Game Design Document: Vale

Overview

Title: Vale
Genre: 3rd Person Action RPG
Setting: Medieval Fantasy
Core Gameplay: Strategic Decision-Making, Caravan Travel, Event Handling, Exploration, Resource Management

Concept

Vale is a 3rd person action RPG where players lead a caravan toward a mythical promised land called "the Vale," the only safe haven from an encroaching void. The journey is fraught with increasing dangers along a procedurally generated road filled with ruins, towns, and other points of interest. Players must manage resources, make critical decisions, and choose between focusing solely on reaching the Vale or engaging in quests for towns encountered along the way.

Core Gameplay

Journey to the Vale:

Navigate through a procedurally generated road, encountering varied landscapes, ruins, towns, and other points of interest. Each journey offers new challenges and opportunities, with escalating dangers as players progress.

Strategic Decision-Making:

Manage supplies, choose routes, and balance the risks of exploration against the urgency of the journey. Players decide on starting conditions (weather, time of year, etc), types and quantities of provisions, route planning, and methods of travel, all of which influence the difficulty and opportunities during the journey.

The chosen method of travel is particularly crucial, as it affects the group's speed, capacity, and adaptability, consider the following examples:

beast of burden pulling a fully provisioned wagon (slow pace. requires attentiveness to the physical health of your beast as well as the mechanical health of the wagon).
beast of burden wearing saddlebags (medium pace. requires attentiveness to the physical health of your beast, and reliance on lighter/perishable provisions).
personal backpacks (fast pace. requires utmost attentiveness to resource management and reliance on hunting, looting, or foraging for natural resources).

Event Handling and Combat:

Engage in real-time combat and strategic decision-making in response to random and triggered events. These include environmental hazards, disease, mechanical failures, NPC interactions, and combat encounters with consequences that can alter the journey's outcome.

Exploration and Quests:

Explore ruins, caves, and other locations for unique rewards, resources, and lore. Players can also engage in mercenary or delivery quests for towns they encounter, adding depth and variety to their journey.

Resource Management:

Maintain and manage vital resources like food, health, and equipment. Players must balance resource usage, craft items from gathered materials, and trade with NPCs to ensure the survival of their caravan.

Caravan Interaction:

Players can issue basic commands to their caravan, such as "halt," "advance slowly," "make camp," or "rush forward." They can also place beacons by pinging the map to guide their NPCs pathfinding, adding a strategic layer and encouraging active role-playing as the caravan leader.

Multiplayer Mode:

In multiplayer, players collaborate to divide tasks, defend the caravan, explore the world, and make shared decisions that impact the journey's success.

"Active" Multiplayer

Players can invite friends into their worlds.
Players can hire "mercenary" players by visiting guilds (found only in larger towns).
Players can "invade" other worlds to engage in pvp activities.
If the invasion is performed in "pvp enabled zones", khe antagonistic players will spawn in with their full kits (More or less equivalent to Souls games), otherwise they will spawn in and assume control of slightly buffed NPC enemies.

"Passive" Multiplayer

NPC versions of cooperative players remain in your caravan, even after other players log out of the game. Players can seamlessly re-assume control of their NPCs upon rejoining a session.
Enemies may take on the appearance and stats of other players.

Structure and Progression

Stages and Milestones:

The journey is broken into stages, each presenting escalating challenges that require strategic planning and resource management.\

Endgame:

Multiple endings based on player choices and outcomes, encouraging re-playability with different strategies and quest involvement.

Visual and Audio Design

Visuals:

A medieval fantasy art style with dynamic environments and character designs that reflect the setting and the journey's tone.

Audio:

An adaptive soundtrack and immersive sound effects that enhance the atmosphere and emotional weight of the journey.

Development Plan

Prototype:

Develop core mechanics to test gameplay concepts.

Alpha to Launch:

Build, refine, and optimize key features, conducting playtesting to ensure a polished final release.

Target Audience:

Fans of RPGs, strategy games, and cooperative multiplayer experiences.
Gamers who enjoy a mix of exploration, combat, and resource management in a richly narrative world, with an emphasis on replayability and procedural generation.