DESIGN DOCUMENT

Interface

Access: To access the game you will load up an executable file that launches the game.

Page description: The layout will be of any standard c++ executable, unless there is time for visuals, but even then it will simply look like a book.
Starting the game: When you begin the game there is a standard opening paragraph where your character is in the courtyard. From there you will make decisions that cause divergence in how the story progresses. Certain events happen no matter what, however, there will be differences from your choices.
Continuing Games: Filestreaming will allow a savepoint to be made when you progress through the story, so there isn't going backwards. This will allow choices to feel more impactful for the player.

Gameplay

A few paragraphs of story will play and the user will be given one of a few options. The program will handle edge cases, like incorrect typing with 'what do you mean? Are you feeling well?' phrases that keep them inside the story world. It won't prompt the user to answer though since the user should have plenty of time to leisurely read the material. This method of giving the user a few options limits the possibilities to account for when programming. It also gives a narrower web for interaction, rather than let the player choose where they want to explore we can give them options at particular times.

The reward should be the story itself. The user should feel engaged by trying to solve the mystery of the story presents the player with. As such, there isn't a leveling system, just the save point in the story you are currently in.

Functionality

If the player gets caught 3 times, the game is over. You will start from your most recent decision.

Chapter 1:

The story begins with the main character, the players avatar, in the orphanage courtyard describing the scenery and general locale. The protagonist will have the opporunity to talk to other characters in the courtyard for some development. The bell rings and all the children are called in by the head nun to the large room for a mass. This is where the player will get introduced to the main antagonist and understand the strictness of their current lifestyle. After the mass and meal the player is able to explore the orphanage to get a sense of space and setting.

Chapter 2:

This chapter will give the player options to misbehave within the confines of the orphanage. Reading letters. Exploring objects they shouldn't. There are opportunities to get caught or not get caught. We will have the friend character along for all this activity to allow for more bonding exposition, and a few memories to give the sense of time that their friendship has. At the end of the chapter their friend will fall ill and the nuns will behave mysteriously, not letting you see her. They tell you the next day she passed away.

Chapter 3:

This is the chapter where you will have more opportunities to explore, but they come with more risk of getting caught. Some events will have a timer on reading things or have to recall events where I say that you picked up a book facing ____ then delete the text and give you an option for the orientation you put the book back in, the answer would be the book's original orientation. This chapter will ultimately end with the establishment of an adversarial relationship with the head nun.

Chapter 4:

• The player character will finally be brazen enough to expore the town at night which is forbidden.
• The player have the option to explore the docs or the bookstore first.
• The player will meet your relationship character at the docks, this cannot be skipped over.
• The player will meet your mentor at the bookstore, this also cannot be skipped.
• The mentor will tell you about some of the local foklore and tal tales from his past *They are unbelievable but your character is naive, you form a better relationship with your mentor.
• The player's relationship character is curious about your experience in the orphanage. They want you to join them at the upcoming fishing festival.
  • If the player goes to the festival you are caught by the head nun.
  • If the player doesnt go to the festival your relationship is at risk, requiring you to complete an action later in the story to continue it.

  Chapter 5:

• If the player progresses their relationship enough with either the mentor or their relationship, they will have the opportunity to confide their story to them.
• Once the player has confided with the mentor, you will learn that a lot of people on the island die young or mysteriously disappear, that some people have attempted to leave to but the swells prevent this. When you ask about his stories he confesses they are the life he wishes he lived, full of adventure, and so he chooses to make them real. He also gives you a book with the plans to the orphanage which will show there are secret rooms.
• If the player confides with the relationship character, they want to help you and plan to sneak into the orphanage and investigate what is happening.
• If you don't confide then you will have none of this extra information, which will aid you in not getting caught for the final bit of story.

Chapter 6:

• This is the final chapter, where your investigation comes to fruition.
• The player must investigate and either find the hidden rooms on their own if they didn't have additional help or information or go directly to the locations with the help of the plans.
• The relationship character will point things out and act as a lookout preventing you from getting caught.
• Finally you reach the experimentation room and learn that the sinisterness was that the people on the island were created and some naturally degrade. They had two groups in isolation, one living normal lives and some in isolation taught morality, they wondered if this would have an effect on their humanity.
• The player character has the opportunity to:
• lash out at the nuns to free their people.
• Agree with the nuns premise and let the experiment take its course.
• Leave the island with their relationship character to experience the real world.