the game, and what things we could possible change to make the game better. This

test will be repeated until we as a team feel the game is polished.

Game Art Concept Art:

Style Guide: Color Scheme The game has a darker feel to it as it tells the story of humanity on the brink of

extinction.. The darker colors are used to set the mood, as humanity has given up

on the surface and struggles to survive underground (Image 1). The main

character will be the redeeming light that brings a new hope to the world (Image

2). The color scheme will include cool colors with muted, earthy neutrals to show

how humanity has had to fall back on using natural materials (Image 1).

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Monster

The monsters that run throughout the surface are behemoths that seek out life

force to sustain themselves, hunting the humans of Earth. They draw influence

from games like the Monster Hunter series and Shadow of the Colossus with both

their size and nature-esque features. These monsters are larger than life and born

out of meteorites so many will have a large portion of them that is made of rocks

and rocky materials (Image 1). The monsters will also have the blue and purple

crystals on certain parts of their body since they need the crystals to survive.

There will be a variety of monsters, some which walk on four legs (Image 3),

others that walk on two but lean forward, similar to the posture of a t-rex. Due to

their correlation with nature, the monsters will mainly be neutral, earth tones with

their assimilation of crystals providing flashes of color (Image 2).

1

2 3

Crystals

The main resource that is seen through this world. Crystals provide color and light

to the world in jewel tones (Image 1). While the surface is seemingly recovering,

there won’t be very much plant life, limiting the amount of green that will be

seen. These crystals are going to be smooth with jagged parts of them that are

jutting out (Image 2). These large crystals will be prominently blue and purple as

they contain two different types of life force (Image 3). The crystals will have a

mysterious feel to them due to the fact that they contain the energy of countless

lives that is being stored inside of them. When seen they should evoke a sense of

mystery but at the same time curiosity

when looked at.

1 2

3

HUD

The menu and HUD systems will feature a combination of sci-fi and fantasy

elements. It will be simple, intuitive and fluid. The display will be similar to

modern shooters such as call of duty and destiny (Image 3), with an image of the

currently equipped weapon and ammo, displayed in the bottom right (Image 1).

Above that will be a vertical health bar for the player (Image 2), and going across

the top of the screen will be the behemoths health.

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2 3

Characters: The main character will be a futuristic looking knight, but with rogue elements. He is no white in shining armor; in fact, his armor will not shine at all, and he will

likely have a cowl or cloak (Image 1). He will also be wearing a helmet of sorts,

most likely one that covers the whole face. His design is loosely based off of the

hunter character from Destiny as well as elements from the glass armors from

Skyrim (Image 3). The Armor will have a worn rustic feel to it and will have

many scratches and scrapes from the battles it has seen (Image 2). It will also

have some of the crystals embedded into to it which will give off a faint glow

(Image 1). The colors used for the main character will be a mix of browns and

oranges for the armor, dark greens or blues for the cloak, and brighter blues and

purples for the crystal sections. Overall the main character will have a feel that is

full of vengeance to him as he fights for his fallen comrades and his family that

has been taken from him.

3

1

2

Environment: Game World Surface

The surface will be a dark and hazy place, with bits of nature emerging back into

a destroyed landscape (Image 1). The surface is viewed as dangerous by the

humans, and the environment will reflect that view with treacherous cliffs and

ravines, and rocky jagged terrain (Image 2). The sky will be consistently dark,

and, depending on the area, there will be heavy fog, smoke and mist filling the air

(Image 3). There will be very little plant life/vegetation due to the arrival of the

behemoths, though there will be small amounts of vegetation growing back in

certain areas. Many of the areas in which monsters live will be flatter terrain, as

the hills and valleys have been terraformed by the behemoths into open plains.

Much of the environment will have the mysterious crystals incorporated within

them as they seemingly spread throughout the world.

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2

3

Game World Underground

The monsters have forced humanity into living underground. The underground is

a series of dark, dank, caverns and tunnels (Image 2). Even the underground city

that humanity established is rundown. and Humanity has almost been completely

been cut off from the Overworld. The caves are the home to makeshift homes and

small colonies that have banned together to survive (Image 3 and 1). There are

crystals that have begun to start growing underground and they have started to

become more prominent as well as a

valued resource.

1 2

3

Equipment:

The weapons in Apex Trial will be a mix between futuristic and post-apocalyptic

due to humanity being more advanced, but confined to the technologies available

underground.

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