Coffee Break Design Document

Credits: Julie Leiby, Brandon Klassen

GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT



Disclaimer

This was intended to be a preliminary design document, but due to the brevity of the deadline, it is not yet complete. I do; however, feel that it may serve as a good starting point. I would really like to continue the design, but will need lots more time to get something that we can actually use to make a game.

Special thanks to Julie Leiby and Brandon Klassen for offering thoughts and ideas.

Purpose

Preliminary design document based on suggestions put forth by Cesar Bittar. The purpose is to give everyone involved in the sierragamers.com game development a vision for the Coffee Break idea put forth by members of the team. This document is not supposed to be the official game design but rather an overview/summary of a possible game.

______Design Considerations

The company’s line of business is irrelevant. Business details may only hurt us by isolating some of our audience. The business does not have a name. We do not know what services it provides, products it creates, etc… All the audience needs to know is that it IS a business and that the game takes place in an office.

Poll Questions:

Which boss character would be funnier?:
Competent, intelligent, well-dressed, rich, egotistical that is a major success in the business world.
Incompetent, unintelligent, lack of fashion sense, overweight guy that is only in the role of boss because his brother-in-law is the CEO of the company.
What does the company produce (line of business)?:
We don’t care
Prosthetics
Faux Flowers
Anything else someone can come up with

______Audience

One of the appealing aspects of Coffee Break is that it is a culturally independent idea (with the exception of 3rd world countries). Millions of people across the globe work in office buildings. All of these people see funny events on a day to day basis. Cartoons (Dilbert) have been made. Movies (Office Space) have been made. But there is not yet a computer game that revolves around office humor.

Bottom line: The audience is anyone that works in an office environment (and has at least an inkling of a sense of humor).

______Setting

Time

Present. The company that our protagonist works for is a modestly successful business. Because of this success, the company needs more room and the only way to get that room is to move to another building.

The Building (Outside)

One important thing to note here is that the building will only ever be visible at the beginning of the game (opening sequence) and the end (protagonist gets to go home!) Other than these 2 occurrences, the building does not play a role.

Background: The new building they are moving to is nestled away in the middle of a large metropolitan area. The building is tucked between 2 mega complexes so it sticks out like a sore thumb. The building has leans … think Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is located near the corner of 2 of the busiest streets in the city. There is a Starchucks located in the vicinity (across the street).

The Building (Inside)

The building is run down and the business that Lucky is working for is modestly successfully to say the least. The company, however inefficient it may be, has had a short-lived (but unbeknownst) bout with success and needs to relocate due to a recent expansion. Unfortunately, the company has run into financial troubles since beginning the move and had to shut down funding until this minor bump in the road is patched. This move will play a role in the game. Props that will help convey to the user that the move is incomplete:

Temporary furniture. This could include things like folding chairs in the lobby for example.
Lots of duct tape?
Paint cans and brushes.
Half-done flooring
Ceiling fans hanging from the ceiling by wires.
Ladders
No window treatments
Half-done wallpapering.

The office is a standard office with the usual areas like lobby, kitchen, bathrooms, etc…One thing to note is that they have just moved into the building. Certain areas are not yet complete. Paint cans, undone flooring, window treatments, etc.. are all things that will be in place.

The inside will consists of 6 (possibly 7) sub-areas.

The building does have an elevator

1st floor – lobby, kitchen

2nd floor – cubes, bathroom

3rd floor – game room

4th floor – health club

5th floor – ceo penthouse

Area 1 – Lobby

This will be the first room that the player will see. There is seating and magazines to the left. There are pictures (funny company logos, mission statements, motivators, etc..) to the right hanging on the wall. Don’t really play a role other than to set a tone of humor within the office. (Clicking on a company logo poster hanging on the wall will put the player in 1st person mode with the logo taking up almost the entire screen. The logos will be big enough to read in this view.)

To the far side (opposite the door) is the receptionist’s area. She looks like a queen perched behind a massive desk. The desk “area” resembles a stage and there is directional lighting illuminating her. She is an aspiring actress, so we can use visuals like this to emphasize this fact. (i.e. her desk area is like a mini-broadway stage). There are items on the desk and a switchboard (could be used later). To the right of her desk is a door leading into the cube farm? <check>.

Other things in the lobby possibly:

Plants
Product samples (whatever the company may produce)
Life size replicate of company CEO .. Lucky confuses this life size replica for the real thing. He holds a long conversation with the replica before being interrupted by the receptionist. She informs him that the thing is not real.

Area 2 –Cube Farm

Cube farm – cubes are funny. Cube farms are reminiscent of caged animals … mice within a maze come to mind. We must find a way to incorporate cube farms.

Consists of 24 cubes but only a sub-set of the cubes are “interactive”. Employees are allowed to decorate their cubes and we can use this allowance as an indicator of personality.

By clicking on a cube, the inside of the cube will become a full-screen view. Lucky and the employee inhabiting the cube are shown standing/sitting respectively. There are goodies within the cube for Lucky to interact with. These, again, will help the player gain insight into the character.

Area 3 – Boss’s Office

Penthouse suite with lots of windows. This office is HUGE and has a beautiful view of the city below. The elevator doors open directly into the office. This will be the only additional floor in the game (could be others later).

Area 4 – Kitchen

Big kitchen complete with the following items:

Hot cocoa machine
Coffee maker
Free soft drinks in huge double-doored refrigerator

<check>Perhaps Kitchen could have a mini deli complete with a chef (another character).

Area 5 – Bathroom

Stalls, urinals, sink … standard bathroom stuff. Perhaps we introduce a character here as well … the guy that sits in the bathroom and offers certain goodies like mints, hand towels, deodorant, etc…

Area 6 – Game Room

I had the privilege of working for a company with a game room. What a great place! Game room elements could include:

Ping-pong
Pool table
Arcades
Fooshball (sp?)
Remote control car track

Area 7 – Health Club (Possibly)

Will wait for input from others. I just have this funny vision of putting a character like Arnold Schwarzenegger in their to rough Lucky up. He would have a German/Austrian accent and would be really intense. Just some thoughts.

Area 8 –Barber Shop (Possibly)

Will wait and see…

______Plot/Synopsis

Overview

You are Lucky Lackey, aspiring businessman interning for the summer vacation with a very successful company. You are green (inexperienced) but ambitious and will stop at nothing to become a success yourself. You reminisce about how difficult life has been up until this point, but you have come too far and worked too hard. It is time to begin reaping the benefits of your efforts. You will stop at nothing to become the best employee you can be. Good luck Lucky!

You have the summer off from your studies at GaleUniversity. You are majoring in Business Administration.

Prologue – opening movie

??? – believe it or not, this is giving me trouble

Acts

Act 1 – Good Impression

Game play begins with you stepping out of a typical yellow cab (perhaps there is an Indian driver (i.e. thing on head with beard)). The town is bustling. It is about 8:00 am in the morning. There is traffic and lots of people walking up and down the sidewalks. Other buildings are visible, and special attention is given to the Starchucks coffee shop (with donuts) just across the street.

After admiring the beauty and accepting your fate, you decide to head into the office lobby to begin your day. To make a good impression on your first day, you decide to pay Starchucks a visit and buy 3 cups of coffee and a box of donuts. You have a crumpled up $20 that represents all the money you have to your name. You’re willing to day away with half your life savings to make co-workers happy … What a guy!

You get the goodies and off you are to start your first day of work. You are nervous but diligent. You head to the lobby … box of donuts and coffees in hand.

Act 2 – First Encounter of the First Kind!

Running out of time here <deadline near> …

1) Lucky enters the lobby ...

2) he has 3 coffees and a box of donuts at hand ..

3) the first person he sees is the receptionist ...

4) security has been a concern (why?) and she doesn't recognize lucky .. so she calls in the security guard

5) the security guard and receptionist, believing that lucky may have some sort of weapon hidden in the boxes and such, bat down the hatches .. a big alarm goes off, there are red lights flashing (all in the lobby) and the security frisks lucky ...

6) as this is happening, the CEO enters the lobby .. he sees the ruckus and sees that Lucky is being roughed up by the policeman .. luckily he recognizes Lucky and clears up the confusion ..

7) in introducing himself, Jiles (the little dog) is gnawing on Lucky's leg, and when he offers his hand to shake, he is accidentally tripped up by the dog ... Lucky trips and spills coffee all over the CEO’s pants.

8) CEO hands Lucky his pants (to uncover boxers with little red hearts on them)

9) he walks around the office in boxers until Lucky cleans the stain

Non-linear puzzle … Lucky doesn’t have to clean the boss’s pants at any interval. He must do it to complete the game, but at any time during the game, he can choose to work on other puzzles.

The pants will be an inventory item. There are goodies in the pocket that you will be able to use. <To be defined>

______Characters

Lucky Lackey (Protagonist)–Ambitious lead that can’t wait to start his first day as an intern. Words to describe him could be ambitious, gullible, accident – prone.

Super bright kid but uncoordinated. This makes him accident-prone. Very ambitious. Sort of a MacGyver type … put into a situation, is capable of figuring out ways to find the best solutions.

He’s short and cute (in a Woody Allen kind of way). Unintimidating.

Julie Jules <:3 )~~

Bomb-shell receptionist that has been with the company since graduating high-school a few years earlier. She is the same age as Lucky and he is smitten by her to say the least. She manipulates Lucky like a puppet when she senses his interest. He beckons to her every whim. She’s an aspiring actress but she has no talented.

Jiles (the dog)

Julie’s little dog. It is a long haired Yorkee that is severely spoiled. He is very mean. His teeth are showing in every shot that he is a part of. Growls constantly. Not usually allowed at work, but he was just spade so the boss allowed him into the office for a week to recover. Very protective of Julie. Pickles and ice are his favorite.

Sam (Night-club bouncer turned Security Guard)

Personality like that of Chef from SouthPark. Big black guy with smooth comforting voice. Lucky enjoys visiting him because of the little nuggets of wisdom he has to offer. Offers valuable insight into corporate world and environment. He’s been working for the company from their first day of business. Knows everyone and everything anyone could ever want to know about the company. <check> Perhaps he’s a war vet .. if so, he could experience flash-backs.

George A. Blabber (GAB) Co-Worker

Started his career as an intern just as Lucky. He is soon to be Lucky’s arch nemesis. He has been racking up Employee of the Month (EOM) honors since starting work a few months earlier. Egotistical, self-centered, know-it-all, male chauvinistic pig. Always finds ways to turn conversations into something pertaining to sex? Going through a middle-aged crisis – receding hair line. Totes around his little black book (puzzle?)

Everyone hates him … but there’s one thing they can’t deny: he is good at what he does and he is a valuable asset to the company.

Wanda Wershipp (Gothic Chick)

Paranoid, cynical – can’t believe she’s working for the “establishment”. Anti-capitalist but figures it pays better than writing poetry for a living. Bitter but honest. Her bouts of paranoia can prove quite helpful.

Jimmy Kleen (Janitor)

One word: OCD … Obsessive Compulsive Disorder when it comes to cleanliness. Not the brightest guy in the bunch but is great at what he does. Happy go lucky kind of guy. Very optimistic person … which is kind of ironic given his profession. His one objective: Keep things clean!

Barry Bosman (Pronounced Boss-man)

<check> This one is still up for debate … Is he super talented and intense and thus Lucky’s fumbling nature only helps make their encounters funnier? Or, is he a dummy (think Dilbert) and everyone in the office is smarter than he is, but he is the CEO’s brother-in-law. That’s how he is able to maintain his position.

Stella Seikik (pronounced Psychic)

Accountant and filing clerk, 41, and somewhat overweight (not
too much though). Wears a horrendous white blouse / purple dress
combination.

She is a psychic by night. For a visual ... envision someone like Mrs. Smith of GK2. She performs palm readings and can read tarot cards as well. She also studies astrology.

This can be funny because by day she can be dressed like an ordinary housewife, but by night, we put her in her cube dressed up as some silly psychic with one of those big hats…heavy makeup. She has a crystal ball that illuminates her cube. She would be a character that Lucky can interact with both during the day and by night.

______Walk-Through

______Interface

I like Derek’s ideas. I think we should research the black-and-white line drawn characters and environment.

______Dialogue System

TO BE DEFINED

______Puzzles

Puzzle 1: Gothic Love Potion

Wanda Wershipp specializes in potions. Her latest concoction is what else but LOVE POTION. She lists the ingredients that she currently has available and those that she doesn’t. It is your job to find the missing ingredients. Besides, maybe you could find a good use for her creations. 

Potion: Cabaret (known for it’s seductive scent)

She has Jasmine and Wisteria, but she is missing a few other ingredients…what are they? This needs to be defined.

When puzzle complete, you somehow manage to get your hands on a thimble full of this stuff before being done with Wanda. Hmmm…who will we use it on? GUESS? Lucky was really hoping he could use it on Julie; however, the dog somehow (to be defined) manages to get his paws on it instead. For a period in the game, the dog goes from very angry and mean to very cute and cuddly. He humps Lucky’s legs. This impresses Julie. She has never seen her dog warm up to ANYONE. This may have helped Lucky after all!

Sidekick Psychic

Clues are given throughout the day as to how Stella works her crystal ball (or tarot cards). It will not be directly evident that this is a task that Lucky must complete.

When Lucky realizes that “seeing” into the future (to be defined) can really prove to be a career saver, he must figure out a way (only at night) to “jump start” Stella’s crystal ball. There are a series of preliminary actions that lucky must take prior to the crystal ball igniting.