DragCore's Unfinished GDD

     I never bothered to finish it because it's all in my head now. The final pages of the document because my dumping grounds for spur of the moment notes. Game Design Documents are the most important tools for keeping a team on track and working toward the same goal. It's good to practice writing them, but this is a project I'm doing alone. If I understand everything down to the byte I could just save myself the trouble of writing 20 more pages and just start development.

     Here is the link to DragCore's GDD. I wanted to post a completed one a month ago but I decided it was better to use my time actually making DragCore. What you find in there is pretty much everything about the game and some concept art. The programming sections are empty and the last pages full of random notes. I think I'll make future documents more general and organized.

DragCore: Combo System

     DragCore is about getting a high score in a hectic game of kill everything on screen. Players goals are unlocking content on a macro scale, but from game-to-game players should be looking to get the highest score and climb leaderboards. In order for points to matter and make sense, I made up a combo system to go with the basic depleting points as enemies touch the Earth.

Gushing About: Godzilla - Destroy All Monsters Melee

     This game was my hidden gem. Nobody had heard of it when I brought it over to play. I had oh so much fun with this game. Countless hours of screaming with rage and roaring with excitement back in elementary school. Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee was one of my first Gamecube games and it had multiplayer so others could play with me. With all the hype for the new movie (which I hope is really good) I think it's a good time to recall how I met the King of Monsters.

     Aside from the 1998 movie I barely remember (except for the toys) this was my introduction to Godzilla. The only giant lizard cooler than Charizard (or maybe just as cool). It was also one of those really hard games that I had to practice to get good at. Eventually I was wrecking all my friends in it and apparently developed severe stupidity because I traded it in to get Warioware: Smooth Moves a few years later. A decision I somewhat regret.

     Let's bask in memory lane and try to figure out why I would even do that.

DragCore: The Crystal System

    Players like progression. It's fun to watch bars fill up when you play. Having a sense of purpose makes a game more fun and addictive. It works because in your mind you aren't wasting time, you're working toward something. My favorite thing about Call of Duty multiplayer was leveling up and seeing the yellow text with "+2" or something on it. It's fun to grow and earn rewards. 

     I came up with something to put those values in DragCore. I call it the Crystal System. It's changed a few times as I've been trying to decide to use it as either an experience level or currency. I ultimately decided on experience level presented as currency. Read on to see an explanation of this madness.