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Version # 1.3
Copyright (C) 2010 Vancouver Film School – All rights reserved
GAME OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________5
HIGH CONCEPT________________________________________________________________________5
PHILOSOPHY___________________________________________________________________________5
COMMON QUESTIONS____________________________________________________________________6
FEATURE SET______________________________________________________________________7
FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS____________________________________________________________________8
GAME LOOP OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________9
MOVEMENT__________________________________________________________________________10
COMBAT SYSTEM______________________________________________________________________12
SPECIAL ABILITY MICROGAMES____________________________________________________________18
CHARACTER CLASSES AND CUSTOMIZATION___________________________________________________21
ABILITY FOCUS_______________________________________________________________________25
MAGIC SYSTEM_______________________________________________________________________28
WORLD MAP_________________________________________________________________________31
GAMEPLAY DETAILS______________________________________________________________35
USER INTERFACE - CONTROLS____________________________________________________________35
BATTLE SETUP PHASE__________________________________________________________________36
COMMAND MENU______________________________________________________________________37
VICTORY CONDITIONS___________________________________________________________________38
REWARDS___________________________________________________________________________38
GAMEPLAY WALKTHROUGH_____________________________________________________39
OVERVIEW___________________________________________________________________________39
BEAT CHART_________________________________________________________________________42
CAMERA___________________________________________________________________________43
OVERVIEW___________________________________________________________________________43
DETAILS____________________________________________________________________________44
ROTATION___________________________________________________________________________45
GAME CHARACTERS______________________________________________________________46
OVERVIEW___________________________________________________________________________46
UNIQUE CHARACTERS___________________________________________________________________46
GENERIC UNIT GENERATION______________________________________________________________46
ENEMIES__________________________________________________________________________47
ENEMY GENERATION___________________________________________________________________47
BATTLE GROUPS______________________________________________________________________47
ENEMY LIST__________________________________________________________________________48
MINIBOSSES__________________________________________________________________________50
FINAL BOSS_________________________________________________________________________50
THE GAME WORLD_______________________________________________________________51
OVERVIEW___________________________________________________________________________51
BATTLE GRID________________________________________________________________________51
MULTIPLAYER____________________________________________________________________53
OVERVIEW___________________________________________________________________________53
GAME OPTIONS_______________________________________________________________________53
BATTLE SETUP________________________________________________________________________53
PLAY_______________________________________________________________________________54
GAME TYPES_________________________________________________________________________54
GAME HELP_______________________________________________________________________55
Design History
This is a brief explanation of the history of this document. Each version of this
document is based on when a document is released for feedback/review, or major
changes/additions have been made.
Version 1.00
August 3, 2010
Version 1.1
August 17, 2010
Version 1.2
• Added reference photos to Character Classes and Customization
• Updated Enemy List with Falcon and Sand Cobra
• Updated Combat System with Unconscious Unit details
• Added Game Loop Overview
Version 1.3
• Various minor clarifications and corrections
• Rearranged some sections
Game Overview
High Concept
"Revolt in the Desert"
Philosophy
A Fantasy World Like No Other
The Irrational Tenth rejects all orcs and elves and other Tolkien-inspired
imagery in order to present a truly original and fleshed out fantasy world. One of the
most fascinating true stories of the First World War and elements of Arabian
mythology and folktale are combined to create an alternate history world that players
will want to immerse themselves in.
Common Questions
What is the game?
The Irrational Tenth is an isometric, tactical RPG influenced by roguelike
games, in that each level is procedurally generated and when characters die they
stay dead. You control a group of characters that gain experience through combat
and can be equipped with armour and weapons. Combat is turn-based and on a grid,
putting the player's focus on thoughtful positioning and team management. Each
character also has a special ability that activates a WarioWare-style microgame that
tests the player's twitch skills and provides a kind of gameplay pacing that is not
found in the traditional tactics RPG.
What's a "microgame"?
A microgame is a short 3 second game with exactly one goal that tests the
player's reflexes. See the Special Ability Microgames feature section for more info.
Long Term
• Travel to and liberate the capital city of Damascus
• Defeat the city's garrison, made up of the game's toughest enemies
Mid-Term
• Recruit units to serve in your army
• Acquire experience and equipment for your units
Short Term
• Satisfy the victory condition(s) in individual battles
• Kill enemies without losing units of your own
What’s different?
Characters and levels are procedurally generated in a roguelike fashion,
meaning no two games are exactly alike and replaying the game over and over will
always provide something new to be learned or experienced. The battle system also
incorporates microgames which serve to break up the mental gameplay of the
tactical grid battles with brief twitch-based challenges.
"Nine-tenths of tactics are certain, and taught in books: but the irrational
tenth is like the kingfisher flashing across the pool, and that is the test of
generals."
What's a "roguelike"?
Roguelikes are a sub-genre of games based on the old dungeon crawler RPG
Rogue. It is known for being the first game to procedurally generate almost all the
game content and have permanent player character death that can't be prevented
by loading a saved game. Games such as The Irrational Tenth that are influenced by
roguelikes share these fundamental features.
Feature Set
Feature Highlights
These are the main features that distinguish the game from others in the
same genre, listed in order of priority.
Ability Focus
Each unit is able to focus on a specific action or ability (ie. movement, attack,
defense, range, etc) for a small additional bonus. The more units the player has
focusing on the same action within a certain range, the larger the bonus will be. It
takes a full turn to switch focus.
Magic System
Some units can use magic spells for combat or support. More powerful spells
aren't learned by gaining experience, but by having more units focus on "magic".
There are three schools of magic: Attack, Support, and Summon. Magic-using units
are limited to using just one of the schools.
World Map
Between battles the player has the freedom to move across the world map.
This serves as a "mission select" as there are optional levels that the player can
choose to play and no predetermined path that must be taken to reach Damascus.
Battle Phase
• Battle setup
o Victory condition is revealed
o Place units in starting position
o View enemy unit types and location
• Battle
o Give orders to units (Attack, Move, cast spell, etc)
o Each unit has one turn in which they are given
orders and perform the action.
o After every unit on the battle grid has had a turn,
including enemies, the round ends
o New round starts
o Repeat until victory condition is met or failed.
o Rewards of XP and items are given, return to
World Map Phase and repeat.
Movement
When the player selects the Move action from the Command Menu, the tiles
that are available to move to are highlighted directly on the grid. The player selects a
destination tile and the unit will move there, taking the shortest path.
A unit may move once per turn. It can only move to tiles that:
• Are not "impassable" (see Battle Grid - Tiles)
• Fall within the range of the unit's Movement Stat.
• Are not occupied by another unit or enemy.
The above diagram illustrates how a unit's "legal moves" are calculated.
• X is the unit with a Movement Stat of 4
• The black tile is impassable
• The striped tile has a Movement Value of 2
• Every other tile has a Movement Value of 1
• White = Height 0
• Light Grey = Height 1
• Dark Grey = Height 2
• Yellow Dots = Legal Moves
Movement Range
Movement range is determined by comparing the unit's movement stat with
the movement values of the tiles around it. With a Movement of 4, the unit can move
a maximum of 4 tiles with the default value of 1, or 2 tiles with a value of 2, etc.
Tile Height
If the height difference between tiles is greater than 1 the unit cannot move
there, or must take a path that goes along tiles that transition in steps of 1. In the
diagram you can see how the unit's movement "south" is limited because of the
height difference in tiles. In order to move down, the unit must first move to the light
grey intermediary step.
Flying Units ignore all limitations but cannot "land" on impassable tiles.
Combat System
Overview
Damage is calculated in the following way:
Melee
• X is a melee unit with an Attack
Range of 1.
• White Tile = Height 0
• Light Grey = Height 1
• Dark Grey = Height 2
When the attack action is selected from the Command Menu the player is able
to choose an enemy unit on a neighbouring tile. Melee units cannot attack diagonally.
Ranged Basics
• Ranged Attacks use basic line of sight.
• Can attack diagonally
• If a unit had an Attack Range of 4, its effective range would be a box
surrounding it that is 9x9 tiles (4 tiles in each direction, plus diagonals)
Ranged Elevated Ground
• Any unit on the lower ground 2 tiles below the attacker cannot be reached.
• This "safe" area is only for the tiles directly next to the higher ones.
• If the attacking unit's range was 3 it would be able to hit units 3 tiles to the
south.
• Y = Range 4 Unit
• White Tile = Height 0
• Light Grey = Height 1
• Med Grey = Height 2
• Dark Grey = Height 3
The diagram shows how tiles can block a unit's line of sight. Despite having a
range of 4, the unit cannot attack the tile on the far left because it is Height 0 an
there is a Height 2 tile in the way.
The right side of the diagram shows that even though the Height 2 tile
prevents the unit from attacking an enemy on Height 0, an even further Height 2 tile
can still be reached.
The top of the diagram has a Height 3 tile that blocks the unit from attacking
anything on the Height 1 tile behind it.
Meditate
Microgame Description Gesture
There are three points of coloured light
randomly distributed: a yellow, blue and
green. The player must pinch the yellow
Combine! Pinch
and blue points together to create a
green, then pinch the two greens
together.
8 points of coloured light move around
the screen in a random pattern. The
player must drag a white point of light
Avoid! Drag
from a crystal on the left side of the
screen to the hand on the right without
touching any of the coloured ones.
The same setup as Avoid! but the player
Wait! Do Nothing
must not touch the screen at all.
Flurry Attack
Microgame Description Gesture
A dotted line appears on the screen,
along which the player must swipe
their finger. A sword follows the path.
It lasts 1 second, after which another
Slice! one in a different location appears, Swipe
and then a third final one after that. If
the player fails to swipe any of the
dotted lines they fail. The dotted lines
appear in random locations.
The player must swipe up, down, left,
or right, depending on the angle of
attack coming from the opponent.
The opponent makes the attack move
Dodge! at a random time during the 3 second Swipe
length of the microgame. If the player
dodges in the wrong direction or
before the opponent makes their
attack move, they fail.
Two curved dotted lines appear,
forming opposite quarters of an
Rotate! invisible circle 400 pixels wide. They Two-Finger Rotate
must be simultaneously touched and
traced out with the player’s fingers.
Snipe
Microgame Description Gesture
A tiny silhouette appears at a random
location. The player must reverse
pinch that exact location to zoom in
Zoom! Reverse Pinch
before the 3 second timer runs out.
Zooming in at the correct location
reveals the opponent.
Targeting sights waver in random
directions around a central point and
Target! the player must drag to readjust and Drag
steady the aim. If not on target at the
end of the 3 seconds, the player fails.
The bolt on the side of a rifle is
jammed and the player must quickly Drag back and forth
Unjam!
drag back and forth on it 10 times in quickly
3 seconds.
Sneak Attack
Microgame Description Gesture
Sunlight is reflecting from a mirror into an
angle-appropriate direction. The player
Reflect! must drag the mirror so the reflecting Drag
beam of sunlight hits the eyes of the
opponent.
The player’s assassin unit and opponent
appear on the screen. The player must
touch and hold the assassin and release in
Hold and
the 1 second window when the opponent Touch and Hold
Release!
shifts from guarded to relaxed. This
window of opportunity occurs randomly
within the 3 seconds.
The assassin appears on the left of the
screen and the opponent on the right. The
Stab! player must tap anywhere 15 times. Each Tap Repeatedly
tap moves the assassin closer to the
opponent until reaching him.
Mirage
Microgame Description Gesture
Five points of magic light appear
randomly on the screen. The player must
Touch All! Multiple Touch
touch all of them at the same time before
the 3 second timer runs out.
Two points of magic light appear together
in a random location on the screen. One is
yellow and one is blue. Two open hands
are on the left and right sides of the
Separate! screen with a coloured ring on each hand. Two Swipes
Which ring is blue and which yellow is
random. The two points of light must be
swiped, or flicked, onto the hands before
the timer runs out.
A green point of magic light appears
randomly on the screen. The same hands
Catch! Two Swipes
as in Separate! must be brought to the
green point by swiping them there.
Recruitable units are randomly assigned a class when generated (see Game
Characters - Generic Unit Generation).
The class base skill values are modified by various spells and equipped items. See
Appendix D: Items for detailed charts.
Each unit begins with a default Armour and Weapon based on their character
class, but no Misc or Usable items. The base appearance of a unit (when no armour is
equipped) is a traditional thawb robe with kufeya headwear, in a variety of colours
and patterns (see Middle East Clothing Glossary in Appendix A: Resources and
Research).
Khanjar Dagger
Items can only be equipped on units through the Party Management screen
(shown below) accessed from the World Map (see World Map Phase). Once in a
battle, equipment cannot be added or removed from units.
1. Portrait of currently
selected unit
3. Currently equipped
items and also buttons for
choosing new equipment
Usable Items can only be used from the Command Menu in battle.
If a unit dies in battle every item it was wearing is lost and not returned to
the player's pool of items.
XP and Leveling Up
Level XP Required Stat Adjustment
(total)
1 — Base stats
2 50 [1-6] HP, [1-3] Defense, [1-3] Attack, [1-3] Magic
3 100 [1-6] HP, [1-3] Defense, [1-3] Attack, [1-3] Magic
4 200 [2-6] HP, [1-3] Defense, [1-3] Attack, [1-3] Magic
Magic is only increased upon leveling up if the unit is a Wizard or Holy Man class.
Ability Focus
The intent of the focus system is to allow units to become stronger in one
specific skill together, but with a penalty to an opposing skill. The following charts
show the variables that will modify unit skills for each focus type: Movement,
Defense, Attack, Magic, and Range.
MOVEMENT FOCUS
Stat Stat modification by size of group with same, unbroken focus
1 (base) 2 3 4 5 6+
Movement +1 +2 +4 +6 +8 +10
Defense — — — — — —
Attack — — — — — —
Magic — — — — — —
Range — -1 -2 -3 -4 -5
DEFENSE FOCUS
Stat Stat modification by size of group with same, unbroken focus
1 (base) 2 3 4 5 6+
Movement — -1 -2 -3 -4 -5
Defense +1 +2 +4 +6 +8 +10
Attack — — — — — —
Magic — — — — — —
Range — — — — — —
ATTACK FOCUS
Stat Stat modification by size of group with same, unbroken focus
1 (base) 2 3 4 5 6+
Movement — — — — — —
Defense — -1 -2 -3 -4 -5
Attack +1 +2 +4 +6 +8 +10
Magic — — — — — —
Range — — — — — —
MAGIC FOCUS
Stat Stat modification by size of group with same, unbroken focus
1 (base) 2 3 4 5 6+
Movement — — — — — —
Defense — — — — — —
Attack — -1 -2 -3 -4 -5
Magic +1 +2 +4 +6 +8 +10
Range — — — — — —
RANGE FOCUS
Stat Stat modification by size of group with same, unbroken focus
1 (base) 2 3 4 5 6+
Movement — — — — — —
Defense — — — — — —
Attack — -1 -2 -3 -4 -5
Magic — — — — — —
Range +1 +2 +4 +6 +8 +10
Each unit's focus is initially set during the Battle Setup Phase. Unit's can
choose any of the five focus skills, regardless of character class. It can only be
changed at the beginning of a unit's turn, before any other action has been
performed. Doing so will immediately end that unit's turn.
In the above diagram example units are represented by numbers. The black
numbers have an Attack Focus and the red 4 has a Magic Focus. Units 1, 2, and 3
form an unbroken chain because there are no more than 3 tiles between them. Note
that 1 and 3 are not connected directly because tiles are not counted diagonally.
Units 1-3 therefore each have an attack bonus of +4 and defense penalty of -2. The
chain is broken by unit 4, which has a different focus than the others. Units 5 and 6
form their own focus group with an attack bonus of +2 and defense penalty of -1. If
unit 4 were to change to an Attack Focus on its next turn, the entire group would be
connected and receive the maximum bonus.
Magic System
Magic spells are separated into three schools of magic: Attack, Summon, and
Support. There are 6 unique spells per school, cast from the Command Menu. As
described in Character Class and Customization the Wizard class can use Attack or
Summon and the Holy Man class can use Summon or Support.
The unit's school of magic is selected on the Party Management screen during
the World Map Phase. It cannot be changed during a battle. A Wizard or Holy Man can
only have one school of magic active at a time.
The type of spells available to the unit is determined by the number of units
with a Magic Focus in its group (see Ability Focus). The more units in the group, the
more spells are unlocked. For example, if a Wizard of the Attack School is in a group
with 2 other units with Magic Focus then that wizard will have access to the twister,
blind, and ignite spells.
It is not necessary for a Wizard or Holy Man to have a Magic Focus, but they
will not be able to cast any spell without it. A change of focus may be a necessary
temporary sacrifice in order to improve the Attack or Defense stats of other units.
Attack Spells
Spell Name Target Effect Damage Formula
HP lost = ([Magic Skill] +
Single Target is engulfed in flames
Ignite 10 - ([Target Magic
Enemy and loses HP
Skill]/2))
% chance of missing
Target is blinded for its next
Single next attack = 60 +
Blind turn and has reduced
Enemy Magic Skill - ([Target
attack accuracy
Magic Skill]/2)
A twister appears on the
targeted tile and remains
until the casting unit's next
turn. It moves to an
HP lost = ([Magic Skill] +
Twister Any Tile adjacent tile every time a
15)
unit, friendly or enemy,
ends a turn, doing damage
to any unit occupying the
space.
The targeted tile and four
adjacent ones turn to
quicksand for a set number Number of Turns =
Quicksand Any Tile
of turns. Any units on those ([Magic Skill]/3) rounded
tiles are unable to move for
the duration.
The targeted tile and those
HP lost = ([Magic Skill] +
Earthquake Any Tile in a 4 tile radius shake and
10)
cause damage to units.
HP lost (each time a unit
A sandstorm occurs over
ends a turn) = ([Magic
the entire level and lasts
Skill]/2
until the casting unit's next
Sandstorm None
turn. It causes damage to
Blind Chance % (each
enemies and has a chance
time a unit ends a turn)
of blinding them every turn.
= [Magic Skill]
Summon Spells
Spell Name Target Effect Formula
A Falcon unit temporarily
Turns Available =
joins the player's team and
Falcon Empty Tile ((Focus Level - 1) + 1) *
can be given Move and
[Number of Enemies]
Attack commands.
A Sand Cobra unit
temporarily joins the Turns = (([Focus Level] -
Sand Cobra Empty Tile player's team and can be 2) + 1) * [Number of
given Move and Attack Enemies]
commands.
A Skeleton unit temporarily
Turns = (([Focus Level] -
joins the player's team and
Skeleton Empty Tile 3) + 1) * [Number of
can be given Move and
Enemies]
Attack commands.
A Ghoul unit temporarily
Turns = (([Focus Level] -
joins the player's team and
Ghoul Empty Tile 4) + 1) * [Number of
can be given Move and
Enemies]
Attack commands.
An Ifrit unit temporarily
joins the player's team and Turns = (([Focus Level] -
Ifrit Empty Tile can be given Move and 5) + 1) * [Number of
Attack and Magic Enemies]
commands.
A Marid unit temporarily
joins the player's team and Turns = (([Focus Level] -
Marid Empty Tile can be given Move and 6) + 1) * [Number of
Attack and Magic Enemies]
commands.
Support Spells
Spell Name Target Effect Formula
The targeted unit's HP is HP Added = [Magic Skill]
Heal Ally Unit replenished a certain * (([Focus Level] - 1) +
amount 1)
The targeted unit's Defense Skill Added = 5
Protect Ally Unit Defense skill is temporarily + (([Focus Level] - 2) +
increased 1) * 2
All allied units have their HP Added = [Magic Skill]
Heal All None HP replenished a certain * (([Focus Level] - 3) +
amount 1)
All allied units have their Defense Skill Added = 5
Protect All None Defense skill temporarily + (([Focus Level] - 2) +
increased 1) * 2
Dead unit is revived on tile
Dead Ally Amount of HP to restore
Revive where killed with a low
Unit = [Magic Skill]/2
amount of HP
Targeted unit is given an
Bonus Turn Ally Unit None
extra turn
World Map
The world map shows the player's progress from the south towards Damascus
(ultimate destination and goal) and allows players to choose their path. The following
map is representative of the area of the world that will be displayed:
Presentation
The full map is twice as long as it is wide, so the player can scroll by touching
and dragging like one would normally scroll through text or a large image on the
iPad. The blank desert area in the top right of the map is where the menu will appear
that allows players to access Party Management or view details about selected points
of interest (see Appendix G: Game Interface Wireframes).
• The player begins in the southern city of Rabegh and the current position is
marked by a small icon.
• The initial state of the map shows only terrain and the names of major cities.
Fog of War
• All places that can be selected on the map and traveled to (cities, villages,
oases, etc) are called points of interest (POI) and are initially obscured by a
fog of war.
• The fog of war is permanently lifted in a "40 mile" radius (see example map
scale for an approximation) around the player's current location. This radius is
a tunable variable.
Travel
• The player can travel to any point of interest that has been revealed (see
User Interface - Controls).
• A dotted red line is drawn behind the player icon as it moves from one Point of
Interest (POI) to another. If the player has already traveled between those two
locations no new line is drawn.
• The speed at which the player icon moves across the map is a tunable
variable. In the example scale it would take 3 seconds to travel 20 miles.
Waypoints
A series of invisible waypoints are automatically generated if the player
selects a destination that is nearer to a previously visited location than the player's
current location. The main rule for waypoints is that the player icon will travel along
existing paths (dotted lines) until it reaches the POI closest to the destination, at
which point it will move to the final destination and create a dotted line if necessary.
Map Generation
Major Cities
There are 12 major cities that are visible on the unexplored map and not affected by
fog of war. Their position remains constant in each new game and they use the City
terrain tileset theme.
[48] Points of Interest (POI) are randomly generated at the beginning of the
game to "fill in" the World Map. There are 12 Areas that are made up of 1 City and 4
POIs. These areas have variables that determine the difficulty of the battles that take
place in them as well as how POIs are generated. Areas are not visible to the player
on the world map.
Tileset %
Area Difficulty
Village Desert Rocky
Rabegh [25%] [50%] [25%] 1
Yenbo [50%] [25%] [25%] 1
Medina [30%] [40%] [30%] 1
Wejh [40%] [30%] [30%] 1
Tebuk [25%] [75%] [0%] 2
Akaba [30%] [50%] [20%] 2
Maau [50%] [40%] [10%] 2
Jauf [25%] [75%] [0%] 2
Azdak [60%] [20%] [20%] 3
Amnan [70%] [0%] [30%] 3
Deraa [70%] [10%] [20%] 3
Damascus [80%] [0%] [20%] 3
The min and max distance between POIs that determines map "density" are also
tunable values.
POI names are drawn from a master list of place names(Appendix of names to be
added after graduation).
2 randomly selected POIs in each Area will spawn a recruitable unit after the player
wins the battle there (see Game Characters - Generic Unit Generation).
Gameplay Details
User Interface - Controls
Overview
As an iPad game, it uses context-sensitive touch input. There are three main
categories of interface elements: Menu Buttons, Units, and Tiles. The rule is double
tap brings up an “Info” window and single taps are used for text menu buttons.
The menus and GUI elements that allow the player to give orders to units can be
viewed in Appendix F: Game Interface – Menus.
Menu Buttons
• These include menu items and GUI buttons such as “Close”.
• Tap once to activate
Units
• Double tap any friendly or enemy unit to bring up its Info Window.
• Double tapping the unit whose current turn it is will bring up the Command
Menu.
Tiles
• Double tap any tile (grid space) to bring up the Terrain Info box. It can be
closed by tapping the “Close” button.
Before the battle begins the player must choose and place units on the grid. It
is possible to view the layout of the grid and see the enemy types and positions, but
not their stats.
Viewing Units
The stats of every unit in the player’s army can be viewed. Scrolling through
all available units is done in a similar way as on the Party Management screen (see
Appendix G: Menu Wireframes)
The Grid
The camera can be moved around the grid normally (see Camera section), but
the game is “paused” and the AI is not activated yet. The enemy units are visible.
Placing Units
Units have restrictions on where they can be placed. They cannot be placed
on impassable tiles and must be within the player’s starting area.
• Drag the unit portrait from the viewing area to a valid tile on the battle grid.
• To remove a unit from the grid drag it back to the viewing area.
• Continue placing units until the maximum number of allowed units is reached
• Press the Ready button to end the Setup Phase and begin the Battle Phase.
Command Menu
Overview
The Command Menu appears when a player unit is selected on the battle grid
on its turn. It can be moved around the screen by dragging it from its menu edge.
Move
• Move the unit to another tile
• See Movement section
Attack
• Order the unit to attack an enemy
• See Combat System section
Magic
• Order the unit to cast a spell
• Only available if unit is a magic-using class
• See Magic System section
Item
• Order the unit to use an item on itself or an ally
• Only available if the player has a Usable Item
• See Appendix D: Items - Usable
Special Ability
• Order the unit to perform its special ability
• See Special Ability Microgames section
Change Focus
• Change the unit's Focus
• Must be first action performed on unit's turn
• Not available after the unit performs an action
• See Ability Focus section
End Turn
• Ends the unit's turn
Victory Conditions
Each battle has a randomly assigned victory condition. The levels ends
immediately after this condition has been met.
Each level has a [50%] chance of also having a bonus goal. These goals are
completely optional but provide an additional reward if completed.
Rewards
Reward Items are flagged as such (see Appendix D: Items) and one is
randomly chosen when goals have been completed. Campaign Rewards are given in
the World Map Phase when [2-4] battles have been won in a row.
Campaign Rewards
• Unlocks a new unit to recruit at last battle location
• Unique Item
Gameplay Walkthrough
Overview
A walkthrough of the gameplay loop with actions that can be performed
during each phase.
Battle Phase
• Select a unit and action from the command menu.
• Move: Select a tile to move to
• Attack: Select an enemy
• Magic: Select a spell and then a target friendly unit, enemy or tile
• Item: Select a target
• Special Ability: Select target then play microgame (see next sub-heading)
• Change Focus: Choose a new focus subject
• End Turn: Ends turn and begins turn of next unit or enemy in the queue
• Each unit may perform two actions (ie. Move and Attack, Move and Item,
Magic and Special Ability, etc)
• Change Focus may only be used at the beginning of a turn and automatically
ends it.
• Once every player unit has taken its turn the enemy units go through their
turns
• Repeat until victory condition is met or failed
Microgame
• View game instructions/goal
• Perform action within 3 second time limit
• If successful return to Battle Phase where special ability is activated
• If not successful, special ability is not activated and unit will automatically end
its turn
Results
• The battle will end with a message proclaiming SUCCESS or DEFEAT
depending on whether the victory condition has been met or not.
• If there was a bonus goal, its result will be displayed.
• If the battle ended in defeat then return to the World Map
• If won, the reward item(s) will be shown before returning to the World Map
Repeat
• Once back at the World Map repeat the above phases until reaching
Damascus on the map and winning the battle there, at which point the game
will end.
Beat Chart
Notes
• There are 12 geographical areas composed of 5 levels each, for a total of 60
levels represented along the X-axis (see World Map - Map Generation)
• Though progression appears relatively linear, the player actually has freedom
to choose where to go next on the World Map. This chart represents ideal
progression through each level of the game, but an actual gameplay
experience may involve accidentally or intentionally going to areas that are
too difficult and bypassing ones that are too easy.
• "Excitement" is measured in terms of access to new equipment and items,
more powerful units, more locations on the map to choose from, and more
varied enemies.
• The first level will be relatively easy but kick off with a bang (interesting units
and enemies) to hook the player and show what they will encounter later on
• One level in each area will contain a miniboss — this is the spike on the levels
that are multiples of 5.
Camera
Overview
The camera will provide an isometric bird’s eye view. It maintains a 5:4 aspect
ratio at all times, so it will remain fixed when the iPad itself is rotated into portrait
mode, but will flip “upside down” if the iPad is rotated 180°. The camera view can be
dragged around to show different parts of the level or rotated around the grid to
provide a different viewing angle.
Summary
Frame Size 5:4 / 1024x768 (iPad Screen Resolution)
Amount of Visible Corner-to-corner screen diagonal approximately equal to a
Grid (camera height) row of 16 grid tiles
Player Manipulation ● Drag to Move
● 90° Increment Grid Rotation
Details
The amount of grid viewable within the camera frame (ie. camera distance
from the ground) is such that the x and y axes that intersect in the middle of the
16x16 grid fit precisely within the frame of the camera when centred on the grid
origin point. See below diagram.
A level’s total possible viewable area is slightly larger than the rectangular
area determined by the corners of the grid. The camera extents—or how far beyond
the grid corners the camera can go before stopping—are determined by adding
tunable variables for the left, right, top, and bottom that represent this extra
distance.
A level’s total possible viewable area with the current view centered on grid origin.
Rotation
The grid can be viewed from 4 different angles at 90° increments. The player
can only rotate the camera 90° at a time in either direction, so switching to the
opposite view will require two rotation commands (see User Interface – Controls). In
the default view, the North side of the grid is in the top right.
After receiving the rotation command, the camera will orbit the grid
coordinates that its view is currently centred on. The length of time for the camera to
smoothly orbit from its original position to the new viewing angle is 1.5 seconds.
Game Characters
Overview
Many units the player encounters and recruits in the game are randomly
generated, but a select few are given specific names and roles.
Unique Characters
Player Character (T.E. Lawrence)
• These two brothers are the player's allies and leaders of the Arab armies.
• Faisal appears during the Battle Setup Phase as a talking head and gives the
player the level's victory condition (see Victory Conditions).
• Abdullah gives the player information about the various points of interest on
the World Map (see World Map - Points of Interest).
Fakhri Pasha
• The leader of the Ottoman Army and final boss.
• The player fights him in the final battle at Damascus (see Enemies - Fakhri
Pasha).
Enemies
Enemy Generation
• Enemies are generated in the same way as player units (see chart on next
page)
• They are assigned a level and acquire all the stat bonuses appropriate for that
level
• See Character Classes and Customization for leveling rules, which are also
applicable to enemies
• They can either be 1 level below the player's main character, the same level
as the player character, or 1 level higher.
• Which level an enemy ends up being is determined by the difficulty of the
area the player is currently in (see World Map - Points of Interest)
The following chart shows the chance that an enemy will spawn at the different levels
for the three different difficulties.
Battle Groups
Enemies are not spawned directly on to the battle grid, but into a Battle
Group. These groups restrict which units will appear together. Therefore, when a
level is generated, a Battle Group is randomly selected and the appropriate enemies
generated for it.
Enemies (cont'd)
Enemy List
Base Skill Values (randomly initialized from
Class
range)
Moveme Defen Rang
HP Attack Magic
nt se e
Turkish Swordsman 35-50 3-4 8-12 4-8 — 1
Level]
Ifrit (Fire Djinn) Immune to Ignite; Casts Ignite on melee hit; [6]*[Player
Flying Unit Level]
Marid (Water Immune to Blind; Casts Blind on melee hit [6]*[Player
Djinn) Level]
Earth Djinn Immune to Earthquake and Quicksand; Casts [6]*[Player
both Level]
Air Djinn Immune to Twister and Sandstorm; Casts [6]*[Player
both; Flying Unit Level]
Enemies (Cont'd)
Minibosses
There are 11 minibosses—1 for each area of the game world. The 12th and
final boss is detailed in the next section.
Final Boss
• The final boss is named Fakhri Pasha
• He is a hybrid unit of 3 classes: Rifleman, Swordsman, Holy Man
• He can switch between sword or rifle depending on if his target is near or far,
and cast Summon or Support magic at any time
• He is Level 10
• He is accompanied by the Army + Magic Battle Group
100 4 20 20 30 1 or 8
Battle Grid
The Battle Grid is composed of 4 chunks of tiles that are created by level
designers. These need to be designed in such a way that chunks of the same tileset
can connect to each other so transitions are seamless.
Battle Grid
There are four tilesets: City, Village, Desert, and Rocky. Each tileset has 16
unique chunks—four for each corner (4xNW, 4xNE, 4xSE, 4xSW) Each chunk is an
8x8 square of 64 (not all unique) tiles.
The battle grid for a specific level is generated by randomly selecting one of
the four chunks from each corner grouping, from the appropriate tileset.
Tiles
Level designers can rotate tiles at 90° increments and adjust their height
when creating chunks. The base grid is considered at height 0 and snaps in
increments of 1. A tile can have negative height.
"Scenery" objects (foliage, rocks, etc) will be baked into tiles and not placed
separately.
The following list of tiles is just a starting point and will be constantly added to
based on input from level designers and artists.
Multiplayer
Overview
Multiplayer consists of 1vs1 battles played on the same device.
Game Options
• Tileset: City, Village, Desert, Rocky
• Victory Condition: CTF, Last Man Standing, King of the Hill
• Unit Level: Choose from 1-10. Determines unit starting stats, which are not
random within a range but the upper limit of the range so as to not be
unfair.
• Blind Setup?: Yes/No toggle
Battle Setup
If the Blind Setup toggle is set to "Yes" Player 1 chooses and places all his
units before passing it to Player 2, who does the same without seeing Player 1's
units.
If the toggle is set to "No" players take turns choosing and placing a single
unit, which is visible on the grid to the other player.
Each player has [20] points which they "spend" on units during the setup
phase. The following chart lists all the units available in multiplayer and their point
value.
Class Point Value
Swordsman [3]
Rifleman [3]
Assassin [4]
Wizard [5]
Ghoul [3]
Skeleton [1]
Rukh [8]
Play
• Player 1 goes first (how players determine who is Player 1 is up to them to
decide before the Battle Setup)
• Players alternate taking single turns
• The turn order for units is determined by the order in which they were placed
on the grid; The first unit to be placed goes first, last goes last, etc.
• When a player hits "End Turn" on the Command Menu a pop-up notification
appears asking the player to pass the device to the other player.
Game Types
CTF
• Each player has a flag "unit" that they place in their starting area during
Battle Setup but cannot be moved except by their opponent during the game.
• A flag is picked up by moving a unit onto the opposing player's flag. That unit
cannot perform any action on its turn except "Move"
• A flag is captured by moving the unit holding the opponent's flag onto the
player's own flag.
• The flag is returned to its original position if the unit holding it is killed.
• The game ends after a successful flag capture or if all the units on one team
are killed.
Game Help
The tutorial consists of a series of static screenshots with descriptive text that
walks the player through basic actions.
• Screen 1 - Movement: Explains how to move and how tiles have different
movement values that work in conjunction with the unit's movement stat to
determine its range.
• Screen 2 - Melee: Explains melee combat
• Screen 3 - Ranged: Explains ranged combat
• Screen 4 - Magic: Explains how Holy Man and Wizard can only use certain
spells
• Screen 5 - Focus: Explains how units can Focus and how that adds stat
bonuses when grouped
The purpose of the sound effects are to provide immediate and clear feedback
to the player about the actions occurring in the game. In combination with visual
effects the sound effects will help create a "juicy" game that makes each interaction
by itself a little fun and rewarding.
Sound Effects
Name # of Variations Description
A very short "click" Sound to be played when
Button Tap 1
tapping menu buttons
Point of When a POI is selected on the world map,
Interest 8 appropriate ambience plays (ie. city street,
Selection windy desert, camels at oasis, etc)
Battle Begins 1 "Ka-chung" call to action
Invalid Action 1 Played when invalid action is attempted
A short chime played upon completing the
Victory 1
battle's victory condition
A short chime played upon failing the battle's
Defeat 1
victory condition
Full list of sound effects for each unit to be added after graduation.
Music
Location Description Approximate Loops?
Played Length
Main Menu A brief track that is used as the 30-45 seconds Yes
game's theme music.
World Map Ambient "neutral" music that is an 3-4 minutes Yes
expanded version of the main
menu theme.
Battle 1 Upbeat "march to battle" music 2-3 minutes No
that makes the player feel like
they can accomplish anything.
Battle 2 A more sorrowful track to be 2-3 minutes No
played when the player is losing
or facing overwhelming odds.
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Resources and Research
Films
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Dune (1984)
Dune (2000 - miniseries)
Children of Dune (2003 - miniseries)
Books
Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence
Dune, Frank Herbert
One Thousand on One Nights / Arabian Nights
Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia, Jeremy Black and Anthony
Green
Book of Imaginary Beings, Jorge Luis Borges
Games
WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii)
WarioWare: Touched (DS)
Final Fantasy Tactics (iPhone/iPod Touch)
Vandal Hearts (PSN, XBLA)
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PSP)
Skulls of the Shogun! (TBA)
Web
Arabian Mythology - Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_mythology)
The Arab Revolt - Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Revolt)
T.E. Lawrence - Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._E._Lawrence)
Bedouin - Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedouin)
Arabian Desert - Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_desert)
Middle East Clothing Glossary (http://www.raqs.co.nz/me/clothing_glossary.html)
Music
The Rebab instrument (http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=PJx6vjaw6P8&feature=related)
Traditional Bedouin Music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIEHVrZWdUE)
The Voice of the Guns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWyfgqKAJv8)
Wakfu
• Platform: PC
• Release Date: TBA, currently in open beta
• Website: http://www.wakfu.com/en
Appendix D: Items
Armour
Name Type Stats Flags
Breastplate Heavy Defense [+4] Default
Ancient Breastplate Heavy Movement [-1] Reward
Defense [+8]
Modern Breastplate Heavy Movement [-2] Reward
Defense [+12]
Goat Hair Coat Light Defense [+1] Default
Camel Hair Coat Light Defense [+2] Reward
Ottoman Coat Light Defense [+3] Reward
Worn Leather Coat Medium Defense [+2] Default
Hard Leather Coat Medium Defense [+4] Reward
Custom Leather Outfit Medium Defense [+6] Reward
Bisht Clothing — Default
Expensive Bisht Clothing Movement [+1] Reward
Range [+1]
British Army Uniform Clothing HP [+5] Unique
Weapons
Name Type Stats Flags
Walking Stick Staff — Default
Cedar Staff Staff Magic [+10] Reward
Ancient Staff Staff Magic [+15] Reward
Khanjar Dagger — Default
Steel khanjar Dagger Attack [+10] Reward
Enchanted khanjar Dagger Attack [+15] Reward
Bedouin Sword Sword — Default
Turkish Officer's Sword Sword Attack [+5] Reward
Persian Sword Sword Attack [+10] Reward
Gew 88 Rifle — Default
Gew 98 Rifle Attack [+5] Reward
Range [-1]
M1903 Springfield Rifle Attack [-5] Reward
Range [+2]
Miscellaneous
Name Type Stats Flags
Apprentice Ring Ring [+5%] XP Reward
[-5%] HP
Journeyman Ring Ring [+10%] XP Reward
[-10%] HP
Master Ring Ring [+15%] XP Reward
[-15%] HP
Enchanted Ring Ring Double Focus (unit Reward, Unique
counts as 2 in its focus
grouping)
Peasant Pendant Pendant [10%] additional HP Reward
Bedouin Pendant Pendant [15%] additional HP Reward
Defense [-4]
Royal Pendant Pendant [20%] additional HP Reward
Defense [-8]
Enchanted Pendant Pendant Regenerate [5HP] Reward, Unique
every turn
Trader's Kufiya Kufiya/Scarf Movement [+1] Reward
[-5%] XP
Traveler's Kufiya Kufiya/Scarf Movement [+2] Reward
[-10%] XP
Soldier's Kufiya Kufiya/Scarf Movement [+3] Reward
[-15%] XP
Enchanted Kufiya Kufiya/Scarf Unit always goes first Reward, Unique
Usable
Name Type Effect Flags
Health Elixir Heal Restore [15-20]HP Reward
Attack Potion Attack Buff Increase Attack Power Reward
by [5] for 1 turn
Potent Attack Potion Attack Buff Increase Attack Power Reward
by [5] for 2 turns
Magic Potion Magic Buff Increase Magic Power Reward
by [5] for 1 turn
Potent Magic Potion Magic Buff Increase Magic Power Reward
by [5] for 2 turns
Defense Potion Defense Buff Increase Defense by Reward
[5] for 1 turn
Potent Defense Potion Defense Buff Increase Defense by Reward
[5] for 2 turns
Smelling Salts Revive Revives targeted Reward
unconscious party
member with 10HP
2. Button: Load’s
previously saved
game. Only appears
if there is a saved
game.
3. Button: Go to
New Game Prompt
screen
4. Button: Go to
Multiplayer menu
screen
5. Button: Go to
Options screen
2. Menu buttons
faded and
deactivated
3. Pop-up Prompt
for confirming New
Game Action
Yes: Begins new game
No: Return to Main Menu
2. Victory Condition:
Drop down menu of
different game types, or
victory conditions
Main Menu –
Options
1. Music Toggle
2. Copyright information
3. Button consisting of
company logo and text
that links to other games
on the App Store.
World Map
1. Button: Go to Party
Management screen
2. Button: Go to Main
Menu
2. A short descriptive
paragraph
5. Button: Go to Main
Menu
3. Currently equipped
items and also buttons for
choosing new equipment
3. Button: OK closes
pop-up and goes to
next screen
4. Arrows allowing
tapping to scroll
through new units.
Alternatively, swipe to
scroll.