The Game Design Document [.pdf]

equesting roads stay away automatically grants it, for example) in order to show the user
what happens but not require them to balance economic and socio-political issues as well as
their own environment. The town will also serve as the menu in between games, with
different buildings serving as menu options (Town hall changes player, or a road out of town
quits the game, for example)
User Interaction
Most environmental factors will be activated by the user upon clicking the appropriate
interface icon, which then changes their mouse cursor into the appropriate manipulator.
Each factor will have a "basic" manipulator which costs very little money but does not have
a huge effect on the crop, which is useful for the start of the level. These manipulators will
be held on the cursor and activated repeatedly or continuously, with each activation
consuming money and affecting the crop without removing the tool. Examples of these tools
will be a water nozzle, pest swatter, or the popular "Dog Bark" tool to scare away birds.
Other tools, purchased later in the game, will be placed on the crop and work continuously
for a short time, consuming money as they are placed and continuing to affect the crop until
they disappear.
To get to the town, there will be a picture of the town on the interface near the
sunflower. Clicking that pauses the simulation and brings the user to the town. Different
buildings will activate different features, for example, the town hall will allow the player to
help pass or decline certain laws, and the bank will allow the player to apply for grants/
loans. All these interfaces will be very simple and explained by the narrator when they first
become available, and can be re-explained with a help button.
Level Design
Levels will be designed based on the crop they are growing. Potatoes will be grown in a
wide open field, corn and wheat will be grown in large circular fields, apples will be grown in
rows of trees. The game will be roughly tile based, though the user themselves cannot
select exactly how the tiles can grow. The tile growth and progression is determined by the
environmental factors. If conditions are right for planting, a tilled tile may turn into a plant
tile. If there are too many pests, tiles may start to exhibit insects. Tile growth parameters
will be defined in the level file, with separate parameters describing each difficulty level.
The Town
The town will be the hub of all activity not related directly to the fields. It will consist of a
few options to the player beyond the standard save, load, and exit. One simple option is to
return to the fields. Another will be the town hall, where the player may lobby for or against
policies that will affect their farm. Some policies will be outright beneficial or detrimental to
the player and they must take the correct action to give them better or easier success.
Other policies will be controversial and will both help and harm the player in different ways.
It will be up to the player to determine which side they want to go with depending on their
current situation. A short list of possible policies is below:
Build a large commercial airport, increasing pollution significantly and allowing