Game Design Document: The Full Armor of God

🎮️ Name of the game: The Full Armor of God

👥 Stakeholders: N/A

• Dev: Dasheek Dennis
• Design: Dasheek Dennis
• Art: Christian, Joaqquin, Stephanie
• Music: Dasheek Dennis, Tobi Weiss

Overview

📐 Project scope

• Budget:$160,000
• Timeline: 2024

🗣️ Elevator Pitch

A 2D, bible-inspired, turn based Role Playing Game that focuses on a group of first century Christians and their pursuit to follow Yeshua (Jesus), resist temptation, and bring the important message of the Gospel to a King of a pagan country.

💵 Monetization

We plan to sell 10,000 copies of the product at the price of $29.99 to the target audience. We aim to release on Steam, Switch, Itch.io, PS, and Xbox. Also we plan to establish merchandise such as posters, clothing, and stuffed animals.

🕹️ Player Experience

We want to provide the player with the experience of Being a disciple of the Messiah in the First century, fighting sin, sharing the Gospel, and growing as a disciple. This game should give the player the feeling one experiences while reading the Book of Acts and/or Playing a Final Fantasy game.

Story

Having fled from his home due to persecution, Oren finds himself in Dahl, an impoverished district in the kingdom of Amare. He is given a vision from YHWH to bring the uncompromised message of the Gospel to the king and his subjects. Oren and the newly made disciples work diligently to share the Gospel locally. But when the district officials and locals realize that the Gospel message is contrary to their beliefs, they work evermore to stop them.

Primary Themes - 

The Full Armor of God focuses keenly on these core themes as part of the Player Experience.

⚔️ Spiritual Warfare

• Inspired by Ephesians 6:10, this focuses on the concept that we don’t fight against the flesh, but our war is against wicked Spirits in High Places.

👨‍🏫 Discipleship

• Joy is birthed by growing as a disciple and enduring the hardships associated with it.

🤝 Evangelism

• Sharing the Gospel, though difficult, is a necessary component of our Christians livelihood for growth, realization, and helping others become free.

Game Goals

Below describes the player's primary goals. 

👑Bring the Message of the Gospel to the King of Amare

• Oren, the main protagonist, is given a vision to bring the message of the Gospel to the King of Amare and his subjects. The player begins in the lowest part of Amare, an impoverished and troubled district called Dahl. By the end of the game they should reach the royal district Melek, where the King resides. 

🗣️Sharing the Gospel

• A primary goal of the game is Sharing the Gospel. The player will speak to eligible NPCs under the command “Share the Gospel” in order to share the Gospel with them. When the player does so, they’re taken to a Spiritual Battle arena where they have to metaphorically defeat the forces holding that person back from believing in the Gospel. If they’re victorious in battle, and convince the NPC, then the NPC becomes a disciple and yields special rewards (Parts of the Full Armor of God)

⛪Fulfilling the Ministry

• Another goal is The Service or Ministry system. It is a quest board style system which allows the player to run errands to help the community around them on the basis of “The greatest among you shall be a servant” (Matthew 23:11). These quests manifest in two ways: Primarily, the main quests are prompted as an impression from the Holy Spirit, urging the player to help or fulfill God’s Will. Secondly, they manifest as errands from the NPCs. The player can see a full list of available quests in the main menu.

⛪Church Progression

• Advancing the mission of the Church is a must. As the player evangelizes, helps the community, and helps those in the Church get closer to Christ, the player will further advance the progression of the Church. As the Church progresses, different locations are unlocked, more rewards are revealed, and players can talk with new NPCs.

👺Destroying the Idols

• Each district of Amare has a relevant idol associated with the region. A primary goal is to destroy the idols. IDOLS cannot be fought until certain requirements are met.

Gameplay

Below describes how the game is played, capturing each key mechanic

Core Game Mechanic #1: Church Progression

• Details: Church Progression (CP) are points that determine the progress of the overall ministry. The player’s goal is to gain CP in order to move forth the progress of the story and events. CP is gained through various different activities.
• How it works:
  1. The player’s main goal is to gain CP.
  2. Some aspects of the game are locked until a certain level of CP is acquired.
     1. Locations
     2. Ability to interact in-depth with a customer
     3. IDOL battles
     4. Equipment from the Scriptures
  3. If the player attempts to access something that is CP locked, they will get a message:
     1. Text appears on the screen that says “10 CP is Required”
  4. The player gains CP from:
     1. Sharing the Gospel
     2. Defeating Strongholds
     3. Fulfilling Ministry Request
  5. Once a certain level of CP is met, the system prompts the player and suggest them to continue the story.

Core Game Mechanic #2: Sharing the Gospel

• Details: The player can “Share the Gospel” with Non-Playable Characters (NPC) by choosing to “Share Gospel” in the NPC command window. The player is taken into a Spiritual Battle, where, upon victory, the NPC is convinced and joins the Church.
• How it works:
  1. The Player’s goal is to “Share the Gospel” and convince the NPC of the Gospel that they may be saved.
  2. The player can share the gospel by choosing the command from NPC command window
  3. Upon selecting the command, the player is taken into a cutscene.
  4. The cutscene captures the two characters amid conversation (centering around the NPCs unique theme)
  5. After the cutscene, the player is taken into a Spiritual Battle where they must fight against the forces that are holding the NPC back from believing in the Gospel
  6. Upon Victory, the NPC is convinced and joins the Church
     1. If failed, the NPC rejects the Gospel and the player must attempt again at a later time (cooldown)

Core Game Mechanic #3: Discipleship

• Details: NPC’s can join players in battle after joining the Church. Disciples must be trained in order to increase their individual levels. - Our goal: We want it so that the player must bring individual Disciples into battle in order to train them.
• How it works:
  1. Once you convince an NPC of the Gospel, they join the Church and become a Disciple [of Jesus].
  2. Upon gaining a new Disciple, the player must train them to Spiritual Maturity in the various Spiritual parameters:
     1. Repentance
     2. Forgiveness
     3. Giving
     4. Praying
     5. Fasting
  3. In order to do so, the player must gain Discipleship Points (DP).
  4. Discipleship Points are earned by taking said Disciple into Spiritual Battle.
  5. Disciples can be “Equipped” by going to the main menu, opening the Disciple log, and locating the disciple you want.
     1. Alternatively you can equip the NPC by going to the PC’s equip menu and choosing the empty slot for NPCs
  6. When they’re “equipped”, they join you in Spiritual Warfare, where you can request their assistance to help overcome temptations and strongholds.
     1. The Disciple functions as a companion where they fight alongside the players. They can also use skills and fight
  7. Upon victory, the player is given DP specific to the Disciple.
  8. After battle, the player can navigate to the Disciple Log and allocate DP to that respective Disciple.
  9. Once the player has maxed out all of the Disciples parameters, the player gains a reward:
     1. A Special item
     2. Increase in Bond
     3. The NPC learns new skill, becomes more powerful/useful + Equipping them gives you a passive skill
     4. Titles (See Mabinogi)

Core Game Mechanic #4: Spiritual Warfare

• Details: The Player must overcome the wide variety of Spiritual Battles as they journey across Amare.
• How it works: There are 4 main battle types
  • Temptations -
    • liken to most RPGs random encounter system, temptation battles are randomly occurring battles that are determined by a mini map/ enemy encounter radar
    • The player is represented by a white dot while enemies are represented by a red dot
    • The more the player walks, the more the radar fills up with red dots.
    • The red dots move increasingly towards the player dot.
    • Once the player dot collides with an enemy dot, a Temptation Battle occurs.
    • Temptation battles go away for a little while after so many battles as a moment of relief.
  • Evangelical -
    • These battles are available in the NPC’s [Non-Disciple] command window
    • Choosing “Share the Gospel” will take the player into a Spiritual battle, where they fight against the forces holding the NPC back from believing in the Gospel
    • If the battle is won, the NPC becomes a disciple
    • IF the battle is lost, the player must come back at another time to try again
  • Stronghold
    • Each Disciple has a Spiritual Stronghold that they will request assistance with overcoming
    • This battle is available in the Disciple’s command meny
    • It’s only available after a certain amount of affinity is gained between you and the disciple and other requirements have been met.
    • The Disciple will engage with the player and tell them that they need help overcoming their personal struggles.
    • The player is brought into a Spiritual Battle, where they must defeated demonic forces that are causing the stronghold.
    • Upon victory, the NPC is set free from their stronghold.
  • IDOL
    • Idol battles are special, boss-like battles.
    • One of the game’s goals is to fight to help free Amare from Idolatry.
    • After gaining a certain amount of CP (Church Progression), the player can visit the district’s local IDOL.
    • The player can interact and is thrown into a Spiritual Battle against a very powerful force.
    • Upon Victory, the District is freed from Idolatry.

Game elements

Describe your game world, including all the characters, location, object, and other elements in it.

👤 Characters

• Oren
  • A bold and unyielding Shepherd to the first disciples of Dahl- Amare. Despite dealing with the pain of loss, Oren is not ruled by his feelings or emotions; his drive is obedience to God. He is determined to stop at nothing to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the king of Amare - uncompromised.
• Jahel
  • Jahel is a joyful and naive soldier of Amare, currently stationed in Dahl district. He has earned renown for saving the King's life from a murderous plot conspired by the King's officals. After finding Oren and beginning the Church of Dahl, Jahel struggles to let go of his reputation as a means of salvation.
• Brielle
  • A diligent wife, mother, and businesswoman who sells hand-crafted jewelry and clothing in various marketplaces. After hearing the Gospel, she receives it with great joy until she realizes that her calling to be a Shepherdess might interfere with her business.
• Khali
  • A vibrant and adventurous young lady with a musical heart. While working as a musician to earn money for her sickly mother, she finds herself entrapped in the wrong crowd. She soon comes to realize that freedom cannot be found in wayward living, but only in Christ.
• Arielle
  • A shy and downtrodden woman who struggles with self-doubt and depression caused by a traumatizing abusive relationship. After attempting to kill herself, she is found, left for dead, by the Church of Dahl. There she must learn that we find purpose for living in God alone.