DotA Board Game

A while ago, in a fit on inspiration, I designed a board game based on Defence of the Ancients (DotA). After several iterations, I had something playable and a pretty decent game.

It plays a lot like DotA; for the first few games, everything seems confusing, and one side will get stomped and not really understand why. However, after you get the basics, a whole new world of strategy opens up.

In terms of game mechanics, it is a mish-mash of things. It has bits of deck building, dare-I-call-it-worker-placement, RPGs, drafting, and turn based strategy. It is difficult to explain, as every aspect of it integrates into the others, so bear with me.

I am going to assume that, for purposes of this article, you have a basic understanding of DotA, or at least the MOBA genre (which includes games like League of Legends).

In this adaptation, there are only two players; each controlling all 5 of their team's heroes. Players draft their teams, and battle each other, earning levels and gold to enhance themselves along the way.

Physical Components

Let's start with what the game consists of. It has:

• Hero Cards. At last count, there were 63 different heroes. Each is on an index card.
• Counters, dice, markers, and other such stuff:
• 10 location dice. These are used to indicate what each hero is doing each turn. There are 6 potential locations.
• 50 experience tokens. These are used to keep track of each hero's level, and what abilities they have. I am using blue flat marbles for this.
• A bunch of "depletion tokens". These are used to track how much mana a given hero has spent. 
• A lot of damage dice. I actually use two types of dice, "single" damage dice, and "triple" damage dice. Heroes' HP is equal to 3x their strength, so most of the time, it is easier to just factor everything by 3 and track damage that way, with a different coloured die for any remainder damage.
• Gold tracking dice. You may want to use D20s for this. Each player needs to keep track of how much gold they have. 
• Cards:
• Standard cards. Each player starts with a deck of 10 "strategy" cards. These are white-backed cards.
• Standard unit cards. These are red-backed cards.
• Each player has 2 creep cards, one of which is a "Front Creep".
• Each player also has a double sided building card. One side is "Tower", the other is their Ancient.
• Spell Cards. You gain these cards from your abilities. They are white-backed cards.
• Standard Spell cards:
• Slow
• Stun
• Snare
• Nuke
• Silence
• Blink
• Teleport
• Illusion
• Unique spell cards. Certain spells are represented by unique cards. They white-backed.
• Spell creature cards. These are for creatures summoned by hero spells. They are red-backed.
• Item cards. These represent what you can buy in the shop. 
• Active items. These are white-backed, and are added to your deck.
• Passive Items. These are yellow-backed. Each hero can equip one passive item.
• Necronomite. Red-backed. The only creature summoned by an item.
• Quick Reference Cards. These are pretty important. They are on index cards.

The Draft

As in DotA, there are many ways to draft a team. I prefer the Random Draft method for this. You can just as well adapt any other that suits you.

Take 20 heroes at random from the pile and lay them out. Randomly choose a player to pick first. You alternate picking heroes; however, do so in a 1-2-2-2-2-1 format (the first player picks one hero, then the second player picks two, etc).

Once you have your heroes, the game begins.

Heroes

Heroes are represented on index cards, and have the following information about them:

• Name
• Strength
• Agility
• Intelligence
• Primary attribute
• Ranged/Melee
• Abilities

In addition, several attributes are calculated based on their stats.

Max HP is equal to 3x your Strength.

Initiative is equal to your Agility. This determines the sequence in which the hero attacks.

Intelligence determines mana. You have 1 mana per 3 intelligence (rounded up).

Their damage is equal to their primary attribute.

Abilities vary from hero to hero. Heroes can get up to level 5, and earn an ability each level. Note that heroes start at level 0. In most cases, there are 3 abilities, and 2 levels of stats available. Certain heroes have multiple levels of abilities, and certain heroes' abilities are differently structured, or do not have levels of stats. All abilities have a level requirement (often just level 1), and of those many heroes have "ultimate" abilities that they cannot get until they reach level 3.

In addition to the ability that heroes get every level, they also get +1 to their primary stat per level.

Let's take Shadow Fiend as an example;

Shadow Fiend - Ranged
Strength: 2
Agility: 4    (Primary)
Intelligence: 3
Abilities:
1:      +1 damage per level
1:      Nuke
3:      mmt: Deals 1 damage to all enemies per level
2, 4:  Stats

His first ability is a passive that gives him +1 damage per level that he has (in addition to the damage he gains from gaining his prime attribute every level).

His second ability is a "standard ability". There are several (I'll get into this later), but basically they all work the same way. They give the player a card of that type (each standard ability is interchangeable). They can use the ability normally, but when they use that card, they can use their ability at max initiative in combat (this is pretty important).

His third ability cannot be had until he reaches level 3. It costs 2 mana, and requires him to tap (essentially use his action for the turn. You do not physically tap them as you would magic cards.) It deals 1 damage per level of his to each enemy.

He can get 2 levels of stats, at character level 2 and 4. Levels of stats give +1 to each of his non-primary stats (in his case Strength and Intelligence).

Lanes/Locations

There are 6 potential places that your heroes can be:

1. Defensive Lane
2. Centre
3. Offlane
4. Jungle
5. Fountain
6. Respawning

Let's do these in descending order:

Respawning - the hero was killed last turn, and cannot participate this turn. When its turn comes, it will return from the dead, at the fountain.

Fountain - heroes at the fountain are fully healed, their mana is restored, and they can buy things if they so wish.

Jungle - fight a creep here. It is a source of gold and experience.

Offlane - If you have 1 hero here, gain 1 experience and 1 gold. If you have 2 heroes here, gain 2 experience and 2 gold. If you have 3 or more heroes here, gain 2 experience and 3 gold.

Centre - This is where the action happens. Each side gets a wave of creeps (a front and back creep), and you duke it out. Combat will be explained later.

Defensive Lane - Whoever wins the battle in centre has the opportunity (if they wish) to push into the opponent's side. You attack the tower (or Ancient if the tower is already down; note that you cannot do both in a single turn).

First Turn Sequence

The first turn works slightly different from the rest.

1. Randomly assign the initiative token.

It is used to decide who goes first in various things.

2. Make purchases (2 gold)

You start the game with 2 gold to spend on your team. (I will list the items available for purchase later.)

3. Assign Lanes

Starting with the player with the initiative token, alternate assigning lanes to your heroes. Place a location die on a hero to indicate his destination. (see above for locations)

4. Resolve locations in descending order

See above for information on each location. Also note that both players resolve their locations in the same phase.

5. Spend experience

This seems like as good a place as any to explain how experience works.

Experience must go to a hero with the lowest level at the location at which it was earned. Each hero can only gain 1 level per turn. Experience is earned by killing things; all heroes give 1 exp; as well, many creep and other units do as well (it is specified in their bounty).

Experience is not spent until this phase, after all combat has concluded. 

6. Draw a hand

Draw a new hand; draw until you have cards in hand equal to the number of living heroes you have. (You start the game with an empty hand for the first turn)

7. Pass the initiative token

Regular Turn Sequence

1. Assign Lanes
2. Play strategy cards

Players alternate playing strategy cards, starting with the player with the initiative token.

3. Resolve locations in descending order
4. Spend Experience
5. Draw a new hand

Discard any cards remaining in your hand, then draw back up to the number of living heroes you have.

6. Pass the initiative token

Conclusion

I have gone over most of the mechanics of the game; in future articles, I will go over the cards, heroes, and items available.

Dungeon Keeper 3 Design

With War for the Overworld under development, I figured that now was as good a time as any to reveal my old plans for a Dungeon Keeper sequel.

I didn't change anything too drastically, I basically wanted to keep the feel of Dungeon Keeper 2 but with updated graphics and controls, and perhaps rebalancing a few mechanics along the way.

Let's start with creatures, and work our way through things.

Creature Levels

Creature levels are now rated from 0 to 9. Level 0 and 9 creatures show their level as their rank (see below)

In addition, creatures are now ranked by level:

• Level 0-2 creatures appear as rank <
• Level 3-5 creatures appear as rank <<
• Level 6-8 creatures appear as rank <<<
• Level 9 creatures appear as rank *

You can choose to view your creature levels as ranks, numbers, or the default combination (numbers except for 0 and 9) (note: look at the < ranks sideways)

Creatures gain experience in proportion to how many hits they get in. Note that healing type spells also gain experience.

They gain abilities based on what rank they are. Abilities can come at levels 0, 3, 6, and 9.

Non-Combat Skills

NCSes are a particular creature's method of gaining experience for an activity other than fighting or training. Imps for example gain experience for doing work around the dungeon, as you wouldn't really expect them to fight.

Non-combat skills can only gain experience up to level 6 for most creatures. Imps can still gain a full compliment of levels without ever seeing battle, but they are an exceptional case.

Health Flowers

Each of your creatures has a health flower, which displays their current health, level, and experience to next level. There are six 'petals' around the outside which represent the creature's health. The first indicates that it is alive, the second that it is conscious, the third through sixth represent whether it has at least 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% health. The when on the first and second petals, it will flash when it is nearly going down to the next level (either being knocked out or dying).

When a creature levels up, there is a sound effect and a special effect for their health flower.

Bestiary

I tweaked the bestiary a bit; I have added notes about significant changes. I have much more detailed notes, and this is basically a summary. I have divided creatures into classes, which I will explain as we go.

Zero Population (summoned)

These do not use up any supply cap, and either subsist on mana, or are otherwise limited in their population.

• Imp

Imps are weak to sunlight. They are otherwise unchanged.

• Spider

Spiders are the spawn of Arachneus (see below). They are weak with moderate damage, and tend to leave spiderwebs everywhere. They cannot cross water, and will not set off most traps. Their population is limited to 5 per Arachneus. They are animals, and therefore cannot train, but gain experience over time.

• Horned Reaper

Horny. He is back, and as angry as ever.

Zero Population (undead)

Undead populations are limited mainly by the supply of bodies, and the size of the rooms that produce them.

• Skeleton

Basically unchanged, they now have magic resistance.

• Vampire

Their abilities are tweaked slightly, their special abilities can be cast not just while possessed, and are gained as regular abilities. They also have the Raise Dead ability, which turns the fallen into Ghoul servants.

• Ghoul

Ghouls are the slaves of Vampires. They will lose health over time, which can only be replenished by feasting on the fallen. Anything they bring down will come back as a Ghoul. So long as they have Vampires to serve, they will never be unhappy.

One Population (minion)

These lesser minions can serve your dungeon in greater numbers, but are generally weaker than creatures.

• Turtle

Turtles are a new race. They are weak, animal-type minions. They are natural swimmers, and only need water and a lair to be attracted to your dungeon. They have a chance of spawning as Red Turtles, who can also swim in lava. Like Spiders, they cannot train, but gain experience over time.

• Goblin

Goblins are largely unchanged, except that they are now weak to sunlight.

• Dire Wolf / Hellhound

Dire Wolves serve as low level scouts. Once they reach level 3, they turn into Hellhounds. Hellhounds have better stats and abilities, and a different appearance. As animals, they cannot train, but gain experience over time, with bonus experience for scouting.

Two Population (creatures)

The common species you see in a dungeon.

• Warlock

His basic attack is now Ice Bolt, both to differentiate him from Hero Wizards, as well as just to be cool. It has a slow effect. They also gain experience from studying.

• Salamander

Basically unchanged, except that they now have a rival race: the Naga. Having one race will deter the other from joining your dungeon; in addition, both races hate each other and will become unhappy if exposed to each other.

• Dreg

Basically just a renamed Rogue. This was for theme, as they are the dregs of society. They gain experience from stealing and exploring.

• Troll

Trolls were tweaked slightly, their regeneration is enhanced, as well, they have a weakness to fire and sunlight. They gain experience from crafting.

• Dark Elf

Dark Elves mainly just needed to be rebalanced, as they were weak as hell in DK2. In addition, they now gain experience from guarding. They now have a weakness to sunlight.

• Black Knight

They now have a weakness to lightning, but are otherwise unchanged.

• Mistress

Slightly tweaked, I have removed their most annoying habit of torturing themselves. They will however, assist in the torture of anything you put in the torture chamber, and will gain experience for doing so.

• Bile Demon

They are now immune to poison, but otherwise unchanged.

• Naga

A new race. They are a race of fierce Snake-Men, similar in appearance to the Naga from Warcraft 3. They are a water-oriented race, able to swim through shallow and deep water quickly. They are attracted by the Training Room, and are fairly strong warriors. They have no abilities.

They are a rival race to Salamanders. Having any Naga will deter Salamanders from joining your dungeon, and vice versa. 

5 Population (monsters)

These are the centrepieces of your dark armies, with very particular requirements that you must fulfill to attract them.

• Dark Angel

Largely the same as before. They gain experience for prayer and research.

• Arachnus

An adaptation of the late-introduced Maiden of the Nest from DK2. I felt that they didn't fit well as rank-and-file minions, and instead deserved to be monster class.

Abilities:

Spawn - create a Spider minion. They can have up to 5 each.

Venomous Spines - a ranged poison attack. It will cripple whatever it hits.

Ensnare - prevents the target from moving or attacking. 

They will conduct research, and can gain experience for it. They require a large laboratory (see below), a private lair (3x3 with no inhabitants) as well as having all the traps researched.

• Beholder

A powerful magic using monster. They have no basic attack, but powerful magic at their disposal.

Abilities:

Firebomb - a large fiery explosion.

Hailstorm - deals cold damage over time in an area

Forked Lightning - damages and stuns several enemies

Miasma - poisons everything nearby

They require a private lair, a large library, and all the spells to be researched. They can study, and will gain experience for it.

• Dragon

Dragons are massive, powerful creatures; second only to Horny in power. They are belligerent, greedy, and expensive to keep around; but ultimately a worthwhile investment.

Abilities:

Fire Breath

Dragons require a private lair, a large treasury, and for you to have at least 100,000 gold in the bank. They are attracted by wealth.

As animals, they cannot train, but gain experience over time. In addition, they will sometimes eat your lesser creatures, and gain experience for it.

• Succubus

Succubi are like elite Mistresses, although the two should not really be confused. They are physically the weakest of the monsters, but have a powerful attack, and regain health from damaging their enemies.

Abilities:

Drain - slows the target's movement and attack speeds, reduces their damage, and prevents them from using abilities.

Convert - converts the target to serve you temporarily.

Succubi require a large torture chamber, and are attracted by the sounds of screaming. They will torture victims like Mistresses, and will gain experience from it.

The Laboratory

The laboratory is a new room to come to Dungeon Keeper 3. It is used to research traps in the same way that the library is used to research spells. Its furniture should be mainly glass vials, brains in jars, and various props that wouldn't feel out of place in Frankenstein.

Furniture is put on the every other perimeter tile, and every other central tile. Each piece of furniture allows one additional researcher, and increases capacity of traps blueprints by 2.

Sunlight, Daytime, and the Surface World

In maps that are not underground, the time of day is important. During the day, the surface world is lit up with sunlight. Several of your creatures have an aversion to sunlight, including greenskins, dark elves, imps, and the undead.

The surface world and the underground are divided by special tiles known as Cave entrances. They bottleneck to one tile, but cannot have a door built over them. Outside the cave, lies fertile meadows, lush gardens, trickling streams, and happy peasants – disgusting. Inside them is the dank dungeons we are so familiar with and have come to love.

Random Stuff

Just random things I thought up while doing this. 

• Torture Chamber – conversion is made much more efficient with the assistant of a Mistress or Succubus (succubi are even better than mistresses)
• Library – upgrading spells now takes up space on shelves
• Levels now run from 0 to 9 rather than 1 to 10
• Some water is now considered "Deep" water, it is darker blue and cannot be crossed except by bridges, swimmers, or fliers
• You may slap webs to get rid of them
• A wounded dungeon heart has a reduced capacity for mana
• As you capture territory, negative environmental effects start happenin
• evil critters will spawn instead of good ones, water becomes tainted, plants wither
• You can elect to build a room on undug rock, or unclaimed dirt, which will prioritize capturing territory
• Treasury: 3k central, 1k outer, 3k reinforced wall outer
• Fleeing icon – purple vertical swishy stripes or a skull maybe?
• Any free imps are summoned automatically at dungeon heart
• Single use traps cannot be attacked like regular traps, only triggered
• "Keeper, all of your creatures are happy. Are you sure that you're being evil enough?"
• Possessed creatures look distinctive – possibly black smoke pouring out from their eyes
• New spell: eclipse (600 mana) blots out the sun in a large area
• All spells need cooldowns
• Hydra Trap – fires fireballs in each of four directions
• Gargoyle Trap – comes alive and fights
• Bridges are built in lines rather than like regular square rooms
• You can't build rooms that would trap a creature, instead the area will be marked and friendly units will leave (unless they are defending it from hostiles)
• Your evil hand illuminates the area around it with light that only you can see
• Units are slowed (40%?) while poisoned
• You may select (left click) certain areas to force your imps not to do that task – e.g. capture enemy territory, replace furniture – such areas are indicated by being lit up red
  • Alternatively, Imps will only capture territory that you designate them to
• Gem seams should have a limit (~60k)
• Unhappy and angry creatures have improved attack speed (10-30%)
• Population counter in the UI?
• Critter List:
  • Good
    • Butterfly
    • Dragonfly
    • Firefly
    • White Dove
    • Rabbit
    • Squirrel
    • Crab
    • Pigeon
  • Evil
    • Bat
    • Rat
    • Raven/Crow
    • Centipede
    • Snail
    • Lizard
    • Frog
    • Beetle
    • Snake

I will probably do another article later about other changes (the heroes have some significant changes coming, as well as an outline for the campaign).

Event Horizon and What Makes a Game Scary

Event Horizon is a project of mine wherein I attempt to create a horror game. This will part of a series of articles describing this project.

I started from the Resident Evil series, and tried to figure out what made a game scary from there. I established the shambling hordes of zombies are not particularly frightening. Attempting to come up with an answer for what was scary led me to the following prerequisites for fear:

• Alertness and investment in the game is critical for an emotional response. During tense periods of the game, you should be forced to give the game your full attention, or else suffer horrible consequences.
• I want to force a high level of control sensitivity. Halo defaults control sensitivity to 3, I want it to default to 10. The high sensitivity forces players to stay calm in order to aim properly. Tutorials will instruct users to press lightly on thumbsticks (or move mouse only slightly). This is essentially reverse psychology done in such a way that no one would realize it, by demanding calm, you induce panic. It also makes the consequences of losing your nerve more severe, as you swing your aim wildly in panic.
• I also want to have manual reloading, possibly a Quick Time event, that, while relatively easy, can drop your clip or jam your gun if you rush it. This is again, mainly to keep people on their toes.
• Intelligent opponents - being forced to outthink enemies is a huge point here. You should have to keep on your toes, with the ability to be killed at any point in time. Equally however, you should have a good fighting chance, as there can't really be fear without hope. 
• This led me to combat that can end quickly and decisively, similar to that of the Counterstrike series, where a single headshot from the weakest gun can kill an opponent in one hit. In addition, requiring that kind of precision forces the same alertness I mentioned earlier.
• You will probably be fairly tough, so perhaps Bioshock would be a better comparison. Enemies die quickly, but take chunks out of you. Being run down and low on health and supplies can make even ordinary sections of the game intense, whereas being one-shotted with full health doesn't really add anything to the game, and just makes parts frustrating or unfair to the player. NPCs will probably have their own system as well, such as the ability to be downed and subsequently saved by a timely medical intervention.
• Limited Resources - I think the most emotionally involving thing about Resident Evil was ammo management. You had to fight carefully and conserve bullets, or else you would be helpless in the next fight, even if you won the current one. Again, this is because it forces you to be careful, to tread the fine line of staying alive now versus staying alive later.
• I want to use this method, but take it even further. I don't want there to be any benefit to the player engaging in combat, and as such, no enemy in the game will drop any health or ammo. I also want to have non-combat resources to manage; food to keep survivors going. In addition, there will be a global limit to the amount of ammo and healing in the game, shared between you and all of your NPC allies. You will only be able to carry a limited inventory worth of items at any point in time.
• Consequences - probably the biggest difference between games and real life is the permanence of consequences. This is because in the worst case scenario for games, you just start over, with no real loss. Games like Fallout miss out on this by making quicksave/load too accessible, and allow you to steal every valuable item in the game without any real risk of punishment. In addition, I find that the 'choose who dies' method employed by Mass Effect is not particularly effective at forcing an emotional response, because as I stated before, without hope, you can't get invested in something.
• I will impose consequences in both the short and long term. If you get hasty, you will take damage, and spend more ammunition than you would otherwise. In addition, NPCs will live or die by your choices and abilities, and the likable ones have the greatest chance of being killed. 
• I will do what I can to prevent quicksave/load OCD perfection, such as making save points few and far between, and try and force players to soldier on after a bad fight.
• Limited Information - not knowing everything forces you to pay attention to every scrap of information you can glean. This again, forces you to be alert and invested in the game. This is most commonly done by having poor lighting or otherwise limited visibility, but does not have to be limited to visual effects. It can also be done by limiting the map/radar functionalities of the HUD, but also by level design. Having narrow corridors with lots of openings for enemies to come from, and therefore forcing you to stay aware of each and every one of them.
• I will have significant flashlight sections, as well as indirect sources of knowledge. By this I mean ways of announcing enemies in the area (such as them talking amongst themselves or distinct animal sounds for non-humanoid enemies, seeing an enemy flashlight ahead of you from around the corner, or even being briefed about probable enemy locations ahead of time)
• In addition, I want to have it that where the alien atmosphere mixes with the human's controlled atmosphere, it forms a white mist that obscures vision.
• Pacing - proper¹ pacing for any game is alternating sections of calm, and increasing tension. Both are equally important for creating the right atmosphere. This principle applies not only to horror, but any form of entertainment.

An attempt at visualising ideal intensity levels over time.

• This will be created mainly by the plot, as each mission takes you into greater danger, and then back to the safe zones where survivors are hiding out. Ideally, within each mission there should be similar periods of calm and action. Alternatively, different mission segments can provide the appropriately varying levels of tension; a vehicle section with a mounted weapon with lots of ammunition can be stress-relieving, and then the section on foot after a roadblock can bring the stress right back.
• Supplies will be done in such a way that it reflects the tension; when you are out on a mission, your supplies will run down, and when you get back to base, you will have access to your hoard of supplies.
• In addition, I want to not have any randomly spawning or respawning enemies that prevent an area from ever being truly "safe". From my experience with System Shock 2, this is more annoying than scary, and combined with my "no drops" policy, just isn't fair to the player. There may be exceptions to this, as certain areas should never be "safe".
• Taking players out of their "comfort zone" - this is a little harder to explain, but the best example I can give is underwater segments. In Half-Life, you cannot use most weapons underwater, and have a limited supply of oxygen before you drown. This kind of forced humbling raises player tension; players lose their crutches², and are forced to reevaluate new ways to deal with the world around them. You can't rely on your powerful weapons underwater, and you can't take things slowly and carefully when you only have a limited supply of air.
• This is done primarily through the use of limited resources, so that a player cannot become too reliant on any one thing.
• In addition, the alien atmosphere, outside of that controlled by the human colonists, is toxic, and will use up your suit's power with its filtering, and once that is exhausted, it will slowly kill you. In addition, it fights for that power against your flashlight, sprinting capabilities, and even certain weapons.
• I also want the AI to factor into this; it should learn your habits and punish you for sticking to the same strategies. They should be constantly trying to outwit you, and their AI should adapt and evolve so that whichever tactics are most effective against you are the ones they will employ more often (this includes both their actual strategies, as well as what units they will use against you)
• Atmosphere - choosing the right setting is important for a game. There are two main approaches to this in horror. Either you make things as dark and creepy looking as possible, or you do the very opposite, and rely on the uncanny tension that the juxtaposition creates (which is why church organs are now so strongly associated with horror music, clowns are widely considered scary, and creepy children are such a common motif in horror).
• I aim for the latter, placing this is an extremely upscale space colony, featuring a six-star hotel³ and ample lighting; at first anyways
• As the game progresses, things get darker and scarier, as horrible things keep happening to the colony. Power is lost, buildings are ransacked, tunnels are flooded, and the dead keep piling up.

All of these were factors in designing the game. I wanted for it to be psychology oriented from the ground up. More information will be in subsequent articles.

---

1 - This is based on an article I read about pacing. It is from a book, or else I would link to it.
2 - In this context, a crutch is anything a player would normally rely on to deal with a difficulty. It may be a powerful weapon, a certain playstyle, or any other tool at their disposal.
3 - Yes, six stars. The rating system has been altered just to accommodate this level of class. Space tourism isn't cheap, and only the super-rich can afford such accommodations.

W(h)ere

W(h)ere is a game about a family of wolfweres that is an action-adventure game that serves as a more mature addition to the genre. It is a slightly older design of mine, but I will try and walk you through it. The main character is a wolfwere, who was separated from his pack (family) and brought to a strange island; he is brought from his forest to a laboratory on a remote island. The enemies are mostly animals, with humans introduced later on, and you use a variety of techniques to defeat your enemies and solve puzzles, taught to you by your other family members trapped on the island.

The game takes place in the third person perspective, it uses gritty violence and is in the adventure/RPG genre. The plot is essentially a quest for the family of wolfweres to escape the military lab and return home. Throughout the game, you learn new techniques taught to you by your escaped relatives. The game is played like most of its genre, only with the twist of being mature. [other games of its genre include Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie Series, Donkey Kong 64, etc.; just a clarification] The main world is the island, it is surrounded by water and is inescapable by traditional means. The various levels are caves, laboratories, ships, and other landforms and structures. They are only accessible in chronological order, with objectives and bonuses to each one.

Initially, combat is rather simple, with only a few basic attacks and weak enemies. Later on, however combat gets very interesting when you are fighting the military humans armed with guns, stealth becomes a large factor, deception and tactics become very important. The more advanced techniques require collectable tokens, accumulated throughout the levels. Those techniques are required to advance past later obstacles.
This game is essentially aiming at a more mature audience that grew up with the classics; there is a significant shortage of games of this genre and next to none in the mature range, with obvious implications. It is also a realistic sci-fi game though it might be called fantasy, also another scarce realm. It touches a number of untapped genres, combined with unique characters, solid gameplay, good graphics, immersive environments, and an involving storyline promises to be a significant title in the evolution of games.


The objective of the game is to escape the island laboratory with your pack. That is accomplished by rescuing your family members throughout the game, then sneaking on board a military ship as it is leaving the island (due to an evacuation order). A long series of events leads up to this point, and is caused by multiple conditions that were all triggered by the player.


Wolfweres

Wolfweres are similar to werewolves (hence the name) with the critical difference that they are wolves for most of every month, they then turn into humans on the night of the new moon. Their wolf anatomy is slightly off from a normal wolf, they have ball-and-socket shoulders, and there is some sexual dimorphism; females have a thicker patch of hair on their back, often called their mane, which is often slightly off color from the rest of their hair. Wolfweres have dark and thick hair, a large head with a significant jaw. They have a short tail, and mostly solid colored hair. Wolfweres have cat-eyes, with a vertical slit for a pupil. The Wolfwere lifespan is approximately one third of a human’s, a good approximation of an equivalent age is simply to multiply the wolfwere’s age by three. Wolfweres are omnivores, they have significant food sources in both the plant and animal kingdoms. On the night of the new moon, they become full fledged humans, though many of them have unique hair patterns which are hereditary; they do not shave while in human form [as they would end up with strange bald spots when they returned to wolf form], they still retain their language, though they are much less proficient at speaking in human form. 

Wolfwere Culture

Wolfwere culture revolves around their clans, basically branches of a family that travel as a pack; working together to hunt, forage, raise young, and perform the various jobs life throws at them. When one from outside the family joins a clan, they are referred to as an Invited, though they are not officially invited until they bring a new member to the family. A clan typically has between eight and sixteen members, the oldest generation of which is referred to as Elder, of which there are only two; the alpha and their mate. The position of alpha is not defined clearly, it is not based on gender or age, and is not even necessarily stable between the two Elders; the alpha position often changes between them.

Wolfweres are named after animals that have common personality traits with, though they often have prefixes added depending on their order of birth. Firstborns are called Senior, secondborns have no title, Thirdborns (or Finalborns) are called Little. It is rare for a family to have more than three children, and as such third born children are named as the last. Only children are given the title of wise, it is referring to the fact that they will be better off not having siblings to compete against. It is not actually much of a benefit, but the title remains after the myth was dispelled.

Wolfweres who have no direct blood relationship refer to one another as siblings; brother or sister depending on gender. Wolfweres with direct blood connection refer to one another with the appropriate titles. It should be noted that their language is not translated literally, and many of the words are the closest english approximations to the wolfwere language. The invited mate of a sibling is referred to as a near-brother or near-sister, the wolfwere equivalent of an in-law; this applies to all relationships, near-daughter or near-son, with the near addition for each.

Wolfweres travel by the season; they cross the equator and move into the opposite hemisphere during winter, and as such they never see snow, but know of it from folklore. This movement is called the great migration, and was originally started to keep them alive during the freezing temperatures of winter combined with their frail human bodies, though they do not stay in the equatorial region permanently as they live in forests and could not survive long-term on the little food in the area.

Wolfwere language is based on barks, growls, and smells. It is customary to exchange scents upon meeting an unknown wolfwere. Most of their communication is barks, there are a wide variety of syllables and as such messages can be sent in only a few barks. Growls express emotion more than words, though they often deliver a much clearer message than words ever could. Not all growling means bad things, they can mean good feelings as well as bad, though the baring of teeth is more often a snarl than a smile.

Wolfwere Characters

Note that Anaris is the main character

Name: Anaris (Little Spider)

Sex: Male

Age: 7 (equal to ~20 human years)

Eye Color: Yellow (wolf form) / Brown (human form)

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Name Significance: Little refers to the fact that he is the youngest of his siblings, spider is making reference to the species, who are known amongst the wolves for their intelligence and resourcefulness, as they have the ability to create complex webs seemingly out of nothing.

Distinguishing Marks:

Human: has a mane down his back and a thin beard, thinning out to middle.

Wolf: fairly unremarkable as far as wolves go. He starts off smaller than average, then gets larger as the game progresses; just to make it more interesting. Size based on max health.

Background: Anaris grew up with his family as most do, moving with the seasons and hunting animals as a pack. He has a strong relationship with his family, especially his siblings. Him and his brother both joke at their animal names, “spin a web brother spider” countered by “fly away brother bird”. His relationship with Alarid is also strong, they make a competition out of everything and work well together.

Name: Sicaris (Senior Bird)

Sex: Male

Age: 10 (equal to ~30 human years)

Eye Color: Hazel (both forms, though more yellowish in wolf form)

Hair Color: Black

Name Significance: The senior refers to the fact that he is the firstborn in his generation. Bird is referring to his good nature towards his siblings, as birds are known for their parenting due to the trouble birds go through to support their young.

Distinguishing Marks:

Human: Long hair on head, facial hair only small beard near mouth and moustache (lovingly called his beak)

Wolf: Sicaris is known for his size, as he is larger than most.

Background: Sicaris took it upon himself to play a major role in raising his brother and sister, he has a strong relationship with each. He takes his responsibility as Senior seriously and will go to extreme efforts to help them.

Name: Alarid (White one)

Sex: Female

Age: 8 (equal to ~25 human years)

Eye Color: Pink

Hair Color: White

Name Significance: Alarid’s name is fairly obvious, she is called the white one because she is an albino.

Distinguishing Marks: Alarid is easily recognizable due to her white color, as she is an albino. As such, she does not change form on the new moon (see Wolfweres), and is well known for both these attributes.

Background: Alarid has a strong relationship with her brothers, as they were raised together. She takes it upon herself to ‘defend the pack’ on the night without a moon (see Wolfweres) as one in wolf form can fight much better than a human. Her unique attribute is often subject to the jokes of her brothers, though she has an equal number about their human appearance.

Name: Delaris/Ancut (Senior Hawk/Elder)

Sex: Male

Age: 27 (equal to ~80 years)

Eye Color: Lime (wolf form) / Green (human form)

Hair Color: Graying Black

Name Significance: The Ancut title refers to the fact that he is the eldest of his clan (see Wolfwere culture) and is often used in place of his actual name. Senior refers to the fact that he is the oldest amongst his siblings, while hawk refers to his inquisitive nature and decisive action, as hawks watch carefully then swoop definitively.

Distinguishing Marks:

Human: Elder has long graying hair, which he usually ties back. He has a gray beard, which is short, except for a goatee. He has a large scar over his left eye, and has a medium build.

Wolf: Elder is easily spotted due to his larger than average size as well as his coloration, though he can be further identified by the distinct scar over his left eye.

Background: Delaris is the elder of his clan, and as such knows how to make Charms and is the only one who can teach you to use them. The distinct scar on his eye is a reminder of the encounter with Balaris’ bear.

Name: Maltarid (Wild Rose)

Sex: Female

Age: 18 (equal to ~55 human years)

Eye Color: Yellow (Wolf form) / Brown (Human form)

Hair Color: Brown

Name Significance: Wild rose is referring of course to the plant, as she is beautiful but deadly (as roses have thorns). It is also said that she wore a rose in her hair as a human, and that contributed to her name (and why she was named after a plant and not an animal)

Distinguishing Marks:

Human: Maltarid has light brown hair and very little body or facial hair, though the hair on her head is unusually long (comparative to other wolfweres’ human forms)

Wolf: Maltarid is typical in appearance, though her brown fur is notable. Her mane is darker than the rest of her hair (see Wolfweres)

Background: Maltarid is known for her double-faced attitude, she will be a rose one minute and a thorn the next; she is quite straightforward and her husband keeps her under control. Being an Invited (see Wolfwere culture), she has a weak relationship with Balaris’ parents.

Name: Balaris (Wise Bear)

Sex: Male

Age: 19 (equal to ~60 human years)

Eye Color: Hazel (both forms, though more yellowish in wolf form)

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Name Significance: Wise is a title given to only children, while bear refers to his personality. He is practical, strong (of heart and body), and resourceful; which are all traits associated with bears.

Distinguishing Marks:

Human: Balaris has thick hair on his head, back of neck and shoulders. It is not long, but is very visible (~1”). He is well built and has an under bite.

Wolf: Balaris has thick, black hair around his shoulders, is fairly large, and has a white coloration on his right ear.

Background: Balaris was a troublemaker when he was young, likely the reason he is an only child, though had some sense knocked into him after having his life saved by Delaris, in an encounter with an actual bear.

Name: Leterid (Little Mouse)

Sex: Female

Age: 28 (died at age 23, 5 years ago)

Name Significance: Little refers to the fact that she was the third and final child in her family, Mouse refers to her personality, as she is resourceful and caring, traits associated with mice.

Background: Leterid is well remembered for being a strict but loving mother, and adds with pride that she finally straightened out Balaris’ mischief. She died due to a disease that her aged body could not fight off.

Name: Felimaris (Wise Lion)

Sex: Male

Age: 35 (died at age 24, 9 years ago)

Name Significance: Wise is a title given to only children, Lion refers to his personality. He was proud and strong, loved his family and defended them fiercely; all traits associated with lions.

Background: Felimaris is remembered for his pride and strength, as a clan leader to aspire to, and his seemingly effortless methods of keeping others on track. He died of old age.

Name: Olarid (Little Monkey)

Sex: Female

Age: 9 (equal to ~25 human years)

Eye Color: Green (wolf form) / Blue (human form)

Hair Color: Light Brown

Name Significance: Little refers to the fact that she is the third and youngest among her siblings, while monkey refers to her personality. She is curious and energetic in her pursuits of knowledge, a trait associated with monkeys.

Distinguishing Features:

Human: Olarid has a rare trait, she has red hair in human form. She is rather hairless, except for moderately long hair on her head.

Wolf: She has lighter hair than most, as well she has a distinct petite form. Her mane is slightly darker than the rest of her hair. (see Wolfweres)

Background: Olarid was raised in a different clan, her parents and siblings taught her everything they knew and answered her every question, but could not satiate her curiosity. She met Sicaris by chance, when they were both hunting the same deer. She has a weak relationship with Sicaris’ family, though better with his siblings than parents, as they now hunt in fours.

The family tree.

Non-Wolfwere Characters
Note that these do not actually have names, as your character cannot understand English, but their names are based on their phonetic interpretation by the wolves (and given a small spin in the process)


Name: Samaris (Samurai/Sameul)
Sex: Male
Personality: Materialistic, cold
Appearance: short blond hair, gray suit, blue eyes
Age: ~45
Position: Head of Research
Significance: Serves as a boss, as well is responsible for the experiments done on your family


Name: Karmarid (Dr. Cameron)
Sex: Female
Personality: Caring, inquisitive
Appearance: long blond hair, thin-framed glasses, white lab coat,
Age: ~25
Position: Scientist: Animal Care Specialist
Significance: She is the one who ‘carelessly’ let out Alarid, she helps out you on a few occasions [like g-man does in half-life], because she feels bad for you because of the unpleasant experiments done on the wolfweres.

Opening Cinematic
In the opening cinematic, your pack is hunting some deer, when a strange noise comes from the side, it sounds like thunder (gunshot). The deer flee, and your hunting efforts are in vain. Suddenly, a group of newmoons (humans) emerges from the bush, covered in a strange greenish fur (camouflage clothes), Elder asks the newmoons what is happening, they panic and point their staves (guns) at Elder and a dart hits him. The other wolfweres see this and move to attack the newmoons, then more come and fire at the pack. You are hit in the neck and black out as the chaos continues. (fade out)
You wake up in a large metal cage, in a white-metal room with two newmoons grunting excitedly, in white fur. //[these wolves are a new species! They may not even be wolves!][what do you mean?][their DNA is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, look at these isotopes][isotopes? You mean they have radioactive blood?][not quite, it seems to be oriented to change based on radiation in the environment.][they have unstable blood?][we’re not sure, it’s unlike anything anyone has ever seen before. The specimens are being held for further study](barking from cage)//“what is going on? Newmoon brothers, help me out of here!” (scientists look over, grunting incomprehensible jargon [english])//[he’s woken][we should get him sedated and back to storage](fire a tranquilizer into the wolfwere)//“brothers, what are you doing?” (fade to black)

Plot?
I have a plot written that flows through a series of levels, however this post is already very heavy on text. As such, I will include it in another post.

Legacy

Legacy is a project I have been working on for quite a while now, what is interesting (to me at least) is that it isn't the gameplay that makes this project memorable for me, it is actually the characters, moreso than the plot or game mechanics.

One of my aims for Legacy was to experiment with characters in an attempt to make more them more memorable; as a result of this I would test myself by waiting a few days and see if I could remember the name and character's overall personality and defining features. If I couldn't, then I obviously didn't do a very good job of making it memorable, and would tweak it again and repeat the process.

It is important to test not only the game mechanics themselves, but the impact of the game and characters on its audience; and let's not for get that you can use yourself as a guinea pig for this.

I started the design process with a vague idea of what I wanted. From my design document:

Legacy

3 Generations:

• Ancestor
• Parent
• Child

Each Generation Contributes to their legacy, their heirlooms, and an overall plot.

Something about a family's secret war against some specific evil force

Probably two childhood friends or two rival families

Should include a central bloodline weapon

Order of the Sleeping Dragon?

Needs an awesome item crafting system:

-alchemy

-forging

-transmutation

Components:

-ingredients

-"parts"

-items

-gold

Unfortunately, because of the way I did this design, it was much more intended for my eyes only, so I will have to walk you through it as we go. From this basic idea, I started making up the cast. I generally start each character with a nickname - an identifier that describes their overall self in place of the name I haven't given them yet. I started off with Delinquent and Glasses-chan. Any post-design notes I have added in [italicized square brackets].

Delinquent's Parents:

Master Warriors

Father sealed a demon within himself [Sammael]

-demon grants superhuman strength, but takes control of the target's body

Mother is in hiding [Lilith]

Father was exceptionally powerful and reckless, willingly let the demon inhabit him, believing he could control it.

Was successful for a while, but has since lost control to the demon.

Glasses-Chan's Parents:

Archeologist (male) [Nigel]

Swordmaster (female) [Diamond]

Father travels the world, often accompanied by GC [Glasses-chan]

Mother runs a small dojo, she is skilled, but has never attained much prestige because she is a woman

-doesn't really want prestige because of the undesirable attention it would draw

Has unusually high numbers of female students

Father knows about the Sleeping Dragon Clan, and is looking for their legacy weapon

Delinquent – Deacon

Conceived after the possession of his father, his father left during the course of the pregnancy because he felt the demon fighting back and didn't want to endanger his wife or child.

Has inherited some demonic strength and other attributes. He is a delinquent, and while he technically lives with his mother, he usually just wanders. He is fairly cynical and antisocial, having grown up as something of an outcast among the gypsy children he grew up with.

Glasses Chan – Rayne

A disciplined sword fighter ready to take over for her mother

Studious and rigid; bossy
Strict about rules, and has the presence to enforce them

Met Deacon when she was trying to bully him into obedience, he was able to defy her

They quickly became rivals and eventually became friends

Smart and well-travelled

The Demon
Possesses his targets, uses their strength and abilities
Switches bodies when the last one dies
Will commit suicide to switch to a new body
Increases the strength of those he possesses

Has his own demonic abilities
Is weak to silver

The subject's eyes change to yellow; and they glow when exerting demonic powers. 

That is the primary cast of the Parent and Child generations. It is not the complete cast, even of those generations. I am walking you through the game as I created it, so things might jump around a little; which is fine, as things rarely proceed in a strictly linear format when designing. This article is borderline stream-of-consciousness, but I will post an additional article of the compiled design afterwards in a format more akin to the others I have posted already.

Magic
Magic is done differently in that humans cannot directly cast magical spells; they must instead rely on the use of magical items and scrolls. (Note that Deacon is not human)
Scrolls are fairly straight forward, they are single use items. They are fairly cheap, and you can even make your own with the required materials and skills.

Not anyone can use magic though, a character must have the appropriate skills and/or training in order to cast a spell, even with a scroll 

Demonic Magic
Demons are creatures of the ether, and as such can cast magic spells unaided.

There are two types of spells for a demon; blood spells and learned spells.
Learned spells are learned the same way humans do, and can be fuelled by either mana or by exhausting scrolls or items.
Blood spells are innate, and are learned automatically as a demon matures and grows stronger. They are always fueled by mana. <Note that demons have Mana while humans do not>

These were a guideline for the mechanics, however as I stated above, the mechanics are not the focus of this game; I have left them in here however, because they do have some interaction with the plots; speaking of which:

Plot – Ancestor 

The story ultimately starts 130 years ago, with the legendary Forgemaster Draco Dormien and the founding of the Sleeping Dragon Clan.

Originally just a small band of adventurers, their culminating moment would come when they are handed a huge amount of money from the King and asked to neutralize a particularly dangerous demon.

The demon's identity should be obvious. In order to bring it down, they realize they cannot kill it, lest they end up possessed, and instead decide to seal its powers so that it will not terrorize the countryside.

With the aid of a priestess, they were able to seal the demon within a special shrine. They proceed to collect their fee from the king and evolved from a band of adventurers into an elite monster-hunting clan, named the Sleeping Dragons Clan.

Ancestor Party – forgemaster, enchanter, priestess

Plot – Parents
The plot for the next generation of adventurers begins with an ill-fated expedition of Nigel's (GC's dad).
They are excavating an area of historical shrines that had been buried under a rock-slide many years ago. During the course of this, they uncover the Demon's shrine, and one of the workers is possessed by it, its sealing powers diminished by time and due to damage from the landslide.
Nigel, being a well-studied individual, recognizes the demon and casts a tracking spell on it before allowing it to run off into the wild. (note: i'm picturing a scene where you have to command workers to brace doors and hold off the demon while preparing the spell; set in a dark scary cave that looks vaguely like a mine)

<please note that most of the rest of this plot was written with a cynical tone, forgive it, as it's better than nothing> [I occasionally do things like this, because it is better to get it down then spend hours fiddling over making it sound "right" and accomplishing nothing]
After this, Nigel returns to Diamond and reiterates what happened, and the two of them vow to stop the demon. However the two of them realize that they are completely incapable of stopping the demon, and they choose to ally themselves with the foremost monster hunting organization of the time, (you guessed it) the Sleeping Dragons Clan.
Who should they receive as allies but Sammael and Lilith, a warrior and assassin respectively. Sammael is in fact a direct descendant of one of the clan's founders that originally trapped the demon, and he feels a certain obligation to help them out, recognizing the historical significance this demon plays to his clan, he agrees to wave the ordinarily exorbitant fee and lend them a helping broadsword. His better half, Lilith, tags along with him and the two couples follow Nigel's beacon off into the horizon.
Apparently, the Demon has been busy, and since his escape into the great blue yonder, he has exploited his immortality and taken control of a local gang, who in turn have taken control of the entirety of a small county. He is taxing the locals to death in order to fund a war band to get back at the Sleeping Dragons. His plans from there probably consist of ruling the world, as there would be basically no one left to oppose him (having taken out the greatest threat to him), but they aren't terribly relevant as they never come to fruition.
Our four heroes arrive in his county, and surmise the aforementioned scenario by talking with the locals, and after beating up a few gangsters, they head onward to the centre of the Demon's domain. They see the forces arising, and try to avoid them largely, counting on the demise of their beloved leader to lead to devastating infighting. Anyways, they sneak their merry asses into the Demon's inner sanctum, and fail in their initial attempt to seal the demon away again, when Sammael has the brilliant idea of being deliberately possessed by the demon and sealing it within himself. He clears everyone else out, lest they be possessed instead of him, and proceeds to fight the already wounded demon and kill him. The demon possesses him, but due to a number of pre-arranged magical seals and the sheer power radiating from his manly abdominal muscles, the demon is contained.

I have written a good deal of plot for the Children's generation, but it is actually very long, and will be posted in a separate article. I will continue here with additional design information. Having the plots largely in hand, I focussed a bit more on the characters:

Characters 

Forgemaster – Draco Dormien
Enchantress - Felecia
Priestess - Sakura
Archaeologist - Nigel
Swordmaster - Diamond
(Possessed) Warrior – Sammael (Deacon's Dad)
(Gypsy) Assassin – Lilith (Deacon's Mom)
Glasses Chan – Rayne
Delinquent – Deacon
Demon - ???
Monk Shrine Guard – Odis (aka Sido) <In Children's plot>
Clan Officer - Adamas Dormien <In Children's plot>

Priestess 

Weapons: Bow, Charms, Staves
Magic: Healing, Sealing, Holy
Colours: White, Red
A righteous priestess whose motivation lies in protecting the locals from the terrors of the Demon. 

Enchantress 

Weapons: Magic
Magic: Various
Colours: Green Gold
A greedy magic user whose motivation comes from loyalty to Draco and the shiny rewards.

I again, started with nicknames, and put down names as I came up with them. I added information about the Enchantress and Priestess, who have no real character development anywhere else. I also want to add, that the Enchantress is greedy, but ultimately good-natured, along the lines of Nami.

I also want to note that Lilith (Deacon's mom) poses as a gypsy in order to hide her identity, so that she can raise Deacon in peace. Deacon is unaware of her abilities until later on.

Designer's Notes

The Legacy weapon will be forged by the player

Currency will likely be metal coins and gems, which have weight, and can be used in forging weapons.

Deacon has to face his father in single combat and kill him. Because he is part-demon, he cannot be possessed, and that is the only way to beat the demon.

Think 'Bronze Age' in terms of technology

I liked the idea of the Bronze age; it makes it easy to use metal as both a currency and means of forging weapons and armour (that does not feel tacked on). It also keeps Iron largely out of the picture, as Iron is very strong, and not very valuable, which kind of defeats the viability of using any other metal. I am instead using Iron as strictly Meteoric Iron, and therefore extremely valuable, to fit in with its strength.

I have many pages of notes on the mechanics of this game, but they are completely untested and therefore not worth the space they would take up on the page. I will instead give a few highlights of the more interesting (and experimental) concepts:

Damage System

damage works like so:

damage is multiplied by the number of hits the target has taken;

first hit – 1x damage

second hit – 2x damage (3)

third hit – 3x damage (6)

fourth hit – 4x damage (10)

et cetera.

This applies for you as well as against you.

Weapons have radically ranging attack damage which is generally fairly low;

eg. D6, D10, 2D6, D6+1, or something like that depending on the weapon's class.

This will be modified by what the weapon is made of;

Iron is strong and gives significant bonus (+2)

-Note that Iron is extremely rare and valuable, and prone to oxidization.

Bronze is strong and gives a bonus (+1)

Gold and other weak metals have penalties instead (-1)

Note that this bonus is applied per dice rolled for damage.

I think that this makes for a strongly skill-based system, as even if you have an enormous amount of hit points, they will disappear extremely quickly if you allow large combos to work against you, as the damage from a combo scales triangularly.

Hits are usually animated as being blocked, parried, or dodged. Your total HP is an indication of your energy and therefore the ability to make these blocks.

+Having a shield radically increases your health, by percentile.

Wounding hits occur when a hit (after applying multiplier) would reduce you to 0 HP or less. The multiplier is not applied, but instead the target gains a WOUNDED status effect (and still takes regular damage). A character can be wounded multiple times. Note that being wounded breaks a combo against you.

Being wounded is not a good thing. It reduces your Strength, and costs you HP over time. (Some creatures can track wounded individuals, and would be more likely to attack if you have wounded members in your party.) (Some spells and abilities can only target wounded characters)

 The largest facet that I have left unmentioned is the Legacy weapon itself. It is forged by Draco Dormien in the Ancestor storyline, and is passed down through the game to the Children's storyline. There is to be a forging system to let you craft and customize your weapons and armour, and the pinnacle of your creations from the first generation will be passed down to the last. The details of this system I am not currently happy with, and therefore won't bother publishing; as a generality though, the metals used for currency are melted down and forged into items and then enchanted.

The Children's plot will follow in a future post; until then,

-Colin Souva

The Legend of Zelda - The Triforce Prophecy

Occasionally, I just get the urge to design a game based on someone else's franchise. This is one such case. I am just putting my designs here, as is, for your perusal.

Overall, I like this game design, although I would probably differentiate it more from Ocarina of Time, especially considering how experimental recent Zelda titles have been. I am very pleased with the characters Kaigan and Gaigan, and may even reuse them in another game (since this one is unlikely to ever be published)

Also, for reference, this was written before Twilight Princess came out, so any similarity to it is mostly coincidental.

Plot:

Within the kingdom of Hyrule, it is said that the Children of Triforce will be born, three chosen individuals will gain the power of Courage, Wisdom, and Power respectively.

The specifics of who will be chosen depend on who you ask, the only true (and highly inaccessible) prophecy is that the Gerudo King will wield the Triforce of power.

It is also said that the light of the Triforce will not shine until all of its champions are born and ready to fulfill their destiny.

The Gerudo King is born much before the Champions of Courage and Wisdom, though due to the remoteness of the Gerudo it is almost unknown to the general public.

The inciting incident is the shining of the Triforce Light. The three champions are revealed to be Link, Zelda, and Ganon.

The Princess Zelda’s championship is glorified and publicized by the Hyrulian royals. Link is, at the time, a farmhand. Ganon is with the Gerudo, as their King.

It should be noted that Link can be named by the player, and he has a identity conflict between the farmhand named by the player, and the Triforce Hero Link.

Link’s championship is revealed only to him, which he later reveals to his grandfather. His grandfather gives him some leather gloves to hide the Triforce symbol and advises him to seek the princess.

Link leaves his home to seek out Zelda, and enroute to Hyrule City discovers the Shadow Kingdom’s influence in the realm. The forest path that he must follow is twisted out of its normal shape, and it turns into a maze to get out of.

Upon reaching Hyrule City, you approach the castle and convey your desire to see the princess. You can only get by the guard by removing your gloves and showing him your Triforce.

You meet Zelda, and as you introduce yourself, guards burst into the room, and proceed to seize and arrest you. It is explained that the meeting of two champions will signal the beginning of a great conflict, and will initiate the rise of the Shadow King. Wishing to prevent such things from happening, as well as to ensure the safety of Zelda, they wish to imprison Link. Despite the protests of both Champions, Link is thrown in jail.

That night, Hyrule Castle is attacked by a force made up of Shadow-Creatures. Zelda takes it upon herself to get into the prisons to help you out of there. The two of you break out of there, to help the soldiers, but as you approach the battlefield, the siege is already over, as a Gerudo force led by Ganon had arrived and defeated the Shadow force.

Ganon introduces himself as the Gerudo King and the Triforce Champion of Power. Link and Zelda meet and greet Ganondorf, and so the three Triforce Champions unite.

With the knowledge that all three Triforce Fragments are required to defeat the Shadow King, the Triforce Champions set off.

In order to find the Shadow King, they must reach the Shadow Realm. To get there, they require the six Elemental Medallions, guarded by the six corresponding Elemental Demons. Each Demon is one of the Elemental Guardians, corrupted by the shadow. The location of the first Demon is determined by Link to be the twisted forest he travelled through before. After restoring the Guardian and receiving the Earth Medallion, the party is given Zelda’s lead about the Light Temple’s corruption.

Within the light temple is the Light of Truth and removes the shadow of untruth (much like the lens of truth), but also repels creeping shadows and death fog. It will also let you see where a Shadow Gate leads, by letting you view what is on the other side of it.

After restoring the Light Guardian and receiving his Medallion, Ganon reveals the third, the Wind Medallion, hidden in the deserts by his Gerudo Kingdom, and with the Light of Truth, they should be able to find it.

When they return to Hyrule City with the Wind Medallion, you are greeted by Zoran and Goron ambassadors, to report Shadow infestations in their respective homes.

The Zorans come first, as the Shadow Gates block the river and there is no way to get to the Goron’s lands.

After the Water Medallion is secured, your party proceeds to the Gorons, whose network of tunnels has been twisted by the Shadow Gates. After you restore the Fire Guardian, the Goron Chief gives you the location of the City of Shadows, at the heart of which is the Gate of Shadows; the location of the final Medallion.

You recover the Darkness Medallion, and use the lot of them to open the Shadow Gate to enter the Shadow Realm.

You travel by the Light of Truth, warding off the shadows as you travel through the realm.

The journey is roughly one dungeon’s length, and its nightmare key reveals an empty throne room. Highly confused by this, the party pokes around the room and tries to understand where the Shadow King is that they’re supposed to be defeating.

Ganon takes this turn of events better than the others, as he approaches the vacant throne and sits in it. Upon doing so, the shadows in the room begin to swirl and almost seem to be celebrating their new King. Ganon revels in his betrayal, making note of the finer points of his scheme, revolving around the Gerudo’s superior knowledge of the Triforce Prophecies, and that as both the Shadow King and a Triforce Champion, he is invulnerable - as it takes all three Triforce Fragments to defeat the Shadow King; and that they even opened the Shadow Gate for him to allow his newly acquired forces into Hyrule to flood the land with darkness.

He orders his Shadows to destroy Link and Zelda, and the two of you must escape before they can catch you.

Outside the Shadow Gate, the City of Shadows has been returned to darkness and its Guardian is nowhere to be seen.

Your party must continue its retreat. You first pass the volcano, and witness Volvagia and a host of Goron soldiers battling the Shadow Monsters.

You are contacted by the Goron Chief, who gives you the Goron’s Ruby, and tells you to use it along with Zora’s Sapphire and the Kokiri Emerald to unlock the Master Sword, which is, for reasons to be explained later, the key to defeating the Shadow King and sealing his realm.

You encounter the brother Guardians of Light and Darkness in Kakariko Village, who are surprised that you have the Goron’s Ruby and that you are seeking the Master Sword. They explain that the Master Sword is the key to the Sacred Realm, and also unlocking the true power of the Triforce, a risky, but necessary course of action, as the Shadow King controls the third Triforce Fragment.

Link, Zelda, Kaigan, and Gaigan proceed to Zora’s Domain, to get Zora’s Sapphire. Through teamwork and with ample Light of Truth related problems, you recover the gem.

With the Kokiri Emerald in your sights, you set off for Kokiri Forest. You must find the hidden Kokiri Village, and unveil its secrets to get the final gemstone.

You take the lot of them to the Temple of Light and unlock the Master Sword. When it is released from its pedestal, the Triforce Fragments resonate, and Link wields the sword.

While the Master Sword unlocks the Sacred Realm, you must uncover the Nemesis Sword, its counterpart, which is the key to the Shadow Realm, and can only be wielded by one of the Shadow, and therefore will be wielded by Gaigan.

In case it seems like a wild goose chase, allow me to explain: the Shadow Realm was unlocked years ago and was sealed behind the Shadow Gate because it endangered the realm. Having broken the seal and without the means to make another one, they must lock the Realm Gate itself, requiring the Nemesis Sword and the full power of the Triforce. The Master Sword was necessary both to unleash the Triforce and to survive the Trials of Nemesis.

The Nemesis Sword is hidden in the desert, through the Eye of Time. The Eye of Time is a massive hurricane-shaped sand storm that is said to be half of a magical hourglass, but that isn’t really important. Only those intended to wield the two Swords (Master and Nemesis) can pass through the Eye of Time and survive, so only Link and Gaigan make the trip.

Within the Eye of Time, you cannot use magic or magic items, so Gaidan’s Eye is useless here, and he must be guided by the Light of Truth. After a series of puzzles and fights against various time-related monsters, you secure the Nemesis Sword and travel back out of the Eye. Your party regroups and heads to the City of Shadows. Kaigan and Gaigan wait outside the Shadow Realm, as the Nemesis Sword is of the shadows and will not betray its King, and only the united Triforce can defeat the Shadow King, so Kaigan has no place there either.

With that, Link and Zelda make their final trip into the Shadow Realm to confront Ganondorf. They proceed to the Shadow Throne to face Ganondorf, who is happy to face you, still confident in his invulnerability.

The battle is hard fought, but ultimately won, as in its final moments Link cuts off Ganon’s hand, and its Triforce with it, which Zelda quickly gathers and unites the Triforce then uses her most powerful spell, which is amplified further by the Triforce, petrifying Ganon, with the final blow struck by the Master Sword.

They return to the normal world, and seal the Shadow Realm by the power of the Triforce and the Nemesis Sword, restoring peace and order to Hyrule.

Characters:

Link

The famous Link. You know who he is, but let’s look at him in a different context. In this game, he is the farmhand turned hero who is probably the underdog among the Champions, as Zelda has her magical training, and Ganon is well, freakishly strong. Link relies on his items more than the other characters, who use their innate abilities.

Link is an overall average character, his health, mana, attack, and defence are all average. He has a variety of attacks that are useful in various situations. A sort of Jack-of-all-Trades if you will. His mana expenditure will not be in ‘spells,’ rather, enchanted items, such as the Light of Truth (which is not technically magical, but consumes mana to power its light), and various elemental arrows, as well as his famous sword special attacks.

Link’s Items

Tunic - Rather than wear armour, Link wears Tunics enchanted with various powers to enhance his defence.

Gloves - From his first Leather Gloves, these adorn his hands. Some are enchanted to enhance grip (and climbing ability) or allow him to carry hot or otherwise dangerous things.

Boots - What he wears on his feet. From your basic boots to the heavy Iron Boots to even enchanted boots.

Weapon - Link will go through a number of weapons throughout the game, which include bows, swords, hammers, and others. They can be one or two handed, ranged or melee, conventional or enchanted, and are generally useful for hurting bad guys.

Shield - A shield will occupy the other hand while using a one handed weapon, and it will stop enemy attacks without hurting Link, or even reflect some attacks. There are several types of shields throughout the game.

Other - A collection of other items, including bottled goods, musical instruments, and other generally usable but unconventional items.

Event Items - These are mostly key type items, which are only used under certain circumstances, and are not directly equippable. They are listed in your inventory, usually in their own section.

Zelda

Zelda is the Hyrulian Princess, and the Triforce Champion of Wisdom. She is fairly well known as well, so let’s examine her role in this game a little deeper. She is going to be the main magic user for the Triforce Prophecy, and is therefore going to require a whole bunch of mana and mana regeneration things. But I digress.

She is a support character, who has less health, but much more mana than Link. She is great at supporting the team, but a poor front line fighter. She has a variety of spells, some of which will replace her basic attack and serve in place of a weapon.

Zelda’s Items

Dress - Zelda wears an elaborate dress, which is usually integrated with armour for protection. Some dresses are enchanted for bonus effects.

Tiara - Zelda usually wears some form of head gear, for both aesthetic and protective purposes, although they are often enchanted for other effects.

Attack - This is an attack, rather than weapon, as it is often filled with magic rather than a sturdy weapon. It can be weapon or spell in this spot.

Accessory - Zelda frequently wears enchanted amulets, earrings, or whatever else for the magical effects imbued on said items.

Medallion - Yes, the quest-critical Elemental Medallions are equippable by Zelda. They change her elemental alignment and are required for some spells.

Ganon (or Ganondorf)

Ganon is the Triforce Champion of Power, and while he does serve a long time in your party, he is ultimately the main antagonist and the King of Shadows. He is a brutally strong character, who is by far physically stronger and bigger than the other two champions (likely combined!). Did I mention he was strong?

He is a melee fighter, and loves nothing more than looking an enemy in the eyes while destroying it in some brutal manner. He is incredibly tough, with huge health and his master crafted Gerudo Armour, and is an incredible front-liner. He has less mana than Link though, and he will use it on his combat moves only.

Ganon’s Items

Armour - This stays the same throughout, it is always the Gerudo Armour. Nothing else even comes close to the quality, and the capes cover any elemental resistance needed.

Cape - Ganon’s cape is the only piece of armour he changes throughout the game, and it protects the same way as Zelda’s dresses and Link’s tunics.

Weapon - Ganon is a very strong fighter, even without a weapon. Put something metal in his hands, and watch him go. He won’t use a shield, because he is way too tough for that.

Focus Stone - The large stone on his forehead, it can be exchanged for various stones for various, usually passive effects. 

Kaigan

Kaigan is new to the Zelda series, he is brother of Gaigan, and serves as both the Light Guardian and an ally in the game. You first fight him when he is possessed as the Demon of Light. The defining feature of the Guardian Brothers is that they are both blind, and have different methods of compensating for that. Kaigan wields the Staff of Light, which allows him to see whatever it illuminates.

Kaigan is an all around fighter, as he has several Light spells, and he is skilled with his staff in combat. He is especially effective against Shadow Monsters, given his alignment. His stats are fairly average, although he has less defence and more mana than Link.

Kaigan’s Items

(these may change depending on the character’s appearance)

Cloak - Kaigan wears a full cloak over his body. It may be enchanted for additional protection or for elemental resistance, or whatever else.

Staff - This will almost always be filled by the Staff of Light, as he is completely blind without it. It is a good staff, with decent damage. He can wield other staves, but only the one lets him see.

Face - Given as how he is blind, Kaigan often wears visors, masks, or other face-covering devices, both for psychological advantage and magical effect. 

Gaigan 

Gaigan is also new to the Zelda universe, and is Kaigan’s brother. He serves as both the Shadow Guardian and an ally in the game. He first must be defeated as the Demon of Shadow, then he later joins your party. He is also blind, and uses his magical eye to see, which allows him to see only truth.

Gaigan is also a general type fighter, he has a variety if Shadow spells, and he uses various weapons in combat, including the Nemesis Sword. His Dark-type attacks will not affect certain Shadow Monsters, due to their common alignment. His stats are comparable to his brother’s.

Gaigan’s Items

(these may change depending on the character’s appearance)

Eye - This is filled by Gaigan’s magical eye. Nothing else really goes in there, as it is basically the only item of its type.

Cloak - Gaigan also wears a cloak, which serves the same purpose as any other. Only a few cloaks are character specific, due to their elemental alignment.

Weapon - This is filled by whatever weapon Gaigan is using. He can wield most weapons in the game, excluding certain character-specific items (such as the Master Sword)

Dagger - Gaigan uses a dagger in addition to his other weapon, which he uses either in combination with his other attacks or as a surprise or melee attack. He has several spells and abilities revolving around his dagger.

Key Mechanics:

Shadow Gates -

A major mechanic of this game, they are essentially a door made of shadows that sends you to somewhere other than where you would normally go. When under the influence of the Light of Truth (or when seen through Gaigan’s eye), it will show where it is going instead of just being black (ideally using the Portal technology).

Shadow Gates are used to convert ordinary locations (including Kokiri Forest, Zora’s Domain, the Goron Tunnels, the Gerudo Fortress, the City of Shadows, and the Temple of Light) into dungeons. They are useful for forcing the player to complete a dungeon before advancing.

Light of Truth -

Based on the Lens of Truth, the Light of Truth is essentially a torch whose light will only illuminate Truth, essentially eliminating illusions and chasing off Shadows. It also wards off Death Fog and Creeping Shadows (which are described below). It will drain mana slowly, possibly even not at all, due to the incredible amount of use it will see throughout the game.

Death Fog -

Death Fog is essentially a purple cloudy substance that kills anyone who breathes it in (an instant death). Ways to get past it include the Light of Truth, as well as dispelling it (by such methods as blowing it away with a fan).

Creeping Shadows -

These are just enemies who only exist as shadows. They are invulnerable to normal attacks, and are only destroyed by Light. They can only attack from shadows, and their range outside into light is restricted both by their size and whether or not it is the Light of Truth.

Shadows -

Darkness is a major theme in the Triforce Prophecy, as many monsters and magical spells are based on Shadows, as well as numerous puzzles and abilities are based on Light. Shadows should be emphasized in the game engine, to allow for clearly defined light and shadows, as well as the possibility of dynamic shadows and shadow-based animations, objects, and enemies.

Blindness -

As both Kaigan and Gaigan are blind and both join your party for a short period, it should be noted that their methods of viewing are different from others. They can always see themselves, as even if they are blind, their other senses keep them informed of what they are doing. Gaigan can always see a circle section of the screen (much like the circle section revealed by the Lens of Truth), in addition to anything illuminated by the Light of Truth. Kaigan can only see things illuminated by the Light of Truth, but he carries the Staff of Light, which illuminates his immediate surroundings.

I’m toying with the idea of letting them see things that are making noise or that have a particular scent, as their other senses would probably be heightened. It’s pretty iffy right now, as such things would be too subjective, and no doubt some hardcore fans would object to whatever exceptions would occur.

Music -

No doubt Link’s ocarina will make an appearance, and it should be able to perform similar feats to those in previous Legend of Zelda games. Zelda may also have her Sheik Harp and who knows, maybe even Ganon will play his organ or something.

The effects of said ocarina will probably also be similar to past instalments, with a Hyrule Royalty Song, maybe even a Gerudo Anthem, a few generic or specific songs for particular occasions, maybe even a warp spell or two (though I think those would have to be fairly restricted).

Inventory -

Due to the partied nature of this game, the inventory will work slightly differently than normal. Some items will be character exclusive (most items in all likelihood) while others will be able to be transferred between characters. There will be a common inventory, which is likely to contain mostly quest items, such as any collectables, bottles, keys, rupees, and other such party inclusive items.

Each character will have an inventory of character specific items, which will likely include the majority of the items in the game (in terms of types, not quantity). Some equippable items are exchangeable, such as some cloaks, bottles, and some other specific items.

The Eye of Time -

A strange singularity in the game, the Eye of Time is a collection of the Trials of Nemesis that one must overcome to obtain the Nemesis Sword. It has a major time theme to it, as rooms and objects get rapidly younger and older. It also has the unique property of disabling most magical items, including Gaigan’s magical eye. The Light of Truth remains active inside however, as Gaigan shouldn’t be totally useless inside of it.

Shadow Monsters -

Frequently mentioned throughout these design documents, Shadow Monsters are evil beings from the Shadow Realm. They vary in appearance and - well, basically everything. They are weak to light in almost all cases, although most have other vulnerabilities as well. Some are purely shadow, others are just dark and scary monsters, some are undead (including skeletons, vampires, and ghosts [poes]), and some are just unfortunate, cursed souls or creatures forced to do the bidding of the shadow.

Teamwork -

As so much of the game involves multiple characters, it will inevitably be a major part of gameplay that you can control your party to some degree. I’d like to make it multiplayer, with a system similar to the X-Men RPGs, so that other players can just join in and play and leave freely, and so that swapping characters is as easy as possible.

You should also be able to have indirect control of your party, to be able to give orders to your allies without having to directly control them, and to prevent them from disrupting whatever you might have accomplished while controlling them!

I think that there should be a central button for controlling your party, from which other commands and actions should be accessible from there, such as ordering them around or changing characters.

Dying -

There are essentially two types of death - instant and actual. Instant death is usually just a slap on the wrist, falling into a bottomless pit then respawning with 1 heart fewer. Actual death is the running out of hearts, and is usually a more serious matter.

When one of the characters suffers instant death, they will just respawn with 1 fewer heart. They will spawn from their last safe location before their fall.

When a character suffers actual death, that character will fade out and remain out of the game until restored by a fairy. If all characters are dead, the player loses.

When you save and then load, all your characters get 3 hearts, regardless of how many they had before and whether or not they were dead.

Shadow Dungeons -

Shadow Dungeons are a derivation of the classic dungeon. They are made out of an ordinary area by means of shadow gates. By scrambling an ordinary region, a Shadow Dungeon is created. They serve much the same purpose as conventional dungeons, with the containing of essential items, and the gathering of elemental medallions, and general game progression.

Every Shadow Dungeon contains the following: a Shadow Map, a Demon Key, and a Demon. The Demon serves as a boss, his Key is required to fight him, and the map shows you the dungeon’s layout as described below.

When viewing the map within a Shadow Dungeon, you will see all shadow gates noted, however you will see the regular map unless you possess a Shadow Map for the region (much like previous Dungeon Maps), which will allow you to view the scrambled region as it is.

Not all dungeons are Shadow Dungeons, but I think that most of them will be. The six Elemental Medallions are all in Shadow Dungeons.

Defence and Attack -

Throughout the items section, there are several references to the attack or defence of an item. Your defence is the sum of all the defences of all your items. Your attack is the attack rating of your weapon.

All enemies have an attack value, and their damage is proportional to that. If your defence meets or exceeds this value, the damage is halved. This is only applicable for non-elemental attacks. If the damage exceeds your defence, you take a half-heart of damage for every attack point; if it does not exceed your defence, you take a quarter-heart of damage.

Your damage is proportional to your attack. In the case of Gaigan (who wields a dagger in addition to his regular weapon), his attack is displayed as the sum of the two attacks, but each is resolved individually.

Elemental Alignment -

Your elemental alignment has several interesting perks. All damage you take of your alignment is halved, while all that of the opposing element is doubled. You may have 1 alignment per elemental pair (earth/air, fire/water, dark/light). You may not wield any items of opposing elements or damage types. Note that Ice and Water are both the same type.

Only Kaigan and Gaigan have any innate alignment, that of Light and Dark respectively. Link, Zelda, and Ganon all derive their alignment from their items.

Zelda’s Elemental Dresses do not change her alignment, but do halve the damage from that element. They can be worn so long as you are not of the opposing element. If you are the same element, their effects are combined, so that you take one-quarter of the regular damage from your native element. Zelda’s Elemental Earrings and Amulet of Light are similar, except that their bonus is for the casting of spells rather than defence. They enable otherwise elemental exclusive spells. They cannot be equipped if you are of their opposed element. Ganon’s Dark Stone increases the damage of his special Shadow Attacks (his special attacks). Ganon cannot change his alignment to light, so that is not a concern for him.

Note that elemental alignments work differently for enemies, whose weaknesses may not coincide with any alignments.

Capture Fire – 

One of Zelda’s earliest and most useful spells throughout, capture fire essentially takes an orb of fire from an existing source, then holding onto it for later use. It can be used on conventional fire, the Light of Truth, as well as Blue Fire, and other specialized types. She can only hold onto a single orb at a time, and doing so takes mana. It acts as a light source; this is especially true for the Light of Truth, whose illumination holds special properties.

Taking an orb of fire does not extinguish the source, with the exception of Storage Orbs, which are a special type of light that just holds orbs of fire, which are not truly extinguished, as they were just a hovering orb of fire in the first place. Storage Orbs cannot be illuminated except by using of Captured Fire, as even fire arrows, spells, and fireballs will not light them up. Storage Orbs are essentially glass orbs whose only magical property is holding Captured Fire. They are ethereal to orbs of fire, and corporeal to all else. It is entirely possible that a boss will have lit Storage Orbs for eyes, and you will be able to blind him by removing the fire from them.

Capture Fire is useful in almost all fire-manipulative puzzles, it is also essential in interacting with Storage Orbs. It is a useful, if awkward, weapon against most enemies, and is even useful as a light source. It’s low mana cost makes it practical for common use, and being available so early makes it a key game mechanic.

Armoury:

Tunics

Tunic - Defence 1

Fire Tunic - Defence 2, Fire Alignment*

Ice Tunic - Defence 2, Ice Alignment*

Kokiri Tunic - Defence 4, Earth Alignment*

Zoran Tunic - Defence 3, Water Alignment, Underwater Breathing*

Goron Tunic - Defence 3, Fire Alignment, Extreme Heat Protection*

Cloaks

Cloak - Defence 1

Earth Cloak - Defence 2, Earth Alignment*

Air Cloak - Defence 2, Air Alignment*

Cloak of Shadows - Defence 3, Dark Alignment*

Cloak of Light - Defence 3, Light Alignment*

Gloves

Leather Gloves - Hides Triforce

Steel Gloves - Defence 1*

Silver Gloves - Heavy Lifting*

Golden Gloves - Super-heavy Lifting*

Fire Gloves - Fire Handling*

Climbing Gloves - Climbing Ability*

Capes

Cape - Defence 1

Fire Cape - Defence 2, Fire Align*

Wind Cape - Defence 2, Wind Align, Enables Floating*

Water Cape - Defence 2, Water Align, Underwater Breathing*

Dresses

Dress - Defence 1

Fire Dress - Defence 1, Bonus against fire, Non-water Alignment

Water Dress - Defence 1, Bonus against water, Non-fire Alignment

Royal Dress - Defence 2*

Boots

Leather Boots - Provides basic protection

Iron Boots - Enables Sinking, Heavy Weight*

Hover Boots - Water Walking, Short ‘Hover’ off of surfaces, No Traction*

Protective Boots - Provides advanced protection, slower movement*

Tiaras

Tiara - Defence 1*

Diamond Tiara - Defence 2*

Earrings

Fire Earrings - Bonus to Fire, Non-water Alignment*

Water Earrings - Bonus to water, Non-water Alignment*

Wind Earrings - Bonus to air, Non-earth alignment*

Earth Earrings - Bonus to earth, Non-wind alignment*

Triforce Earrings - Greatly increases maximum mana*

Amulets

Amulet of Protection - Defence 1*

Amulet of Life - +1 Heart*

Amulet of Light - Bonus to Light, Non-dark Alignment*

Swords

Short Sword - Attack 1

Fire Sword - Attack 1, Adds fire damage*

Ice Sword - Attack 1, Adds ice damage*

Sword - Attack 2

Master Sword - Attack 3*

Nemesis Sword - Attack 3*

Deku Sticks - Attack 1, Limited Durability, Flammable

Hammers

War Hammer - Attack 2

Battle Hammer - Attack 3

Megaton Hammer - Attack 4*

Gigaton Hammer - Attack 5*

Long Swords

Long Sword - Attack 3

Goron Knife - Attack 5*

Staves

Staff - Attack 1

Quarterstaff - Attack 2

Staff of Earth - Attack 2, Adds Earth Damage*

Staff of Air - Attack 2, Adds Air Damage*

Staff of Light - Attack 2, Adds Light Damage*

Daggers

Dagger - Attack 1*

Glass Dagger - Attack 2, Limited Durability

Black Dagger - Attack 2, Adds Dark Damage*

Shields

Wooden Shield - Defence 1
Hyrule Shield - Defence 2*

Mirrored Shield - Defence 2, Reflective*

Visors

Visor - Defence 1*

Forged Visor - Defence 2*

Masks

Mirror Mask - Shows the face of the onlooker.*

Demon Mask - A scary mask to exorcize poe.*

Keaton Mask - A cute mask of a popular character.*

Mask of Truth - A mask that lets you hear thoughts and read gossip stones.*

Arrows

Arrows - Attack 3

Fire Arrows - Attack 3, Adds fire damage*

Ice Arrows- Attack 3, Adds ice damage*

Light Arrows - Attack 3, Adds light damage*

Instruments

Ocarina*

Harp*

Medallions

Earth Medallion - Earth Alignment*

Wind Medallion - Wind Alignment*

Fire Medallion - Fire Alignment*

Water Medallion - Water Alignment*

Dark Medallion - Dark Alignment*

Light Medallion - Light Alignment*

Focus Stones

Life Stone - +1 Heart*

Dark Stone - Bonus to Dark Attacks*

Mana Stone - Increases Mana*

Bottles (and bottled goods)

Bottle (Empty) - Grabs and Contains certain objects.

Fish

Insect

Red Potion - Restores full health

Fairy - Restores full health or revives you on death

Green Potion - Restores full mana

Blue Fire - Melts Red Ice

Poe

Unique

Hookshot - Grapples and Stuns, Attack 0*

Bow - Fires damaging arrows*

Boomerang - Retrieves and Stuns, Attack 1*

Gaigan’s Eye - Shows only Truth*

Bombs - Explodes. Damage 8, but works differently on some things.

Gerudo Armour - Defence 5*

Powerups

Recovery Heart - Restores 1 heart

Lesser Mana Potion - Restores 10 MP

Greater Mana Potion - Restores 40 MP

Arrows (1) - Gains 5 arrows

Arrows (2) - Gains 10 arrows

Arrows (3) - Gains 15 arrows

Bombs - Gains 5 bombs

Deku Stick - Gains 1 Deku Stick

Fairy - Restores health completely

Rupee (green) - Gains 1 rupee

Rupee (blue) - Gains 5 rupees

Rupee (red) - Gains 20 rupees

Rupee (purple) - Gains 50 rupees

Huge Rupee (gold) - Gains 200 rupees

Magic:

Elements: Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Dark, Light

Fire:

Capture Fire: (MP1/Duration)

Takes fire from a source (without extinguishing that source) and allows you to use it. Useful in many puzzles and as a weapon. You first summon the fire to yourself, then throw it where you will. It will remain with you unless you pass through certain zones, even if you change your active spell. It will drain mana slowly while you hold the fire.

Fireblast: (MP6/Fire Align)

Creates and throws a fireball that creates a massive explosion on impact. Use with caution.

Fireball: (MP1)

Fires a slow moving, but relatively powerful ball of fire. It does not explode on impact.

Earth:

Photosynthesis: (Passive/Earth Align)

Recharges mana while exposed to light. Only counts for direct sunlight, so outdoors or in specific locations where light shines through.

Entangling Root: (MP4)

Sends a massive root to grab and ensnare your opponent. Will not work on certain surfaces, such as stone, as it requires soft ground in order to penetrate. Makes a distinct noise when it fails. Under certain circumstances it will grab and retrieve items for you.

Natural Force: (MP8/Earth Align)

Summons a powerful force that varies depending on location.

Forest Area - Tree Army: Trees will become animated and attack your enemies when they can. This might animate existing trees or summon new ones, depending.

Earth Area - Golem: Summons a powerful ally made of clay

Fire Area - Molten Coffin: Traps the target in a molten prison, trapping and damaging them, and usually killing them.

Desert - Sandstorm: Summons a sandstorm that blinds and damages enemies over time

Water Area - Morpha: Summons amoebic tendrils to grab and drown your opponents.

Unnatural Area - None: This has no effect in some unnatural areas, such as some dungeons.

Air:

Wind Blades: (MP4/Air Align)

Creates a cyclone of wind blades around the caster, which only damage enemies. Has a fairly short and intense duration.

Gust: (MP2)

Fires a concentrated beam of wind that damages and greatly knocks back the target. May be useful for moving some objects.

Leap: (MP2)

This will fling the caster to the target, assuming that it has a legitimate target. You will deliver a kick on impact, but the leaping is the important part. It can target enemies, allies (you won’t kick them), and specific targets (for puzzle purposes).

Water:

Ice Armour: (MP8/Water Align)

This will protect you from damage for its duration. It is not infallible, and some attacks (fire especially) will penetrate it. Taking huge amounts of damage will reduce its duration, while being in or near water will increase it.

Water Walking: (Duration)

This allows you to walk on water as if it were a solid surface. It will be cancelled if you are forced underwater for whatever reason, and cannot be cast while swimming.

Note: If you are of Water Alignment, you may cast this to climb out of the water while treading water, but it costs MP2. You may also choose to cancel Water Walking at any time.

Ice Dagger: (MP2)

Throws a fast moving and moderately powerful dagger made of ice. It is less powerful than a fireball. It will freeze those particularly vulnerable to ice.

Dark:

Invisibility: (MP4/Duration/Dark Align)

Renders the caster invisible. This will not fool anyone with True Sight, and will be countered by the Light of Truth. It will also leave the caster partially visible after attacking or casting spells. The caster is immune to several light based spells and traps, as well as being invisible to most enemies.

Gaigan does double dagger damage during his Invisibility.

Hand of Darkness: (MP6/Gaigan Exclusive)

Causes your shadow to extend itself and grab an enemy, immobilizing and damaging it. The caster must remain still for the duration, but allies may hack at the paralysed enemy freely. This will not work in bright areas.

If the target is close, Gaigan may get a free stab with his dagger.

Shadow: (MP10/Dark Align)

Summons a shadow duplicate. It has all the same moves and items as the caster. They have a limited duration, determined by their health, which starts the same as the caster, but drains over time. You may only have 1 shadow per caster. Shadows may not pick up items or power-ups. They will however, duplicate the caster’s actions on a few scripted occasions (such as a synchronizing based puzzle).

Light:

Light-Thrower: (Duration/Kaigan Exclusive)

What is essentially a Light of Truth/Flamethrower. It drains mana fairly quickly, but is quite powerful, especially against Shadow Monsters.

Beam of Light: (MP15/Light Align)

Fires a powerful beam of light at the target. This is devastating against Shadow Monsters and very powerful against all others. This will be reflected by mirrors, so use it carefully.

Note: This is the spell used to petrify Ganondorf in the plot, except it will be in the shape of a Triforce instead of a generic beam for that shot.

Divine Light: (MP4/Light Align)

Creates a beam of light from the sky above to damage or illuminate. It is ridiculously effective against Shadow Monsters and only average against others. It can only be used outdoors or somewhere with an open roof.

Controls:

Wii

Thumbstick - Move

D Pad - Quick Item

A - Use/Interact/Roll

B - Use Item

Z - Target/Strafe

C - Party Button

Minus - Inventory

Home - Menu

Plus - Map

Swipe Wiimote - Draw Sword

Aim With Wiimote

Party Controls

Bring up Party Screen - C

Issue Order - A

Select Character - D Pad

Party orders will be given by moving the nunchuck.

I rather like it; I feel that it brought new mechanics and directions to the series, although I admittedly would have to rework the party system somewhat, as it really doesn't make much sense to play Zelda as a group. Until next time,

-Colin Souva

PS. Merry Christmas