28/7/2022 - 29/7/2022 | Alex Malan; Ian Bell

• set up this site from existing notes document (see home page - 'Rough notes/Brief 3')

4/8/2022 | Alex Malan; Matt Hopkins

• decided that chef and medic are basically the same

• discussed whether or not steelworker, engineer and mechanic are the same

• started refining what the roles are and how these might work (we probably need to nail these down before we can get too into how they work together)

• Ian was absent

11/08/2022 1.20pm | Ian Bell

• Created Landing Page subpage to begin placing headings for the GDD framework under without interfering with existing pages

  • Game Overview subpage with some content taken from the pitch document slide

    • Game Summary subpage with prompts for

      • Working Title

      • Brief overview describing the game

      • Game Summary subpage also includes some content from the pitch document

    • Technology & Platforms subpage with prompts for

      • Platform

      • Tools being used for development

  • Core Gameplay subpage with prompt for content on this page

    • Player Objective subpage with prompt

    • Level Design & Progression subpage with prompts

    • Mechanics subpage with prompt

      • Multiple subpages for potential mechanics

  • Art & Visual Design subpage with prompts for content

  • Sound Engineering subpage with prompts for content

  • Narrative subpage with prompts

    • Character Design subpage

    • World Design & Lore subpage

    • Levels & Environments subpage

  • Media Assets subpage with prompts

  • Marketing & Development subpage

    • Comparison to Other Titles subpage

    • Target Audience subpage

    • Development Schedule subpage

      • Testing

      • Prototyping

      • Project Roles

• Created Deprecated Pages subpage & moved old Mechanics page under it

• Moved Systems subpage under Mechanics subpage pending restructuring of info

11/08/2022 | Alex Malan

• developed map size and player movement

  • including player speed

• finalized the pixel resolution - 128 x 128px - fitted to a 16:9 screen

• filled out Player Objective page

• made a start on the Sound Engineering & Audio page.

14/08/2022 | Ian Bell

• Home -> Landing Page

  • Deprecated the 'Landing Page' and moved all pages under it to be children of Home page

• Home -> Game Overview

  • Updated the fluff text within Game Overview to read 'This is Purgatory. It is the Last Train.' and edited a few lines for clarity.

• Home -> Core Gameplay -> Mechanics -> Level Exit Gates

  • Created folder and moved Systems under it

• Home -> Core Gameplay -> Mechanics -> Systems

  • Renamed to Puzzles

  • moved contents of a text box to Mechanics which mostly summarized some mechanics which could be in the game

  • Removed several text boxes which contained information not related to the puzzles

  • Began filling out top text box Level Exit Gates - Puzzles

14/08/2022 | Matt Hopkins

• Home -> Art & Visual Design

  • Created Character Art subpage

    • Moved character design descriptions from Character Design / Lore to Character Art

15/08/2022 | Alex Malan

• Added redirection buttons throughout site for ease of navigation

• Re-worded a few page headings for conciseness

• Merged Local Maps and The World Map into one page

  • Renamed it Maps

• Deleted Levels & Environments page

  • Replaced it as a subpage under Level Design & Progression

  • Called the new page Environment Design

• Moved Environment Design to Art & Visual Design as subpage

18/08/2022 | Alex Malan

• Completed Moodboard & Reference Art page

• Started polishing formatting across the site

  • Making sure that font is the same on every page

  • Text size and style

  • Consistent headings

• Updated Game Summary page

• Filled out Technology & Platforms page

  • Researched whether PCs or consoles are more popular, but decided to stick with PCs for development reasons

• Filled out Level Design & Progression page

  • Agreed on a 'turnstile' system whereby players can choose their next location

  • Deliberated over whether a hand-held map item or a passive mini-map is a better choice

    • No solid consensus reached

18/08/2022 | Matt Hopkins

• Completed clothing descriptions in Character Art

• Completed Comparisons to Other Titles

• Merged Comparisons to Other Titles &Target Audience to Marketing & Development

19/08/2022 | Alex Malan

• Edited wording of Sound Engineering & Audio page

• Filled out Narrative page

  • Checked that it was not repeating information on subpages unnecessarily

20/08/2022 | Ian Bell

• Core Gameplay -> Mechanics -> Maps

  • Created diagram for the World Map

  • Completed description and a flowchart of local map generation

• Core Gameplay -> Mechanics -> Maps -> Puzzles

  • Began detailing how the grid generation process for creating pseudo random puzzles should work, as well as outlining the rest of the script components required for the puzzle system.

  • Finished the overall description of the Puzzle system with an included flowchart showing how the overall process works. Will leave it for now and move on to the other scripts and return to the Puzzle system if there is more time

• Core Gameplay -> Mechanics -> Maps -> Level Exit Gates

  • Filled out the LevelExitGate page & explaining the system for how the different requirements can all work on the same framework for interacting with a game object which literally blocks the train from moving. Included a flowchart demonstrating how the system will work.

• Core Gameplay -> Mechanics -> Character Movement

  • Filled out the CharacterMove section of 'Character Movement & Interaction' with an explanation of how movement is intended to work and a section of pseudocde.

  • Also filled out the Interaction part with similar details.

• Core Gameplay -> Mechanics -> Combat

  • Added information to the Combat page with a breakdown of how Characters will use the Interaction system to call a damage method on NPCAnimal classes, which will check for valid tools/weapons and reduce Health accordingly.

  • Did the same for NPCAnimal classes dealing damage to Characters with two different ways for NPCAnimal classes to behave (Bear and Wolf). Diagrams to follow

  • Diagrams showing AnimalNPC attacks on the grid system have been added.

• Core Gameplay -> Mechanics -> Artificial Intelligence

  • Completed description of the artificial intelligence for wolf, bear and deer. Might go back later and add snakes?

20/08/2022 | Ian Bell

• Core Gameplay -> Mechanics -> The Fog

  • Outlined how Fog will work in Local Maps with diagrams showing the manner in which Fog will spread, the rate at which it will 'harm' things and how the parameters used for loading previously visited Local Maps will change over time with repeated visits.

• Core Gameplay

  • Filled the page out with details of the broad gameplay loop & the activities each player will engage in as the primary gameplay loop within a Local Map

22/08/2022 | Ian Bell

• Moved Glossary to Deprecated Pages as it felt like unnecessary double handling at this point. Will just need to make sure terms are consistent throughout GDD and that when concepts are introduced using keywords they are explained clearly.

• Core Gameplay -> Player Objective

  • Wrote a small novel on the Player Objective page basically detailing what the overall goal of the players is

    • what the individual focuses are per Class 'type (as well as defining those types)

    • detailing the overall gameplay loop

    • talking a bit about the ultimate end state of the game (if players survive long enough they get a scripted 'death' which is actually the good ending)

02/09/2022 | Matt Hopkins

• Fixed typo in Mechanics