Tower Defendor Game Design Document

Introduction and Storyline Tower Defendor is an action RPG where the player controls a single character involved in defending a tower from invading forces. The player is part of a kingdom that is nearing extinction as neighboring forces have been closing in, capturing cities one by one. The king has heard rumor that four great travelling heroes are in the land: an archer, a mage, a knight, and a cleric. He pleas to them that they assist in driving out the attackers. The player may choose to start the campaign as any one of the four heroes. Throughout the journey, other characters will be met that may be willing to join forces with the heroes. After reconquering all the cities that originally belonged to the kingdom, the king summons the heroes and all whom they have gathered in their journey to personally thank them and offer them a permanent place in his army. In doing so, he reveals that he initiated the war with the opposing kingdom and he now wishes to crush them entirely. At this time, an envoy arrives asking for truce between the two, but the king demonstrates his ruthlessness, and the four original heroes decide to switch sides in the fight, because they feel they have been deceived and exploited. Throughout the rest of the campaign the heroes aid in taking the kings cities back from him.

Gameplay Before battle, a map view will appear where the player will be able to choose from a small selection what city to protect. In order to take back cities, the heroes will sneak into the town hall of each one, and there they must withstand besiegement from the offensive forces. If the defensive side can hold out long enough the attackers will give up and retreat, and the city will have been won. Depending on the class of character the player has chosen, the screen view during battle will be different. The mage will only be able to see the battle on the road from inside a tower. Use of a teleportation spell and clicking on the mini map will enable the mage to change what tower he is in. The knight will be on the road itself, fighting the oncoming enemies with melee attacks. The player will be able to see him from a third person perspective. The archer will start the battle based in a tower, but he will be able to exit/enter towers, but must travel across the battle area to do so, which is especially dangerous because he is quite weak when it comes to withstanding melee attacks. The cleric will begin the battle in the road, fighting alongside the knight, but he may also enter towers as the archer does. From there, he may cast spells, although he has a rather short range.

Conceptual view from a tower. Spell/Abilities selection along the top and a mini-map in the top right corner.

Conceptual view from the battlefield. Spell/Abilities selection along the top and mini-map in the top right.

Upgrades Each class of character will have several abilities that will be upgradeable up to ten times. Each spell or ability also has a cooldown time that. Mage Spells Fireball Strong damage and a small area of effect. Medium cooldown. Poison Medium initial damage and small damage over time. Medium cooldown. Lightning Very strong damage to a single unit. Long cooldown. Earthquake Medium damage with a large area of effect. Long cooldown. Freezing Ice Stops the target in place for a small amount of time. Short cooldown.

Thick mud Turns an area of road into mud that slows down all enemies that pass through for a certain amount of time. Medium cooldown. Teleportation Allows the user to switch to a different tower with a small initial range. Medium cooldown.

Archer Arrows Normal Medium damage to a single target. Short cooldown. Fire Medium damage with a small area of effect that has a small chance of catching the target on fire for damage over time. Medium cooldown. Piercing Strong damage that will pierce through any armor. Short cooldown. Ice Freezes the target in place for a small amount of time. Medium cooldown. Poison Medium initial damage with guaranteed damage over time for a several seconds. Medium cooldown. Bomb Large amount of damage with a medium area of effect. Long cooldown. Meteor Small amount of initial damage, but a powerful meteor shower will rain down on the spot that was hit with a medium area of effect. Long cooldown.

Knight Attacks Normal Medium damage to a single target. Instant cooldown. Power Slice Large damage to a single target. Short cooldown. Tornado swing Medium damage to surrounding enemies. Medium cooldown. Quick Speed Allows the use to sprint for a few seconds. Medium cooldown. Forward Stab Pierces through all targets directly in front. Medium cooldown. Ground Stab A powerful blow to the ground that causes damage to all targets in front with a small area of effect. Long cooldown.

Cleric Attacks/Spells Axe swing Medium damage to a single target. Short cooldown.

Power Slice A downward swing that causes large damage to a single target. Medium cooldown. Wide Swing A horizontal slice that causes damage to all targets in front. Medium cooldown. Helping Prayer A spell that increases the attack power of all allies. Long cooldown. Heal A spell that heals a single target for a certain percentage. Short cooldown. Restore A spell that cures an ally of any affliction. Short cooldown. Invisibility A spell that makes a single target invisible for a short amount of time. Long cooldown.

Enemy Types Infantry Medium speed, weak attack, and small amount of health. Cavalry Quick speed, medium attack, and a medium amount of health. Goblin Medium speed, medium attack, and a small amount of health. Attack may cause poisoning for a short amount of time. Ogre Slow speed, strong attack, and a large amount of health. Dwarf Slow speed, strong attack, and a medium amount of health. Caster Medium speed, weak attack, and a small amount of health. Can cast Mages Fire spell and Freezing Ice spell. Healer Medium speed, weak attack, and a medium amount of health. Can heal its allies. Berserker Fast speed, medium attack, and a medium amount of health. Bowman Fast speed, medium attack, and a small amount of health. Can shoot Fire Arrows and Poison Arrows. Commander Medium speed, strong attack, and a very large amount of health.