1 Adventure =========== 1.1 A Game ~~~~~~~~~~ The player sits in front of their computer at the center of their desk. They have just obtained possibly the only remaining copy of a highly anticipated game, cancelled just one month before release due to muddy business reasons. Within a box to the side of the computer lie the game cartridge, a user's manual, a hint guide and decoder ring, a crude geographical map, a card with instructions on making paper shadow puppets, and a small, plain locket housing a mirror, and an envelope marked "Open upon awakening". Across the desk sit a printer and a stack of fresh notebooks. To their side, a corkboard stands at the ready, with notecards, pins, and string. A small, empty bookshelf fills the space on the other side of the desk. 1.2 The Game ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The land is ruled by a cruel and uncaring Dark Lord. You wake up in a cavern prison and discover the Dark Lord has placed a terrible curse on you: You are incapable of leveling up. You've been granted audience with the Dark Lord and the chance to dispel the curse. Leaving the cave, you are thrust into the world. You must explore and research where to go, and how to reach there in your near-powerless state. Upon reaching the Dark Lord, you are told the only way to lift the curse is to sever him from the source of his magical powers. The Dark Lord is a powerful wizard, and breaking the spell will require obtaining the same depth of knowledge of the universe as he has. You set out once again in search for the secrets of the realm, following the scars the Dark Lord has left on the land and his people. 1.3 Interaction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A combination of real time top-down games (Ultima, Dragon Quest, The Legend of Zelda) and text adventure (Adventure, Zork, Trinity). The player can perform nuanced actions and must think critically what they want to do, instead of merely pressing A and watching the magic happen. Any text command can be bound to a single key for convenience, mimicking the controls of games like Ultima and Rogue. The player may also command other characters and ask them about keywords to gain information on their journey. The most important character the player interacts with is the Dark Lord himself. While condescending, he provides valuable feedback in response to the player's actions, and asking the right questions can coax valuable hints out of him. 1.4 Puzzles ~~~~~~~~~~~ You are tasked not with knocking over obstacles, but understanding the laws that govern them. The player must obtain knowledge of astrology, linguistics, geometry, philosophy, music, and several less profound topics in order to progress. The quest the player is on itself acts as a puzzle, requiring exploration, experimentation, and intuition to figure out the correct path. Valuable note taking tools and resources are available in the player's room outside of the game. 2 Dungeon Crawl =============== 2.1 The Elevator Pitch ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I got fed up with how Megaten keeps going out of its way to avoid doing the things I like about the first game. Partially due to working on the previous game, I've been doing a lot of thinking about RPG design, which, long story short, has lead me to the conclusion that Roguelikes are better RPGs than most computer RPGs. This leads to the foundational idea of combining Megaten and Shiren (the best Roguelike), which ends up turning into something superficially similar to Caves of Qud and Baroque. 2.2 Element System ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Elemental" systems are core to the game, but not as a simple enemy weakness system. Each element has unique properties and interacts in different ways. Fire spreads, water flows, electricity conducts, and so on. Enemies can have complex interactions with the elements: An enemy made of ice will melt into water when killed with fire, then electric attacks can spread through the water left behind, and then a metal enemy hit with electricity will shock near by beings (including the player). Physical damage types and status effects can also affect things in surprising ways. 2.3 Demon Summoning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lots of concepts flying around right now, so here's a big list. - Each demon has a code sequence to summon it. The player has to analyze these sequences and figure out how to craft their own to create more powerful demons. - When you summon a demon, you have to convince it to join you. Usually, this means a fight. Be careful that you know what you're bringing into the world... - The codes are randomized each playthrough/death. - More powerful demons make you hungry/drain MAG faster. Having no demon summoned saves resources, but you are incredibly vulnerable. - Demons require energy from demonic artifacts to use their skills. Artifacts have limited uses (usually one), but can be recharged if you can make it out of the dungeon alive. - Some powerful items channel the demon instead, and their behavior changes depending on the demon. - Demons (including enemies) are all identified by a short hashcode. The player has to name them. 2.4 Small scale ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The player progresses through dungeons in first person. Resource management with a limited inventory is the primary concern. Unlike Shiren, you are able to head backwards and escape dungeons, and deciding when to push on and when to fold is very important. Even boss encounters can be escaped, though the boss won't make it easy, and it will be more powerful when you encounter it again. The player is able to communicate with enemies. This can be done to a variety of effects: to intimidate, to startle, to beg, to anger, to negotiate, to befriend. This is a crucial skill for making it out of sticky situations or getting the leg up in battle. Items are initially unidentified. Once identified, the player can recognize any instance of that item. However, items are specific to each dungeon, so new items in a new dungeon will have to be identified, even if they have a similar effect to previously identified items. 2.5 Large scale ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The game is split into two acts, before and after the apocalypse. Before the apocalypse, death does not lose much progress, but it does waste time. You can imagine why wasting time might be bad. The second half of the game features a large overworld with multiple starting towns (one is picked at random). Death sends you back to the beginning, in a new, random town. In both cases, the game is largely mission based. Missions reward you primarily with information needed to figure out how to progress in the game. The details of the progression are jumbled a bit every playthrough. In the second half, the missions work as a funnel that slowly drag the player down the main plot of the game and to the final boss, regardless of where they started.