Tourmaline Game Design Document 

by Benjamín Martínez                    

R4­160515     

 

Contents  

Logline Synopsis Potential market and genre Game influences Reference material 

Game Lore The world of Tourmaline 

Game Characters The witch Tourmaline 

Character description References 

The “Good” son (still unnamed) Character description References 

The “Bad” son Character description References 

Prototype Game Workflow Game Progression Flowchart Gameplay Prototype 

Changelog  

    

 

Logline In a universe that lies within a tourmaline stone, two brothers (a bear and a unicorn)                               are tasked by their mother (a witch) to rule and take care of the galaxy. Trouble rises                                 as one of them gets obsessed with his task and tries to subdue every planet to his will. 

Synopsis  

The story of this game takes place inside a tourmaline stone where a witch created a                               small living galaxy. Shortly after the galaxy was created she had two sons and tasked                             them to rule and take care of the galaxy. One fine day, tired of all the troubles that stalk                                     the galaxy, one of the two brothers gets convinced that the only way to fulfill their task                                 is subduing all the creatures, taking over every planet in the galaxy.  Scared about what his brother is about to do, the other son of the witch escapes and                                 wanders around the galaxy, trying to help everyone that has been damaged by his                           brother.  The player will play in 8 different planets.. In each one of them he will learn about the                                   lore of the planet, how it was taken over by the 'bad' brother and will find a way to help                                       its inhabitants and make things right. Additionally there will be some hints about the                           creation of the galaxy and  how the creator is perceived by each alien race.  After beating the quests on each planet the 'good' brother will find the courage to face                               his brother and put an end to the conflict. A final mission will be unlocked where the                                 player will have to fight his brother. 

 

Potential market and genre  Tourmaline will be an arcade adventure game with some shooter mechanics, being its                         main influences the Fantasy Zone game series for gameplay and the Megaman X                         series for narrative. Both of its influences are still strongly loved by their fans, although                             no new games of neither has been released in 24 and 12 years respectively their                             characters are still referenced in other kinds of media.  The game will be targeted to a Teen according to the ESRB (13 years old and up) as it                                     will show some some violence and blood. The release platform will be PC (Windows,                           Linux and OS X) due to its low cost and high coverage provided by services like Steam                                 and Humble Bundle.   

 

Game influences Fantasy Zone 

Genre: Scrolling shooter, Cute 'em up Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_Zone Youtube gameplay: https://youtu.be/vwZAtSTbSOU?t=2m34s 

 

Megaman X Genre: Action, Platform Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_X Youtube gameplay: https://youtu.be/zk1PV6T9v9s?t=1m35s 

 

 

   

 

 

 

      

  

Reference material 

Game Lore 

   

 

 

The world of Tourmaline Tourmaline proposes that gemstones are not valuable due               to their rarity nor their beauty, they're valuable because                 each one has a story inside of them.   Everything in this game take place in a world that lies                     within a Tourmaline stone. On the inside, the stone hangs                   from the neck of a witch named Tourmaline who is always                     gathering energy from every source. When the witch has                 gathers enough energy she uses it to create a new planet                     or a new star and then she places it on her skirt using two                           fingers from her left hand. She kept doing that until she                     made a small galaxy under her skirt.  When life arose in the galaxy, Tourmaline realized that someone had to rule and take                             care of her creation, so she had two sons and tasked them to rule and take care of the                                     galaxy. However each planet had it's own culture making it hard for the two rulers to                               handle them.  The world of this game is heavily inspired by many mexica, mayan and other pre                             hispanic legends however i’m giving them a twist so they have a fantasy feeling. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Game Characters 

   

 

The witch Tourmaline Full name: Tourmaline Role: Background Character  

Character description Little is known about the witch Tourmaline: she plays the role of a creator god and has                                 no physical presence during the game, however she is often referenced in dialogues                         and background during gameplay. We will know nothing about her personality except                       for some religious beliefs of her followers. Physically she looks like a 30­35 year old woman with long hair and medium height.                             Her skin ranges from bright pink, blue and purple color in pastel tones. Also she is                               entirely naked except for a necklace and a skirt made out of stars. 

 

References    

 

The “Good” son (still unnamed)  Full name: (Unnamed) Role: Protagonist  

Character description This is the character controlled by the player. Since born he has been the less dominant                               of the two sons of the witch Tourmaline, always seeing his brother as a role model.                               Although he is not a pacifist he always tries to solve everything in a passive way (that is                                   trying to not get over involved in any situation).   Physically he looks like a white unicorn with a pair of wings. It is said that with the right                                     amount of light his purple mane glows with the colors of the skin of his mother. Also                                 whenever he talks, he always uses short statements to let the player fill the personality                             of the character with his own interpretation, however he will show some facial                         expressions through dialog globes to give the player some guidance.  

References    

 

The “Bad” son Full name: Bear Role: Antagonist 

Character description He is the antagonist of the game.             He has always been obsessed with           fulfilling what was tasked to him by             his mother, however as time passed           he made a twisted interpretation of           his assignment and began to         subdue every planet to his will.           Some people could say that he is a               perfect evil leader but in reality his             only objective is to complete his           task ‘just as his mother said’.  If you look at him you wouldn't be               able to stand to his cuteness as he               looks like a small teddy bear, just             like the one that we all had when we                 were children. He has never been           seen not wearing his small crown           and carrying an equally small         scepter so everyone is aware of his             authority and power.  

 

References  

 

 

 

Prototype 

Game Workflow  The following diagram illustrates how the player will progress through the game. Please have in mind that: 

● Main story (green arrows) are quest that will allow the story of the game to move on, that is, they will tell the story of the conflict between the two brothers. 

● Side quests (yellow arrows) are quests that will tell about the lore of the universe of the game. In some of them you’ll have to defeat the bad guys, in others you’ll have to solve some puzzles and so. 

 

  For a more detailed approach please check the Game Progression Flowchart.         

 

   

 

Game Progression Flowchart The following chart illustrates how the player will travel through the game. After beating                           any quest for first time it will be marked as completed. Each time a quest is marked as                                   completed a counter will increase by one unit, that counter will represent the total                           amount of quests completed by the player (without distinction among main and side                         quest).  

 

 

 

 

Gameplay Prototype  

Title  Description  Objective  Resource 

Prototype #1 (160429) 

A small stop motion animation made out of paper cuts with the help of a cell phone 

camera. 

Illustrate a first approach to the gameplay and UI 

Animation Link  

Animation Mirror  

Making of  

Prototype #2 (160429a) 

Game Progression Flowchart & Game 

Workflow 

Illustrate the flow through the game 

story 

Game Workflow Link  

Game Progression Flowchart Link 

Prototype #3 (160508) 

Game Maker project showing the 

movement of the player during quests and some enemies.  

 Use the W, A, S, D keys to control the 

character 

Illustrate the behavior of the 

character controlled by the player and some enemies. 

Windows build  

NOTE: All the assets are placeholders 

  

    

 

Changelog Revisión  Change 

R1­160424 

➔ Initial document release. 

R2­160429 

➔ Reworked ­ Overall document design. ➔ Reworked ­ Potential market and game genre. ➔ Reworked ­ Whole document redaction. ➔ Added ­ Gameplay flowchart (Prototype #1). ➔ Removed ­ Moodboard. ➔ Removed ­ Sketches. 

R3­160508  

➔ Added ­ Gameplay prototype (Prototype #2). ➔ Added ­ Game Workflow chart. ➔ Renamed ­ Gameplay flowchart to Game Progression 

Flowchart (Prototype #1). ➔ Redesigned ­ Game Progression Flowchart. 

 

R4­160515 

➔ Added ­ Reference images from the moodboard into the character sheet for the following characters: The Witch Tourmaline, The “Good Son”, The “Bad Son. 

➔ Updated ­ Prototype table to correctly match each prototype. ➔ Moved ­ Game influences out of Reference Material section.