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@grizwako
Created May 8, 2025 00:50

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Game Design Document

Blood of the Shadow: Prologue (Croatian Casebook)

Overview

  • Title: Blood of the Shadow
  • Genres: RPG, Real-time, Action, Spy-thriller, Single player
  • Player driven story
  • Shadow: Goal is to introduce Shadow, which is a big mystery in this game which serves as prologue to the series. Is it magic or science? Is it just a tool of war or is it an insight into better future for all?
  • Setting: Very slightly futuristic. Present day with in-research theoretical equipment and tools, primarily set in Croatia.
  • Story: Investigate weird/paranormal events and situations after being rescued from mind-control facility, put a stop on nation-wide mind control program.
  • Gameplay: Exploration, Combat, Character relationships, Investigation
  • Movement: Very responsive and fluid.
    • Wolf:ET style (quake3) gamma jumping + basic parkour scripts.
    • Collectibles tracking, lore pieces about various in game factions, people, brands, theories on what Shadow is (people who have interactions use other names for it, new phenomena)
    • Always at least some loot in "hard to reach" places. At least ammo or some cash.
  • Choice and consequence heavy. Proper player driven story and world.
    • Significant impacts, not just "change dialogue lines/options in 2 scenes"
  • Deep skill trees, XP is use based.
    • Few trees for a bit unusual stuff, small tolerance for certain damage types, slight speed increase, jump height, ledge grab distance, quiet movement
    • This will be skippable, there will be some defaults paths defined
    • No artificial balance, totally expect that some skills are stronger than others
    • Simple isolated challenges required to unlock skill, in-game narrative about it is Bobo simulates PLAYER in VR (uses both in-game environments and "VR look and feel").
      • still gated behind both XP and story stage
      • easy skills will take like 5-10s run to unlock, "hard" skill will take 30-ish seconds max
      • Quick Retry button, instant reset scene
      • Integrated slow motion for practice if needed
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