Design Document for:

Stay with Me
(working title)

Written by Michael Baxter

Version # 1.00

Tuesday, December 07, 2021

 Table of Contents
LOST AND FOUND____________________________________________________________________1
GAME OVERVIEW____________________________________________________________________4
PHILOSOPHY__________________________________________________________________________4
Purpose___________________________________________________________________________4
Game description___________________________________________________________________4
Goals_____________________________________________________________________________4
COMMON QUESTIONS___________________________________________________________________5
What is the game about?______________________________________________________________5
Why create this game?_______________________________________________________________5
Where does the game take place?_______________________________________________________5
Who do I control?___________________________________________________________________5
What is the main focus?______________________________________________________________5
What’s different?____________________________________________________________________5
FEATURE SET________________________________________________________________________6
GENERAL FEATURES___________________________________________________________________6
BRANCHING DIALOGUE_________________________________________________________________6
MULTIPLE ENDINGS____________________________________________________________________6
Bad Ending________________________________________________________________________6
Normal Ending_____________________________________________________________________6
Good Ending_______________________________________________________________________6
GAMEPLAY___________________________________________________________________________7
GAME CHARACTERS_________________________________________________________________8
SKYE BAYARD________________________________________________________________________8
KAT_________________________________________________________________________________8
PROJECT GENOME-HGM________________________________________________________________8
THE FBI______________________________________________________________________________8
DANIEL______________________________________________________________________________8

THE GAME WORLD__________________________________________________________________10

THE PHYSICAL WORLD________________________________________________________________10
Overview_________________________________________________________________________10
Key Locations_____________________________________________________________________10
Travel___________________________________________________________________________10
Scale____________________________________________________________________________10
Time_____________________________________________________________________________10
CAMERA____________________________________________________________________________10
Overview_________________________________________________________________________10
GAME ENGINE_______________________________________________________________________11
Overview_________________________________________________________________________11

USER INTERFACE___________________________________________________________________13
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________12
THE MAIN MENU______________________________________________________________________12
LOAD GAME SCREEN___________________________________________________________________13
PREFERENCES SCREEN_________________________________________________________________14
IN-GAME INTERFACE___________________________________________________________________15
MUSICAL SCORES AND SOUND EFFECTS_____________________________________________16
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________16
MUSIC DESIGN_______________________________________________________________________16
SOUND DESIGN_______________________________________________________________________16
CHARACTER ART___________________________________________________________________17
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________17
EXTRA MISCELLANEOUS STUFF_____________________________________________________18
OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________________________18
POINT AND CLICK NAVIGATION__________________________________________________________18
Game Overview
Philosophy
Purpose

My purpose for creating this game is to have a game in my portfolio that can be played from start to finish
that demonstrates good storytelling ability. Fundamentally the game runs like a kinetic visual novel in that it has a
general path it follows, but it differs in that there are differing ways of experiencing it through choices the player
makes.

Game Description

Lost and Found will run on the The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine. The reason for this is that the overarching
goal of this portfolio project will be to create a non-linear story. It is for this reason that using more commercial
engines with no scaffolding set up will only draw away from the focus of the story, which is narrative.

Goals

Here are some of the underlining goals of my project:

 Create a game with interesting dialogue that engages the player

 Have no more than 5 characters that appear in the game, total. Main character will have 4-5 different
expressions, one character with 4-5 expressions, one character with 2 expressions, and all other minor
characters with 1
 Have around 5000 words of dialogue (around 15 minutes of gameplay)
Common Questions

What is the game about?

The main character of my game, Skye, is a college student studying medical research. While riding his bike
back home he nearly runs into a little girl that crosses his path. She is lost and doesn’t seem to understand his
language, or any language at that. When he returns home, he finds out that she has followed him into his home, and
doesn’t seem to want to leave. He later finds out that people are chasing this girl. He decides to try and save her
from being caught and killed.

Why create this game?

I want to have the player consider, who is the real monster? Kat, who kills like it is nothing, or is it the
people who wanted to transform her into a living weapon? Also, I want to commit myself to making a full game for
my portfolio.

Where does the game take place?

The game takes place in a city setting. The protagonist is spending most of his money on college, getting by
with average grades at best. The city is monochrome, dull, reflecting the constant beat of the real world.

Who do I control?

You play the role of Skye, influencing what decisions he makes. The player’s choices sometimes affect
what scenes are viewed or not viewed.

What is the main focus?

The player is supposed to learn more about this mysterious girl with strange habits and see how she views
the world. Another thing that Skye has to do is keep her a secret from the world, most importantly the
untrustworthily “FBI” agents that appear at his door.

What’s different?

The main difference between this game and other visual novels is that it will have more choices that could
be made, and have a more western influence. More importantly, the choices made are not always clear as to which is
the “better” choice, morally or otherwise.
Feature Set
General Features
While playing the game, it is possible to save at any time. This allows the player to have multiple save files
to explore the branching dialog system the game also has. The player also has the option of imputing the game of the
main character.

Branching Dialogue
Lost and Found incorporates a branching dialogue system into the game to keep the player actively engaged in the
game. For example, a situation will arise that calls for the player to react and choose what they should do. Choice A
leads to answer A, choice B leads to answer B, but with different dialogue, and Choice C leads to Answer B.
Continually making bad decisions will cause the game to end in a bad way.

Multiple Endings

Having multiple story paths will eventually lead to different endings.

Bad Ending:
The F.B.I. surround the house and Skye and Kat are trapped inside. Skye tries to talk with them, but gets
mortally shot through the chest as soon as he opens the door. Kat kneels before him as he falls back into the
house, and she cries. She becomes madly furious, and her mental powers reach a new plane. She uses her powers
to simultaneously kill all of the people surrounding the building, causing them to writhe in pain, bleeding from the
ears, nose, and eyes before they die. Kat turns into a killing monster.

Normal Ending:

The F.B.I surround the house and Skye and Kat are trapped inside. Skye tries to talk with them, but get’s
shot in the shoulder as soon as he opens the door. Kat kneels before him as he falls back into the house and she
cries. She becomes furious and is about to go over the edge when Skye begs her to show mercy and not kill
anymore. Kat understands and she smiles. She stands up, and the F.B.I storm the house, shooting her in the chest.
As she dies, she tries to use her mental powers to make Skye happy. Skye cries over the loss of such an innocent
soul, but he is allowed to live a normal life afterwards, never forgetting her.

Good Ending:

The F.B.I surround the house and Skye and Kat are trapped inside. Skye tries to talk with them, but gets
shot in the shoulder as soon as he opens the door. Kat kneels before him as he falls back into the house and she
cries. She becomes furious and is about to go over the edge when Skye begs her to show mercy and not kill
anymore. Kat smiles, and figures out something that just might work. Not only can she cause pain in others, but
happiness. Her mental powers get stronger, and she floods all of the F.B.I members with intense, intense
happiness until they can do nothing but cry tears of joy. Skye grabs Kat and makes a break for it because keeping it
up is very taxing on Kat. The F.B.I chase them into the subway, but they get into a subway car just in time. They
eventually get the subway train to stop and the search each cabin, but they got away. Years later, Skye is a doctor
in some other place, and Kat has found a new place in the world, bringing happiness and relief to those who are
about to die.
Gameplay
The experience I want the player to pick up is the feeling of wondering who to trust, who is the real
monster. I want to evoke the feeling of, “wow, I wasn’t expecting that”. I want to balance between humor and
seriousness, always surprising the player in a non-confusing way.
Game Characters
Skye Bayard
-The protagonist

Skye Banyard is a 24 year old college student and the protagonist of the game. He is studying medical
research, but is still a down to earth sort of person. Dan is his best friend, also in med school. Skye is also in a
relationship with Alice, who attends some of the same classes as him. Skye has an interest in video games,
particularly rhythm games like Guitar Star. His apartment is in somewhat of a cluttered condition, reflecting on his
overall lifestyle. He names the girl he finds “Kat” because she looks similar to a cat he used to have.

Kat
-biological, artificially made child, Genome Project 37B

“Kat”, so named by Skye, is a mysterious little girl that nearly gets hit by Skye while he is traveling home
on his bike. She decides to follow him home despite his wishes. She speaks in no discernable language, if she had
none at all. She communicates through her expressions and actions, although she possesses a great intellect despite
her apparent age. Later on in the story it is revealed that she was born from an artificial womb and has artificially
induced DNA mutations in her biological makeup that allows her to use a greater portion of her brain, around 5%
more. It may not seem like much, but this difference gives her a “sixth sense” where she is able to transfer thoughts,
feelings, and sensations to another brain, and in some cases, in lethal amounts. Since her birthing, she has
continuously been experimented on, testing her pain threshold and how it affects other beings. All she wants is to be
free and feel loved.

The FBI
-The antagonists

After Sky takes in the mysterious girl, men show up at the apartment claiming to be FBI agents. It is
unclear who these men are, but Kat is very afraid of them, and hides herself whenever she senses their presence.
Skye is unsure of the real intentions of the “FBI” agents, but he has a strong feeling that they have dark motives. It
is clear that they are high up, as they even have control over the media outlets in searching for the girl. These people
are actually directly employed by the people behind Project Genome with ties to the F.B.I. and the military. They
know one of the “projects” got loose, and is an imminent threat to civilians. Such a powerful weapon can’t be
running loose throughout the city.

Daniel
-The obsessed scientist

Dan is the person who at the beginning of the story goes on the news claiming to be Kat’s father. When
Skye is walking home from school one day he is stopped by this mysterious man who knows Kat is with him. He
begs Skye to take him to her, wishing to be reunited once again. However, his true motives are much darker. Once
he sees Kat, his true nature is revealed. He was the scientist responsible for Project Genome-HGM. Daniel claims
that she is a perfect being, likened to God, and begs her to come back to what he calls, “the cradle”. She refuses, and
he takes out a loaded revolver and points it at her, saying that she is just another failure; he will just have to make a
new one.

PROJECT GENOME-HGM
-the organization behind it all

Originally created as a research branch from the Genome Project started in 1987, Project Genome-HGM
specialized in human DNA research, identification, sequencing, and mutation. In 2003 it began research on human
cloning, but when the U.N. banned all forms of human cloning in 2005, Project Genome-HGM was officially shut
down. However, due to private government interests, Project Genome-HGM was allowed to operate in secret. The
goal of Project Genome-HGM is to create a human with modified genes that allow a greater understanding of the
human mind. Like in Nazi-time Germany, this research is kept completely secret from the public. Kat is the 37 th
“child”, or the 37th iteration of the project.
 The Game World
The Physical World

Overview
The game will take place over a course of three days, mostly occurring in the main character’s apartment in
a present day city. The outside world will be perceived as gritty and dark, while the home is well lit and warm.

Key Locations
Apart from the main character’s home, where most of the action occurs, the main character still has to go to
college and uphold his normal life. Some events will occur only on his campus, such as conversing with his best
friend.

Travel
There might come a time when the player will have to choose which location to go to, and depending on
that choice, a certain scene will occur, and the other will be missed out on.

Scale
The scale of the world will be limited to only the college campus and the apartment, mostly focusing on the
apartment. Perhaps in future versions of the game new locations will open up, but as of now I cannot say.

Time
Time during the game will pass over a period of 3 days. Some choices and actions will advance the story,
and thus advance time. Perhaps in future versions there will be more depth to this.

Camera

Overview

The game is told from the point of the view of the main character. When he speaks, he will be pictured in
the bottom right corner of the dialogue box, sometimes appearing in the scene itself when he reacts to things. For the
most part, characters will be drawn with multiple expressions that switch in an out as the scene calls for it. In some
scenes, the main character’s picture will be removed to put focus on a rendered scene with no layered character art.

Game Engine

Overview

The game will run on the Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine. Ren'Py is a free and cross-platform visual novel
engine that helps you use words, pictures, and sounds to tell stories with the computer. It’s easy and efficient script
language makes it possible for non-programmers to make visual novels, while its Python support allows for complex
simulation games. The python system allows me to set up variables and conditional statements when I program the
game.
 User Interface
Overview
The basic Ren’py game comes with a basic UI that is customizable. There will be basic sections that the
player will be able to navigate through.

The Main Menu

The main menu will consist of several sections. Hopefully with more exploration of the system, the “Help
section will be replaced with an “about” section, which gives out credit where it is due (for example, sound and
music). Start game starts the game, load game loads a saved game, preferences allows you to change the gameplay
experience, and quit quits the game. Once in production, the main menu will have a picture of Kat in the
background.
Load Game Screen

The load game screen will consist of multiple slots that show saved games. It is on this screen I want to
have a closer up view of Kat in the background, but with a dark, faded filter applied.
Preferences Screen
Here, the options can be changed. For purposes of ease, there will be several extraneous options that will
not be removed in the first version as programming for the options screen is complicated.
In-game Interface

In in-game interface will look similar to this. When the narrator speaks, a small picture of him will be
shown to the right side of the dialogue box, appropriately showing his expressions as he speaks. The person in the
front he is interacting with will be shown centered in front. If two people are talking with him, they will be situated
to the right and left of the screen. At any time the person is able to press the [Esc] button to save, load, return to the
main menu, change options, or quit.
Musical Scores and Sound Effects

Overview
The game will have both sound and music pulled from the web.

Music Design
The game will consist of multiple songs. All of these songs will be instrumental. They will be converted
to .ogg files to be brought into the game.

Sound Design
There will be various sound effects that occur in the game. Examples would be doors opening, sighs,
placing objects on a table, etc. These sounds will be triggered as the player advances dialogue. Sound effects will
also be .ogg files.
Character Art
Overview
The art style of the game will be a 2-D traditional Asian art style with my own personal spin. I will be using
a mostly unsaturated color scheme, with more saturation to Kat, who is the main focus of the game. Characters will
be drawn using Adobe Photoshop.

(Kat)
Misc. Stuff

Overview

This section is dedicated to things I would love to incorporate into the game, or any wild ideas I might
incorporate into the game as it is developed.

Point and Click Navigation (not going to make it into the game for
version 1.00)

At some point I would like to further the interactivity of the game by presenting an image to the player, and
the player can choose which object to interact with. For example, moving between locations, or picking up an
object, or performing a task. I am not including this in the main section of the design doc because I do not want to
get too over-zealous and not be able to finish the project.