Button In a Box
This is a games design document for a VR narrative driven game.
Can you push the button? What about pour tea without spilling any? Can you solve a murder? And what about escaping prison?
Start out in a simple white box with nothing except a desk and a button.
But what is outside the box? Another box of course!
This was my first look into writing a Design Document and I think it turned out alright.
For Button In a Box I took an iterative approach. I began with the simple idea that the player had to push a button in VR and that the button would keep moving about the desk.
I then expanded into other input systems like leavers, pulleys etc. Once I had a few different input systems I realised that they had taken on the role of characters and so I gave them all a personality of their own which would then influence the narrative.
I found that by doing the document I had to think of every angle and so I would frequently complete sections and then re-write sections in order to make them more cohesive and interesting to play.
Blog Posts
See the development process through my weekly blogs
Reflection
I think the final form ended up quite good, however I wish I could have presented it slightly better since it looks and reads rather jankily in some places. I think this was because I had focused on some elements a lot and almost completely neglected others while planning for the document. I think if I were to do this again, I would focus more on the marketability of the game.
One thing I struggled with during this project was working out the scope. This was because I wasn't actually making the project and so I didn't know what obstacles I would hit. I think its incredibly important to prototype and test ideas before writing a whole design document so that you have a clearer picture of what is feasable.