another place: a city withinmakegamessa.com/uploads/fileupload/53/d4309a5f3fe40dd9bb514… · •...

ANOTHER PLACE:A CITY WITHIN

(Where Virtual Reality and Humanity Meet)

A Game Design DocumentWritten by Juan Burger

[email protected]+27815203965

All work Copyright ©2015 by Upper Volta Interactive.

mailto:[email protected]




.............................................................................................................................................................................Approach: 3..............................................................................................................................................................................Purpose:! 3

.............................................................................................................................................................Design Philosophy:! 3..............................................................................................................................................................Our Target Market:! 3

.................................................................................................................................................Similar VR Intensive Titles:! 3..........................................................................................................................................................................Our Ideals:! 3

............................................................................................................................................................General Information: 4.................................................................................................................................................................................Genre:! 4

.....................................................................................................................................................Single Player Campaign:! 4............................................................................................................................................................................Platforms:! 4

.................................................................................................................................................................Game Objective:! 4..............................................................................................................................................Story and Narrative Delivery:! 5

.........................................................................................................................................................................Characters:! 5.............................................................................................................................................................Player Perspective:! 5

.................................................................................................................................................Player as an Abstract Idea:! 5........................................................................................................................................................World Representation:! 6

...................................................................................................................World Design Philosophy - Beauty in Despair:! 6..................................................................................................................World Representation - Concept Photography:! 6

......................................................................................................................Gameplay Mechanics and The Use of Fun:! 11................................................................................................................................................................A Sense of Fun :! 12

..................................................................................................................................................................Scan and Plan:! 12....................................................................................................................Player motivation, progression and rewards:! 12

...................................................................................................................................................Enemies and Obstacles:! 13................................................................................................................................................................Battle = Rebuild:! 14

................................................................................................................................................................................Audio:! 15.................................................................................................................................................................Diegetic Sound:! 15

.........................................................................................................................................................Non-Diegetic Sound:! 15.......................................................................................................................................................................Technology:! 16

...........................................................................................................................................Player and Game Interaction: 17..................................................................................................................................................................PS4 Controller:! 17...................................................................................................................................................................Button-Layout:! 18

.............................................................................................................................................................Project Morpheus:! 19.......................................................................................................................................................Pre-Game Interaction:! 19......................................................................................................................................................Menu-Layout Detailed:! 20

............................................................................................................................................................Pre-Game Screen:! 21........................................................................................................................................................................Main Menu:! 21

...................................................................................................................................................................Game Screen:! 21...........................................................................................................................................................Sibling Documents: 22

Upper Volta Interactive Version 0.4 Game Design Document

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1 Approach:With every new project, there needs to be a purpose, a roadmap, a cohesive plan as to why, and how one can and will achieve your intended ideals. With this detailed document, I intend to emphasise why we are making Another Place: A City Within, as well as how we are going to make it.

1.1 Purpose:With Another Place, A City Within, we aim to utilise VR technology to create a game which projects a state of utter immersion for the player to:• See the world through the eyes of the protagonist• Experience his inner/outer struggles• Journey into the surreal, distant lands of his inner self• Fight and conquer his inner demons, with the hope of saving himself, from himself…

1.2 Design Philosophy:In order to achieve a harmonious gaming experience, we will focus on the following three design fundamentals:• Simplicity/Accessibility through gameplay and control design • Replay-ability through varied and intricate level design• Memorability through character and narrative design

1.3 Our Target Market:For players 16 and up who are interested in an emotive, surreal, and immersive VR-gaming experience.

1.4 Similar VR Intensive Titles:• Adrift• Land’s End• Technolust

1.5 Our Ideals:As a team of student developers, we want to create a product which we all can be incredible proud of, a product we can showcase to others, and naturally, a product which others can wholeheartedly enjoy and cherish.


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2 General Information:

2.1 Genre:• Cinematic Drama, Action Adventure.

The chosen genre, enables us as developers to craft a convincing VR experience that has the potential to influence the hearts and minds of the participating gamer.

• Cinematic: With VR, we have the ability to build an immersive world for the player to delve into and experience, as if that inhabited space were real and tangible.(the suspension of disbelief).

• Drama: Through narrative design and character interaction, we are able to sculpt flawed, humane, yet believable characters, characters which ensures the gamer want to invest their time and effort into aiding them on their intended quest.

• Action: To intensify the need for survival, we are designing the combat gameplay segments to be fast paced, fluid, and action driven. Combat becomes emotive, raw, and real as one realizes the importance of each move/decision you make with the hope of keeping the protagonist’s quest, alive and breathing.

• Adventure: By designing surrealist, decaying, yet beautiful landscapes for the player to explore and traverse with their rewarded abilities, we empower the player on their “hero’s journey” to be adventurous and daring, never knowing what lies ahead in the next valley, river, or highland.

2.2 Single Player Campaign:• Another Place: A City Within is designed from the outset, to function as single player, gaming experience. • Why single player? Well, the game and it’s intended, isolated, intense and immersive experience, would not

be retained if one changed the game’s DNA to function as a multiplayer experience. The heart and soul of the game would cease to function as a whole, and thus, the player will not be able to build a bond with the game, the protagonist and the world they occupy.

2.3 Platforms:• PS4 and it’s dedicated VR peripheral, Project Morpheus.

We are first and foremost, designing Another Place: A City Within around the PS4’s architecture. With the encouraging potential of assistance from Sony to Indie Developers, and their push to emphasize the prowess of their VR peripheral, there can frankly be no better home for our game to launch on, than that of the PS4 platform.

• However, once our game has been released on the PS Store and exceeded it’s timed exclusivity, we will begin to port Another Place: A City Within to run on PC and support the Oculus Rift peripheral. This ensures that a broader demographic of gamers can enjoy and cherish our labor of love.

2.4 Game Objective:Another Place: A City Within’s end-game motivator is simple, yet powerful, as it deals with our own mortality and fragility.

The end-game goal for Another Place: A City Within, can be described as the following:• As the player, you need to temporarily stall the progression of your ever present enemy(cancer), with the

hope of buying your decaying body enough time to see your daughter one last time. • Your last wish, is to be with her, hold her, and leave this world, with her by your side.


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2.5 Story and Narrative Delivery:Another Place: A City Within’s narrative can be summarized as the following:• A decaying man, with 30 days left to live, attempts to delve deeper within and prolong his inevitable demise

of occurring. Through meditation and transcendence, he visits his city within, a place where he can be free from constraints and pain. His city within, is where he will win some time against his inner, unrelenting enemy.

The main, overarching narrative will be conveyed through cutscenes, as well as through player interaction between you, your daughter and your ally, Idolon, with the help of a dialogue system.

2.5.1 Characters:Another Place: A City Within will wholeheartedly appear empty and hollow without it’s characters, the 3d inhabitants which pave the way for your journey. So let us meet the main characters.

• Protagonist: A fragile man, a broken man. A man in the midst of what should be a long and prosperous life, attacked and crippled by an incurable disease.

• Age: 51• Appearance: With a thin,wonky frame and a grey, receding hairline, he hides his fragility by wearing a dove

white tuxedo. White, the color of hope, a statement of his intent to oppose the cancerous wrath of the Choshek.

• Personality: Warm, Caring, Intelligent, with a dash of Perseverance and Optimism. • Idolon: Your ally, and visual representation of your bodies inner voice, the voice of thought and reason you

so desperately need. Bound to one another through flesh, and bound to one another for the unified purpose of survival.

• Age: 51• Appearance: With a hideous, deformed face, and an elegant, hovering, maroon cloak, this jester-like figure

deconstructs himself into a maroon, shapeshifting orb. Firstly, he does so in order save as much valuable energy for your body to function fluidly. Secondly, he deconstructs himself in order to attach himself to you to become your guide, your ally, and ultimately, your friend.

• Personality: Witty, Peculiar, Intelligent, Wise, yet Daring• Alaska: Your motivator, your heart’s possessor, and the sole reason you have not surrendered your flesh

and soul to the ruinous Choshek.• Age: 23• Appearance: Through your eyes, she is the embodiment of perfection. With warm, loving azure filled eyes,

and hair as white as snow, her name and appearance, epitomizes the beauty of a wintery landscape.• Personality: Innocent, Gentle, Loving, Sincere and a Realist by heart. • The Choshek: The disease, the culprit, the cancer… • Appearance: Black as cole, these oily, infectious beings sway and form part of any terrain to consume and to

ultimately, cease your existence.

2.6 Player Perspective:Another Place: A City Within will be experience through the:• 1st person camera angle/perspective

The 1st person perspective is the chosen perspective as it posses a greater depth of immerses for the player when working with VR technology, than that of a 3rd person perspective. One descends easier into the body of the protagonist and the world around you, by staging the game to be experienced through the eyes of the protagonist. We want to establish a sense of connectedness between player and character.

2.6.1 Player as an Abstract Idea:Upon visiting the protagonist’s city within, a surreal and otherworldly setting, the player/character really comes to life. Here you and your ally, Idolon, a floating, orb like being, who is a visual representation of your inner voice, becomes one, as Idolon, attaches himself onto your wrist, floating along as you explore your inner city.


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Idolon becomes an extension of yourself, and therefore, your interaction with him is vital in furthering your quest to see your daughter one last time. In essence one controls and interact with your self(protagonist), and your inner self(Idolon). This form of interaction leads the way for intriguing gameplay/narrative mechanics as Idolon becomes your companion, your voice of reason, your means to fight off the enemy, and more importantly, your friend.

2.7 World Representation:• Real World: The representation of the real world which the player will encounter and explore within the

confides of the protagonists home, will aesthetically appear to be disinfected, white, warm, and unordinary. The aesthetics, represent the total opposite of how the character feels and moves within that space. You will move slowly, and hurtfully as the cancer cripples your body, day in and day out.

• Surreal World: The surrealist landscape of the protagonists inner city, is a visual representation of his decaying, fragile body. There is a beauty in the landscapes despair, a sense of hope, as it transcends towards the way the protagonist moves while he is in his city. He has no constraints and no pain, as he begins the process of rebuilding his inner city.

2.7.1 World Design Philosophy - Beauty in Despair:The objective of the games aesthetics are to provide texture to your observing eyes, and your humane heart. I want you to experience a sense of loss and mortality within the confines of landscapes and structures. The areas you explore need to be emotive and function as a character would, speaking to you through their own form of dialogue, namely their appearance and inner dwellings.

Example: Fragile, rotten, and menacingly constructed wooden beacons, tower into the sky, filling space in the vast, infected, oily landscape. Above in the “night-sky” levitates a sign of hope, as 1000’s of fireflies, illuminate the rotten landscape in a glowing ember, providing guidance for your eyes, signaling the road that needs to be travelled.

Although the structures within the games surreal world seem lost, their beauty reinvigorates a sense of hope and perseverance.

2.7.2 World Representation - Concept Photography:The images I cite on the pages below, may not be the best examples of emotive photography, but what they do provide is a guided understanding of the world’s intended representation to the player. The photographs will focus on:• Landscapes &• Structures

Both categories will be explored in detail during the pages below, as both the landscapes, and structures, hold a great of importance to capture the correct intended mood of the virtual world and the inner city of Another Place: A City Within.

Even if the photographs are entitled to portray a concept mockup for representational purposes, I took the time to find imagery which represented my vision of the gaming world, the most vivid and accurate. These images are a blessing as they easily paint the world of Another Place: A City Within, for the reader, as my descriptive words can only delve you so far into my intended vision for these spaces.

So without any further ado, please take a trip to Another Place: A City Within.


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Landscape• The first three images reflect the attributes of a Karoo landscape. The Karoo is a semi-desert, natural region

of South Africa, and fairly reminiscent of areas such as America’s Nevada. • The simplicity of it’s beauty is captivating, and it’s ability to reinvent itself each year from a stale, thirsty

landscape, to a greener, alive and pulsating entity, is a marvel to behold. • It’s never-say-die attitude is an attribute of a heroic character, a attribute which is fitting for utilizing the

landscape as base-city for the character and player to explore. • The first image is a visual representation of how dark and moody the city’s landscape can be once the

Choshek have invaded the plane with their cancerous, black goo. • The second image portrays a state of infection, a glimpse of how the Choshek’s influence, putrefies the

landscape of the city, squeezing every once of life out of it’s pulsating body. • The third image depicts a glimmer of hope and perseverance. The image depicts a city landscape which

have been restored to it’s former glory, through fighting the never-ending fight against the unrelenting Choshek. The growing, hopeful greenery, is not just aesthetically pleasing for the eye, but in gameplay and narrative terms, a small rewarding victory for the player.

• The lush, beautiful greenery motivates one to push on and conquer your inner demons, one battle, and one restored piece of fauna at a time.

Structure• The last three photographs detain a great deal of importance. The prominent stick figured structures, is a

visual cue on how the city’s beacons, can be portrayed to the player. Their imposing, menacing, primitive representative nature, is a testament of how badly your body has been crippled by the Choshek. You are frail and fragile, walking, talking structure.

• The beacons act as “pistons” which drives your inner engine, the engine which keeps your body from ceasing to exist. Without the beacons active participation, you will fall to the ever present Choshek, hence the importance to reactivate one at a time.

• Each and every one of the 13 beacons will be used to transport yourself to a different district/level within your city.

• With each reactivated beacon, a stream of color escapes it’s top and swirls into the sky, forming part of the landscape, and so doing, driving the Choshek from the cancer infected fauna of the city.

• The last, divided image, showcase the occurrence of when one re-activates a beacon. The image on the left is the puff/cough that escapes the beacons chimney, as it inhales air, trying to fill it’s lungs and power up it’s pistons to ignite it’s “engine”.

• The image on the right, showcases the particles/smoke which escapes the beacons chimney once it has been successful in igniting it’s “engine”. The colored smoke, represent the color of the beacon you just activated. It is quite a beautiful sight to behold as the smoke drifts into the air and flows over the landscape, cleansing some of the fauna along the way.

• The sight of color in the sky, and greenery on the ground, becomes your new best friend. The recapturing of the beauty within your city, becomes a motivator to persist and rid the Choshek from the dwellings of your city and it’s landscape.

• Ridding the Choshek from your city, one reactivated beacon at a time, you enable the landscape to breath and heal. Your actions gradually buy yourself valuable time against your inevitable demise, as time becomes a living luxury.

Hopefully with the cited images above, it is clear how the world design philosophy of: beauty in despair, can be effectively utilised to portrayed the inner demise of the protagonist, as well as his sense of hope to suppress his enemy, and rebuild his inner city to see his daughter one last time.

These landscapes will become your battlefield, your enemy, and your liberating shelter. They need to be imposing, rugged, warm, and yet, inviting.


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2.8 Gameplay Mechanics and The Use of Fun:Progressive gameplay through emotive experiences.

Another Place: A City Within’s gameplay philosophy can be explained through the following: • Emotive events that occurs in the game, influences the way the character behaves and adapts to the world

around him, which in turn, translates into the evolution of your gameplay approach when undertaking new challenges/levels.

Your emotive experiences arrises through the struggle to survive, and the struggle to salvage what is left of yourself, with the hope of seeing your daughter one last time. In order to prolong your characters life, you need to restore power to all 13 of your city’s dormant beacons, as your decaying and powerless city, can’t function and survive the unrelenting nature of the Choshek’s(cancer) assault. Each re-activated beacon, gradually halters the advancement of the Choshek(cancer).

How does this translate into level/gameplay mechanics? Well, let us find out:

• Beacons are paired into three categories, namely primary, secondary and tertiary colors. Each color category consists out of sub colors, for example: primary colors are (red, green, blue), secondary colors are (yellow, cyan, magenta), and tertiary colors are (orange, chartreuse green, spring green, azure, violet and rose).

• Each and every individual colored beacon, as mentioned above, influences the look, feel and gameplay approach of that specific level.

• Levels, are first and foremost, designed around collecting a shard which represents the color of that level. Once retrieved, the shard activates the dormant beacon and unlocks the sequenced(following color) beacon/level for you to explore and conquer.

• Once inside a beacon, you need to fight your way through the Choshek(cancer), the liquid black beings which roam and populate the level, protecting the hidden shard from your reach and retrieval.

• Gameplay revolves around using your ally, Idolon, a hovering, maroon colored, shapeshifting orb as a multifunctional tool to progress through each level and fend off the Choshek.

After unlocking each beacon within a major color category(primary, secondary or tertiary), the character will undergo an emotional change in the real world, by experiencing an inner evolution, or revolution. These changes will alter the way the character behaves and observes the world around him, and therefore, when the player returns to his city within, a new gameplay mechanic will need to accompany his new found knowledge/needs.

Each new mechanic, will sprite from the body of Idolon, as he is the tool you use to interact with the city/world around you. The grappling hook which you acquire after completing the primary color category is a prime example:

Once you have unlocked all the beacons within the primary colored category, you will be rewarded with the upgrade/use of the grappling hook. The ability to use the grappling hook immediately makes one reexamine the way you have been interacting with the world around you. Suddenly, new combat possibilities arises, but more excitingly, you now have the ability to traverse over wide, open spaces, as well as conquer tall, vertical structures.

The aim is to use narrative/story progression as a tool to keep the gameplay approach fresh, intriguing and most importantly, fun. In order to achieve this aim, we will be providing the player with a new, major gameplay mechanic after unlocking all the beacons within the primary, secondary and tertiary color categories.


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2.8.1 A Sense of Fun :No matter how emotive and serious the subject matter of Another Place: A City Within may be, the core fundamentals of any game, which is gameplay, should still provide the player with a fun and addictive, gaming experience. This is how we will integrate a sense of fun into our game:

• Idolon’s hovering, balloon-like nature, ensures that through taking hold of his attached “umbilical cord”, the following gameplay options arises (combat, gathering, and exploration)

• Combat: In order to fight the Choshek, one uses Idolon’s umbilical cord to swing his head(orb) towards the intended target, acting as a flail weapon, and as a result, reduce the Choshek to a pile of oil with finely executed attacks.

• Idolon’s mouth can also be used to propel gathered and converted white blood cells towards the Choshek, breaking down their exterior with each successful blast. Your white blood cells need to be used sparingly, as they are vital to ensure your survival.

• Idolon’s head can also be enlarged to shape a protective sphere for the player to hide behind, waiting for an opportunity to launch a counter attack.

• Gathering: After each battle, Idolon consumes the puddles of oil which lies scattered across the battlefield. These puddles of oil acts as the in-game credit system.

• The puddles of oil you gather, are converted into white blood cells, which in turn can be used for health, ammo, or to improve your abilities.

• Exploration: In order to explore the entirety of a level, you should use Idolon as a grappling hook to traverse tall structures and vast, open, otherwise unreachable spaces. The grappling hook is one of a few gameplay mechanics which will be introduced throughout the game to emphasize a sense of fun and enjoyment.

2.8.2 Scan and Plan:One way to improve your gameplay approach when facing new enemies, is to use the Scan & Plan feature. One can use Idolon as a real-time recording/scanning device to:• Observe the movements of enemies during battle.• Record, replay and analyse their attack patterns to determine their strength and potential weaknesses. • Suggest points of entry when approaching an enemy.

The Scan and Plan feature is a vital tool that can ensure your survival against the onslaught of the Choshek. The feature also strengthens the bond and trust between you and Idolon, as it motivates you to communicate with one another and function as a unit. Remember, the one cannot function, or survive without the other. To plan, is to win.

2.9 Player motivation, progression and rewards:To motivate the player throughout their journey, the following gratification systems have been designed to enrich their overall experience:• Variety through play: During the campaign, a new gameplay mechanic accompanies the introduction of

each new major color category (primary, secondary and tertiary). These new mechanics ensure the gaming experience remains fresh and innovative throughout the longevity of the campaign.

• Refinement through rewards: Through the game’s credit system, we encourage the player to master each new provided mechanic to maximize their in-game earnings potential. These earnings(credits) provide the player with an opportunity to upgrade and refine their combat and exploration skill-set. Encouragement goes a long way, rewards goes a little bit further.

• Affection through emotion and interaction: For true immersion and sincere investment in the game, emotion needs to motivate the player’s actions(use of game mechanics and upgrade system). Through cinematic interaction, the player experiences what their character experiences, and therefore, grow affectionate towards him and his cause. This state of affection will wholeheartedly encourage the player to invest their time and energy into aiding their character to complete their intended journey.


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2.10 Enemies and Obstacles:The Choshek are the defining enemy that roams the plains of Another Place: A City Within. These black, oily, merciless beings, reinvent themselves to appear in a variety of shapes and sizes. With each and every evolution one encounters, we encourage the player to reinvent their gameplay approach to conquer their new found enemy.

With every new major colour category (primary, secondary and tertiary) you enter, we introduce a new set of enemies for you to conquer. Thus, the gameplay approach, and combat experience remains fresh and intriguing throughout the entirety of the game’s campaign.

The Choshek’s awareness of an imposing body to feast on, is triggered by the sound/vibration one exudes when approaching their proximity as they idle in their “succulent” state. The foul vermin comes crawling out of their “woodwork” the moment they sense your presence, and thus, one always need to be ready to engage with the variety of enemies your city will throw at you.The Choshek ALWAYS use the landscape around them to model and shape their battle-ready exterior.

Here are some of the featured, Choshek-varied enemies you will face on your journey:• The Rak - The regular.• Background: The most common class of Choshek, the Rak, are the foot soldiers of it’s regime. They are also

the first Choshek-class you will come across during your stay in your city within. • Behaviour: The Rak are the most fragile of the entire fleet of Choshek varied enemies. The small Karoo-

bushes which inhabit the city, are what they feast on and use to build their battle-ready exterior. The word Rak, also refers to the inexperienced, and therefore, they hide and wait for their chance to emerge and attack with as much strength behind their effort as possible. Their attacks generally lack precision as they are not battle proven, and therefore, you can practice your skill set and approach when facing them. They prefer to attack you from close range with melee-centred combat.

• Bearings: The Rak are mostly found hiding and waiting in the small, fauna species of valleys and highland territories.

• The Imri - The wild.• Background: The Imri are the tallest of all the Choshek you will encounter throughout your journey. When

facing the Imri, a David versus Goliath situation ensues, as one needs to be careful, yet thoughtful of their near limitless, extended reach.

• Behaviour: The Imri use the trees in which they are situated as their base-body when one nears it. Hence their tall, ominous presence. Their height presents them with an advantage, as they know you are approaching from afar, and therefore, prepare themselves in due time for battle. Their long, branching, stretchable arms are used to attack you from afar, and when one tries to near them, they shake their body violently to create a gush of wind that sweeps you off your feet.

• Bearings: The Imri are mostly found near forest stricken areas, however, their ingenuity ensure they have the ability to inhabit isolated trees as well.

• The Tsur - The powerful.• Background: The Tsur are the brute of Another Place: A City Within, the most physically fearsome variant of

the Choshek. • Behaviour: Their bulky, sturdy nature comes forth when becoming aware of your presence. They embrace

the rocks/boulders around them to form their muscular exterior. They are a great deal more confident than the Rak and will attack from close quarters as well as from afar if one choses to flee. Their close quarter combat revolves around using their rock-shaped fists to pound down on you. As stated above, they can attack you from afar by hurling pieces of their own rocky exterior towards you. Or they huddle their body up to try and run you down with their bolder-shaped body.

• Bearings: The Tsur are mostly found in mountainous areas. However, they can also be found near lakes, or caves which may possess a great deal of rock/boulder mass.


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• The Naba - The patient.• Background: The Naba are the most patient variant of the Choshek. Where the Rak attacks out of

inexperience, the Naba attacks with experience and precision. They rarely miss their target once they found their mark, and set their aim.

• Behaviour: Their precision makes them lethal, and therefore, one needs to beware their presence when crossing/nearing a stream, or river. The Naba uses water to propel themselves into the air and to hover for a timed moment until their “fuel” runs out. They use the water around them to refuel their tanks and continue their assault. Their blob-like exterior, when filled with water, shrinks as they hover/move and attack you burst after burst. It is vital to defeat these persistent and precision driven Choshek as hastily as possible before they use the chance to refuel themselves. The Naba attacks with pressurised bursts of oily, cancerous water when one nears them. From afar they use extendable, water based whips to pound on you, and drag you closer to them. Lastly, from within their stomach, they are able to extract water based, cancer infected hover-bombs which they hurl at you, causing wide-spread reach and damage.

• Bearings: The are usually found in rivers, streams, springs, and in some cases, puddles of freshly drizzled rain.

• The Nur - The furious.• Background: As their name implies, The Nur are the most furious variant of the Choshek army. One never

really know when or where they may appear, as they do not inhabit an object or a solid structure as the others. However, when they do appear, they become a walking, cancer spewing, furious inferno.

• Behaviour: The Nur’s furious nature, translates into their battle-focused behaviour. Their exterior is embroiled with a flame entangled frame, and as we all know, when an oil based liquid is exposed to an open flame, a circus of uncontrollable, furious flamed activity arises. The Nur’s flaming exterior is a sight one does not want to behold, as when one does, you need to be ready to face their fury. When they attack you from up-close, they use melee centred combat to deal the damage. Its hands, morph a fire engulfed blade to grab a hold of, swinging at you, hoping to strike you down with each anger driven attempt. From afar, it’s mouth spews enormous fireballs which hones at you and follow your every step. If they want to cover a great spread of land, they hunch down onto their knees, and unleash a swarm of fire-filed arrows/bombs from their back into the air, making their way towards your vicinity.

• Bearings: As mentioned before, it is hard to pinpoint when, or where they will appear. From experience, be cautious when a thunderstorm arises, as when one does, you will be sure to meet a few furious, Nur varient Choshek. Lightning may strike down onto a few, dry, Choshek inhabited Karoo bush, setting them alight, and in the process, awaken the Nur.

Keep in mind that throughout the campaign of Another Place:A City Within, there will feature more enemy variation than just the ones stated above. The further once delves into the campaign, the intenser the Choshek’s attempts become. A clear example would be that of the hybrid, an enemy which represents the combined abilities from some of the above mentioned variants.

Moreover, the final beacon of each major color category, will test they player’s acquired knowledge and skill with a fitting, yet unique, boss battle.

2.10.1 Battle = Rebuild:The Battle = Rebuild mechanic, acts as a visual motivator, reminding you how far you have come, and how far you still need to go. Every action has a reaction. In your case, when one defeats an enemy, the pieces of landscape he used to construct his battle ready exterior, will be replaced by new, unspoiled, and perfectly appropriate pieces. With each new battle, you slowly, but surely reconstruct the decaying landscape/structures around you. With each reactivated beacon, the rebuilding process becomes advanced with a greater means of measurement than one would convince.


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2.11 Audio:One of the key, descriptive, genre words for Another Place:A City Within, is the word cinematic. In the world of Another Place:A City Within, the word cinematic refers to an immersive experience that guides you into the mind, body, and setting of the character you occupy. Therefore for our project, music/sound effects is just as important as gameplay, level design, and narrative design to achieve a cinematic, immersive state for our players to cherish and enjoy.

The sound design of Another Place:A City Within, will consist out of Diegetic, and Non-diegetic sound. The Diegetic sound which will be used are:• Character Dialogues • Sound Effects made by objects/characters in the game

Non-Non-diegetic sound which will be used are:• Narration/Voice Overs• Mood Music/Score

2.11.1 Diegetic Sound:Dialogue:• The dialogue for the characters will need to be recorded and edited/manipulated to fit their intended, emotive

state of mind. • Can be done expertly and inexpensively with the help of a decent microphone and some NLE software, or

Garage Band.• “De-esser” and “De-noiser” tools can be used to clean and sharpen the audio(noise reduction) in Adobe

Premiere Pro • Audio Effects manipulation tools such as “Flanger” and “Pitch Shifter” can be used to manipulate Idolon’s

voice to achieve that surreal, otherworldly, and eerie presence that breaths life into his character. • To emphasise a sense of space when characters speak, the “Reverb” tool can be used to mimic the

ambience of a small room, a larger room or even an immense, open valley.

Sound Effects:• Another Place: A City Within, will boast a wealth of sound effects to enrich player, and world immersion.• All the Sound Effects will have to be downloaded or created with the help of Foley techniques. • FreeSound(http://www.freesound.org/), a well established, and widely used sound library, will be used to

search for expertly recorded and useable sound effects that we can manipulate to suite our project needs.• Sounds downloaded or recorded, will be used/manipulated in Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Soundbooth, or if

necessary, Pro Tools. • Sound Effect Lists will have be created to focus on different categories with the aim of maximising efficiency.

The lists will focus on the following sections: objects(props)/movement/spaces/combat. Each main section can be then again divided into sub sections.

2.11.2 Non-Diegetic Sound:Narration/Voice Overs:• Voice Overs in Another Place: A City Within, will be used to convey the protagonists feelings within his real,

or surreal state of mind. • The recordings as stated in the “dialogue” section above, should be captured at a high enough quality to

guarantee easy manipulation for our intended needs.


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http://www.freesound.org

http://www.freesound.org

• The majority of voice overs, will be used as a dramatic effect to emphasise a sense of longing when the protagonist think of his daughter, and how important she is to him and his need of survival. These recordings will feature an echo to portray a flashback, or memory.

• Echo’s will be achieved by using the “Reverb” and “Delay” tools within Adobe Premiere Pro to manipulate the recordings.

Mood Music/Soundscapes: • I chose music which posses texture, personality and an unescapable atmosphere. The music must paint the

horrifying picture of the ever-present specter(cancer) that hovers over the protagonist and his actions.

• Within the scores ominous presence, there must be a sign of hope which reflects the positivity and warmth of your daughters aura.

• Therefore the music must undoubtedly be hauntingly beautiful and captivating.

• Here are some sample music which exemplifies the mood/tone we need for Another Place: A City Within.

• A Warm Place, by Nine Inch Nails (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN6sfJ1qFQg)

• The Beginning, by Spin Day (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Spin_Day/ Spin_Day_and_the_Emotional_Godfather/Spin_Day_- _Spin_Day_And_The_Emotional_Godfather_-_08_The_Beginning)

• Yndi Halda, Enjoy Eternal Bliss (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tnFwxP5n2I)

• Most of our music, will be acquired from the Free Music Archive(http://freemusicarchive.org/), as they have an abundance of beautifully composed: experimental, instrumental, avant-garde and sound art pieces.

Trigger Music:

• Trigger music is used to emphasize events or occurrences within the game that has a great deal of importance. Music becomes automatically triggered with cutscenes, new gameplay sections, and when one is about to be confronted by an enemy.

• When the game presents the player with a cutscene, a piece of music will accompany the cutscene to portray the inner/outer struggles of the protagonist, as well as their inner/outer victories.

• The moment a new major color category(secondary, or tertiary) becomes unlocked by the player to explore and conquer, a piece of music will be cued to act as a motivator for the player. The piece will also act as a foreshadowing technique, painting a picture of the new color category with the aid of moody, expressive music, warning the player of the enemies, and obstacles that lie ahead.

• To intensify battle sequences, and heighten the importance of your survival, a piece of music will “warn” you when an enemy has seen you, and thus, prepares his merciless assault on you. Each piece will be specially composed/tailored to identify the triggered enemy by ear.

• With the aid of trigger music, battle sequences become a swaying, energetic, raw, fierce, survivalist opera.

2.12 Technology:Aristotle once said: “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” To achieve this feat, we needed a technology to empower our ideals, and luckily, the rise of VR peripherals were on the horizon.


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN6sfJ1qFQg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN6sfJ1qFQg

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Spin_Day/

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Spin_Day/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tnFwxP5n2I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tnFwxP5n2I

http://freemusicarchive.org

http://freemusicarchive.org

VR technology empowers developers to create beautifully crafted, introspective, yet thought provoking experiences which would have never been possible in the gaming world as we know it. VR technology enables us to design Another Place:A City Within to serve it’s purpose of touching the hearts and minds of those who come into contact with it.

The design purpose of Another Place: A City Within, is to blend art, literature, narrative and interactive play to craft a gaming experience with inner significance, a game which speaks to people no matter their race, creed, or sex, as the game revolves around the following critical human thematics: mortality & family. When one design a game which revolves around mortality and family, you wholeheartedly possess a product which appeal to everybody who has a beating heart.

Another Place: A City Within were from the outset, designed to provide the player with a dedicated, VR experience. Without VR functionality, Another Place: A City Within would still be able to exist as a game, however, it’s ability to provide the player with a raw, emotive, and unforgettable experience would be inconceivable.

3 Player and Game Interaction: To successfully enjoy the entirety of Another Place:A City Within’s immersive journey, the player needs to use the following input devices:• PS4 controller• Project Morpheus peripheral.

3.1 PS4 Controller:Here follows a detailed button-layout of Another Place:A City Within:


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3.2 Button-Layout:Face buttons:• X: The “X” button is used to interact with the world around you. For instance, it can be used to open, or close

doors, activate the crank in an elevator, press play on your answering machine, or to inspect an object from up-close.

• The “X” button is also used after each battle to activate Idolon’s gathering technique, where he opens his mouth to consume the scattered oil which paints the landscape in black.

• Square: The “Square” button is used to perform deadly, melee blows onto your foes. Combo’s can be stringed together, as well as finishers by holding the button down for a longer period of time.

• Triangle: By pressing the “Triangle” button, one uses your chosen ability. For instance, when equipped with your grappling hook, one can rip chunks out of the enemies exterior, or throw them off balance.

• You can also use the grappling hook to cross wide gaps, or traverse tall, vertical structures. • Circle: The “Circle” button is used to fire “white-blood-cell” projectiles towards your enemies. By holding the

“Circle” button down, one releases a concentrated, charge shot towards your foe, dealing a great deal more damage, but in the process, using a great deal more ammo.

Shoulder Buttons:• R1: The “R1” button is used to lock onto enemies, or to change the enemy you are currently locked onto. • R2: The “R2” button is used to jump. By jumping and holding in the jump button, Idolon temporarily puffs

himself up and act as a giant balloon for one to hover, navigate through or over gaps, or even use your flight time as an advantage to rain down on your enemies.

• L1: The “L1” button is used to bring up your ability/wheel on your visor. Here you can change your ability to suit your intended need.

• L2: By pressing the “L2” button, Idolon’s head morphs into a temporary shield, shielding you from your enemies onslaught.

• Idolon’s shield can also be used for counter attacking by stunning enemies in close quarter combat, or when timed correctly, use your shield to deflect approaching projectiles back at your enemies.

Analog Sticks:• R3: The “R3” analog stick is used to move your visors crosshair across the screen, using it as a targeting/

interaction guide, or tool. • L3: The “L3” analog stick is used to control the protagonists movement within the real, and surreal world of

Another Place:A City Within.

Touchpad:• The PS4’s unique touchpad is mainly used to interact with Idolon and his abilities/mechanics. By pressing

down onto the touchpad(as one would do with a mouse), a variety of options arises. • A selection screen appears with access to a map, battle log, survival shop, body bank • All the interaction, between player and Idolon’s inner dwellings, are done with the use of the touchpad. It

provides a sense of connectedness. • One uses the map to scout for unexplored sections, set waypoints for points of interest, and investigate any

signs of recurred Choshek(cancer) activity that needs to be stopped/eliminated. • The battle log is designed to review and analyse Idolon's findings on each and every enemy you have

faced. Here you can re-evaluate your approach to improve your offensive efficiency. • In order to improve your chance of survival in your ruthless city, one needs to upgrade your movement,

health and combat abilities. The survival shop exists for you to use your assigned, and gathered white-blood-cell currency, to upgrade your city-dwelling body. As your will for survival improves, your previously assumed limits, cease to exist.


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• The body bank is where all your gathered Choshek oil, hibernates, waiting to be converted into white-blood-cells and assigned to their respectful accounts. When visiting your bank, one must/can manage the following accounts: health, offensive and savings.

• When managing your accounts, you decide how much of your converted white-blood-cells, goes into each and every account. For example, you can set the parameters to be as such: for every 10 gallons of oil you gather, 3 gallons goes to health, 3 gallons goes to offensive, and 4 gallons goes to savings. These parameters can be changed and swopped around entirely on your demand.

• So when one collects the oil after each battle, your health, ammo and currency will be improved immediately.

3.3 Project Morpheus:The project morpheus peripheral will be used to place one in the body of the protagonist. Therefore, you will control the camera/protagonists viewpoint with the movement of your head. If you look up, he looks up, if you look down, he looks down.

The amount of immersion this will present the player, is immeasurable.

3.4 Pre-Game Interaction:From a design perspective, the pre-game/menu-layout for Another Place:A City Within, needs to reflect the intended atmosphere and purpose of the game. From an accessibility perspective, the pre-game/menu-layout needs to be clutter-free and easy to navigate.

Look/Feel:• The look and feel of the pre-game screen needs to emit a sense of mysticism, as well as follow the world

design philosophy of: beauty in despair. • The very first pre-game screen your eyes will meet, will consist of the following imagery: “It is dark outside,

yet the firefly-sculpted moon’s friendliness, casts a blanket of light over an open plane. Puddles of fog hover horizontally, objecting a sense of familiarity. As you move through the fog, the image of an unknown, meditating man appears. This man is, you…”

• The above described pre-game imagery, portrays the mysticism I mentioned earlier. It intrigues you, and subconsciously, it conveys the importance of meditation within the games framework. Meditation is the all-important key which unlocks the protagonist’s city within, the space he visits to prepare his defence and offence against the unrelenting Choshek.

• For the fact that you have not seen your city before, it is vital not to show it to you beforehand, hence the imagery of fog are used to cripple any idea of assumption you may have.

• As the you progresses through the campaign, visiting the many districts/levels that the city has to offer, so will the pre-game screen be updated to reflect your progress.

• The next time one boots up the game, you will be greeted by a new pre-game screen which reflects one of your previously visited districts.

• These districts will convey the beauty in despair philosophy, showcasing the crippled, decaying landscapes and hollowed, broken structures which populate the city’s skyline.

• The pre-game screens need to feel alive and inhabitable if one choses to do so.

Usability/Interactivity:• The pre-game screens will be moody, atmospheric and incredibly beautiful to look at, but their main focus will

be to provide an interactive, useable experience for the player to enjoy. • It is vital to incorporate the usage of VR technology into the pre-game/menu screens to emphasise the

importance of VR within the framework of the game. • By tapping on the touchpad, the menu-screen will appear with it’s array of options. The menu will be laid out

as a grid, having each menu option presented in a block, occupying the screen from left to right. Therefore,


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one can use your head to select the menu option(block) you want to enter. One can also use the controller if you choose to do so.

• Furthermore, when one meets the pre-game screens background, you can enter a view-finder mode which erases all the text on screen and places you within that specific background to explore.

• Here one can look around the background by moving your head up, down, left or right, taking in the landscapes and structures which populate the landscape of your city.

• You can also witness how the time of day changes within your field of view, as well as how the Choshek progress and infect your already crippling body.

• Depending on your mood, you can enable/change the background music to intensify the experience, or to provide a transcendental journey for yourself before you head into the game.

Menu-Layout:On the page below, one can see a detailed illustration of Another Place:A City Within’s menu-layout.

3.5 Menu-Layout Detailed:Below, I will detail the various menus that one can interact with within the gaming structure of Another Place:A City Within.


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3.5.1 Pre-Game Screen:• Viewer Mode: Within the Pre-Game Screen, one can choose the viewer mode, which places you within the

portrayed background to visually explore, using the VR headset. • Audio Selection: One can change the music of the specific background to fit your mood with the help of the

audio selection menu.• From the Pre-Game Screen, one can advance to the Main Menu.

3.5.2 Main Menu:• New Game:

• Mode Selection: Here one will need to choose the difficulty level of your campaign, namely, Infancy, Echo or Transcendence.

• Infancy: Easy Difficulty • Echo: Medium Difficulty• Transcendence: Hard Difficulty

• Load Game: • Load Save Game: Choose the load save file which you want to use and continue your journey to defeat

the relentless Choshek. • Options:

• Controls: Within the controls menu, you can customise your button-layout, or adjust the analog stick’s sensitivity.

• Audio: Adjust the volume of the dialogue, sound effects or even the in-game music to your liking. • VR: Play around with the brightness, contrast, saturation or the sensitivity of your in-game movement

to bring your journey to life.

3.5.3 Game Screen:• Map: Use your map to scout for unexplored sections, set points of interest, and investigate any signs of

recurred Choshek(cancer) activity that needs to be stopped/eliminated immediately. • Battle-Log: Review and analyse Idolon's findings on each and every enemy you have faced. Re-evaluate

your approach to improve your offensive efficiency if needed. • Survival Shop: The survival shop exists for you to use your assigned, and gathered white-blood-cell currency

to upgrade your city-dwelling body. • Body Bank: When visiting your bank, one must/can manage the following accounts: health, offensive and

savings to ensure you keep your body in tip-top shape to fight off the cancerous Choshek. • Options:

• Save: When you feel you have made valuable progress against the Choshek’s onslaught, save your progress and give yourself a pat on the back.

• Audio: Adjust the volume of the dialogue, sound effects or if you are brave, push the in-game music up to 11.

• Controls/VR: Within the controls menu, you can customise your button-layout to your liking, or adjust the analog stick’s sensitivity. You can also play around with the brightness, contrast, saturation or the sensitivity of your in-game movement. For the hearing impaired, there is an option to activate subtitles for the dialogue driven scenes, as we want everybody to understand and be able to enjoy our labor of love.

• Quit: If your eyes and fingers are tired and need a rest, you can quit the game and take a breather.


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4 Sibling Documents: Another Place:A City Within’s Game Design Document is accompanied by it’s two sibling documents, namely the High Concept Document and the Trigger Document. Together these three documents convince, explain and inspire the reader to grasp the potential of Another Place:A City Within.

• The Game Design Document explains in great detail why we are making Another Place: A City Within, as well as how we are going to make it.

• The High Concept Document convinces and sells the concept and feasibility of Another Place:A City Within to the reader/investor.

• The Trigger Document inspires the heart and mind of the developer to create a product which we all can be incredible proud of, a product we can showcase to others, and naturally, a product which others can wholeheartedly enjoy and cherish.

Without the Game Design Documents siblings by it’s side, it’s ideas and body of text, feels empty, hollow and abandoned, just words on a page, words with no soul and intent. To overcome it’s feeling of loneliness, I took the time to construct the sibling documents, ensuring the trio can function as a loving, intertwined family.

So please take the time and read the High Concept Document as well as the Trigger Document.


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