Troops - Game Design Document

If you already know Troops or you want to give it a try, go Play Now!

Introduction

Synopsis

Troops is a competitive multiplayer RTS game set in the medieval era. Two players clash on an island and must gather and manage their resources to form an army capable of defeating their opponent. The player will attempt to destroy the enemy Town Hall in a fast-paced game filled with thrill, challenging decisions and strategy.

Basic Information

Genre	RTS (Real Time Strategy)
Age Range	12+
PEGI Info	PEGI 12
Target Audience	All gender, 25-40-year-olds, West, Low level players, interest in medieval history & strategy

The age minimum is set at 12 years old due to the nature of this videogame. RTS games imply resource management and long-term planning skills, making it generally more appealing for older teenagers and youngsters (even if a child can understand the mechanics of the game).

Regarding the target audience, players have been segmented based on gender, age, region, videogame skills and general interests. People aged between 25-40 years old are considered the primary audience for RTS games, as explained earlier. When choosing a recommended level of skills, there are four posibilities: basic, low, medium and high. Troops does not require extensive experience in videogames and the mechanics are easy to learn. However, people who primarily play smartphone apps such as "Candy Crush" may feel overwhelmed due to the ammount of information and resources the player needs to manage simultaneously. This is why the level has been set to "low". Last but not least, all the marketing resources will be directed towards young people interested in medieval history (given the game's setting), resource management, brain grames and strategy.

Lore and context

The king Aldric Stormborn of Eliora has died. There is no heir and what had been the most prosperous country of the last decades plunges abruptly into a war of secession. Its vast territory, plagued by diverse biomes, has gone from absolute tranquility to the greatest chaos seen in its history.

The people have divided and support the neighboring kings. The candidate from the northern neighbor, Azuremont, is Charles Bluebird. A smart, handsome, and very persuasive man. One should not trust his appearance, as inside he is meticulous in combat and will not miss any opportunity to seize the throne. From the south, the king of Sylveria lurks. Vincent Redwood is a huge, muscular man who will not hesitate to dismember anyone who gets in his way to the crown. The west is represented by Margaret Yellowstone, queen of Solstice. A bold, swift woman with perfect precision that instills fear in those who find themselves in her crosshairs. The east brings with it the rising sun of the kingdom of Novara. Jabari Purpleheart rules the richest country thanks to its naval trade. With wealth capable of buying any man, he will not hesitate to recruit whoever is necessary to carry out his mission.

The fate of Eliora is at stake and only war can decide it...

Game Session Overview

The player enters the website and can choose from three different options:

1. QUICK PLAY: Join a lobby and wait until matched with another player. Meanwhile, they can choose their team color (blue, red, yellow, purple). Two players cannot choose the same team, as each represents one king.
2. CREATE GAME: Generate a code to share with a friend. Same colour rules applied as in QUICK PLAY.
3. JOIN GAME: Use a friend's code to join their game. Same colour rules applied as in QUICK PLAY.

The game begins, with each player spawning randomly on the map with a Town Hall and three villagers. They will progressively explore the map and gather resources to build an army, and they will attempt to destroy the opponent's Town Hall by attacking them. The game has no time limit and cannot be paused, and a player wins by destroying the oponent's Town Hall, regardless of remaining resources or soldiers. There is no point system; it's a binary win or lose outcome. After the game ends, players return to the initial menu.

Goal

The ultimate purpose of Troops is to provide an enjoyable gaming experience for individuals during their leisure time, allowing players to engage in a game that is not overly time-consuming and does not demand advanced skills. Despite this, Troops aims to captivate players with a complexity and depth that sets it apart from basic and repetitive smartphone games.

Components

Buildings

Name	Image	Description
Town Hall		Can spawn villagers. If destroyed, the player loses the game.
Village House		Home of the villagers. Just for decoration.
Tower		Can spawn soldiers and archers.
Goblin Hut		Can spawn goblins.

NPCs

Name	Image	Description
Villager		Can gather resources.
Soldier		Can deal melee damage using a sword against enemies.
Archer		Can deal ranged damage by shooting arrows at enemies.
Goblin		Can deal melee damage using a torch against enemies.

Resources

Name	Resource Image	Description	Source Image
Gold		Gathered in gold mines. Used for spawning goblins.
Wood		Obtained by chopping down trees. Used for spawning archers and goblins.
Food		Obtained from sheeps. Used for spawning villagers, soldiers and archers.

Attributes

Player

• Resources (Gold, Wood, Food)
• Current population

Building

• Owner
• Health
• Queue (if it is a spawner building)

NPC

• Owner
• Health
• Spawning cost
• Spawning time
• Attack Damage (soldiers, archers & goblins)
• Attack Range (soldiers, archers & goblins)
• Cooldown
• Attack bonus (soldiers, archers & goblins)
• Movement speed

MDA

Mechanics

Name	Description
Select entities	Allows the player to choose one or more entities to perform actions upon.
Move NPC	NPCs can move around the map to explore it.
Gather	Villagers gather resources (gold/wood/food) from their sources (mine/tree/sheep). They continue gathering until the source is depleted.
Attack	Soldiers, archers and goblins deal damage to enemy NPCs or buildings within range.
Spawn	A building is used to spawn NPCs at full health. Spawning takes time, only 1 NPC can be spawned at a time and the others will be queued.
Camera movement	Allows players to navigate the map by moving the in-game camera, enabling exploration and control.
Surrender	A player can surrender and the opponent will automatically win the game.

Dynamics

Some of the most interesting dynamics arising from the mechanics of Troops include:

• Exploring the map to familiarize oneself with it.
• Allocating all troops to maximize resource acquisition.
• Creating the largest possible army.
• Establishing non-aggression pacts, whether temporary or permanent, with opponents (friends).
• Rushing the opponent by attacking as soon as possible, leaving them with no room to develop.
• Always assigning a soldier to accompany villagers for their protection.
• Deploying troops across various fronts for offense/defense.
• Concentrating all troops on a single front to consolidate forces.
• Using only one type of attacking unit.
• Securing control of the center to monopolize gold gathering (and consequently spawning goblins).
• Negotiating with the opponent to limit the use resources (just the initial ones or others, such as forbidding the use of gold).

Aesthetics

The overall aesthetic of the videogame is medieval-themed. Despite the game's aggressive nature, Troops aims to be a friendly and enjoyable experience for players of all kinds.

Graphics

The chosen art style features pixel art, suggesting a classic and easy-to-learn videogame experience, particularly suitable for novice players. Damage animations will be minimalistic, limited to health bars, to reduce the sense of violence. The color palette is not overly saturated to avoid overwhelming the player and maintain the peaceful atmosphere Troops aims to convey. The entire game will adhere to the medieval aesthetic, including the main menu, option menus, and any on-screen text, to keep the player immersed in the context and lore of Troops.

Music

There will be four main tracks:

• Troops' main theme, which will play in the Main Menu and Lobby.
• Village music, heard during regular gameplay to convey the peace of villagers' daily lives.
• Combat music. When a player's team initiates an attack on the opponent, both parties will hear a new action-themed track signaling the onset of battle. This alerts players and conveys the tension of the fight. After 5 seconds of inactivity between NPCs, the music will cease, returning to the village theme.
• Victory/defeat music. When a player wins or loses, the final screen will be accompanied by music appropriate to the player's outcome.

Controls

Keyboard

• The keys W A S D can be used to move the camera around the map.

Mouse

• The mouse (left-click) can be used to select a NPC, a building or a resource spawner. Just by clicking on them the player will see its information (health, damage, etc) and available actions to perform.
  • While a NPC(s) is selected, right-clicking in an empty location prompts the NPC(s) to move to that position.
  • While a villager is selected, right-clicking on a source (mine/tree/sheep) prompts the villager to move there and gather the resource.
  • While a soldier or an archer is selected, right-clicking on an enemy NPC or building prompts the unit to attack.
  • While the Town Hall is selected, the player can left-click on the villager to add it to the spawning queue.
  • While a tower is selected, the player can left-click on the type of NPC (soldier/archer) that will be added to the spawning queue.
  • While a goblin hut is selected, the player can left-click on the goblin to add it to the spawning queue.
• The mouse can also be used to interact with the UI. The player will be able to open a menu to learn the controls, change the settings of the game (enable/disable sound, fullscreen options) or surrender and exit the current game. Navigating through the main menu and lobby will also require the use of a mouse.

Tables and data

Spawning Cost

Type	Gold Cost	Wood Cost	Food Cost
Villager	0	0	FCV
Soldier	0	0	3 * FCV
Archer	0	1.6 * WCV	FCV
Goblin	GCV	WCV	0

GCV = Gold cost variable

WCV = Wood cost variable

FCV = Food cost variable

Spawning Time

Type	Time (s)
Villager	S_TIME
Soldier	1.5 * S_TIME
Archer	1.3 * S_TIME
Goblin	1.2 * S_TIME

S_TIME = Spawning time variable

Health

Type	Health
Villager	N_H
Soldier	2.5 * N_H
Archer	1.5 * N_H
Goblin	1.75 * N_H
Town Hall	5 * B_H
House	B_H
Tower	3 * B_H
Goblin House	2.25 * B_H

N_H = NPC health variable

B_H = Building health variable

Size

Type	Size (width, height)
Villager	SIZE px, SIZE px
Soldier	SIZE px, SIZE px
Archer	SIZE px, SIZE px
Goblin	SIZE px, SIZE px
Town Hall	4 * SIZE px, 2 * SIZE px
House	3 * SIZE px, 3 * SIZE px
Tower	3 * SIZE px, 2.5 * SIZE px
Goblin House	3 * SIZE px, 2.5 * SIZE px

SIZE = Size in pixels variable

Movement Speed

Type	Speed (px/s)
Villager	MSV
Soldier	MSV
Archer	MSV
Goblin	1.5 * MSV

MSV = Movement Speed Variable

Attack and Range

Type	Damage	Range
Soldier	1.5 * ATK	0
Archer	1.2 * ATK	RNG
Goblin	ATK	0

ATK = Attack damage variable

RNG = Range variable

Attack Bonus

Type	Bonus Damage	Against
Soldier	1.25 * BDG	Archer
Archer	1.25 * BDG	Goblin
Goblin	1.25 * BDG	Soldier

BDG = Base Damage variable

Resource Stats

Type	Production Rate	Total Resources
Gold	RT	G_Ttl
Wood	RT	W_Ttl
Food	RT	F_Ttl

RT = Rate variable (resources obtained every time a villager gathers)

W_Ttl < F_Ttl < G_Ttl

Map Design

The game currently has one map available: Desert Oasis. It features a central oasis surrounded by open terrain. Players are encouraged to launch fast attacks due to the vulnerability they face in this open environment.

Future features

Pixl Studios is already working on new features to enrich Troops and enhance its gameplay. Here are some of the most exciting ones:

Building

Currently, players start with a set of predefined buildings to manage their troops. Soon, they will also become architects, as they will need to send villagers to construct buildings of their choice. These buildings will require resources and take time to build. This new functionality aims not only to complicate resource management but also to introduce new dynamics that will make Troops an even better game. For example,

• Building a quaint town (just for fun).
• Using buildings as a barrier to protect the Town Hall.
• Surrounding the enemy by constructing buildings around them.

Fog-of-war

The fog-of-war is a crucial element in RTS video games. The Pixl Studios team will add fog-of-war to allow players to explore an initially unknown map, leading to new dynamics. Another important point is that, even though the player may have explored a certain territory, they will only see the situation as it was left the last time an NPC passed through. Therefore, they will not be able to monitor the opponent's movements unless they have units specifically tasked with occupying their territory for that purpose.

Shortcuts

Some shortcuts will be added to help our high-skilled and experienced players, such as:

• Pressing Esc will open the settings menu.
• While the Town Hall is selected, pressing 1 adds a villager to the spawning queue as long as the player has enough resources.
• While a tower is selected, pressing 1 adds a soldier to the spawning queue as long as the player has enough resources.
• While a tower is selected, pressing 2 adds an archer to the spawning queue as long as the player has enough resources.
• While a villager is selected, pressing 1 allows you to build a new house as long as the player has enough resources.
• While a villager is selected, pressing 2 allows you to build a new tower as long as the player has enough resources.

New maps

Eliora is a very diverse country, and kings are about to start their fights in other biomes. Therefore, the game will soon feature three distinct maps, each equipped with a set of resource spawning points to achieve a balanced resource distribution in every game. Players can choose from these maps based on the gaming experience they seek.

The maps include:

• Desert Oasis: Today's existing map.
• River Crossing: A symmetrical map with a river running through the middle, and only 3 bridges to cross it. This design creates a high-pressure zone on the bridges, making them the primary route for attacking the opponent.
• Mountain Pass: Players spawn in a forest at one of the four corners of the map, with a very low visibility level, and limited paths to explore it. This map enables swift attacks along defined routes while offering a strategic advantage for defense, as players can anticipate the directions of potential attacks.

Sounds

Each action performed by NPCs will have corresponding sound effects to inform the player of ongoing events. Sounds will play when villagers gather resources or build, when an NPC takes damage, or when soldiers/archers use their attacks.

Other improvements

Last but not least, here are some future ideas to enhance the player experience:

• Drag&Drop: Players will be able to select multiple units at once by dragging the mouse, instead of selecting them one by one.
• Creator Privileges: The creator of a game will have priority in choosing color and selecting the map for the game.
• Random Spawn: Townhalls will spawn at different locations on the map.
• Lose on AFK: Players will be kicked out of the game if they remain inactive for too long.
• Population Limit: Since villagers will be able to build, villager houses will limit the maximum population of the player, adding utility to these buildings.
• Performance: Changes will be made to improve the game's performance.