A downloadable project

This document is for educational purposes only. I claim no ownership. This assignment is to build a physical prototype of an isolated mechanic of an existing game, and attempt to recreate it's high level design document, along with a player analysis according to the Bartle Model. This contains spoilers for the game, Noita.

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Bartle Player Type Analysis: Noita

Killers: This game appeals to killers because of it's many different types of enemies and it's feedback for defeating them. There are at least 131 different enemies that players can encounter, each rewarding gold upon death, and collecting gold from other enemies they defeat.
For example, Depending on how they die they may give visual feedback such as exploding, shattering or spraying blood that stains the game world and becomes a liquid environmental hazard. While the base games difficulty may throw off some looking for a pure power fantasy, through practice, it can become a fun experience for these players, facing hordes of aggressive enemies.

Achievers: This game appeals to these players because of the games high difficulty, roguelike- death mechanics and limited meta progression, and how easy it is for players to unknowingly cause their own deaths in freak accidents through emergent events brought about the physics system.
For example, any explosion caused in the game world can shake loose objects or giant boulders that may crush the player. Biome modifiers can cause projectiles to act weird, and work in ways not intended. Enemies may pick up magic wands that that player is intended to find and become even more deadly, as most are aware of the player even before the player sees them. The player can often easily be killed in collateral damage, as some machines may electrify or freeze liquids or surface near the player. The player may also be killed by fast moving giant worms summoned by the seismic activity of explosions the player was not responsible for. The player is punished when enemies damage certain in game structures, causing a very powerful enemy to appear in each of the games safe zones, which enemies can teleport into at any time, making them not truly safe. Touching any liquid, all of which react to gravity can have dire effects, blinding, freezing or transforming the player into a helpless sheep, and teleporting them into solid rock/ or lava, among other things.

Explorers: This game does not appeal to these players because of it's difficulty and the time barrier to traversing the procedural environments.
For example, Getting across the non essential portions of map can take a minimum of twenty minutes, and their are many obstacles in the environment. A giant tree and mountain prevent the player from going anywhere but down in the starting zone, unless they should manipulate the spell/perk system to create a path around or through them. Environments are randomized, further adding to the difficulty of exploration in the base game and some structures may spawn within rock or out of the way locations, or places that are permanently dark.

Socializers: This game does not appeal to these players because there is not a social component to the game outside of the forums provided by the distribution service players purchase it through, or using the streaming integration.
For example, Players may find discussions about the wand crafting systems outside of the game, as their are no social/multiplayer mechanics built into the game. It is purely a single player experience.

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Noita: Game Design Document

Game Designers (your name & group members if any): Taylor Torres

Date of Publishing: October 15th 2020, (previously in early access)

High-Level Concept (one sentence to describe your game):
Become a Witch; slay hordes of trolls, monsters and challenge the gods in a dangerous two dimensional world of simulated, destructible matter, while customizing the deadliest magic wands conceivable.

Game Goals

Goal 1: Provide players with a procedurally 2d game world that simulates liquid, solid and gaseous matter changing dynamically. Liquids that conform to containers, gasses that escape and solids that melt or wear away.

Goal 2: Give players a dynamic spell system that can be used on customizable magic wands to create interesting and deadly spells for combat and traversal.
Goal 3: A non-meta progression 'Perk 'system that allows players to radically change their playstyle being taking magical modifications that add benefits and trade offs.
Goal 4: An encyclopedia UI that allows players to read and view spells they have used, perks they have taken, and monsters they have slain as a form of meta progression.

Story Overview
Noita relies on environmental story telling, allowing the appearance of the world, enemies and structures to reference the procedural world generation as the work of in universe higher beings and the player character as a seeker of forbidden arcane knowledge. It's story is meant to be understated and left to the players interpretation.

Game Controls
Players move with WASD.
Hold Spacebar to jump/ levitate.
The mouse to aim, left and right mouse buttons to fire spells/ throw objects.
Mouse wheel to rapidly scroll through held items.
Inventory opens with Tab/ 'I' keys.
Players can melee/kick with 'F'.
'E' to interact with objects when prompted.

Scoring
Players can pick up gold from fallen enemies and treasure chests, but these are lost upon death. Instead players are scored based on knowledge they've gained, a special menu containing encyclopedia style entries for the names and number of each enemy defeated, spells and their information, as well as perks they have used before and a description about what they do.
Achievements are unlocked outside the game based on what 'level' or depth the player has reached and if they have defeated a 'final boss'
Upon each death in game, the player is shown stats tracking how far/ deep they went, cause of death, wealth and other minor information.

Universal Game Mechanics
Picking up/ throwing away randomly spawned wands that each have sets of spells on them and various stats. The spells can be rearranged or added and removed to other wands inside various 'safe zones' to create new magic weapons.
Each 'safe zone' allows the player to pick up a 'perk' spell which gives them a potentially harmful benefit and trade off. The player must change their play style to accommodate them, or ignore them.
Flight/ Levitation: the player can levitate for a short time, and then recharge. If they run out, they fall.
The player can kick, turning objects into deadly projectiles, or clearing path, or as a physical attack.
The player can consult their encyclopedia during game pause events, to recall information about spells and perks to determine how they will affect gameplay if used subsequently.
Movement with WASD

Game Progression (flowcharts suggested here)

Economy
Players can collect gold from fallen enemies/ treasure chests, mine it from rock. In each safe zone they may buy up to four new magic wands, but not sell them. Buying wands does not increase the prices of remaining wands, but subsequent safe zones contain more expensive wands for sale.
The player may also find shops outside of the safe zone, that enemies can use too.
They may gamble an increasing amount to change the three available perks in each safe zone, but they may only take one, regardless.
Players may find magical tablets that may be sacrificed to the gods in a certain location. The gods may reward or punish the player.

State Modifier

Frozen: Freezing liquids, enemies, or backfiring spells can freeze the player solid, leaving the vulnerable to instant death by shattering, melee or explosion.
Polymorph: Being hit by a kind of spell or touching a certain substance causes player become a sheep and lose all perks while in that form.
Confused: Horizontal movement is swapped.
Chaos Polymorph: Turn into any creature in the game. Small chance of permanence.
Wet: player more vulnerable to being slowed or Frozen. High vulnerability to electricity. Flammability decreased.
Oiled: surface traction is decreased and player will slide even when standing still. Flammability increased.
Dead: The players body is converted to the 'meat' material type and the game is over.

Technological Requirements
(what hardware is needed, where is it available)
MINIMUM:
OS: Windows Vista, 7, 8/8.1, 10
Processor: Dual Core CPU, Intel i5 or better
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: 512MB VRAM, OpenGL 3.0 support
Storage: 1600 MB available space
RECOMMENDED:
OS: Windows Vista, 7, 8/8.1, 10
Processor: The more cores the better
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: 1024MB VRAM, OpenGL 3.0 support
Storage: 2500 MB available space

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Art Style Guide (include several images for each header)
All images from in game, not mine.

Overall Art Style

The player character on a flying landmass above the surface. Parallax mountains frame the background.

The Inventory UI, showing off various spells used to customize wands.

The progress menu, showing hundred of collected spells, how they work and more.

Color Palate
Made with Canva and in game screenshots.

Game World

Entering the jungle after leaving the safe zone. Giant Spiders attack!

Entering the winter zone/ frozen caves. A Massive cave looms in the background.