Jedruszczak

GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT DIG TWO GRAVES

A simple game design document featuring summary, high concept, thematic overview, character bios,
level designs, and an opening cinematic. This story is an expansion on a previous project, a short
interactive fiction by the same name, featuring the same high concept. (See Interactive Fiction: Dig Two
Graves.)

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SUMMARY

ONE-LINE DESCRIPTION: A former space marine tires of the mercenary life shes been forced to live, and
sets out to discover exactly what happened the day she lost her team, and to get revenge.
GENRE: Action-adventure, sci-fi
GAME MECHANIC: Third-person exploration, quicktime events, dialogue choices
MARKET ANALYSIS: Similar to Tales from the Borderlands and other series from Telltale Games; Until
Dawn.

HIGH CONCEPT
Youre done. Life as a mercenary has lost its appeal.
Not that its ever had any real appeal youve been stuck on this hellhole planet for too many years now.
With your particular skill set, the only choice to save your own skin was to be a hired gun, and the daily
grind of assassinations, badly coordinated attacks on rival crime lords, and endless games of go-fetch is
starting to bore you out of your skull.
So, when you hear about your so-called boss putting a hit out on you, you finally decide to go after the
person responsible for the fact that every single one of your teammates your closest friends, the people
you loved and trusted the most got slaughtered trying to make a difference on a planet where murder is
daily and black markets are the norm.
The problem is, hes the man with the entire planet in the palm of his hand, hell know youre coming, and
he might not be the only one after you.

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THEMES
Trust
Having faith in a person never goes unrewarded.
Trust is a two-way street, and when Wilk and Morag trust each other, their path may not
become easier, but it becomes warmer. However, if Wilk distrusts Morag, Morag will offer
her nothing but the same.
Friendship
Even lone wolves get lonely.
Wilk lost everything, and when Morag finds her, Wilk finally has a chance to rebuild her life.
They had been inseparable before Conrads betrayal, and Wilk grieved hard for the loss of
her best friend. With someone by your side, joy can be found in even the most difficult task.
Healing
Sometimes healing comes from unconventional places.
Sometimes the path to revenge can offer a chance to acknowledge your strength. Wilk is
alive, but the price she unwittingly paid for her life was unimaginably high. As she breaks
the stagnant cycle of being a mercenary, shell need the support that only a friend can offer.
Communication
The most painful conflicts can often be eased with words.
Talking about it has the misfortune of both sounding clich and being very, very difficult
to do. However, being clear in how you feel whether good or bad, happy or not is a
crucial component to maintaining your most important relationships. Morag has never
been shy about how she feels. Getting Wilk to open up is like pulling teeth.

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CHARACTERS:
Dagmara Wilk | player character
Wilk is a jaded, no-nonsense, all-business former soldier
whose dry sense of humor can sometimes be coaxed out
by the right person. Her marksmanship is uncannily
excellent and she prefers to keep her distance in a
firefight, though her hand-to-hand skills are not to be
underestimated. She wears a prosthetic on her left arm.
She doesnt trust easily, especially not after Conrads
betrayal, and her relationship with Morag can go several
ways, depending on how much she decides to trust her.
Wilk is also still recovering from the enormous amount of
injury physical and mental that she suffered when she
nearly died.

Seonaid Morag | party member/partner

Morag is built like a tank, and hits like one, too. Shes quiet
but snarky, with a wicked sense of humor, and isnt afraid to
use violence to solve her problems. She prefers to be in the
thick of a firefight with a shotgun, leaving bodies wherever
she decides to go.
Morag is fiercely loyal, but extremely proud; if she feels
slighted or betrayed, she will return the favor in kind. Her
relationship with Wilk hinges greatly on how Wilk decides to
treat her.

Mal Conrad | primary antagonist

Conrad controls the entire planet through an extensive system of corruption, extortion, and crime lords.
He once led the squad that Wilk and Morag were a part of, before betraying them, killing (nearly) all of
them, and taking control of the planets not-so-underground crime syndicate.

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LEVELS
LEVEL NAME

OBJECTIVE

OBSTACLES

WHAT DOES THE

PLAYER GET?

WHAT DOES THE

CHAR. LEARN?

Just A Memory

Leave the city

Blockade (hostile
NPCs, dialogue
choices)

Money, depending
on choice(s)

Life as a
mercenary has
changed you -how depends on
player choices

Back From The

Dead

Get to the location

where Conrad
betrayed you and
your team

Hostile NPCs -Party member

scavengers and
Morag joins you
bandits (QTEs),
environmental
obstacles (puzzles)

Morag is alive, and

is also trying to
track down Conrad

Whats Past Has

Passed

Discuss your past

with Morag

Clashing attitudes,
repairing or
destroying your
relationship with
Morag

Information,
money, tools,
weapons, etc.
(pooling supplies
with Morag)

Learn about Morag

and what she's
been doing, share
information,
discover Conrad's
location

City Life

Pass through the

city undetected

Hostile NPCs
(making dialogue
choices to
maintain disguise
and not attract
attention)

Supplies, if
purchased or
bartered for (eg.
first aid kit,
weapons)

Reconnecting with
Morag and forming
a working
relationship
(professional or
friendly) is easier
than you thought
it'd be

Retrograde

Continue moving
towards the old
comms facility
where Conrad is

Questioning your
Information
trust in Morag -has she been
telling the truth? Is
she working for
Conrad? (dialogue
choices)

Morag has made a

name for herself as
a mercenary;
depending on
player choices,
Morag either
expresses the
depth of her
loyalty to you as a
friend and former
teammate, or
begins to resent
your lack of trust

A Thousand Suns

Survive the strike

team sent to take

Hostile NPCs
(QTEs)

Conrad knows that

you and Morag are

High-grade armor
and weapons

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you down

scavenged from
strike team

after him

Salt The Wound

Rest (or dont)

Heal your and/or

Morag's wounds;
QTEs, using the
first aid kit if
present
(bought/scavenge
d), without first
aid kit difficulty of
QTEs is much
higher

Chance to utilize
inventory

Dialogue choices
determine feelings
about current
situation regarding
both Morag and
Conrad (if you
distrust Morag, she
won't go out of her
way to cover you
in the fight, and
you challenge her
afterwards, asking
if the strike team
found you because
of her; if you trust
Morag, she'll take a
bullet for you, and
the combat is less
challenging)

Schwarzschild
Radius

Get through the

comms facility to
Conrad

Hostile NPCs -QTEs, choice

between stealth or
engagement

Scavenged
supplies,
exploration
opportunities
(information)

Conrad is more
powerful, more
well-equipped, and
more scared (of
you) than you
thought

Shutdown

Deal with Conrad

Hostile NPC -- boss Different outcomes Closure

fight (QTEs)

Floodgates

What do you do
with Conrad out of
the picture?

Different levels of
trust in Morag can
have different
outcomes

Different outcomes Different outcomes

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POSSIBLE ENDINGS:
OPTION A: Wilk outwardly trusts Morag from their first encounter (Level 2). Best possible ending.
The narrative will proceed as smoothly as possible; trust and faith are rewarded.
Wilk and Morag will have an honest conversation about what happened in the year between
Conrads betrayal and their reunion (Level 3), and discuss on plain terms that while they both fear
this kind of betrayal, they are willing to have faith in each other.
All combat (Level 4, 6, 8, 9) is less difficult; Wilk and Morag cooperate fully with each other.
Upon cornering Conrad, Wilk and Morag use his communication arrays the only long-range
communication arrays on the planet in order to contact the Department of Colonial Authorities
of the United Interstellar Government, revealing to the players that Wilk, Morag, and Conrad had
been part of an elite security detail accompanying government officials to the planet in order to
help peacefully resolve the planets growing issues of organized crime and economic inequality.
OPTION B: Wilk outwardly does not trust Morag from their first encounter (Level 2). Worst possible
ending.
Morag will begin to distrust Wilk as well, but stay with her as a means to an end.
If Wilk continues to be hostile (Level 5, 6), Morag will be hostile in return, and she will also reach
out to Conrad in an attempt to strike a deal with him: Wilks head and Morags cooperation will his
criminal organizations.
Morag will make little to no attempt to cooperate with Wilk late in the game (Level 8, 9), making
the gameplay much more difficult.
Morag will kill Conrad against Wilks protests and take his place as the head of his organizations.
OTHER OPTIONS:
Wilk neither outwardly trusts or distrusts Morag, leading Morag to believe that Wilk does not
trust her. Wilk refuses to open up to Morag. Events proceed slightly less disastrously than in
Option A; Wilk, in a rush of pent-up rage and grief, kills Conrad.
Wilk switches between trusting and distrusting Morag
o Wilk and Morag end up on good terms upon reaching Conrad; they attempt to contact the
Department of Colonial Authorities, but are interrupted by one last squad of soldiers,
resulting in a botched hostage situation and Conrads death.
o Wilk and Morag end up on bad terms upon reaching Conrad; Morag kills Conrad against
Wilks protests, but does not take his place.

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OPENING CINEMATIC
Fade in: a gloved fist clenched tightly around a cloth bag, contents clearly wet with something
unidentifiable, swaying in time with a purposeful stride. Pan out as the other hand comes up to push open a
door into a spacious, open room, with two guards by the door and, at the far end, a man at a desk,
surrounded by status symbols: expensive alcohol, several trophies. He doesnt bother to look up when the
door swings open. The bag-holders entire back is now visible, showing someone wearing a fully loaded
tactical vest over a thick, worn leather jacket, a duffel bag slung over one shoulder, and a rifle on a threepoint sling clearly contrasting the room itself. The unpleasantly wet bag gets thrown down
unceremoniously on the desk with a frankly nauseating thump.
MERNET (disinterestedly, with a grunt):
Took you long enough.
Pan around to the right.
WILK (arms crossed, voice carefully neutral):
Terens datapad, all of his credit chips, and every contact he has outside of the city. And, just so
that were extra clear this time on just how dead my mark is, I included a limb.
Fernet opens the bag, makes a mildly disgusted face, and reaches in to gingerly pull out the datapad and
credit chips, wrapped in plastic thats slicked with congealed blood.
MERNET:
Didnt have to choose that limb.
WILK:
My payment.
MERNET:
Letting you out of this room alive is your payment, merc. The only reason you havent been killed
yet is because youre convenient, and even that might change the second anyone manages to find
out just what it is about your past that youre so determined to hide.
Wilk restrains an eyeroll, clearly having heard this before.
WILK (more firmly, with the hint of a threat):
My payment. And it better be enough this time.
Fernet sneers and pulls a credit chip off the top of his desk, then tosses it at her.

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MERNET:
Watch your back, Wilk. You might find a knife in it one day.
WILK (falsely pleasant, dry):
You know, I am feeling a little sore, now that you mention it. Ill make sure to take a long bath
before the next time you hire me to clean up your messes.
Fernets face gets angry and red, jaw clenching, and he stands up from his chair.
MERNET:
Youll regret all of this, one day. Mark my words. I have the power to
WILK:
--ruin my name and reputation, I know. But, uh, Im armed, and a lot closer to you than your
guards are.
A long, awkward pause.
WILK:
Goodbye, Mernet. Until your next fuckup.
Wilk turns sharply on her heel and walks out, chin tilted up defiantly, and stares down the guards as she
pushes the door open again. Door closes cut to black.

Fade in from black to heavy, slow footsteps landing heavily old stairs. Wilks gloved hand comes up and
tiredly presses a ring full of key fobs to a doorframe, and the lock chirps half-heartedly before swinging open.
Wilk sets her duffel bag down on the floor, carefully lays her rifle across it, along with her gloves and then
starts to dismantle her tac vest, the sound of velcro tearing almost too loud in the small apartment. The vest
gets thrown onto a rickety chair; the jacket gets neatly hung up on a hook. Wilk then sits down heavily in the
lone armchair, head in her hands, fingers running through her hair. Her left arm is a carefully maintained
prosthetic, all the way up to her shoulder, and where her skin meets metal theres only a neat, surgical line of
scar tissue. She looks over at the vest, turned so that the squad emblem over the right pectoral is visible: a
wolf howling, stylized so that its tipped-back head and curled-up tail form a crescent.

Player takes control. There are several items the player can investigate in any order.
DATAPAD: Open on a screen of completed assignments/jobs, mostly banal errands, and a handful
of assassinations, all color-coded in a spreadsheet. Upon exiting, Wilk scoffs and mutters, Im so
tired of this.

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GUN LOCKER: Wilk puts away the rifle on top of her duffel bag and the pistol in her thigh holster.
The gun locker contains several more rifles, each with a long barrel, and each scoped, but none are
true sniper rifles.
Once the datapad and gun locker have been investigated, the player unlocks the ability to investigate the
bed, the kitchen, and the vest.
BED: Made up seemingly perfectly, hospital corners. Wilk fixes one corner, which had been off by a
bare millimeter, and says to herself, Could use a nap. Not sure itd help the exhaustion, but
KITCHEN: As neat as the rest of the house. A note is stuck on the fridge that reads buy more
coffee; there are several mugs, a plate, and a small pot in the drying rack next to the sink.
VEST: Triggers cutscene.
Wilk slowly walks over to her vest and picks it up with a heavy sigh, then rubs her left thumb over the patch,
almost tenderly, but theres no tenderness in her face. She sits back down in the armchair with the vest in her
lap but her posture isnt defeated any more; the look on her face as she stares down at the vest is determined,
almost thoughtful, like shes just made a decision.
A knock on the door.
Wilk raises her head, glances at the gun locker, and then pulls the knife out of its sheath on the tac-vest
before inching the door open.
FARA (with a deep sigh, slightly annoyed):
Its me, Wilk. Honestly, does anyone else even visit you?
Wilk opens the door a little wider, brow furrowed.
WILK:
What do you want?
FARA:
To borrow a cup of sugar.
Wilk keeps staring at her, brow still furrowed.
FARA (sighs again, exasperated):
A joke. People make jokes sometimes.
Wilk seems to think something over, and an apologetic look crosses her face.

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FARA:
Mernets sent out a call, did you hear?
WILK (slightly suspicious):
No.
FARA (snorts out a laugh):
Hes put a hit out on you.
Wilk clenches her jaw visibly.
FARA:
I know, right? Honestly, I dont know anyone in this town stupid enough to even think about trying
to take you out.
Wilk doesnt look like shes listening; Fara goes on.
FARA:
Anyways, Mernets looking for two to clean out Timos old place. You on?
WILK:
Im done, Fara.
FARA (rolling her eyes):
I know his tirades are barely worth putting up with, but
WILK:
No, Fara, Im done.
A beat of silence. Faras brows, in turn, knit together.
WILK:
Im leaving.
FARA (laughs incredulously):
Where? To another shitty town in the pocket of another shitty drug lord? You know what this
planet is, this life.
WILK:
I have something I need to do. Past the cities.
Fara takes a few seconds to search for the right words.

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FARA:
Look, I know were not exactly friends...
She pauses again, hesitant.
FARA:
This life might be shitty, but its safe. Youre no adrenaline junkie. You wouldnt head out past the
cities just for kicks, you know how low the chances are of avoiding a run-in with the Linchpins
men. If this has to do with your whole mysterious past crap
WILK (angrily):
My mysterious past crap?
Shes unconsciously been pushing the door open steadily and now shes framed between the partially open
door and the doorframe, her aggression clear. Multiple proverbial straws have broken the same back today.
WILK (angrily):
Okay, fine. You want to know why Im here? I watched all of my friends get murdered in cold blood
by the person we trusted most. The only reason Im alive, as far as I can tell, is because I passed
out from the pain of having my arm crushed under a boulder.
Faras face is growing more and more concerned.
WILK (voice low):
Thats why I ended up here as a mercenary. And Im done. I paid my price. Now its someone elses
turn.