Metroidvania Month #15 Game Design Document

This last week, I competed in my very first game jam: One Minute Game Jam #5. And while the final product didn’t turn out the way I had hoped, I had a lots of fun and learned a ton. I’m also ready to move on to my next project. This time, though, I want to move a little more in the direction that I would ultimately like to go as a game developer: metroidvanias. So I entered another game jam: Metroidvania Month #15.

Metroidvania Month #15 runs from February 15th, 2022 to March 15, 2022. That’s 28 days to create an entire game start to finish. No easy feat! And if there’s one thing I learned from my last jam, its that you really need to know what you are wanting to create. So before the jam actually starts, I want to make those kinds of decisions. Things can (and will) change, of course. But having as much of a plan as possible should make a huge difference in my production workflow. Let’s get started.

Executive Summary

“Black Rose” (codename) is a puzzle platformer metroidvania. Ideally, I’d like to complete the whole game. However, with this jam only being one month (and my first step into the metroidvania genre), I doubt that’s realistic. If I could get the entirety of the first area done, I would be happy with that. Possibly with a good cliff-hanger leaving people asking for the rest.

I have two main goals with Black Rose. First, to learn how to create the features common to most metroidvanias. Things like room transitions, movement mechanics and upgrades, and basic combat systems. Second, document my own time spent on each task to see where my strengths truly lie. While I’ve had experience professionally in art, music, and programming, I haven’t had a need to ever utilize them together (until game development).

Story

The game follows a sorceress on a quest to recover 3 gems of power. These gems have been hidden away in a long forgotten castle. But as the gems are recovered, you begin to learn why the were hidden away in the first place. Likely, with bigger and more sinister monsters appearing (which could make previous areas more challenging).

Player Abilities

Players start with a standard moveset: run, jump, and fire projectile (a magic bolt, in this case). Possible upgrades include:

• Grappling beam. Can be used for platforming, moving environmental objects, and possibly to damage enemies over time. (Note: should not become a replacement for the standard shoot.)
• Mirror image. Creates a stationary copy of the sorceress. Upon recasting or taking damage, the sorceress returns to the copy’s location. Could be used for puzzles requiring you to be in two places (or more with grappling beam objects) or defensively as a combat mechanic.
• Short teleport. Acts similar to double jump (or Zelda’s Up+B in Smash Bros). Could possible be able to teleport through objects.

Will need a component specifically for the grappling beam’s grapple point. Hidden most of the time, but notifies the player when nearing a point (and has the grappling beam unlocked). This component will be able to be added to enemies, environmental objects (doors, switches, boxes, etc), or swing points.

Levels

All together, there are 5 areas. The main hub, 1 area for each of the three gems, and the final boss’s area. Possible areas include:

• Library
• Banquet hall/kitchen
• Dungeons
• Towers/turrets
• Throne room

The particular order hasn’t been set. And honestly, I don’t think its particularly important at this point. But I do want each unlocked by the newly acquired ability. The hub and area 1 will be open by default. Area 2 will require the grappling beam to open a door. Area 3 will require you and the mirror image to stand on a switch. And the final boss room only responds once all 3 gems are present.

This may change, of course. But it’s a start.

Art

For the graphics, I’d like to try building tilesets similar to those found in Celeste. It has a look and feel I absolutely love. Aran P. Ink has a fantastic article on building Celeste tilesets step by step. It made a lot of sense to me, so I want to try that method myself.

Each area of the game would have it’s own unique look and feel. So we’re looking at 3 (maybe 4) tilesets. For this game jam, I’m going to say no more than 5 tiles per area.

I’m not going to worry about any variants (as mentioned in the article link above). Same with foreground/background elements. Otherwise, I think I’ll spend too much time on this task. If I have time near the end of the jam, I’ll add these elements in as polish.

Unsure of what feeling I want to give off with each area just yet. Will be looking for reference material between now and the start of the jam. Will partially depend on the levels I decide on, I think.

Music

I’d like to try something a little different with the music for this game. These tracks will have a feel similar to the VRC6 chipset. This will make it feel reminiscent of 8-bit/chiptune style of music. But I don’t want to stick strictly to pure pulse/triangle/sawtooth waves. I’ll play with a little FM synthesis to give it just a slightly more modern feel.

All together, I’ll need roughly 7 tracks of music. These will be for the:

• 3 areas of the game
• Boss fights
• Final boss fight
• Main menu
• Game ending

Schedule

Before the jam, I’ll continue developing the overall design. Flesh out the story, sketch level designs, find reference material, etc. I’ll also get the initial project set up and start work on the player’s standard moveset. If possible, I’d also like to figure out the camera movement from room to room. I’ve not developed a platformer before, and this isn’t one I’m too sure on just yet.

Yeah, I’m starting before the jam. Wanna fight about it?

Once the Metroidvania Month jam actually starts, here’s my schedule by day:

1. Make necessary modifications for the theme. Begin development of the upgrade abilities.
2. Continue development on all player abilities. I want as much of the controls as functional as possible.
3. Create a test build for the player movements. Release on itch.io for player feedback. Set up area 1’s color palette.
4. Build the entirety of area 1 using the color palette tileset.
5. Fix any issues from player feedback. Implement health/death functionality.
6. Play through area 1. Make note of any issues. Create the main character’s pixel art.
7. Create the tileset for area 1. Auto-tile area 1. Set up area 2’s color palette.
8. Build the entirety of area 2 using the color palette tileset.
9. Play through area 2. Make note of any issues.
10. Create the tileset for area 2. Auto-tile area 2. Set up area 3’s color palette.
11. Build the entirety of area 3 using the color palette tileset.
12. Play through area 3. Make note of any issues.
13. Create a test build for the first 3 areas. Release on itch.io for player feedback. Catch up day.
14. Catch up day.
15. Create sound effects. Compose main theme and game ending tracks.
16. Compose area tracks and boss themes.
17. Implement all sounds and music.
18. Player idle and run animations.
19. Player ability animations.
20. Implement all animations.
21. Add any effects, lighting, particles, shaders, etc.
22. Title screen, options, pause, credit screens.
23. Final playthrough. Make note of any issue.
24. Corrections.
25. Corrections.
26. Polish.
27. Polish. Final build. Itch.io page setup and design.
28. Post mortem blog post.

Final Thoughts on Metroidvania Month #15

Overall, I’m really excited for Metroidvania Month #15. Yeah, I definitely recognize that this is really ambitious for only a month long game jam. But I’m going to give it my best shot.

Metroidvanias are one of my favorite genres of video game. And ultimately, that’s where I want to shift my focus as a game developer. I think this project should give me a good basis and a lot of the tools to do that moving forward. And I’m looking forward to it.

Plus, it’ll be my first time attempting every aspect of game development. From overall design to artwork to music, it’ll all be me. I really want to evaluate my own skills in these areas, as well as document how much time each part takes. It’ll help me evaluate how long each stage of the process realistically takes me and allow me to make better timelines in the future.

Fellow game developers, I would love your feedback. What do you think of my plan/process for Metroidvania Month #15? This is only my third personal project (and by far the most ambitious). I’m still trying to learn about my own workflow and would appreciate any input you have. Let me know in the comments below.