Project Description

What kind of game are you planning to build?
Top-down(-ish) isometric capture-the-flag dungeon crawler.
What are the goals of the game, how do players win, how do they lose?
There's one flag in a central part of the overall map. Players are organized into 2 teams of 2 that are competing for this central flag. One team wins when they capture the flag and carry it to their opponents' spawn point. The other team loses.
What are the interesting or unique aspects to your game?
The map design and the game mechanics are dungeon crawler themed. In addition there are AI enemies that impede the players' progress through the map, and the players can choose from multiple classic fantasy RPG classes. Basically, we want to combine many classic dungeon crawler elements with a competitive PvP, party game experience.
What are the list of features of your game? Prioritize them into at least three categories: "Must Have", "Would Be Really Nice", and "Cool But Only If Ahead Of Schedule".

Must Have:

One playable class (warrior [bruiser])
Map with one basic room type
Winnable game (i.e. flag exists & mechanic works)
HP/damage system
One mob (slime)
Intuitive UX
Collision (wall-player / player-player)
Four players can connect and interact correctly

Would Be Really Nice:

Navigation system (explorable minimap / compass)
Text/narration popups
Four classes (warrior, mage [DPS], paladin [tank], alchemist [healer])
Main menu (team selection, class selection)
Multiple mob types (slime, skeleton, mimic chest)
VFX/SFX for damage
Interactive physics

Cool But Only If Ahead Of Schedule

Animations for movement and attacking/skills
Music / OST
Procedurally generated map
Interactive classic dungeon elements
(loot: potions, powerups; locked doors; etc.)
Minimap pings (visual indicators for team communication)

Group Management

What are the major roles in your group's management?
We will divide development into graphics, core game logic, networking, and art.

Development roles will be somewhat flexible; while individual members will focus on their own tasks, we should be able to redistribute the workload as appropriate to changes to our plans.
How will decisions be made? By leader, consensus?
Majority vote.
How will you communicate? Email, meetings in the lab, discussion board?
Discord and meetings in the lab.
How will you know when you're off schedule, and how will you deal with schedule slips?
We'll be using Asana for task tracking. If and when the schedule slips, the responsible members, as well as the group as a whole, are expected to dedicate more time in order to bring us back on schedule.
Who will produce the weekly group status reports?
Vivian. Other members will sync with Vivian on their progress for the week.

Project Development

What are the development roles and who will handle them?
Graphics (rendering/UI):
Jamie Zhang
Chris Ozawa

Core game logic (physics/interactions):
Jimmy Ye
Jack Wang

Networking:
Leon Medvinsky
Paula Quach

Art:
Vivian Zhang
What tools will you use?
We'll be coding in C++. Code will be uploaded to a private GitHub repository. We'll be using Blender for 3D modeling.

We'll be using the following libraries (subject to change based on further research):

OpenGL / GLM / GLFW
OpenAL Soft
Bullet
rpclib

How will you do testing?
We will implement unit tests, as well as large amounts of logging/debugging. The various components (graphics, networking, etc.) should be individually buildable and executable with basic functionality for testing purposes. We will also use continuous integration (via a third party extension integrated with GitHub).

We will continuously playtest throughout development. Each member should be responsible for testing the functionality of the features they have implemented.
How will you do documentation (both internal group documentation as well as external player documentation)?
We will maintain code quality with inline & block comments. In addition, we'll maintain a Google Doc outlining the basic architecture of our graphics/networking/game logic. Player documentation will be kept in the form of a simple game manual document also maintained externally, which will be published on the website alongside documents like this one.

Project Schedule

Define a set of milestones with a specific definition of what each milestone is, what it means to complete each milestone, and when you expect to complete them. Define the milestones at two scales, a high level set of key milestones like integration and design freeze, and a low level set of weekly milestones.

Week	Graphics	Core Game Logic	Networking	Art	Misc/Stretch Goals
1	Research	Research	Research	Brainstorm Art Style	Finalize Game Idea and start brainstorming features Decide scheduling
2	Set up code to be able to render simple objects Render a sample room/players	Basic Setup (mini game engines, APIs) and continue building engine in future	Decide on basic protocol Connect client(s) to server Basic messages (movement)	Concept Art (Characters, one dungeon room type, enemies (slime))	Decide on file format for models Setup
3	Render crucial objects for gameplay (i.e. flag, environment) HP/damage indicators	1. Complete basic game designs (victory conditions, game play, draft character abilities, theme etc.) 2. Finalize game flow and finish one minute demo 3.Network integration	Actual messages Begin making tests & designing complete architecture (Note: Sync with game logic)	Finalize Character Design(s) Export basic character model for placeholder use Model basic character	Conceptualize and design other dungeon room types
CHECK POINT Integration	Can easily import and render basic models for important gameplay objects	Basic integration with networking, and one minute game play with programmer-art models	Pass messages between client and server that can get/set game state (+ integration w/ game logic).	Finalize game design/art and basic aesthetic	Decide on a name for the game
4	Gameplay VFX (attacks/healing)	Refine game play and add in gameplay elements (attacks/skills)	Implement more messages as required Keep up with testing As networking reaches completion, gradually shift focus to other aspects	Model basic dungeon room Model additional characters
5	2D UI for basic character selection, options, text, and navigation	Complete major gameplay elements (combat, discrete interactions such as doors/chests)	Implement more messages as required	Model enemies, obstacles, miscellaneous items Finish modeling all four characters (if ahead of schedule)
CHECK POINT Design Freeze	Make gameplay intuitive for players with UI elements and visual cues	Functional game objectives, combat mechanics, and basic object interaction	Complete integration with gameplay to enable roughly complete set of actions in multiplayer	Complete all basic models (>2 characters, 1 room, 1 enemy, misc. [doors/chests])
6	Finish 2D UI if not yet completed Render items/loot, interactive dungeon features	Design one fixed map layout with enemy spawns, objects	As necessary: add messages, optimize, and test	Finish modeling all four characters Model variations of dungeon rooms (if ahead of schedule)	Look into sound effects/soundtrack possibilities
7	Character animations	Work on sound engine, in particular spatial audio if possible	Polish & test Should be mostly frozen at this point	SFX production	Soundtrack
8	Character animations	Complete integration of SFX/VFX, UI, networking	Finalize	Polish core art assets and sounds
CHECK POINT Feature Freeze	All objects, UI, and animations should be correctly rendered	All basic gameplay elements should be functional and interact correctly with SFX/VFX/UI	Multiplayer should be fully functional (supporting 4 players) and smooth (i.e. no noticeable lag)	All basic art (including models and SFX) should be completed
9	Minimap pings More visual flair with animations, particle effects, etc.	Expand fixed map layout Add multiple maps and/or procedurally generate maps		Continue adding sounds/music Skill/misc animations
10		Playtesting/debugging