-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 1
Game Design Doc
A Game by:
Andrew Mandula, Jennifer Dzuiba, Nicholas Hackford, Keensley Venittelli, and Robert Bastian
1.1 Summary
1.2 Story
2.1 Goal
2.2 Rules
2.3 Inventions
2.3.1 Jack-in-the-Box
2.3.2 Egg Beater
2.3.3 Rocket Skateboard
2.3.4 Lincoln Logs
2.4 Interactive Objects
2.4.1 Bed
2.4.2 Stairs
2.4.3 Pits
2.4.4 Ladder
2.4.5 Doors
2.4.6 Rogue Inventions
Described simply, Sleepy Scientist is designed to be a two-dimensional puzzle game, ideally for mobile platforms. The player interacts with the game by moving certain pieces around in order to get the sleepwalking scientist safely into his bed for the night. The player has to navigate the scientist, who moves automatically in whichever direction he is facing, around obstacles and across the multiple floors of his lab in order to do this. There are also various obstacles to avoid, such as pits in the floor and doors that lock themselves.
The story for Sleepy Scientist isn’t very complicated. It follows Dr. Nikola Somnum, an egotistical yet creative genius who has bought a used laboratory in New Jersey to conduct his experiments. Unfortunately, he also has a bad case of narcolepsy which means he constantly falls asleep while working on experiments. This has led him to be nearly shunned from the mad scientist community that he had previously been a part of. As a result, he wasn’t able to get a loan for a better new laboratory. He also no longer has access to the resources that the Mad Scientist Alliance provides to its members, forcing him to use household items to work off of. To make matters worse, he sleep walks! And to also make matters worse, because he bought the lab used there are a lot of dangers including dangerous pitfalls! Luckily his inventions have enough A.I. to help him get to his bed safely. Of course, his bed has some A.I. too and sometimes will move around. There are also some rogue inventions that like to cause mischief and despair. The Doctor may have a lot of problems facing him, but he won’t let it stop him from inventing crazy things and he uses his restricting predicament to force himself to be more creative and experimenting with his work. While he works on a way to somehow cure himself of narcolepsy, it’s up to his loyal inventions to make sure he doesn’t get hurt or killed while sleep walking and make sure that he gets safely to bed.
The goal of the game is simple: Get the sleep-walking scientist to his bed using his various inventions.
Dr. Somnum will slowly walk in a straight line every level until he either hits a wall you walk down stairs and climb up ladders (which he will do automatically if he runs into them, if he is on the skateboard at that time then he will step off of it). While Dr. Somnum is walking though you can select an invention and move it into a position that will help you. The inventions are much faster than he is which is why they will usually start on separate parts of the level to make it more difficult to reach the Doctor. The inventions are able to go up and down stairs and ladders, but they also cannot cross pits unless there is a bridge (inventions cannot be flung across by the Jack-in-the-box).
Dr. Somnum: “Ah…my oldest childhood toy. By throwing in some hydraulics and a reinforced spring I can use this to propel myself across pits or up some stairs. Good thing Ialways land on my feet!” Like the Doctor said, the Jack-in-the-Box is used to get across pits or up some stairs. This invention is activated on its own whenever Dr. Somnum steps on it. Simple place the invention on his path and he will be sprung up and forward. While it will work anywhere, the Jack-in-the-Box will only be able to get the Doctor across pits if the invention is placed at the edge and will only get him up stairs if he is right at the base.
Dr. Somnum: “To be honest, cooking is not my thing, so when I saw this I knew could make a good small-scale cyclone creator. Spins me right round, like a record baby!” The Egg Beater is one of the more useful inventions since you will need it to turn the scientist around. Another invention that is automatically activated this once works right when he gets directly in front of the Egg Beater where it then creates a small cyclone that turns the Doctor in the other direction. This invention will be particularly helpful in keeping him from running into walls or pits.
Dr. Somnum: “Radical! Some jerks thought I was just some nerd! I sure showed them! I’m cool using this invention to skate by at high speeds. Gnarly!” The Rocket Skateboard is used to speed up the scientist. By moving it in front of the scientist he will step onto the skateboard and then move approximately three times faster than normal. The scientist needs to step onto the skateboard for it to work; you cannot move the skateboard under the Doctor. Once on it, Dr. Somnum moves in the direction of the skateboard and not in the direction he faces. If the scientist runs into stairs he will step off the board and go down them (if he is at the top of the stairs, if he is at the bottom he will simply go past them). If the scientist runs into a ladder he will step off and climb the ladder (only if he is at the bottom of the ladder). The Rocket Skateboard cannot go across pits and it cannot be used in conjunction with another invention. The other inventions take priority so if the scientist runs into the Jack-in-the-Box or Egg Beater he will step off the skateboard when they’re powers are activated. The skateboard will be particularly handy in getting past doors before they close (doors discussed below).
Dr. Somnum: “What a versatile box of things. I barely even changed these to make them useful. Except infuse each piece with a titanium skeleton and a microchip that lets them assemble themselves.” The Lincoln Logs do not activate on their own so the player needs to do it manually. The Lincoln Logs can turn into a bridge or a ladder depending on the player’s choice and once this happens the Logs behave as a part of the level (I.E. the scientist and the inventions will all cross the bridge like it was a normal part of the floor and the scientist will climb the ladder like he normally would). This also means that the Lincoln Logs are a one-time use per level and can’t be changed back unless you beat or restart the level.
Dr. Somnum: “Of course my bed is a robot too, so it tends to move around, but…maybe I should have left that one alone.” This is just an explanation for why the levels change and why the bed would be in different areas and spots in the lab. When the scientist reaches the bed, he falls into it and has a good sleep and that’s how you beat the level.
As mentioned the scientist can go down these automatically but cannot go up them without assistance. He will always go down them if he walks on top of them facing the right direction, but he will simply walk past them if he is at the bottom. Inventions can choose to go up or down them.
They’re a thing! So watch out! These are pretty basic, if the scientist falls into one you lose. They come in the spike, bottomless, and laser flavors. Inventions can’t cross pits but they won’t be able to fall into them as their programming prevents them from going off the ledge.
The scientist will automatically climb up the ladder if he is under it but he cannot go down them at all. Inventions can choose to go up or down them.
Doors will close after a timer runs out on the level so the player will need to get the scientist past the door before it closes. If getting not getting past the door means the player can’t complete the level, then it will end. Inventions that do not make it past the door will be trapped on one side.
These little buggers were experiments that didn’t quite go right and so they wander the laboratory causing mischief like tying the scientist shoes to make him trip. If Dr. Somnum runs into a rogue invention while sleep walking it will cause him harm and you will lose the level. Luckily, they are friendly to their robotic brethren and do not harm the good inventions.