Game Design Document
(For Capture The Dude)

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	Game Concept	2
Intro	............................................................................	2
Genre	............................................................................	2
Platform	............................................................................	2
	Game Mechanics	3
Core Gameplay	............................................................................	3
Modes of Play	............................................................................	3
Scoring	............................................................................	3
Types of Moves	............................................................................	4
Game Flow	............................................................................	5
Types of Characters	............................................................................	5
Game Play Elements	............................................................................	6
Game Physics and Statistics	............................................................................	7
AI Features	............................................................................	8
Multiplayer Features	............................................................................	9
	User Interface	9
Flow chart	............................................................................	9
Game flow hierarchy	............................................................................	9
	Art	10
Overall Goals	............................................................................	10
Marketing and Package Art	............................................................................	10
Terrain	............................................................................	10
Game Play Elements	............................................................................	10
	Sound and Music	11
Overall Goals	............................................................................	11
Sound Effects	............................................................................	11
Music	............................................................................	11
	Story	12
	Level Requirements	13
	Marketing Analysis	14
	Technical Analysis	15

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Game Concept

Introduction

Capture the Dude is a 3d team based game for the PC where players engage in comical hand to hand combat trying to score points by dunking a neutral player known as "the Dude" in their squad's dumpster.

Genre

Capture the Dude is a 3d arcade brawler in the style of classic side scrolling games such as Final Fight, Double Dragon, and most notably River City Ransom. It is comical in nature and all fighters are depicted in a cartoony manner and attack with exaggerated movements. Two teams of 3 fighters duke it out in a pseudo modern 80's world.

Platform

Capture the Dude is being developed for Windows 9X/NT 4.0 PCs. It requires a hardware accelerated 3d card that supports OpenGL.

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Game Mechanics

Core Game Play

First and foremost the game of capture "the Dude" is considered by all characters, a sport. Therefore characters are never allowed to use un-sportsmanlike conduct. Because of this you will never see any depiction of blood, characters dying, or the use of lethal weapons of any kind. Weapons such as guns, or weapons that can pierce someone, will be exempt from capture "the Dude" the only potential weapons a beatman may use are items such as a slab of meat, or small rubber cones. The main attraction to capture the "Dude" is in its use of teamwork and cartoonish, slapstick humor. With that in mind lets get on to the way capture the "Dude" is played.
There are two teams of three players a piece competing against each other. In addition, there is a neutral seventh player, known as "the Dude", who has no team affiliation. Each team has a base which is marked by a dumpster. The object of the game is to capture "the Dude" and return him to your team's base. Points are awarded for successfully dunking "the Dude" into your team's dumpster.
To capture "the Dude", you must weaken him to the point where you can pick him up and start running. This will involve punches, kicks, and horizontal jump kicks on "the Dude" until he can no longer fight back. But be warned that "the Dude" can defend himself!
Once "the Dude" is weakened your job is to grab him and get back to base as quickly as possible. As you carry him, "the Dude" will gradually regain vitality and try to wriggle out of your grasp. At this point, you might have to engage him some more to keep him from escaping. Also, don't forget that the other team will probably try to stop you as well. If the opposing team is about to catch you, you can throw "the Dude" to a teammate. There's no limit on the amount that you can throw "the Dude" to other players, but be careful to aim correctly. If you don't, it's possible to pass "the Dude" to one of your opponents.
When a player, or "the Dude", is thrown into a dumpster, points are awarded (or deducted) from the appropriate team according to the chart below. After the scores are updated, the person in the dumpster is relocated to a random "spawning" location in the level, where he gets back into the action. Spawning locations are randomly chosen to give both teams a fair chance to score. Otherwise, it would be possible for one team to guard their dumpster and prevent "the Dude" from ever getting out.
Players can fight each other and even throw opposing team members into a dumpster for additional points. More points are awarded for using the humiliation tactic of throwing an opposing team member in his own dumpster. In order to get a dude in the state to be picked up he must first be knocked down by a series of punches or kicks ending in a special finisher such as an uppercut. The finisher follows automatically once enough punches or kicks have been landed successfully without the opposing player blocking. Once a player has been picked up he has a chance to escape the grab based on his current health and making a skilled escape move.

MODES OF PLAY

There are two basic ways to play, Timed Mode and Score Mode. In Timed Mode, a time limit is set, and the team with the highest score after that time wins. In Score Mode, a winning score is set, and the first team to reach that score wins.

SCORING

Who gets dunked	Dunked by who	Which dumpster	Consequence
"the Dude"	team A	team A	+10 points - team A
"the Dude"	team A	team B	+10 points - team B
"the Dude"	team B	team A	+10 points - team A
"the Dude"	team B	team B	+10 points - team B
team A	either team	team A	-8 points - team A
team A	either team	team B	-5 points - team A
team A	"the Dude"	either	-10 points - team A
team B	either team	team A	-5 points - team B
team B	either team	team B	-8 points - team B
team B	"the Dude"	either	-10 points - team B

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Types of moves

hold a directional button	walk in one of 8 directions
double-tap a directional button	run in one of 8 directions
BUTTON 1	punch
BUTTON 2	kick
BUTTON 3	jump
BUTTON 4	block
ENTER key	initiate in game chat, send chat message in both multiplayer setup and in game.
Other keyboard characters	Most of the keyboard characters are capable of being used in the chat window and in game chat.
PUNCH while standing near a fallen object	pick up object
PUNCH while holding an object	swing object
KICK while holding an object	throw object

Punch	Kick	Throw	Pick Up	Jump Kick	Block

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Game Flow

The player starts by setting his or her team color and game mode. As an example, the player has chosen to be the red team using the timed mode with a limit of 10 minutes. After the game has been setup the player places their dumpster in an overhead view of the stage. Once each team has placed their dumpster the action begins. The player instructs one other team members to guard the base while another one is instructed to look for "the Dude". The player proceeds to run around the level going down various corridors and streets. After about a minute of running around player one notices an opposing team member and a brawl soon ensues. Player one begins by using some quick jabs. The opposing player seems to have forgotten how to block and is soon sent skyward by an impressive uppercut. Upon reaching the ground once again player one begins to taunt the player who is laying on the floor. Eventually the opposing player gets up and player one starts with the kicks. Finally, player one gets horizontal with a big boot to the opposing player's face. This sends the enemy along the X axis rather quickly. They once again fall to the ground at which point player one picks up the weakened opponent and proceeds to run him to the home dumpster. Just before reaching the trashcan however, a message is displayed that the opposing team has found and caught "the Dude". Then another message pops up saying that the opposing team has successfully thrown "the Dude" into their trashcan and scored some points. Player one decides to even out the situation by taking the enemy team member he has defeated back to his base and throwing him in the trash as well. After dunking the opposing team member player one decides to go on a Dude hunt and after checking various streets notices "the Dude" hiding behind a trashcan. Upon seeing the potential threat to himself, "the Dude" makes a mad dash in the opposite direction only to find himself cornered by player one's teammate. A few seconds and a bit of teamwork later "the Dude" is out and being passed back and forth by the red (player one's) team. The two gloating team members soon arrive to base to find that their teammate is surrounded by all 3 of the enemy team members. Player one does his duty of dunking "the Dude" and then joins with his fellow teammate in a 5 way brawl...

Types of characters

The Dude :
	"The Dude" is a smart and fast but physically inferior fighter to the standard team members. He is a pale scrawny fellow with thick glasses and a pocket protector. Since he is fairly weak and can't put up much of a fight, his main strategy is to run away and hide. Being the quickest of all "the Dudes", you'll probably have to get a running start to catch up with him. "The Dude" has roughly 50 percent the strength of a player but has 50 percent more speed to compensate. "The Dude" also has about 25 percent more health than the average player since he has a better diet and works out in his spare time.
The Beatmen :
	The Characters are similarly shaped guys who look like your average guy, only much cooler. They are short and stocky but not very buff. They wear jeans and a T-shirt and their primary mission is to dunk "the Dude" and score more points than the other team. Characters are team players, always seeking to protect their turf and their fellow teammates. Each player on both teams shares a similar set of speed, health and strength attributes.

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Game Play Elements

There are several interactive elements that enhance the overall game experience including people, items, and the world. On a people level, all players in the game as well as "the Dude" can fight each other. In addition, people can be picked up and thrown around among team members once they are knocked down. When a player is lying on the ground and being toted around they have a chance to wriggle free at some point by making a timed skill check based on a slider bar such as those used frequently in golf/basketball games. If they time the move correctly they will hop to the ground and can proceed to engage in combat or run away.

When players do fight they have the option of using either punches, kicks, or jump kicks. After a series of moves a finishing move is applied such as an uppercut or powerful front/jumping kick. This finishing move knocks the opposing player down at which point they can be kicked a few times. Once a player is knocked down they can also be picked up and carried around. The chance of a player wriggling free depends on the amount of health they have when they were knocked down. When a player is getting attacked they can choose to use the block button and then counter attack. Once a player has been dumped in the trash they respawn in one of several fixed spawn locations.

On an object level, there are a few items the player can pick up. The most important item to most players is going to be the hunk of meat which restores some of their lost health. There will also be other objects in the world which after being kicked or punched may be useable by the player. These include construction cones, lumber, and trash cans. These objects are generally used for one reason - beating.

As far as interaction with the world goes the player can run into things like buildings and trash cans. If the player is at full running speed when they collide with these objects then they will get knocked down and take a minor health penalty. Some of the buildings will also have scaffolds and will be scaleable by jumping from platform to platform. Once on top of a room a player can jump off but they may suffer severe health penalties and unconsciousness depending on the height of the fall. The team dumpster is perhaps the most interesting of objects that can be interacted with. It features a lid which can be knocked down to prevent people from being able to throw someone in the dumpster. In this case the player wishing to open it simply beats on the dumpster to make the lid pop back up. With the integral role the dumpster plays in scoring, this will allow for many interesting strategic moves when both teams are near a dumpster.

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Game Physics and Statistics

Movement

Each player can move in one of eight directions and can choose to either walk or run to wherever they want to go. When a player is running he moves at 3 times the speed of walking but cannot attack until he gets out of running mode. When a player gets near an opponent a fight may ensue at which point if the player changes direction while fighting, the two combatants are still facing each other. A player can attempt to run from the fight at any time when they are not being beat on. "The Dude" runs 50 percent faster than a regular player and has 25 percent more health but can only take 50 percent of the beatings that other characters can.

Damage and recovery

Various actions in the game cause a player's health to go down as detailed in the following chart. Each player is assumed to have 100 health with "the Dude" sporting 125 health.

Action	Amount of Damage taken
Getting punched	5
Getting kicked	5
Getting jump kicked	10
Getting uppercutted	10
Getting power kicked	10
Running into a building	5
Falling off small building	10
Falling off medium building	30
Falling off tall building	80

Whenever a player is knocked to 20 percent health or less they are considered unconscious and can be picked up and thrown around. The player will have a chance to wriggle free but the margin of error for timing the escape becomes a lot more difficult if they are at a lower health. There is a slider bar with a specially marked icon of some sort that moves from left to right along the slider bar. The speed at which this icon moves is dictated by the amount of health a player has when they are trying to wriggle free from the opponent. Only if the icon is lined up with a marker in the middle of the slider will the player be able to free themselves. Otherwise the player goes back to being unconscious for several more seconds. The following chart illustrates the margin of error for various stages of health. The units for the speed of the slider are arbitrary, they are just given for comparison at various stages of health.

Amount of health	Speed of the slider for wriggling free
20	50
17	60
15	70
12	80
10	100
7	125
5	150
0	250

When a player falls to 0 health they become a virtual zombie. They can move around and fight but they will do 50 percent less damage and run at 80 percent of their maximum. At this point getting a hunk of meat is in order. There are various sizes of hunks of meat which give differing amounts of health as detailed below. The average level distribution column is an estimate on the quantity of each type of meat hunk for a level. This is just an average since smaller levels will contain less meat, while bigger ones will have more. Respawn times are in seconds.

Size of hunk	Avg Lvl Distribution	Amt health given	Respawn Time
Small	10	25	15
Medium	5	50	20
Large	2	75	25
Mother Hunk	1	100	30
Even if a player is at full health they can grab any one of these hunks of meat. After all, who wouldn't want to have a nice hunk of meat at their convenience?

General physics model

Each player will have an exaggerated sense of physics throughout the game world. The specific quantities of how far characters fly when hit by punches or kicks will be based on the Player model of physics which seeks to mimic a cartoon in the way people are thrown around and hit. Characters will appear to travel roughly three to four times the actual realistic distance they normally would in real life when someone gets hit

by an uppercut or jump kick. When a player is thrown around he will be tossed around more like a 10 pound object rather than the 200 pound player or 140 pound Dude. When players jump or fall off the roof they take fractional damage but are not permanently messed up like in real life. When running characters will also move at a faster pace than the average man. This will be on the order of three to four times faster than what would appear to be realistic movement.

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AI features

The AI is divided into different categories for "the Dude" and for Characters. The AI for "the Dude" is focused on self preservation. The Dude will seek to protect himself at all costs. He will use any terrain to use his advantage and will attempt to hide as much as possible. When hiding is not an option The Dude will do his best to run away. If The Dude is attacked he will make an attempt to get some hits in, and will run if opportunity presents itself. If The Dude is knocked down and captured he will do his best to wriggle free of the abductor's grasp. Basically anything that allows The Dude to stay away from danger is the action he will take. There is one exception to the rule. If "the Dude" sees a lone Player laying on the street, he won't hesitate to kick him in the head a few times to boost his ego.

The AI for the Characters is centered on winning the game. The Characters work well as a team and will be more aggressive depending on the proximity of fellow teammates and enemies. Characters will have several different tasks that can be broken down as follows: Searching for The Dude, hunting The Dude, taking The Dude back to base, attacking an opposing team member, coming to the aid of a fellow team member, and patrolling the base. Characters are primarily concerned with 2 things - getting The Dude and scoring points. Since having fellow team members beaten up and getting thrown into a trash can represents a loss of points the computer controlled Characters will place a high priority on protecting fellow teammates.

Computer controlled Characters are aggressive in fights. They will do their best to try and win each brawl, generally ignoring the ability to block. They want to see the player go down and if it means taking a few hits to the face, then they will just take it. Just how aggressive the characters are depends on their health and the number of teammates in proximity of the player. They will do a quick size up of their chances to win the fight and will proceed accordingly. If a player sees no chance for winning a fight, they will run away.

The following diagram outlines the general AI hierarchy for both "the Dude" and the computer controlled players. "Can" and "Canned" refer to the act of dunking a player or the dude into one of the dumpsters.

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Multiplayer features

Multiplayer games represent 3 on 3 brawls between at least 2 human players. Any team members not played by humans are controlled by the computer AI. In order to ensure fairness the team sizes will always be the same. There is a multiplayer setup and chat screen before each game of multiplayer. Here each user can setup the team the want to play on, select their character, select the stage, set game parameters such as time and score limits, and search for other games. All of this will be put into one setup screen that each player can see. The game options that are being set are for the current game that is being configured only.

The game flow for multiplayer follows the same basic play mechanics as the single player game. Each team tries to find "the Dude", beat him down, and bring him back to their home dumpster. Points are awarded according to the table listed under the rules section. Under the scoring mode the first team to reach the point total specified in the multiplayer setup screen is declared the winner. Under the timed mode the team with the most points when time runs out wins. In addition to the standard single player game features multiplayer will support in game chat to better coordinate attacks with fellow teammates.

The AI will also behave in the same manner during multiplayer brawls so if the player is familiar with the single player game they can feel right at home working alongside a bot in multiplayer.

User Interface

The following diagram illustrates how the user gets around the game from installation to setup. Arrows depict how a player can navigate around with 2 way arrows denoting that the connected screens can be accessed both ways, for example the player can go from the start screen to single player setup then back to the start screen. The player cannot go from the start/splash screen directly to the single player game, however.

Game Flow Hierarchy

There is a quit option available from every game screen which closes the game and sends the user back to Windows.

	Start/Splash screen - Consists several buttons linking to various game setup screens as single player setup, multi player setup, graphics options, control configuration, and credits. When the player clicks on one of these buttons there is a brief transition and then the new menu/game setup comes up.
	Single player setup- One human player with 2 computer controlled teammates versus a team of 3 computer controlled players. From here the player sets up the map they wish to play, the game mode, team color, and team name. The selection for each of these options is via list boxes such as those used in a typical windows application. There will also be some small windows where items in the window are selected via clicking on them. When the player selects the launch game button the flow moves to the actual single player game with the options the user From this menu the player can quit the game or return to the start menu.
	Multiplayer setup- Support for up to 6 human players with computer controlled players filling in any empty slots. From here the player sets up the map they wish to play, the game mode, team color, and team name. There is also a chat window and team setup area where incoming players can choose to switch teams prior to the start of the game. The selection for each of these options is via list boxes such as those used in a typical windows application. There will also be some mini windows where items in the window are selected via clicking on them. When the host player selects the launch game button everyone gets the message to start the game and the multiplayer beatings begin. From this menu the player can quit the game or return to the start menu.
	Graphics Options - Allows the user to turn on/off certain graphics features so they can choose between performance or quality. Some options that can be toggled on and off include mipmapping, choosing between high and low detail, bit depth, screen resolution, and whether the game will run in full screen or windowed mode. There will be an apply button so that the user can change several options at once without having the system thrash around. From here the user can quit the game or return to the start menu.
	Control Configuration - Allows the user to customize their game controls for each of the different major actions and for any movement using the keyboard. The joystick movement keys are fixed to the axes of the gamepad or joystick. From this menu user can quit the game or return to the start screen.
	Credits - Basic screen displaying the members of the team

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Art

Overall Goals

	The basic premise behind The player is that while there may be people fighting, everything must be as cartoony as possible so as to not imply any sense of true physical violence. As such, the characters are modeled very short and stocky. They are blocky and colorful and will use simple textures to simulate a cartoon like feel. The Characters will have a unique 80's style look along with some Elvis style hair. There will be no blood inducing weapons such as knives or guns and the world will retain a cartoon style look. The animations for each character will also be exaggerated to add comical value to the atmosphere. The graphics in CTD feature a cartoonish, arcade style similar to the action titles of the 8-bit NES, such as Double Dragon, River City Ransom, and Super Dodgeball. For instance, each character is short and stocky, with stumpy limbs and a blocky head that makes up a full third of his total height. The goofy appearance enhances gameplay by creating a comical feel that draws players into the action.

Marketing and Package Art

In keeping with the industrial theme, CTD will come packaged in a dumpster-shaped box complete with folding lid which is used for opening and closing the box. The title will be written on the lid and sides of the dumpster using a white stencil font, much like the font used on actual dumpsters. In addition, the lid may also feature a catchy slogan, such as "BLOWS THE LID OFF THE COMPETITION". On the side of the box will be a decal which states, in bold black print against a yellow background, "CAUTION: DO NOT PLAY IN, ON, OR AROUND OR OCCUPY THIS CONTAINER FOR ANY PURPOSE". The back of the box will showcase a few screenshots from the game, as well as some critical acclaim from a well-respected reviewer.

Terrain

Many of the objects in CTD are based on similar objects which are found in real life, such as stop signs, road cones, streets, and dumpsters, so a detailed explanation isn't necessary. However, to get a basic idea of the environment, imagine some of the more common items that can be found in and around a construction site. One of the standard landmarks seen throughout the game is an ordinary building. Most of the buildings stand only one story tall, though some buildings may span two or more stories. Also, some of the buildings may be equipped with scaffolds, catwalks, or balconies. Balconies will likely feature some kind of colored stripe pattern.

Game play elements

Players are short, stumpy, and comical looking. The limbs are not proportional to a standard human and the facial expressions are exaggerated. In game objects such as cones and stop signs will look like cartoony versions of the real thing but will otherwise remain proportional. The dumpster will look as true to life as possible since it is such an important game element.

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Sound and Music

Overall goals

In keeping with the cartoony look and feel of the player, the sound effects are generally going to be equally comical. The goal here is to have sound effects that closely resemble a Saturday morning cartoon. The music is supposed to be upbeat to get the player in the mood to pick some fights. It will be techno based and there will be several different tracks which all flow into each other. 22k 16 bit mono WAV files will be the desired format for the best tradeoff between quality and space.

Sound Effects

GUI

Button click - used to indicate when the user has selected one of the the buttons in any of the menu screens.

Characters

Kick/Punch/Throw - There will be a generic "whoosh" type of sound effect associated with all standing moves. Punches and kicks will come in rapid succession so a sound something like a continuous whiffing through air is the effect being sought.

Jump/Pickup - Something along the lines of a "boink". This will be similar to the cartoony sound effects typically found in old 8 bit games from many years ago.

Hitting he dumpster - When a player is dunked in the dumpster there will be a sound associated with hitting the side of the bin itself.

Game Play Elements

Announcer - There will be a loud and excited announcer for various events in the game such as capturing "the Dude", winning the match, losing the match, or getting dunked.

Music

There will be a total of 5 music tracks used throughout the game. There will be a unique title screen track and 4 in game music tracks. All tracks will be short looping techno style beats. In game a random track will be chosen which fades into another random track. This keeps the flow of music interesting and diversified for every individual game session. Each of the in game tracks are used throughout the course of the game and music runs for the full duration of the match.

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Story

Sometimes man is overcome by an insatiable passion that must be fulfilled for life to be complete. Characters were born with a passion for competition. A player seeks to define his existence by keeping himself busy in pursuit of the ultimate challenge. Typically whenever a player sees a fellow player of a different region, they will challenge each other to a test of strength and skill. Characters have a general respect for each other even if they represent different parts of town. One day, two different teams of characters decided they needed to come up with a new game of skill to pass their time. One day the characters engaged in a conversation with the manager of a local company who was bored with his job. The man was finding little challenge in his daily job and heard the characters were an adventurous group. He was looking to join the characters but they just weren't sure he was cut out for the duty. They then had a group huddle and decided on an initiation ceremony for all potential incoming characters. While any man can become a competitor on his own, group affiliations are very important especially since each member of a competitor team represents the entire squad. One of the characters developed the idea of capture the flag, except the initiate, herein known as "the Dude", would become the flag and would not be part of either team. He would be allowed to go wherever he wanted but the ultimate goal was to dunk him in the appropriate team's home dumpster. Once "the Dude" has gone through a sufficient number of games without leaving, he is offered a position as a player on either team.

The characters layed down some general rules for fair fighting moves and decided to set up their game. Word of Capture "the Dude" quickly spread across the local town, then the state, and pretty soon characters the world over were engaging in the immensely popular game. No matter where the game was played though, characters encouraged a fair sense of teamplay and agreed to treat the game like an extreme sport. While Characters enjoy the sport of the fight, they do not attack people maliciously. Everything is kept in the spirit of friendly competition. The characters generally get along but have a sense of pride for their region and seek to prove themselves to characters all over the world.

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Level Requirements

The game will consist of 3 different levels taking place in an urban environment. There will be many streets and buildings littering the landscape. The team bases will consist of a home dumpster where "the Dude" and other players can be dumped.

Level 1 This is an introductory stage that allows players to get used to the basic game mechanics in CTD. There are four groups of buildings at opposite corners of the level (16 buildings total), with a wide-open intersection in the center for some unobstructed combat. In four of the buildings are each of the different kinds of meat that can be found in the game, such as sausage, chicken, steak, and the Mother Hunk. There are a few items available to aid the competition, like road cones. Dumpsters: 6 locations for each team. There are many chances to be have face to face dumpsters for a heated game. Spawning locations: 5 total The one in the middle makes you easy to see. The four which are surrounded by buildings are a little safer, but it's possible to lose your sense of direction since they all look the same.

Level 2 This stage is slightly larger and thus makes it more difficult to find other players. The main feature of this stage is that, while the dumpsters are located on the ground level, the only way to reach them is by running across some nearby rooftops. Thus, in addition to merely hoisting "the Dude" and carrying him back to base, you must do so while jumping from building to building. Hey, it's tougher than you'd think! Dumpsters: 1 location for each team. The dumpsters are hidden from everything, and can only be reached from the rooftops. Spawning locations: 2 total The one on the building gives you a height advantage over your competitors. The other one puts you right in the middle of the action.

Level 3 This is the largest of all the stages, with tons of buildings and numerous dumpster locations to choose from. In each corner of the stage is one type of meat (4 total), so snagging that extra bit of energy during a match will require you to move quickly. Because of the immense size of the field, competitors will spend a good portion of their time running. Thus, there are plenty of stop signs that you can use to "STOP" your opponents right in their tracks. Use 'em! Dumpsters: 5 locations for each team. There are many chances to be have face to face dumpsters for a heated game. Spawning locations: 7 total The one in the middle makes you easy to see. The ones in the corners are secluded and next to meat and cones but can be isolated from the action. The four enclosed in a box of buildings can be confusing and can make you lose your bearings since they all look the same.

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Marketing Analysis

CTD is a game that is very different from the competition, yet it borrows allot of fundamental aspects from well known fighting games, old and new. These games have supplied us with good ideas on gameplay, artistic theme, play control, and many other aspects that we and the rest of the world have grown to love. But recently It seems these aspects, such as gameplay, have been put aside to make way for just one aspect, and it isn't fun, it's graphics. That's why the marketing competitive analysis isn't the easiest thing to explain in our game. Games that are most like CTD were made back when gameplay and fun mattered the most. Games such as River City Ransom, Battle Toads and Double Dragon would be the ideal candidates to analyze our game with. But these games are in no way competitive because of how old they are. Therefore the closest games on the market to analyze CTD with are games that have fighting in them, and are somehow multi-player.

Title: Developer: Genre Publisher: Players: Platform: Released:

Super Smash Brothers Nintendo Fighting Nintendo 1-4 Nintendo 64 April 27, 1999

Super Smash Brothers is probably the closest game on the market that resembles what our game is at its core. A cartoonish "cute" looking 3D fighting game that is just plain fun. Unlike Tekken, or Street Fighter, Smash Bros. does not rely on complex button combinations or a ton of moves to bring the game to life. This is what CTD is all about. We want people to pick up our game and figure out how to play in just under five seconds. Another resemblance from CTD and Smash Bros. is that the game's premise is simple. Kick, punch or throw the other character(s) to score points. That's it. The angles that the camera uses in this game are also very close to ours in that it always stays at one point on the Z axis and only slides up, down, or left, and right. This is good to keep the user focused on gameplay and not on what angle the world "should" be viewed in. It basically makes a 3D game feel like a 2D game. This too is what CTD is shooting for, we want our gameplay to resemble that of a 2D game in almost every shape and form.

Now that we have covered the similarities in Smash Bros. lets discuss the many differences. In CTD we are not focused on fighting other characters in one arena as in Smash Brothers. Instead CTD consists of a city with many objectives the character can choose from, such as defend the base, help an ally, or capture "the Dude". The only objective in Smash Bros. is to destroy all other characters, once that objective is complete, you win. In CTD you never die, nor do you ever use a gun, use piercing weapons, or fall down a bottomless pit, all these things happen to your character in Nintendo's Smash Brothers. In CTD destroying a character is not a move or an objective, we don't allow it. Furthermore our game concentrates on teamwork rather than the devastation of all opposing characters.

Title: Developer: Genre Publisher: Players: Platform: Released:

Power Stone Capcom Fighting Capcom 1-2 DreamCast Sept. 09, 1999

Power Stone is one of Capcom's first 3D fighting games with a few twists that CTD could definitely be compared with. First and foremost its 3D, and I mean full 3D to where you can move in 3D as well as have all objects in the world 3D. CTD will be set up in the same way, where everything is not only 3D but you can move around in the game world in 3D. Rather than Smash Bros. where things are 3D but you can only move left or right. Another compression Power Stone has is that it uses "simple" game play mechanics that make it easy to play. CTD will also follow that philosophy by having one punch button and one kick button rather than three for each (as seen in other fighting games). In Power Stone your character can manipulate objects in the environment, this too is something CTD will have. And the final similarity between Power Stone and CTD is it's graphics, as they are cartoonish and "cute". Other than that its just another arena one-on-one fighting game in a world full of one-on-one fighting games.

Title: Developer: Genre Publisher: Players: Platform: Released:

Street Fighter Alpha 3 Capcom Fighting Capcom 1-2 Playstation May, 1999

Street Fighter Alpha 3 is the de facto of fighting games. If your going to have any sort of fighting game you'd better have some experience playing a street fighter game, because it's the series that started the whole one-on-one fighting genre. In fact it alone has taken what was the definition of a fighting game, (a game where you and maybe a friend fought multiple enemies, such as Double Dragon, and River City Ransom) and changed it to mean one-on-one arena fighting. CTD follows the older definition of fighting genre but still has some similarities to the new definition of fighting genre that SFA3 holds. Such as it's 2D style of gameplay, although you can't move up or down on the Z-axis as in our game, the gameplay incorporated into SFA3 is on par with what we are looking for in CTD. Another aspect that is comparable is how the art is colorful and cartoonish looking. Capcom has always been known for there art style in their games and SFA3 is no exception. You can't compare the way the fighting works in SFA3 to our game because SFA3 has a very complicated set of commands for your character and in our game the commands are nothing but complicated. For the rest of the game its just like the other competitive products on the shelf today, CTD is just too different to compare with. Its as though the old style of fighting genre has left us. We hope CTD can bring it back and breed some competitive analysis from such a great genre as the old style fighting games.

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Technical Analysis

Level Editor:

Every game needs a level editor. The primary goals for developing our level editor include power, flexibility, and ease of use. It is designed with a familiar interface using easily recognizable window controls such as menus and tabs. It provides the functionality to build any size level quickly and easily through sector management. The levels are broken down into a number of sectors with each sector representing a variable portion of the level. Each level requires a theme which describes the style of level and the objects/terrain associated with it. You can load in a game theme or create your own. The editor has the ability to import 3d Studio Max objects. Generally this is done through a level theme script file. Once a level is open, objects can be created and dragged around with the mouse and will snap to the grid when released. This can be done in three of the four viewport windows. Four cameras are provided, each with it's own view in the world. These cameras can be toggled from front to back, left to right, top to bottom and the perspective camera can be rotated arbitrarily. There is also a fullscreen mode to maximize the view. This way the user can get an idea of what the level will really look like in the game.

Skeletal Animation

Skeletal animation is one of the major technologies that we use to make our game possible. When we first started talking about what kind of game we wanted to make we knew it had to have two major technologies. One being 3D and the other being that it had to have skeletal animation. That's how important skeletal animation is to CTD, our characters would not function the way we want them to without it.

Skeletal Animation is a technique used to enhance character animation in a variety of ways. One major gain from skeletal animation is that you can have an animation smoothly flow from one to another in real time. Such as a walk flowing into a run and then going on into a sprint. Another major gain from skeletal animation is that you can mix multiple animations together in real time. Such as a punch animation with the hands at the same time a running animation is going with the legs.

The way skeletal animation works is based off of the way a real human skeleton moves. In this way we move bones and joints in a hierarchy called a skeleton. The hierarchy is set up so that if I rotate the left upper leg upward 30° the knee will lift up as well as the lower leg and foot, just as a real human skeleton would operate.

Using this technique will also help with the amount of memory used per animation. Instead of storing every different "frame" of animation in memory to make up a full Running animation you just store a few angles of the "bones" to cycle through. If you look at how many animations a standard character has such as running, walking, jumping, punching, kicking, etc. saving memory is a big help in animation.

Graphics Technology

Capture the Dude's graphics will be entirely hardware accelerated. OpenGL will exclusively be supported. This was done because it is the most widely accepted 3D graphics application programming interface (API). We do not feel that this will reduce the number of gamers who would purchase our game, because of the lack of an OpenGL accelerated graphics card. With the rapid technological advancement in graphics hardware, these cards are becoming more widely distributed and cheaper to acquire.

OpenGL is both easy and intuitive to use. Allowing us to use today's most sophisticated rendering techniques, we are able to increase the frame-rates drastically. This will allow us to have smooth animations and achieve an immersive environment providing a better suspension of disbelief to the user.

Team roles

Art Director/Lead Tester - Eli Emerson
Technical Director - Tim Berry
Producer - Doug Quinn
Product Manager - Max Szlagor
Technical Writer - Greg Morchower
Designer - Richard Johnson


But what do these Roles mean? Not much, we are a tight unit of kick butt dudes.


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