Dark Clouds Game Design Document

Published 8 days ago

Dark Clouds

This will probable never get made. In designing it I thought co-op would be an essential feature, that combined with it being a 3D game that I'm reticent to try and get into.

Game Design Document for Dark Clouds

Title: Dark Clouds

Developers: Ikhan Games

Date: June 11th, 2025

Game Overview

Gameplay

Story and Characters

World and Level Design

Art and Aesthetics

Audio

Technical Specifications

Production Plan

Marketing Plan

1. Game Overview

Game Concept:

Pilot a sea plane around a fantasy world. Make harrowing cargo and passenger deliveries while avoiding the hazards of the sky while maintaining your plane. Upgrade to better protect your plane or improve your own skills and abilities. Explore and learn about the world while navigating the unfriendly skies.

Target Audience:

Action and management plus flying are at the core of gameplay so audiences who enjoyed Pacific Drive, or
Bomber Crew

Platform:

2. Gameplay

Basic Gameplay:

The game play revolves around operating your sea plane. Flying is done by adjusting parameters (heading, altitude, air speed) rather than manual realistic flight. Leaving the controls sets autopilot allowing the player to move freely about the plane. Different hazards will have different effects on the plane

High Altitude: intense sunlight blinds the pilot but also overheats the engines and melts the plane skin.
Low Altitude: heavy cross winds and increased chance of sleeting rain that.
Heavy Clouds: The territory of flying creatures called gargoyles that will protect their territory.
Storm Clouds: Change of lightning strikes that can disable plane systems.
...

Controls:

Mouse and Keyboard

Game Modes:

Campaign Mode only. I don't know about varying difficulty in regular sets (easy, medium, hard) or take page out of Pacific Drive's book and make various aspects of the gameplay toggle-able.

User Interface (UI):

Main Menu: Options for a New Game, Loading, Settings, Credits, and Exit.

Save Menu: Navigate to a specific save game.

Main HUD: A simple U.I for the players health and several icons for status effects; cold, hot, etc.

Plane Avionics: An interface that displays the status of all the different plane systems from fuel to fuselage health.

Upgrade U.I(s): Two similar UI's that cover the upgrade and equipment of the player's character and their plane.

Research U.I: Displays the catalog of all the player tutorials and the lore of the world and its hazards as they've been discovered.

Plane Loadout: A clipboard UI that displays the contracts, current contract, or plane cargo manifests.

Flight Map: A navigational chart that displays the world, all discovered locations and auxiliary information about the locations.

3. Story and Characters

Narrative:

In a fantasy would racked with supernatural weather phenomenon. Cargo is shipped about the world through fantastical cities in the sky, protected from the elements with domed canopies. After several hard months with mounting losses to the air fleet, the player is bumped up to pilot. Captaining a plane that shuttles supplies back and forth to cities and communities on the ground. While learning the ropes and getting the plane in working order the player will travel about and be introduced to major locations, and the core mechanics.

Characters:

The cast includes your ground crew chief, dispatcher, various NPC's like locals at the various communities.

4. World and Level Design

World Description:

The games fantasy world is in the grips of ecological disaster. The sun has intensified make weather dangerously unstable around the world. A handful of floating cities remain keeping the economy and civilization going. Fleets of planes keep the cities and the surviving communties on the ground supplied and functioning, while the weather hazards bat more and more planes out of the sky.

Level Layouts:

Missions are generated as contracts of various types. Larger story missions are generated using more specific criteria and unlocked for generation of the contract boards only when certain objectives or milestones have been meet.

5. Art and Aesthetics

Art Style:

Low texture 3D modelling for the airplane but more conventional vector art for U.I and static elements.

Character and Environment Art:

The plane is a modeled 3D environment with interactive elements. Think of it as the station wagon from Pacific Drive except you have to work on the plane while its flight and move about its interior instead of getting out and exploring.

Vector art portraits for the different characters as well as the various U.I's.

6. Audio

Music:

N/A

Sound Effects:

Raiding the sound libraries for engine, machine, and weather noises. I'll Also need to dynamically moduclate volume and distortion depending on the player's proximity to machinery and weather, the exterior hatches open, or if the player is outside the plane.

Voice Acting:

...

7. Technical Specifications

Engine:

Unity

Hardware Requirements:

PC:
- Minimum:
- Recommended:

Technical Challenges:

Really just everything; all of 3D is really a mystery to me in practice

Creating the 3D modelling with stylized texture maps

Programming such a dynamic sound system

Map and navigation automation

Contract generation with story integration

etc...

8. Production Plan

Development Timeline:

Pre-Production: ?? weeks (Research, concept, design, planning)

Production: ?? (Development, asset creation)

Testing: ?? (QA, bug fixing, polishing)

Launch: ?? (Release prep, release)

Budget:

Estimated total: $0.00

Sources: Self-funded.

Team:

Solo (lets hope not)

9. Marketing Plan

Market Analysis:

Flying and simulation fans, as well as action lovers who enjoy light RPG elements and mixed pace gameplay.

Marketing Strategy:

N/A