GDD

Absolute Horizon Game Design Document

XB3001 MARK JAMES ROCCO Document Copyright © 2010 Mark James Rocco

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Contents

Game Synopsis Story Unique Game Play Features Market Visual Style

3 3 3 4 4

Objectives Story Objectives Survival Objectives Scoring Systems Statistic Numbers

5 5 0 11 12

Controls Movement Attacks

13 14 15

Weapons Specials Ultras One Use Weapons

16 18 20 22

Items Weapon Items Support Items

23 23 24

Focus

26

Health

26

Animations

27

GUI Menu Front End Menu Flow Loading New Game New Game Flow Save Game Save Game Flow Load Game Load Game Flow Continue Game Options Options Flow

28 28 30 30 31 31 32 32 32 32 33 33 33

In Game GUI Screenshot

34 36

Characters Protagonist General Creed Cardinal Bal-Gorath

37 37 38 39

The Ship

40

Enemies Bosses Enemy AI Enemy Animations

44 48 54 54

Levels Level Play through Example

55 61

Sound Effects

63 63

Dialouge

64

Camera

64

Document Copyright © 2010 Mark James Rocco

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Concept Mark James Rocco

Date 2010

Working Title Absolute Horizon

Genre Fixed Area Space Shooter

Platform PSP Minis

Target Age Group 8+

Story Set in 3402 over a thousand years after people from earth (Terrans) colonised mars and developed a new form of fuel called Uristrol Terrans push into the further reaches of space past our solar system and beyond. Soon after, they begin discovering new worlds all with giant black pillars on the surface with an unknown language written upon them. Not too long after the discovery of these pillars pillars a science team is destroyed by an unknown alien life forms that appear from black holes that begin to form. As more of these black holes holes appear the Terran leaders decide to build defensive countermeasures around these black holes to halt all advancing enemies.

Unique Game Play Features I believe my proposal is an innovative idea because of its form of movement. Your movement being fixed to the movement ring is both an advantage and a disadvantage. While you can strafe around the enemies with ease your movement can be stunted by a section being hit by the enemy which causes damage to you.


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Market As this game features no depictions of extreme violence whilst also not being too childish I would say that this game is aimed at all age groups. The platform chosen to host this game is a good choice for a game of this nature as similar game have enjoyed success on this platform and also is a young platform and has already hosted innovative games. Also this game is has universal appeal because of it simple control scheme as it will be “pick up and play” enough for younger kids to enjoy but should be difficult enough on the harder difficulties for the older gamer to consider the game to be an enjoyable challenge.

Visual Style With Absolute Horizon being set in the future and in space the look and feel of this game would match these settings closely with of course my own style of art design. design. Also with this game being universally aimed at all ages there will be no extreme violence, swearing and other aspects that would make the game to adult. As well as this aspect the game will also not be too childish as to make it an uninteresting experience for the more mature gamer. As inspiration for this game I am looking at films such as Event Horizon, Star Trek and Ghost in the Shell as well as games such as Shattered Horizon, Neotokyo which are set in the future and have very clean minimalistic art direction which is what I am aiming for with the art direction for my game.


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Objectives The objectives of this game are based around the different game types that are included in the game which also can be played in in Co Op. With the story mode the main objectives is to clear all enemies for a level to progress to the next level. There are 6 of these levels levels and within these are 5 normal levels and 1 boss level. level. After all of the normal story levels are complete there will be a single final boss level against the mother ship of the Alien enemy. As well as the story based missions there is survival mode which can also be played in in Co-Op. Survival mode will have you pick a level based of the story mode levels where you have to survive endless waves of enemies.

Story Objectives The games story has you go to 6 different areas to clear it of enemies. The objective for each of these areas is the same, you have to destroy all of the enemies that spawn and the boss that follows. The objectives for the story mode are quite simple and straight forward and are built specifically for a pick up and play play style of game play. play. This table shows the number of enemies that will appear during each level. Wave Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Easy 200 500 1000 2000 5000

Medium 400 800 2000 4000 8000

Hard 800 1600 3500 8000 16000

Insane 800 2000 5000 10000 20000

These numbers the overall number of enemies that will spawn during the level not the amount that spawns at one time. The number of enemies that spawn at one time is dependent on the difficulty level that you are playing. These tables show for each level the number of enemies that will spawn during the level. As well as the enemies that spawn the items that spawn will be be listed in these tables. These items will spawn at the start of the wave it is listed under however as well as these specific items there will be random drops throughout the level.


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Level 1 Easy Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

20 20 20 40 50 50

Duration (Seconds) 60 60 60 80 100 100

Items n/a Plasma Health 25% Plasma Health 50% n/a

Level 1 Medium Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

40 40 40 80 100 100


Items n/a Plasma Health 25% Plasma Health 25% n/a

Level 1 Hard Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

50 100 150 150 150 200


Items n/a Plasma Health 25% Plasma n/a n/a

Level 1 Insane Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

50 100 150 150 150 200



6

Items n/a Plasma n/a Plasma n/a Health 25%


Level 2 Easy Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

50 50 50 50 100 100


Items Plasma Super Plasma Shield Electricity Plasma Ultra Health 50%

Level 2 Medium Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

50 50 100 150 150 300


Items Plasma Super Plasma Shield Electricity Plasma Ultra Health 25%

Level 2 Hard Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

100 150 250 350 350 400


Items Plasma Super Plasma Shield Electricity Plasma Ultra n/a

Level 2 Insane Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

200 200 350 400 400 450


Items Plasma Super Shield Plasma Electricity Plasma Ultra n/a


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Level 3 Easy Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

100 100 150 200 250 200


Items Super Electricity Ice Bomb Shield Ultra Electricity Health 50%

Level 3 Medium Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

100 200 300 300 400 700



Level 3 Hard Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

200 400 500 800 800 800



Level 3 Insane Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

500 500 800 1000 1000 1200


Items Super Electricity Ice Bomb Shield Ultra Electricity n/a


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Level 4 Easy Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

200 200 200 400 500 500


Items Super Ice Ice Health 50% EMP Ultra Ice Health 50%

Level 4 Medium Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

400 400 400 800 1000 1000



Level 4 Hard Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

800 800 800 1600 2000 2000



Level 4 Insane Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

500 1000 1500 2000 2000 3000



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Level 5 Easy Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

500 500 500 1000 1000 1500


Items Super Plasma Nuke Health 50% Electricity Ultra Electricity Health 25%

Level 5 Medium Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

1000 1000 1000 1000 2000 2000



Level 5 Hard Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

2000 2000 2000 2000 4000 4000



Level 5 Insane Wave

Enemies

1 2 3 4 5 6

2000 2000 2000 4000 4000 6000


Items Super Plasma Nuke Health 25% Electricity Ultra Electricity n/a


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Survival Objectives For survival mode your aims are to both stay alive and accumulate a high score. The scoring system works the same same way that the story modes scoring system works. However the waves of enemies in in this mode don‟t stop until you ship has been destroyed. The waves of enemies as you progress will increase in number and also rise in difficulty level starting from easy to insane. As well as this after 10 waves you will face a boss from the story mode to make this mode more of a challenge. This table shows how this will work. The items during the survival mode appear at random which adds an extra element of tactics as you will have to pick and choose supers, ultras and one use weapons wisely. Wave 1-4 5-10 Level 1 Boss 11-14 15-20 Level 2 Boss 21-24 25-30 Level 3 Boss 31-34 35-40 Level 4 Boss 41-44 45-50 Level 5 Boss 51-54 55-60 Final Boss

Enemy number 50 100 n/a 200 400 n/a 500 700 n/a 800 1000 n/a 1500 2000 n/a 4000 6000 n/a

If you get to the point where you get through all of these enemies it will start from the beginning beginning on the next difficulty level. level. Starting from easy to insane the game will most likely get to the point of impossibility before you can reach the end of the insane difficulty however if you do reach this the game will start from the beginning again on the insane difficulty until you give up or are destroyed.


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Scoring Absolute Horizons scoring System is based around how many enemies you destroy in a certain time frame. The more enemies enemies you destroy the more points you get for destroying them. The way you get more points for destroying enemies is that for every enemy you destroy within 1 second your score will be multiplied by the number of enemies you have destroyed while having this multiplying effect active. For example when you destroy one enemy you get 10 points but if you have destroyed 5 enemies before this enemy you would get 50 points 5 times that of just destroying just one enemy. Enemies Snakes Spinning Razors Stealth Rotating Mines Gunners Swarmers Nebula Boss Galaxy Boss Station Boss Space Boss Planet Boss Final Boss

Points Focus Super 5 10 3 6 12 4 8 16 5 3 6 2 10 20 7 2 4 1 1000 2000 650 2000 4000 1500 3000 6000 750 4000 8000 3000 5000 10000 3500 10000 20000 6500

Ultra 2 3 4 1 5 1 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 5000

This table represents the scores you will receive when you destroy a certain enemy.

Statistic Numbers All of the number stats that follow in this document are out of 20 which is the maximum number a stat can reach. However health has a maximum number 2000 this number is much higher for bosses and your ship.


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Controls As the games movement is restricted to the movement ring the controls for the movement are very simple. The way you control your movement is by using the left thumb stick. Pushing the stick either left or right will will move the ship either left or right. As well as these default control layouts all the controls will be configurable to any set up you like. These controls are based around the buttons that are on the PSP system. While a game of this type on the consoles consoles would most likely likely use the right thumb stick to aim and fire your attacks with the PSP the lack of a second thumb stick has forced a different type of control scheme to be incorporated into this game. I believe this control set up uses both the advantages and disadvantages of the PSP‟s controls to create a useable and enjoyable control scheme that works well with this game type. Button x c s t 1 3 6 5 THUMB UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT

Use Attack Focus Boost n/a Super / Ultra Bomb Attack Pause Menu n/a Movement Switch Weapons (Up) Switch Weapons (Down) n/a n/a


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Controls in Detail These diagrams point out the location of the buttons on the PSP that have an action within the game. These actions are then described in more detail.

Movement The movement system of this game is very simple as it just consists of left and right movement.

Boost As well as the normal movement speed of the ship that you will most likely use for the most part of the game there is also the boost system that would be used in most cases for dodging attacks but can also be used to move to an area you quickly need to attack from.

Either pushing this thumb stick left or right will slide your ship across the movement ring in either the left or right direction.

Pressing the boost button will boost your ships movement speed.


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Attacks You have a range of different weapons at your disposal to use to destroy enemies during game game play. These weapons have different pros and cons and are more useful against different types of enemy because of the way in which each weapons fire.

The left shoulder button uses your ultra or your super if you have one.

These buttons switches between your weapons.

This button initiates your focus mode. This button attacks with your selected weapon.


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Weapons These short descriptions and tables will list the stats and the pro and cons of each weapon available to you in game.

Shot This attack is your basic attack that you begin all your levels with. It isn‟t very strong but it fires extremely fast and could be very useful. Speed Strength Weakness

5

2

Stealth Gunners

Plasma The Plasma attack lets you fire out balls of plasma that sets the hit enemy on fire. As well as damaging the hit enemy enemy the fire effect can be passed on the enemies that the hit enemy comes into contact with giving a small amount of damage over time until the effect wears off or the enemy is destroyed. Speed Strength Weakness

3

6


16

Spinning Razors


Ice The ice attack is a constant stream attack that can be moved around with the thumb stick and also moves around as you move. The attack is non-stop until you stop attacking. Speed Strength Weakness

8

2

Stealth Gunners

Electricity The electricity attack fires out in bursts just like lightning strikes in the real world. This is the rarest normal weapon during the game because it is also the most powerful of these normal weapons. This weapon however is quite difficult to use effectively as the attack strikes fire out randomly but can destroy enemies with one hit. Speed Strength Weakness

2

8


17

Stealth Gunners


Specials Supers are the first form of special attack that you can use. As with all the other weapons in this game these weapons are collectables and need to be collected collected to be used. Once collected you can only use these weapons once and you can only have one equipped at a time. This means that if you have already have a super equipped and collect a new one the super that was equipped previously will be replaced.

Plasma Speed

Strength

Description

7

This attack fills the black hole area with fire and damages all enemies within.

Strength

Description

5

This attack fills the black hole area with ice and damages and stuns all enemies within.

4

Ice Speed

6


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Electricity Speed

Strength

Description

10

This attack fills the black hole area with electricity and damages all enemies within.

Strength

Description

5

This attack fires out a mass of shot attacks damages all the enemies it hits.

2

Shot Speed

6


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Ultras Ultras are the second form of special attack that you can use. As with all the other supers and other weapons these are collectables. Just like the supers once collected you can only use these ultras once and can only have one equipped at a time. This means that if you have already had an ultra equipped and collect a new one the ultra that was equipped previously will be replaced. However with the ultras you have to also fill a bar to 100% to use it.

Plasma Speed

Strength

Description

14

This attack fills the black hole area with fire and damages all enemies within.

Strength

Description

10

This attack fills the black hole area with electricity and damages all enemies within.

8

Ice Speed

12


20


Electricity Speed

Strength

Description

20

This attack not only fires out a blast of electricity that fills the play area but also stuns enemies that aren‟t destroyed.

4

One Use Weapons These weapons are one use weapons that cause a lot of damage over a wide area.

Bombs These weapons work by first firing out the weapon with the attack button and then a second click of your attack button to detonate the weapon when it reaches your desired area. Speed

Strength

Description

10

The Bomb Fire out and then is detonated damaging enemies within its blast radius.

2


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EMP This disables the movement and attacks of enemies. Speed

Strength

Description

0

The EMP works the same way the bomb does but instead of causing damage it stuns enemies within its blast radius.

5

Nuke More of an offensive weapon than the EMP this weapon destroys everything in its blast zone clearing enemies to give you a breather during a hectic level. Speed

Strength

Description

20

The nuke again works the same as the bomb and EMP but this is a more powerful bomb that damages all enemies in the play area.

2


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Items The item system in Absolute Horizon works in a similar fashion to the way enemies spawn during game play. A certain set of items will spawn during game play at the beginning of different waves as stated in the story objectives section (Page 5). As well as these set items that spawn at the same time during every play through items will also spawn at random giving the game more strategy because if you didn‟t have items that spawn at random during the intervals between the set items you could either die because of a lack of health items or your score might end up low because of a lack of Supers and Ultras. All the different items that are available in game will now be listed with their names and what their function is.

Weapon Items These are all the weapon pickups available during the game. The icons that would be used for these items during game play are with the stats of the weapons in the weapons section (Page 16).          



- This gives you the Plasma weapon. Plasma - This Lightning - This - This give you the Lightning weapon. Ice – This gives you the Ice weapon. Plasma Super – – Super variation of the Plasma weapon. Lightning Super – – Super variation of the Lighting weapon. Ice Super – – Super variation of the Ice weapon. Plasma Ultra – – Ultra variation of the Plasma weapon. Lightning Ultra – – Ultra variation of the Lighting weapon. Ice Ultra – – Ultra variation of the Ice weapon. Bomb – The bomb damages enemies in its blast radius EMP – – The EMP disables movement and attacks of enemies in its blast radius



Nuke – – The nuke is a more powerful variation of the bomb and also damages enemies in its blast radius.


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Support Items These items are all the items that give you health or equip your ship with a power up.

Health 25% Description

This item repairs your ship by 25%.

Health 50% Description

This item repairs your ship by 50%.


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Extra Life Description

Gives you an extra life

Shield Description

This item equips a shield that can take a certain amount of damage before disabling.


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Health The Health system for Absolute Horizon is based around older games where you have a percentage of health in place of the current fashion in games of health regeneration. During game play there will be a range of different types of healing items. The first types of items are basic health regeneration items that give you back a set amount of health you have lost. As well as your initial 100% of health there are power power ups during game play that will give you a boost in the percentage of your initial health that either work until you are damaged enough for the percentage to be brought back to 100% or lower or a set time has run out. The first type gives you a boost for a set amount of time. With this type of health health boost item as well as only lasting for a certain amount of time if you are damaged enough for your health to be reduced back to 100% or lower the health boost effect will stop stop working. The second type of health boost gives you a boost in health that lasts until you are damaged enough to bring you back down to 100% or lower but there is no time limit. With both these health boost items when they stop working your maximum health will be back to the initial 100%.

Focus Focus increases your attack by 10x and is earned by killing a set number of enemies without getting hit by an enemy enemy attack. For each enemy destroyed you will gain 10% or your Focus bar. When this bar is full you can choose to initialise Focus mode. Focus wears off quickly as as it also makes you invulnerable.


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Animations This is the Basic Basic Animations for the ship ship during game play. They are for all the ships movements and attacks as well as death animations. Name Idle_01 Idle_02 Move_01 Move_02 Move_03 Boost_01 Boost_02 Boost_03 Item_01 Item_02 Attack_01 Attack_02 Attack_03 Attack_04 Super_01 Super_02 Super_03 Ultra_01 Ultra_02 Ultra_03 Bomb_01 Bomb_02 Attacked_01 Attacked_02 Death_01 Death_02

From Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Move_02 Move_02 Idle_01 Boost_01 Boost_01 Move_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Bomb_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Move_01

To Idle_01 Idle_01 Move_01 Move_02 Idle_01 Boost_01 Boost_02 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_02 Idle_02 Idle_02 Bomb_01 Idle_02 Attacked_01 Attacked_02 Explosion_01 Explosion_02

Generic Description Ship Stands Idle Ship Expels Steam Ship Begins to Move Ship Moving Ship Slow to Halt Ship Fires Boosters Ship Boosting Ship Stops Boosters Move along ring and collect item Collect Item Moving from Centre Ship Shoots Shot Ship Shoots Fire Ship Shoots Ice Ship Shoots Electricity Ship Shoots Fire Super Ship Shoots Ice Super Ship Shoots Electricity Super Ship Shoots Fire Ultra Ship Shoots ice Ultra Ship Shoots Electricity Ultra Ship Aims Bomb Weapon Ship Fires Bomb Weapon Ship Shudders Under Fire Ship Sparks Under Fire Ship Explodes Ship Explodes Whilst Moving


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Duration 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 1 4 1 1 3 3

Loop Yes No No Yes No No Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes Yes No No


GUI The GUI (Graphical User Interface) for Absolute Horizon is designed to be simple, appealing appealing and practical. Using Harabara as the base font for all of the text during the menus which is a clean easy readable font fits into the design of the games visual style without being a stereotypical Sci-Fi font that is illegible.

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Menu The Front end menu for Absolute Horizon has a simple design for an easy to use feel. All transitions between the different menus are animated to stop the minimalistic menu interface from being too simple to look at and interact with. The font for the logo itself is Trajan Pro which is a very clean and simple sans serif font that is both easy to read and stylish.

This is the first thing you will see after the developer logos have appeared. After the first image the Press Start option appears. appears. The logo will slightly move up and shrink to incorporate this option. Document Copyright © 2010 Mark James Rocco

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When you press start you will be taken to this menu where you will be given the options options shown. Your chosen option will be highlighted by the white rectangle shown next to the New Game option in this picture. Again the logo will shrink and move to incorporate these options. For the menu options the font I used is the previously mentioned Harabara.


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Front End Flow Console Logo

Publisher Logo

Start Button to Skip

Developer Logo Intro Video Menu Fade In

Menu Screen

Launch Single Player Game Launch Co-Op Game

New Game

Load Menu

Load Game Continue Game Options

Auto Load Last Saved Game Launch Game

Loading The loading screen for Absolute Horizon is designed to be a simple breather for your eyes in-between levels. Using the Harabara font for the Loading text tells you what is going on. Also using the circle from the games logo there will be a rotating logo in the centre of the screen. This mock up shows how this will look.


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New Game When launching a new game you will first have to either load or create your save data for your character. Creating a new character consists of creating a save file and naming naming your character. If you already have this data in place you will just have to load this file instead. After this menu you will get the choice to play the single player either by yourself offline or co-operatively either by game sharing or via Wi-Fi online. As well as the single player campaign the survival mode is an option here as well. This mode can also be played by yourself online or co-operatively through game sharing or Wi-Fi.

New Game Flow New Game

New Save Data Load Save Data

Character Creation Menu Save Menu

Auto Load

Game Mode Menu

Single Player

Survival

Co-Op

Co-Op

Game Sharing Lobby

Game Sharing Lobby

Network Login

Network Login

Online Lobby

Online Lobby

Start Game


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Save The player can save the game in two different ways during game play your can either enable auto save in the options menu in which case the game will save for you at the end of every mission. If you decide not to enable auto save in the options you will have the choice of saving the game in-between missions with this style of saving you can have multiple different saves if you wish to do so.

Save Game Flow End of Mission

Auto Save On

Auto Save Off

Auto Save

Save Game Menu

Choose Save Game

Choose Save Game

Next Mission

Save Game Next Mission

Load The load menu works similarly to the save menu. The game itself has an auto load feature already enabled on it so that as soon as you get past the developer screens at the start of the game it loads all of your previously saved options and mission mission progress. This option is in place for when you have used the save option to create multiple saves at different periods of the game.

Load Game Flow Load Menu Choose Save Game Load Save Game Confirm Game is loaded Launch Game


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Continue The continue game option takes you straight to the point in the game where you where when you last saved or the last time the auto save saved for you .

Options The options menu is where you will go to set up the game to play it how you want to. This includes sound levels, contrast levels and control set ups. These options are something that might not be used as the game is already set up with the best setting universally to start with.

Options Menu Flow Options Menu

SFX

1 - 100

Audio

Music

1 - 100

Video

Contrast

Controller Setup

Default

Custom Controller Setup


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1 - 100

Custom


In Game GUI During game play the Interface will change to display all of the bars and information need to play the game affectively. These include the score, your time, and the health bar, focus, super and ultra bars. For the numbers displayed during game play the font Visitor will will be used. This font has a square Sci-Fi look to it which fits into visual style of Absolute Horizon but it also easy to read which is an important feature of an in game font.

Abcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789%

Score The score is displayed in the top right hand corner of the screen using the Visitor font. The text itself will will be in white white so that it stands out against the backgrounds during the game which will be mostly space which for the most part is black.

Time Underneath the score is the time this shows how long it has taken to complete a level which is an important factor in your overall score as the score will decrease over time so it best to complete the level as fast as you can for a better score.

Lives Below the time and score is your lives counter. These will be displayed by little icons that are white squares with red crosses in the centre.

Bars There are three bars that are on the GUI for Absolute Horizon. These bars are for your Focus, Ultra and Health. The bars themselves are on the bottom right of the screen and are horizontally stacked next to each other and have a white border to make them stand out just like the text which is also in white.


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Health The health bar is the first from the right of the three bars and displayed the amount of health you have left. This bar will will use a light light green for the fill which is is a universal colour used in games for health. health. When you are damaged the amount of health that has been depleted will be represented by a red chunk of the health bar which will flash and then disappear. When you collect collect a health power up on the other hand the amount of health received will flash blue and then return to the green that the rest of the bar uses.

Focus The focus bar will be the second from the right of the three bars at the bottom right of the screen and be filled with a light purple colour.

Ultra The Ultra bar is the last from the right of the three bars. This bar will use an orange colour for the fill.

Weapons To the left of your stats bars the weapons you have will be displayed. It will show your currently selected weapon by enlarging it and pointing it out with a small arrow. Only the weapons you have collected will be be displayed here. When you acquire a new weapon the weapons weapons icon will be added to the list.

Supers Above the stats bar will be a large icon displaying your currently equipped Super. Each weapon has an icon to match so so you will easily see which super you have equipped.

Ultra As will the Supers the Ultras will be displayed above where the Supers are displayed above the stats bars. These icons work work in the same way way the Super Icons work being replaced by a newly acquired Ultra.


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Enemy Detection Arrow As the games camera doesn‟t display the entire game area at one time there needs to be a way to see where all the enemies are that aren‟t on the screen at the time. This is the system that will provide a way to see where all the enemies are at all-time. When an enemy enemy is on screen there will be no need for this system but when an enemy is off screen a red arrow will be displayed at the side of the screen in the direction of the enemy. Using this you will have to get to that area to destroy that enemy.

Screen shot Using all of these elements I will now present a mock up screen shot displaying all these different elements that make up Absolute Horizons game play screen. Ship

Score Time

Lives Equipped Ultra

Equipped Super

Weapons Focus

Enemy Arrow

Enemy

Movement Ring


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Ultra


Characters There are three characters that appear during Absolute Horizon the main character that you play as, your commander who is called General Creed and the antagonist of the game the leader of the Vasal-Pfae Cardinal Bal-Gorath. This main character will be named by the player at the beginning of the game, this given name will be used throughout the game by your commander whom gives you guidance and gives you all of the tutorials throughout the first three levels.

Protagonist This character does not have a name as the player will give him one at the start of their game. This character is the pilot of the ship that you will be using during the game and is the protagonist of the story.


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General Creed General Creed is your commander in Absolute Horizon and will talk to you during Level intervals about what you need to do in your next mission and inform you of the progressing story and the progression of the enemy.


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Cardinal Bal-Gorath Cardinal Bal-Gorath is the commander in chief of the Vasal-Pfaes entire military. After he deemed that the Terrans were were infringing in his space he ordered his ships to destroy the Terran science science ships. After this he decides to wipe out the Terran race as the Vasal-Pfae are a race that crave war and dominance. You only encounter Bal-Gorath at the final level of the game.


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The Ship The ship you use throughout the game is decided when you start a new game. Your ship choice cannot be changed later so you will have to choose wisely. There are three different types of ship to use, each has different pros and cons and the choice of which to use all comes down to the players‟ personal choice. When the player reaches the 4th level of Absolute Horizon your chosen ship will be upgraded one level which will not only change the look of the ship but will give the ship an increase in stats. The stats here for the health are based around the highest number which is 2000 where as the strength and speed are based around the highest number of 20. The different ships ships stats will be displayed is two tables the first is the normal ships stats where the second is the upgraded versions stats.

Herodius The Herodius is the all rounder ship. ship. It‟s the recommended recommended ship for first first timers and will be the first choice offered offered at the ship choice screen. As this ship is made to be an all rounder all of its stats are in-between the other two and is neither powerful in place of low health stats or low powered in place of more armour.


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Version Health Strength Speed Normal

250

8

Special Abilities Health items give 10% more.

8

Version Health Strength Speed Upgrade

400

16

Special Abilities Health items give 20% more.

16 Corvus

The Corvus is fastest ship out of these three and also does the most damage. However in place of these attributes the Corvus has a very low Health stat and is intended for players that have either played before or just like blowing things up quicker.


150

10

10

Special Abilities Weapons do 10% more damage.


400

20

20


41

Special Abilities Weapons do 20% more damage.


Gryphes The Gryphes is the most heavily armoured ship to choose from and has a very high Health stat. Because if this heavy armour however the Gryphes is quite slow and its weapons are not as powerful as the other two ships.


300

5

5


600

10

10

Special Abilities Focus lasts for 10% longer

Special Abilities Focus lasts for 20% longer


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3D Ship Examples

This example of how the Herodius might look in game shows the level of detail that would be present in this game. game. Of course is doesn‟t doesn‟t look that spectacular, this is because of the chosen platform. PSP Minis while needing to be fun and have good game play to do well have to take in to consideration size restraints as well as the level of performance the PSP can output. Thusly this model which is only 80 Tris with a texture map size of 256x256 shows what I believe is a good example of how the game should look and be made. Document Copyright © 2010 Mark James Rocco

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Enemies The Vasal-Pfae are from an unknown section of the universe. They started attacking the Terrans after they began to discover black pillars on certain planets. They attack through black holes that they use to travel from their home world. The black pillars pillars are antennae antennae that connect all the way towards the Vasal-Pfaes home world. As with the other stats all of the enemies and boss health are out 2000 and the other stats are out of 20

Pawn Attacks

HP Speed Strength Weakness

Shot

3

7

4

Any Weapon

Attack

Power

Effect

Description

Shot

2

n/a

Whilst it moves it will shoot at you

The pawn is a fast moving enemy that while not that powerful can dodge your attack with its speed.


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Spinning Razors Attacks


Spinning Attack

Attack Spinning Attack

Power

Effect

3

n/a

5

6

5

Any Weapon

Description If hit by its rotating razors you will be damaged

The spinning razor enemies have no shooting attacks but in its place have rotating razors around it, Because of this way of attack these enemies home in on you.

Stealth Attacks


Burst Shot

6

6

7

Rush

The Ice weapon both slows and damages these enemies

Attack

Power

Effect

Description

Burst Shot

3

n/a

Fires off three shots at once.

Rush

6

Stun

When you first hit it, it will rush at you to impact your ship.

The Stealth is an upgraded version of the Pawn that appears later on in the game. All you can see of these stealth ships is an electrified edge. edge. You have to react fast when you spot one as they cause a lot of damage. Document Copyright © 2010 Mark James Rocco

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Swarmers Attacks


Swarm

Attack

Power

Effect

Swarm

1

n/a

1

10

3

Plasma

Description They swarm you and chip away at your health.

The Swarmers attack in packs and move like a shoal of fish sticking together trying to hit you in waves.

Gunners Attacks


Blast

Attack

Power

Effect

Blast

7

Stun

8

3

8

Any Weapon

Description Takes time to warm up but causes lots of damage.

Gunners are the main attacker class of the Vasal-Pfae. They are big lumbering, strong ships that can take a lot of damage and give a lot of damage. These just like the Stealth only appear later on as they are a much more difficult enemy to handle.


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Moving Mines Attacks

HP Speed Strength

Rotating Shot

2

4

Detonation

Attack Rotating Shot

Power

Effect

1

n/a

Detonation

4

Stun

4

Weakness Electricity overpowers these enemies causing them to explode

Description Whilst it moves it will rotate and shoot in a clockwise fashion If close enough it will detonate causing damage and stunning you for 2 seconds.

The mine while also being able to shoot at you also has the ability to explode upon impact of either the movement ring or you.


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Bosses Each level for Absolute Absolute Horizon has an end boss. Each end boss has unique attacks that uses the level layout to its advantage. Using these special attacks the bosses are formidable adversaries that will test your skill and be a wall in your way to the next level.

Nebula Boss (Level 1)

The boss for the first level is quite a simple boss that only has one attack. This is to keep the boss simple as it will be be the first boss you encounter.

Attack Rotating Shot

Health

Strength

Speed

800

10

10

Power

Effect

Description

15

n/a

will rotate and shoot


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Galaxy Boss (Level 2)

The boss for level 2 increases the difficulty to give the player more of a challenge than the previous boss. This boss is very quick but is lacking in attack power. Health

Strength

Speed

1000

12

18

Attack Rotating Beam

Power

Effect

10

n/a

Fury Blast

15

Stun

Description Whilst it moves it will rotate and shoot out beams Fires out a flurry or beams


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Space Station Boss (Level 3)

This boss is very different to all the other bosses in Absolute Horizon as it uses arms to physically physically attack you. This boss is quite slow in place of its heavy attacks. Health

Strength

Speed

1200

20

10

Attack

Power

Effect

Description

Arm Swing

12

Stun

Swings out one of its arms at you.

Double Arm Thrust

20

n/a

Thrust both its arms at you.


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Planet Boss (Level 4)

This boss uses the plasma weapon type for its attacks. It also is the first boss to use an attack that is constant and will force you to move at the right time to avoid it.

Attack Plasma Bar Plasma Blast

Health

Strength

Speed

1500

15

15

Power

Effect

Description

15

n/a

Fires two beam that cross each other over.

15

n/a

Fires out balls of plasma.


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Asteroid Belt Boss (Level 5)

This boss like the final boss and has a shield that you first have to destroy to being attacking the boss itself. The green sphere on its side is what you have to destroy to destroy this shield which will stick out of the shields barrier.

Attack Rotating Mines Electricity Wave

Health

Strength

Speed

1750

18

14

Power

Effect

15

n/a

20

Stun

Description Whilst it moves it will rotate and shoot out beams Rotates very quickly to fire out a blast of electricity


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Earth Boss (Final Level)

Being the final boss this boss has a few more attacks at its disposal. Also it takes some of the abilities of previous bosses which it uses as these extra attacks as well as having a shield. This time however you have to destroy two red spheres to get rid of this shield. Health

Strength

Speed

2000

20

20

Attack Electricity Burst

Power

Effect

Description

15

n/a

Burst out an arc of electricity.

Mine Shot

15

n/a

Fires four mines at you.

20

Stun

Thrusts an arm at you.

20

n/a

Fires out a beam attack that is as wide as the boss ship itself.

Arm Thrust Mega Beam


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Enemy AI The AI for the enemies enemies is quite simple simple as they have a basic job to do. All they have to do is is attack and move to the edge. Through this simple AI I do believe the game will be a challenge because of the sheer number of enemies. I therefore think that this simple AI is justifiable in a game of this nature and platform.

Enemy Sample Animations This animation table table is an example of enemy animations. These animations are for the Pawn enemy. Name Idle_01 Idle_02 Move_01 Move_02 Move_03 Attack_01 Attacked_01 Attacked_02 Death_01 Death_02

From

To

Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Move_02 Move_02 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Idle_01 Move_01

Idle_01 Idle_01 Move_01 Move_02 Idle_01 Idle_01 Attacked_01 Attacked_02 Explosion_01 Explosion_02

Generic Description Ship Stands Idle Ship Expels Steam Ship Begins to Move Ship Moving Ship Slow to Halt Ship Shoots Shot Ship Shudders Under Fire Ship Sparks Under Fire Ship Explodes Whilst Static Ship Explodes Whilst Moving

Duration

Loop

2 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 3 3

Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No

This table of animations shows how simple the actions of enemies are. They‟re like this because of its platform. Being a PSP Mini which is a platform for smaller cheap pick up and play games which I don‟t believe needs a super high level of detail in animations, modelling and texturing.


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Levels Each level for Absolute Horizon has a distinct backdrop representative of what area you are defending that fits into the games story. Each level has a different shape „movement ring‟ for you to move around its edge. Because of these different shapes each bosses attacks are tailored for these levels to make the boss battles a more difficult experience than the normal enemies.

Level 1: Nebula This level is based around a nebula backdrop. This level is is based around the first contact point with the Vasal-Pfae. The levels shape is a basic circle shape as a starting point to get use to the game and how it works and feel. The nebula level is the starting point of the game and is made to begin as a tutorial level. Starting off slowly this level sends a small numbered wave at you explaining explaining the controls and how to play. After this the level plays out like a normal level sending waves of different enemies at you. The bosses attack for this level as with all the different levels are based around the shape of the level itself. For this level the bosses attacks you by firing out shots as it rotates around.


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Level 2: Galaxy The Galaxy level is based in an area further towards earth outside of the Milky Way galaxy. The shape for this level is a square. Again this is a simple shape but is more difficult to navigate than the circle with its sharp corners it will be more difficult to get to where you need to be. This level is is a harder version of the first level. As with the first level there is a small tutorial during the level. However with this level the tutorial is about the Super and Ultra weapons. weapons. This tutorial however however is placed placed during normal game play after you collect one of these power ups. The tutorial itself is a small text based description that will pop up telling you how to use these weapons. After this tutorial the game continues as normal. The attack of this levels boss is based around the straight lines of the edges of the level. Its attack is a beam attack that fires out multiple beams that bounce around the level for a few seconds until they die out or hit you.


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Level 3: Space Station This level is an area inside the Milky Way closer to earth based around a off planet Terran space station. The shape layout for this game is a trapezoid. This shape is an expansion to the previous levels shape to make the level harder than the last. This levels tutorial happens in the same way as it does in the previous level in this case however this tutorial is about the one off use weapons (i.e. Bombs, EMP, and Nukes). Then the level plays as normal. The attacks of this levels boss are based around the bottle neck nature of a trapezoid. The boss will sit at the top of the level and swing at you with it‟s arms


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Level 4: Planet Based inside our solar system this level is next to Uranus which is the seventh planet in our solar system. This level begins to show how much closer the Vasal-Pfae are getting to Earth. This levels shape is a Rhombus keeping the movement on a straight plane. I believe this will make for a harder experience that the circular levels. Unlike the other levels this level has no tutorials during as all the different elements of game play have been described to you. With this element taken out the level is just all out destruction as the number of enemies jumps up a notch from previous levels as the levels begins to get far more difficult from here on out. The boss for this level uses the tight space of the rhombus shaped level and attacks with a constant beam that can trap you and destroy you.


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Level 5: Asteroid Belt The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter is where this level is set. This levels shape is an Oval which is the first circular level since the first one. This level will will replace the difficulty of movement for the difficulty of sheer numbers of enemies. As with the previous level this level has no tutorials and again ramps up the difficulty by increasing the number. With this levels spherical shape the boss for this level will be in the centre constantly rotating and firing out mines.


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Level 6: Earth / Final Boss Next to earth this level is the final level of Absolute Horizon. For the final level a Hexagon shape will will be used. Representative of the first level this shape is supposed to show how much better the technology nearer earth is. Unlike all the other levels this level consists of just the boss battle. Because of the boss is the only enemy you fight the boss for this level is much harder to destroy than the bosses of previous levels and has a range of attacks and some of the attacks from previous bosses.


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Game Walkthrough Example Play though for Level 2 This is an example play through of the second level on medium. Level 2 starts off with small sections of dialogue with general creed where he updates you on the story so far. After this small section the level will start off with a tutorial about supers and ultras. This tutorial begins with a text pop up describing what the tutorial your about to undertake consists of. Then a super will will spawn and you will collect collect it. After you have collected the super a small number of enemies will spawn in and remain static for you to learn how to use the super. Another text pop up will appear telling you the controls for using the super and then you will use the supper as instructed in the tutorial pop up. Then you will move onto the ultra tutorial. This tutorial works the same way as the super tutorial apart from the super being replaced by an ultra and the addition of another section to teach you about the ultra ultra bar and how you fill it. This section of the tutorial will consist of a few enemies spawn before the ultra spawns. You will then destroy these enemies to fill your ultra bar. After you have completed this task the ultra will spawn you will collect it more enemies will then spawn and remain static this is when you will be taught the controls for using the ultra. ultra. After this tutorial section is over the level will will being for real and work just like any other level. using the tables in the objectives section (page 5) which list out how many enemies spawn at what time and which items are set to spawn I can create an example of how a level might play out. After a few seconds of nothing after the tutorial is over the first wave of enemies and a plasma super will spawn over 60 seconds 50 enemies will spawn in. Using the already acquired plasma plasma weapon you dispatch of all these 50 enemies while taking a little bit of damage from enemy fire. After that wave has been cleared out the next wave begins. This wave has the same number and duration of wave 1 however a plasma weapon pick up spawns at the start of this wave. wave 2 works the same way wave 1 one did in terms of how and when the enemies spawn this wave however there was a random item spawn and you picked up a shield. Using this this shield you didn't take any damage for this wave. You also used the plasma super you received at the beginning of the first wave to dispatch a lot of enemies to finish the wave off. The third wave has double the number of enemies from the first two waves and also has Document Copyright © 2010 Mark James Rocco

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the stealth enemy mixed in with the usual enemies of the first two waves making this wave much harder not only because of the numbers but the added threat of stronger enemies. This wave also starts off with with a shield shield item spawning in which you collect to replenish your shield to maximum. After taking a lot of damage at the hands of the stealth enemies you destroy all of the enemies in this wave and move onto the next wave the next wave of enemies again ramps up the difficulty through a higher number of enemies that spawn. The item that spawns at the start of this wave is a new new weapon that you can use it's the electricity weapon. weapon. As well as this weapon another super spawns during this wave as well as a health power up that you use to replenish your health after the stealth enemies damaged you in the last wave. The next wave keeps the same number of enemies but adds the gunner enemy into the fray. The gunners are a very slow but very powerful enemy that can cause a lot of damage. This wave starts off with an ultra spawning which you save until the final boss battle after the 6th wave. The rest of this wave however goes off smoothly as you use the super you acquired previously to clear out all of the remaining enemies to move onto the final wave before the boss. This wave again doubles the numbers of enemies which largely consists of swarmers which you destroy by using your plasma weapon. The health item that spawns at the begin gin of this wave replenishes you health back to full in preparation for the boss battle the now ensues. The boss battle for level 2 is based around the square nature of this level where the boss stays in the centre and uses multiple beam attacks that when fired out ricochet around the level until they die out. When you start this boss battle you have full health, the electricity and plasma weapons and a plasma ultra. The boss battle begins with with a small message from general creed telling you need to destroy this boss to move on. After fighting this boss for a while a shield item spawns which you use to attack the boss with disregard to its attack using the ultra to finally destroy this boss and move on to the next level.


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Sound The sound design for Absolute Horizon will be taking reference from games such as Super Stardust, Geometry Wars, Shattered Horizon, etc. All these games being set in the future with new futuristic weapons and technology has made them produce interesting and different sounds to use. These are the types of sounds that would be incorporated into Absolute Horizon giving the game not only a visual feel of the distant future and its new technology but the sounds that go along with this technology.

Effects With a game like this in terms of sound the sound effects are what you will be hearing most of your time playing so the effect sounds need to be of a good quality and represent their action well. well. As I cannot give you audible samples of the kind of effects that would be used during the game I instead will list all of the different sounds that would be implemented into the game for your ship. As with the animations which which can‟t be shown I will list the sound effects for your ship in a table to show what kind of sounds would need to be used for certain actions and describe what they might sound like. Name

Generic Description

Idle 1 Idle 2 Move Boost Item Collect Shot Attack Plasma Attack Ice Attack Lighting Attack Plasma Super Ice Super Lighting Super Plasma Ultra Ice Ultra Lighting Ultra Bomb EMP Nuke Attacked

A quiet electrical pulsing sound. A steam burst jets from the ship. A quiet metal scraping sound. A burst of the engines like a jet engine. 1 up. A quick futuristic sound. A long liquid sound. A sharp and fast sound. A quick burst of lighting. A louder version of the normal attack. A louder version of the normal attack. A louder version of the normal attack. A louder version of the normal attack. A louder version of the normal attack. A louder version of the normal attack. A loud short explosion sound A short electrical pulse sound A loud prolonged explosion. A metallic rumbling sound. An explosion with a hint of a electrical pulse sound.

Destroyed


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Duration Loop 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 1

Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No Yes

3

No


Dialogue With this game being a small cheap PSP Mini all of the story dialogue during the game will be in text form with accompanying character images. There are only only three characters that have dialogue during the game your character, your commander (General Creed) and The Commander of the enemy mother ship that will speak at the last level (Cardinal Bal-Gorath).

Camera The camera system for this game is based on a 2D plane but the camera itself doesn‟t work the way it would usually in a game if this type. Whereas with most game like this the camera would be static and show the entire screen at once in Absolute Horizon t he camera doesn‟t move the world around you moves instead keeping your ship at the centre of the screen. I have decided this would be the best choice because of the nature of the game and its chosen platform. With all the action that would be taking place at later points in the game I believe that the screen wouldn‟t be big enough to display all of it without out being too small to see the details.


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GDD

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