The general style of the game should emphasize the sense of grand adventure. They styling should be very fantasy and mystical. Realism is considerably less important to this game, especially considering the character has magic powers and fights incarnations of gods.

Character

I like the material design of this character. Something similar would be good. However the sheer amount of leather (and his body structure) makes the character feel weighty. Ideally I want the main character to feel airy or light. More use of silk in her design would be good. Also the colors on this character are too muted. I want the character to be vibrantly colored. Bright colors serve to highlight the character from her dusty surroundings as well as create visual appeal. Dark purples, scarlets, or bright oranges or yellows would be good. Don’t feel limited to those colors but they would be a good base. The character should also have a lot of cloth on the design that can move around. The cloth flowing around the character will accentuate the fluidity of their movement. Ideally I want the characters movements to look like a dance.

Enemies

I feel that enemies would generally be non-humanoid if they were gonna match the titan’s theme but don’t feel limited to that. Like the titans the enemies forms will be at least partly made out of physical materials they are possessing. They would be a mix of shadowy essence and ornately carved stone pieces or wood or mud. The god’s theme allowing. For the carved stone think midna’s helmet.

I like this image because it looks like he’s built out of building materials. Something you might build a tower out of. He’s a bit too uniform though.

I like this image because of the non uniformity of the enemy’s design.

If a titan had a nature theme this enemy design would be fitting.

Personality

• Avoids people due to isolation in early life
• Possible culture shock and lack of strong social skills
• Confident but covers flaws with silk
• A little resentment towards the gods as a result to lack of connection to them ->
• Feels need to impress them due to original lack of talent, resents idea not good enough for the gods
• Subtle nativities and looks to others for actions and what to do
• Tries to one up others problems leading to her correcting her views and sympathizing

Background

• Adopted as orphan so feels estranged (orphaned as a baby)
• On spirit walk retreat and no answer so return and everyone’s dead
• A member of the Silk Guardians, the only surviving member
• Isolated in Temple
• Contrast with cocky personality that leads to her messing up/ over confident
• Sometimes ignores Pad’uas advice and fails as a result
• First god she is angry at abandonment and hate to it -> at the end she’s stops hating the gods due to knowledge
• Only interacts with purified gods
• Overcomes fear by going to village you pass by that overtime u pass but eventually after purifying gods she is more willing to interact and wave at the people
• Possibly dream of corruption and hurting others
• Makes own hammock or tent to sleep and cue dream cutscenes

Motives

• Called to action by Pad’ua
• Resents lack of original connection to god/ wants revenge slightly

Likes

• Tea, thats what she gifts(likes it due to tea ceremony)
• When sleeping and resting the teapot is next to it
• Idle time she fiddles and makes characters she could control occasionaly

Fears

• Scared of strangers and the new world but grows to accept
• Lack of self confidence in spirituality leading to hesitance (because retreat to look for signs and meditate)
• Over time grows to care for the people she meets and loves, sees their pain and relates to them that way
• Scared to rely on other slightly, shes is only person so she has to show confidence in herself

• Layers of fear for each layer taken off

  • Spiders, drowning, buried alive, lost, greed, corruption(rust), Unstable mentally(crazy), Fear of change, fear of the dark, fear of heights, fear of talking to others/confrontation, fear of money

Personality

• Refined and pure image
• Old monk, patient, short words
• Protective streak but very ambitious and confident
• Empathetic to people around them and cues in ashra how to interact
• Nags Ashra a lot due to past teacher position she had with her
• Headstrong leading to issues and problems
• She believes her way is the only correct way to do things
• She just stops the connection to bag and shut down the silk she can use
• Shift from stubborn set personality -> open to change more and less stubborn
• Tries to come to grips that she won’t always be there like how can i promise her future
• Eventually talks about how ashra could start up more silk guardians, start interaction to promise family and love for ashra in the future

Background

• Older 70 or 60 years
• 50 years back is the corruption started for farmer gods
• Fire burnt down corps leading to start of hardships for the parents
• Orphaned later on and parents died of starvation(farmers) 12 years old, fed kids instead of themselves
• Isolation leads to her not knowing about how wide the corruption has spread
• Wants ashra to reach out and expand self
• She is like the mom who guides Ash’ras choices and decides
• Lost connection due to knowledge
• Stop talking to gods to avoid corruption

• Ash’ra Mentor

  • Also adopted and bonds with Ash’ra
  • Former high priestess of the Silk Guardians at the Guardian Sanctum

Motives

• Born in or adopted
• A month sense corruption and is fresh in mind and ambitious
• Shuts down when facing her own fears and leaves Ash’ra to help herself

Likes

• Jokes and Humor to cope with issues around
• Creating things out of silk was her original hobby that she did with the other priests before they died so she teaches Ashra how to do it

Fears

• Paranoid and overly cautious
• Fear of fire

• At end of canyon, entrance at its former edge; as time passed, temple expanded and dug into to expand area of lore
• Corrupted- murals and statues come to life
• Enter areas, combat occurs, find a dead end; come back out, layout becomes shifted
• Everything is gray
• Boss fight occurs at the timeline place where the Artisan God got corrupted

• Blocked by brambles
• Located in the Sinking Gardens
• Filled with plant/animal/mud enemies
• Sinking platforms/floating platforms in mudwater
• Currents in river water
• Rotting/moldy/Floridian swamp aesthetic
• Mangrove forest
• Don’t fall in water, there are gators
• “Rising water” stage, falling platforms
• Rivers flowing through
• Closer to temple, becomes swamp

• Can’t access due to high tide
• Located around the coast, island theme
• Temple on French island (the one with path that gets covered up with water at high tide)
• Temple filled with gold coins and gemstones
• Grand Shipyard is where you battle the boss

• Located at an oasis
• Desert environment
• Blocked off by sandstorm
• Temple made of glass, creating a dome like a greenhouse; looks like a funhouse
• Mirages frequently happen/ mirage enemies

• Tapestries everywhere
• Home base, location of tutorial
• When you pick up tapestry pieces from the Wilds/temples, you repair tapestries here and can read up on lore
• Location of training room
• Since Priest Goddess corrupted just some months ago, Sanctum is abandoned looking but not falling apart
• Graveyard of fallen sisters, buried by Pad’ua prior to Ash’ra’s return

• Located on mountain, hall carved into mountain
• Like a castle
• Previous kings’ statues carved into wall
• Titan located in throne room
• 5 levels, from bottom to top: Royal Archives, World Embassy, Supreme Court, Parliament, Grand Palace

• Non-corrupted normal areas
• Surrounding areas of Guardian Sanctuary
• Closer to sanctum, more field-like and plains

• Subregions

  • Daiti River Valley- green, forested region with scattered villages, most of population lives here
  • Grey and Green Crowns- northern mountain ranges of former capital next to a waterfall; villages here are more in ruins since Servant Goddess was first corrupted
  • Merchant’s Fingers- salt pans(dried up lakes); people used to harvest salt here, otherwise dangerous due to sand/water mixing to form quicksand; next to Palm Sea
  • Sinking Gardens- inland river delta of Daiti River, muddy, swampy region full of wildlife and trees; formerly had floating gardens
  • The Golemforge- canyon/mesa region; sculptures everywhere, natural and artificial; lore carved into canyon walls, timeline of world’s history; corrupted carvings, junk piles
  • Sand Loom- shifting different colored sands, sandstorms magically shift everything into different patterns; oasis in middle

Players will switch between two main modes of gameplay. Combat and platforming. The combat section will be in arenas versus a group of enemies. The combat will focus on player mastery of the inherent systems and will change little from beginning to end. The player may face different enemies along the way but they will fight them with the same base skillset. The platforming sections will be how the players traverse from one key area to another. The titan battles will be where those two styles of play come closer together. The player will have to platform around the titan to tie them up with silk. While they are trying to platform enemies will get in their way and interfere with them. The titan fights are meant to be giant set pieces that the player interacts with in set ways.

Player Character Actions

Run, Wall Run, Climb, Fight, Swing using silk, Let out silk behind them, pin silk, tie up enemies (Potential pacifist bonus for subduing enemies without killing them, as the enemies are doing this against their will, however any pacifist option should be much more challenging to accomplish).

Wallrun

The player can run along walls to cover gaps they could not normally with a jump. They will also be able to wall run on the titans however its very high risk because if the titans move to much the player will fall off while wall running.

Pin Silk

The player’s will try to tie up titans to purify them by pinning silk to them. Once the player pin’s silk to the first key point in the titan silk will start flowing behind them and can be used in a couple ways. They can pin to a non important point to “save” their progress. If the player falls they just have to grab the silk and they can climb or swing back to a point without falling all the way to the ground.

Let Out Silk

While the player is swinging from silk or is in the process of tying a titan they can hold down the left trigger to grip the silk more or less tightly. By default when the trigger is not pulled the silk comes out freely. The player wouldn’t want to this when they need more leeway (For example if they pull the left trigger while wall running they’d run out of silk and get yanked to a stop. However if the player just jumped out in space and wanted to swing they would want to hit left trigger. This mechanic also allows players to naturally control their descent if they are clinging from a rope.

Climb

If the player pushes A while next to a climbable area (vines) they will jump onto the vines and get into a climbing state. Pressing B while in a climbing state will cause the player to drop down. If the player is below a grabbable ledge they will automatically latch onto it and climb up. Think Darksiders for climbing.

Player Character End Goal:

To purify all of the gods of the council so that the can once again defeat Ahriman and restore balance to the world. Purifying each god burns their insignia onto the magic bag giving it a particular extra ability. This would be themed with the god’s theme.

Enemies

When the gods were enslaved so were their minions. Each god has a set of enemy types associated with them. Their abilities and attacks would tie into their gods theme. The potential problem in this is that it doesn’t allow enemies to be repeated, however some basic enemies could be re skinned to fit the gods theme while retaining similar mechanics to give a continuity to the combat. The more difficult enemies would be the ones that are swapped out. Alternatively a story macguffin could be made up saying that the minions are controlled by Ahriman, this would lose out on the opportunity to theme enemies based on their god though.

Combat

Arena combat using 1 of 3 weapons meteor hammer, rope dart, or roped knives. The combat would have two main modes, agile and planted. Agile has some moves that can be used but doesn’t have the power behind a an attack from a strong base. Planted would open up options for the player (more control over their attacks), as well as increase the power behind them. However in the planted state the player cannot dodge attacks. They might be able to counter attacks however there should be some attacks that you need to dodge (heavy attacks) to force them out of planted mode. The goal is to make both modes of combat useful in different situations without forcing the player in either direction. Ideally the player would perform best by switching in and out of these two modes. The different weapon types change the style of combat. The meteor hammer is good for trips and strikes, while the rope dart is good for throws, and tangling the enemy. Rope knives would be a primarily lethal weapon, essentially the player throws and retrieves knives from enemies, this weapon has very little power to disable enemies and is primarily meant for damage. (The knives are optional just thought they’d be an interesting addition)

Planted Mode

In planted mode the camera zooms out to a more top down view and the player can now input directional attacks with the left stick. Different inputs will determine the type of attack that comes out. The player also has to aim the attack in the direction of an enemy. In planted mode the player is always attempting to kill or disable enemies before they reach the player because they can’t dodge and will have to leave the mode or take damage.

Stingers, Sweeps, and, Double Tap, Hold back then stinger forward, hold forward, 360.

Agile Mode

In this mode moves have momentum and the player steps into attacks. The player is much harder to hit however they have less power behind their attacks because they don’t have a good base. The player will want to use this mode while fighting enemies that are fast and hard to pin down. Camera control will function the same or similarly to how it works during platforming sections.

Meteor Hammer

Heavy weapon. The attacks are slower but crowd control better. Heavy attacks almost always knock down enemies. Heavy attacks with this weapon are particularly slow. Sweeps are particularly good at knocking down enemies however smaller enemies will always be knocked down by heavy attacks from this weapon.

Rope Dart

This weapons sits in the middle between the knives and the meteor hammer in that it is moderately fast inflicts damage and only has a few moves that crowd control. The main advantage of this weapon is that the tip can wrap around enemies for the player to grab and throw them. The player could potentially throw a grabbed enemy into a nearby enemy to knock down two at once.

Knives

In agile mode knives are a much closer form of combat (stabbing). However in planted mode the player throws knives at enemies for increased range compared to the other weapons. This weapon inflicts the most damage but has literally no ability to crowd control.

Obstacles

Pits and cliffs, the titans themselves would be platforming challenges even though they are animate.

Replayability

There could be player scores so the player could try to perfect every encounter? There are 3 weapons with different styles of play. Besides that not much replay value. Could give an achievement to the player for completing the entire game by only subduing enemies which would be a significant challenge (A pacifist run if you will).

• The God of blacksmiths, cooks, carpenters, sculptors, artists, etc.

  • Purified- obsessed with culture, super eccentric, colorful personalities, relaxed/ helpful, Bob ross
  • Corrupted- He becomes mad/ crazy, “I’ll make you into my art.”, wants to model/ change you themselve, obsessive tendencies, Perfectionist, fix impurities
• Open market sounds W/ chatter
• Pottery clicking / working noises
• Industrial, tinkering music- marimba/xylophone, cymbals
• Composed of crafting materials like metal and wood; can repair self using items
• Hands
• Enemies would consist of golems, inanimate objects brought to life; living paintings
• Initial desire was to create a civilization full of artists and builders who can craft wonders; a cultured people

• The Goddess of farmers, miners, hunters, etc.

  • Purified-
  • Corrupted-
• Tribal, folk sounding music- acoustic guitar, harmonica, tribal drums, tambourine
• Composed of dirt, plant material, animal hide/bone
• Enemies would be plant/animal based- corrupted means that they are rotting, looking like zombies
• Initial desire was to create a people who were self-reliant, farming and hunting their own food, relying on the gifts of nature

• All gods in purified form are humanoids with abstract features standing 9-10 feet tall
• In monster/corrupted form they are monstrous and lose humanity parts of them
• Forms relate to occupations of the people they govern follow their ultimate virtue
• different personalities with the gods (humble versus full of self)
• Gods are based on caste systems
• Each has their own temple which holds a portal to their manifestation form

• The God of merchants

  • Purified-
  • Corrupted-
• Made of gold, gemstones; based on ships and/or caravans
• Nautical music- flute, accordion, harpsichord
• Enemies would be pirate-esque, aquatic or based off caravan animals like horses, camels, oxen
• Initial desire was to have the people rely on trading for necessary goods like food, tools, etc in exchange for salt

• The Goddess of silk, magic, scholars

  • Purified- Very mysterious and hard to read, Talks in riddles , large flowing clothes, aloof, idealistic
  • Corrupted- Full of self, haughty, talks down to others, when purified she gets emotional,
• Zen/meditation music (holy)- flute, piano, choral voice
• Silk based, probably based on weaving tools or spider, sorceress type
• Enemies based on silk spinning animals, cloth (like floating sorcerer robes), puppets
• Corrupted
• Irritates Ashra with the riddles she has
• Initial desire was to unite the people in their worship of the gods as a pantheon

• The Goddess of princes, nobles, public servants

  • Purified-
  • Corrupted-
• Royal/classical sounding music, waltz- strings, brass, organ
• Composed of stone, chains, like a castle or a statue
• Enemies made of stone, paper, feathers, food, domestic items
• Initial desire was to create a fair, efficient, and progressive government

• Corrupted by Ahriman due to underappreciation, easily manipulated

  • Purified-
  • Corrupted-
• Composed of armor and weapons
• March sounding music- drums, brass
• Initial desire was to create a militaristic civilization who would be able to repel invaders and protect their meager resources

The player will see their health displayed in a bar on the screen. They would also see how much energy they accumulated for their ultimate attack (Think devil trigger from devil may cry). The enemies health bars would be displayed above their heads. There could be a bar showing how close you are to subduing a titan, but the titan combat will need to be fleshed out a bit.

Menus

The only menu necessary will be a pause menu. This will contain the map and any extra bits of lore the players have found. Also the options menu and the exit button obviously.

Messaging

Cutscenes could be narrated by Pad’ua’s character after she absorbs the information in an artifact. Besides that the design of the enemies should convey their connection to their god and the environment will also evoke some of the theme and general setting.

Control Scheme (v1)

Arena combat using 1 of 3 weapons meteor hammer, rope dart, or roped knives. The combat would have two main modes, agile and planted. Agile has some moves that can be used but doesn’t have the power behind a an attack from a strong base. Planted would open up options for the player (more control over their attacks), as well as increase the power behind them. However in the planted state the player cannot dodge attacks. They might be able to counter attacks however there should be some attacks that you need to dodge (heavy attacks) to force them out of planted mode. If counters are implemented they have to be very difficult to implement. The goal is to make both modes of combat useful in different situations without forcing the player in either direction. Ideally the player would perform best by switching in and out of these two modes. The different weapon types change the style of combat. The meteor hammer is good for trips and strikes, while the rope dart is good for throws, and tangling the enemy. Rope knives would be a primarily lethal weapon, essentially the player throws and retrieves knives from enemies, this weapon has very little power to disable enemies and is primarily meant for damage.

Combat Stances

Planted Mode

In planted mode the camera zooms out to a more top down view and the player can now input directional attacks with the left stick. Different inputs will determine the type of attack that comes out. The player also has to aim the attack in the direction of an enemy. In planted mode the player is always attempting to kill or disable enemies before they reach the player because they can’t dodge and will have to leave the mode or take damage.

Stingers, Sweeps, and, Double Tap, Hold back then stinger forward, hold forward, 360.

Agile Mode

In this mode moves have momentum and the player steps into attacks. The player is much harder to hit however they have less power behind their attacks because they don’t have a good base. The player will want to use this mode while fighting enemies that are fast and hard to pin down. Camera control will function the same or similarly to how it works during platforming sections.

Weapon Types

Meteor Hammer

Heavy weapon. The attacks are slower but crowd control better. Heavy attacks almost always knock down enemies. Heavy attacks with this weapon are particularly slow. Sweeps are particularly good at knocking down enemies however smaller enemies will always be knocked down by heavy attacks from this weapon.

Rope Dart

This weapons sits in the middle between the knives and the meteor hammer in that it is moderately fast inflicts damage and only has a few moves that crowd control. The main advantage of this weapon is that the tip can wrap around enemies for the player to grab and throw them. The player could potentially throw a grabbed enemy into a nearby enemy to knock down two at once.

Knives

In agile mode knives are a much closer form of combat (stabbing). However in planted mode the player throws knives at enemies for increased range compared to the other weapons. This weapon inflicts the most damage but has literally no ability to crowd control.

Additional Mechanics

Devil Trigger

D.Trigger in its current form consists of the player activating it with the press of a button. The player will then switch to planted if they are in agile or if they are in planted mode they will stay as they are. However their form of input changes during D.Trigger. While in this mode the energy bar used exclusively for D.Trigger drains and the player is able to execute exceptionally powerful attacks.The player uses their magic to will the movement of a bunch of strips of silk. They lash out with the application of Ash’ra’s will. While in this mode the player’s method of input is simplified. They can do basic flicks in a direction to send a wave of silk lashing out, knocking down almost every enemy and at least staggering for a large portion of time. These inputs only need a stick to be moved and the player can move either stick, allowing them to attack in two directions at once if they like. The attacks will function the exact same regardless of the weapon the player had equipped before they activated D.Trigger.

This might seem a bit odd giving them the ability to attack at the same time in different directions. This can be confusing to player’s however I posit that this syncs the player’s thoughts with Ash’ra in a way. This is because it is extremely mentally taxing to magically control so much silk at once. So while it is mentally taxing for Ash’ra it is also mentally taxing for the player. This complexity would also give a sense of accomplishment once they mastered that method of control. Player’s are able to use two sticks simultaneously. The oddness of the input scheme is also offset by the simplicity of the inputs. The typical attack buttons (X, B, and Y) would then be relegated to one off actions or magical abilities that affect the enemies or the area around the player. (Think a pulse that stuns or knock down all enemies). Using one of these abilities would definitely cost extra meter as they are special actions. These buttons are not used for standard attacks as they are in standard planted mode as it complicates this control scheme and does not allow for the two stick to be used at once. This simpler control scheme also serves the purpose of requiring less strategic thought from the player. It will take coordination but the player doesn’t have to think as much about their actions as their attacks are essentially super powerful and stun any enemy. There isn’t really a “What attack should I use?” Question. The player just has to hit stuff. The difficulty comes in mental maneuvering and coordination.

D.Trigger costs meter while using D.Trigger but also penalizes the player for disabling devil trigger essentially adding a cost to every time it’s toggled. This stops the optimal strategy from being activating every single time you want to hit the enemy and instead incentivises the player to use it when they have the opportunity to attack multiple enemies at once or take down a large enemy (or when they are in trouble). This keeps gameplay challenging with a high ceiling without making attack actions ridiculously complicated or having the most optimal strategy be complex (as in hitting a bunch of buttons at once to do one single action).

Enemy Mechanics

Aggressive Type

Aggressive enemies in this game have 4 major characteristics. Light or Heavy, Fast or Slow. Typically enemies will that are heavy will be slow and those that are light will be fast. This is mostly for balancing purposes, as an enemies weight determines the player’s ability to knock them down or crowd control them. A character’s weight/size also naturally determines their health pools. For example: A fast goblin type character would be hard to pin down but most moves of even a lighter weapon like the rope dart would be able to knock this creature down. The player would also be able to grab and throw them. A heavier, larger golem type of creature couldn’t really be thrown, and most moves of the rope dart couldn’t stop or stagger this heavy creature. However, the heavier meteor hammer would have a lot of moves that could stagger the golem and a few that could full on trip or disable it. It would be worse off at pinning down the small goblin creature though as it’s moves are slower to start up. The goblin could attack before you could. The knife weapon is an exception as it has zero disabling functionalities and high damage. It’s a high risk high reward play style. The player is vulnerable, especially in planted mode since they can’t stop enemies from attacking them (They can only dodge in agile mode) but the player dishes out a lot of damage, attempting to kill the enemies before they are killed.

Support Type

Besides aggressive enemies there are support type enemies. They either buff the survivability or other minions (via healing or damage reduction) or they could weaken the player by reducing their mobility or survivability (slow debuff or a vulnerability debuff). There are other things the support enemies could do like resurrection etc.

Caster Type

Caster enemies would do damage at a distance to the player, The key thing to know about these is all of their attacks are powerful and give fair warning to the player so as to be balanced and not frustrating. Essentially a sniper character constantly taking difficult to dodge potshots at the player would be very annoying.

The point of caster and support enemies would be to give a clear hierarchy to the fight. Take out casters and support enemies first and then focus on the aggressive enemies.

Special Type

Besides these 3 basic type there can be special enemies that have different attacks or behaviour than the others. Potentially specials could be an aggressive enemy that is both fast and immune to crowd control making them difficult to handle.

Interface

The player will see their health displayed in a bar on the screen. They would also see how much energy they accumulated for their ultimate attack (Think devil trigger from devil may cry). The enemies health bars would be displayed above their heads. There could be a bar showing how close you are to subduing a titan, but the titan combat will need to be fleshed out a bit.

Menus

The only menu necessary will be a pause menu. This will contain the map and any extra bits of lore the players have found. Also the options menu and the exit button obviously.

Messaging

Cutscenes could be narrated by Pad’ua’s character after she absorbs the information in an artifact. Besides that the design of the enemies should convey their connection to their god and the environment will also evoke some of the theme and general setting.

Control Scheme (v1)

Level design is pseudo open world, but player movement is limited from heading into empty areas, essentially map layout is more like a big spider web spreading out from the the guardian sanctum with 4 or 5 major paths that each lead to one or two major boss areas. When it comes down to progressing towards a boss fight the level design becomes a lot more narrow with the player traversing between small open areas where a fight with smaller enemies would happen. (ala string of pearls).

Music

The music should swell with the combat, especially the boss sequences. It should give the player a sense of grand scale and adventure. While the player is trekking through lesser populated areas of the desert the music would be a bit more wistful and lonely.

Sound Effects

Swishing silk or cloth will be a very important sound effect. Besides that weapons striking enemies or the ground will clang or thud. The titans making a huge cracking or earth shaking sound while they move. They may groan in pain or anguish while you are subduing them.

Back in the times of yore there was an ancient evil. This evil was called Ahriman. Ahriman was powerful that no single god could stop him. However 6 of the weaker gods banded together into a council, a pantheon if you will and drove him back, draining him of his strength until he was all but defeated. In one last desperate act Ahriman expelled his soul and possessed one of the council unbeknownst to the other five. Seeing the benefit of cooperation the council was upheld even after Ahriman was “defeated.” During this time of prosperity Ahriman secretly plotted his revenge against those who had wronged him, and after centuries of preparation Ahriman revealed his scheme to the council enslaving each of them to his will. This betrayal brings a dark time on the people of our story.

Ash’ra is the last remaining priestess of the Silk Guardians, the rest of her sisters has been wiped out by stone incarnations of the enslaved gods, which were in the form of titans. All but the high priestess, Ash’ra’s master Pad’ua were killed. Pad’ua was gravely injured however and used her last remaining power to inhabit the temples most treasured artifact: The silken bag. Pad’ua uses her life force to enhance the magical properties of the silk the bag creates and affords Ash’ra more control over the silk. Ash’ra must now venture forth on a holy quest to purify the enslaved gods through their physical embodiments. Once purified Ahriman’s control of that god is relinquished. She must do this by encasing them in the holy cloth that the silken bag creates. To do this however, Ash’ra must venture forth into the desert, lands unknown, and fight the god’s servants and then the gods themselves. The fate of the planet lies in her hands.

The Player Character

Ash’rah is a strong warrior priestess who is tasked with the protection of the world against great evil. She is the last of a noble line of protectors. The priestess order called the silk guardians.

The Foe (Shadow)

Ahriman is the biggest evil out there however Ash’ra cannot reach him. Her influence only extends to the things on the physical which Ahriman is not. The enslaved gods and their minions oppose Ash’ra via physical force. Ash’ra will have to kill the minions to get to the gods and purify them so that they are no longer under Ahriman’s control.

Other Characters

Ash’ra’s master Pad’ua can speak to her through the magic bag. Pad’ua is not truly dead, she has just taken on a different form via soul transference. Other than Pad’ua and maybe the gods there will be no other speaking characters in the game.

Story Vehicles

Hieroglyphs. Magic artifacts that contain the story? Pad’ua could absorb the information and narrate it to Ash’ra while painting a picture of the story with silk.

Origins of the World (lore found scattered in Guardian Sanctum)

• [The Origin Force] created the World; from its body came forth the Pantheons of the world
• Each Pantheon was assigned to a section of the World. Some areas received 2 conflicting gods; some received 3 or four gods working together; still others only received one patron; this large stretch of desert got SIX.
• The gods and goddesses all had conflicting ideas on how they would shape their region: Merchant wanted the people to trade salt with other nations; Farmer wanted to just grow crops and farm livestock; Artisan wanted people to just manufacture and produce art; Warrior wanted to build a powerful military; Servant wanted the most progressive law/government system; Priest wanted everyone to just worship them
• The region remained divided for a long time- each God more or less ruled a section of the world and remained weak

Ahriman and the Triumph of the Gods (lore found scattered along the Daiti River)

• Ahriman was a foreign god from a region with conflicting gods; He was kicked out of his land and He and his followers decided to find a new land to control
• Upon coming to the desert, He noticed how weak the area’s gods were and decided that this would be the perfect location.
• Ahriman’s followers raided the land, sacking villages and terrifying the locals. The people sent out a cry of help to their Gods.
• Hoping that by defeating Ahriman by themselves, each God hoped to prove their ideology the superior among the others.
• When they each faced Ahriman one-on-one, they were defeated. Alone, they were too weak. They hid away, ashamed, underneath the Lake of Tears.
• The Six realized that their defeat was caused by their lack of power divided. Now, they devised a plan to fight him, but together as a group.
• To do so, they organized all of their followers and asked them to worship them all as a Pantheon rather than just having one patron god. By increasing the faith they received, they grew in power.
• With the 6 gods and their people united, they faced off against Ahriman and his followers at the Scar. It was a long battle, but all of Ahriman’s followers were defeated and Ahriman himself was destroyed.
• The desert safe at last, a golden era dawned, where cities grew, trade flourished, art and culture bloomed, and abundant food meant hardly anyone went hungry.

The God of Warriors (lore found scattered in the Scab, the Temple of Warriors)

• The God of Warriors wanted a nation that could defend itself
• He created the Scab, a volcanic region, so that his people could harvest the tough granite for building walls and forts and sulfur for creating gunpowder.
• The God believed in the “eye-for-an-eye” mentality when it came to justice, and often butted heads with the peaceful Goddess of Servants.

The Goddess of Servants (lore found in the Crowns, The Temple of Servants)

• The Goddess of Servants intended on creating the most progressive, peaceful, and efficient government in the world.
• The Crowns served as both a defensible location for the capital that can easily be supplied with water, food and minerals despite its relative isolation.
• She wanted to minimize punishments for crime, instead focusing on eradicating the root of the matter; the God of Warriors was not pleased by this.

The God of Merchants (lore found in the Merchant’s Fingers, The Temple of Merchants)

• The God of Merchants originally wanted the people to invest in global trade; since the desert was so barren, He thought that it would be best to import most of their goods in exchange for salt.
• To this end he created the Palm Sea so that the desert would have a port with access to the ocean as well as the Merchant’s Fingers so that the people could harvest the lucrative mineral.

The Goddess of Farmers (lore found in the Sinking Gardens, The Temple of Farmers)

• The God of Farmers wanted the desert to be self-sufficient in producing food, growing their own crops and raising livestock.
• He created drought-resistant flora which then covered the Green Crowns and the Daiti River with forest; the lands become fertile, and the inland delta known as the Sinking Gardens began flourishing with wildlife.

The God of Artisans (lore found in the Golemforge, The Temple of Artisans)

• The God of Artisans saw the desert people as those who could create great wonders and wanted to maximize that creative potential.
• He hewed the Golemforge’s canyons, creating awe-inspiring landmarks in stone, glass, metal, etc; these materials could then be used for sculptures, tools, ceramics, etc.
• He began the Grand Mural so that the land would have a Wonder that people could come marvel and visit.

The Goddess of Priests(lore found in The Sand Loom, The Temple of Priests)

• The Goddess of Priests had planned for the people to unite together in worship of all the Gods- problem was that the Gods were so divided that the people’s worship was split as well.
• The Sand Loom was created as a place of meditation; those seeking enlightenment can go to the Qoqun Oasis, separated from the world, marvelling at the magic of the rainbow sands.

Chapter 1

Cutscene 1

• Tapestry depicting history of the gods fighting Ahriman
• Day-night cycle- see light pass on tapestry to show passage of time
• Gods become corrupted one by one- daylight fades and stays dark, torchlight
• Final Goddess of Priests gets corrupted, shadows move around, monster shreds tapestry, bloodstains as the priestesses get slaughtered
• Tapestry drifts down, lands at the feet of Ash’ra, the last Silk Guardian
• Weapon in hand, she seeks out for any surviving members of her order in the Guardian Sanctum

The Guardian Sanctum

• Ash’ra needs to clear out the minions out of the sanctum (Goddess of Priests minions) and find surviving Guardians if any
• First section- introduce movement controls like climbing, running, wall jumping, and swinging; Ash’ra sees signs that a person might still be alive
• Second section- introduce the combat mechanics; Ash’ra finds the journal of her mentor Pad’ua talking about the attack; the last entry was only a few days ago, talking of how she’s decided to use the Sacred Silk Bag from the sanctum vaults and then purify the corrupted Titans
• Third section- reinforce learned mechanics, introduce Titan-fighting mechanics; Ash’ra finds the Sacred Silk Bag and takes it; in the next room she finds the wounded body of Pad’ua. She however is controlled by corrupted silk strings and is being puppeted around by the Priest Goddess. Ash’ra must use her purifying silk magic to release her master from the corruption.

Cutscene 2

• Wounded but still alive, Pad’ua uses the last of her magic to transfer her soul into the Sacred Silk; she urges Ash’ra to take on her mission to free the Titans, despite the internal conflicts she has.
• At Pad’ua’s liberation, the sanctum’s corruption is wiped away; Ash’ra is now free to explore the world

Chapter 2

• Sanctum Fields
• The Wilds, Part 1- The Peaks
• The Temple of Servants

Chapter 3

• The Wilds, Part 2- The Isles
• The Temple of Merchants

Chapter 4

• The Wilds, Part 3- The Woods
• The Temple of Farmers

Chapter 5

• The Wilds, Part 4- The Ruins
• The Temple of Artisans

Chapter 6

• The Wilds, Part 5- The Sands
• The Temple of Priests

End

Final Cutscene

• The 5 freed gods unite together to purify the God of Warriors and destroy Ahriman for good

The player is a lady warrior who uses rope weapons to defeat enemies. The rope is made out of silk. The player will fight in arenas against humanoid enemies. They will also fight huge titans by platforming on the titans and the environment around them. Titan fights are giant set pieces. The player will attempt to disable the titan by attaching an infinite silk rope that comes out of their magic bag to key points on the titan. Eventually the Titan will be wrapped up. Once the titan is disabled the player “purifies” them restoring them to their former glory and freeing them from the control of the bad guy.

Genre

Character Action Platformer.

Audience

Fans of Shadow of the Colossus, Devil May Cry, Prince of Persia, or Bayonetta.

Unique Selling Points

Two distinct modes of play that mesh well between each other via a well mapped control scheme. A unique setting (Persian or Arabian). Innovative Combat mechanics. A unique spin on the shadow of the colossus formula.

The player would fight each titan in a different area. The change in area would change the method in which the player climbs or ties up the titan. For example if the player was fighting in a canyon that was the titan’s height it would benefit them to climb the canyon first as the canyon doesn’t move and then jump on the titan from there. Alternatively, maybe you’re fighting the titan in a plain, so you have to figure out how to tie them up without anything but the titan to climb on. Other notable environments are inside a huge cavern, under water (no idea how that would work but it would be cool), and or in the sky (if we wanna be cliche and have a bird titan). This is more of an aesthetic thing but it would be awesome to have monuments built into the cliffside.

References:

Key Locations

The temple would be a key location but unless the player is given a reason to return they wouldn’t ever bother. Besides that the key locations are the areas where the titan fights take place (the ones mentioned above).

Game Flow

The player will head out to defeat a particular titan and then the player will return to the temple and then head out in another area that was unlocked after they defeat a titan. The second option sounds cool but may push the game even closer to Shadow of the Colossus.

Interactivity

The player can pin silk to the environment and the titans. The player can attach silk to outcrops and swing on them. Besides the titans themselves the world will be pretty static.

Training

A training room where the player can learn key combos and attacks. This could be a separate level however it would be more immersive to just have it be room in the temple (this requires the world to be the second structure mention in the game flow section). Maybe something similar to the kung fu panda training room. It should also allow the player to practice platforming.

Map/Layout

To be created (probably not by me)