I See Red

Game Design Document

Whiteboard Games
 1

1. Overview
1.1 Project description:
I See Red is a twin-stick shooter roguelite where you play as an enraged outlaw who
travels through space in search of vengeance, raiding ships and destroying enemies.
Through it we look for the player to experience the pain and rage of a tragic loss and
its unbreakable will to achieve his goal no matter how many times he has to try.

1.2 Facts:
Genres: Twin-Stick Shooter Roguelite.
Modes: Singleplayer.
Duration: 1 hour per run, 15 hours to see everything.
Platforms: Windows, Mac & Linux (Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo
Switch, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S.
Engine: Unity.
Expected release: Q3 2022.
Target audience: 16 to 24, male gamers who like intense action games without
having to put a lot of time into it.

2. Project goals
2.1 Vertical Slice:
Development of the vertical slice which will show the concept of the game and it’s
core mechanics to attract possible investors and opportunities.

2.2 Company foundation:

Getting the initial investments for the foundation of the company Whiteboard
Games.

2.3 Development Kits:

 2

Obtaining the development kits from the different companies for the future
development of the game’s ports.

2.4 Publisher:
Closing a deal with a publisher who has a catalog of similar games and / or be known
for having experience in violent game target markets.

Negotiate the most efficient marketing plan for the game, securing funding for the
next Whiteboard Games project.

2.5 Marketing:
Development of the marketing for the game in order to maximize the hype
pre-release and the game’s sales post-release.

2.6 Release:
The special day where the game releases for the first time on Steam.

2.7 Post-release fixes:

Period where adjustments and fixes are made based on community's feedback.

2.8 Porting:
Console’s ports development, starting with the Nintendo Switch.

3. Game rules
In this section we describe the general rules of the game and their goal.

3.1 Protagonist’s perception:

Our protagonist has a different vision from the usual. The rage that lies in him is such
that it started changing his perception of reality, limiting his colors to grayscale and
red, which allows him to highlight the elements that are vital to carry out his goals.
The objects he sees have a meaning based on the colors, these are:

1. Red: Implies that the player sees this object as an enemy, something
dangerous or something that is necessary for its progression. It’s mainly used
to highlight enemies or in details like the explosive barrels.
 3

2. Black and white: Implies that the protagonist can interact with it through a
button and doing so can bring benefits. Examples of these are healing items,
weapons and explosive barrels.
3. Grayscale: Implies that the protagonist has no interest in the object. Usually
used on background and props. The entire environment, which is destructible,
uses this color palette, but since the benefits of destroying said things (besides
providing small and very temporary cover) doesn’t affect the gameplay, the
color applies this way to tell the player that they shouldn’t worry about them.

3.2 Interactions and environment are the same for everyone:

To achieve an even more immersive, unique and overall consistent and cohesive
gameplay, every interaction and the environment itself works the same for all of the
characters in the game. There are no rules that say the enemies can’t harm
themselves or not be able to interact with a specific prop or can’t break something
specific. If so, there must be a clear visual justification of why it is not the case.

4. Design rules
We can break down I See Red into three keywords when designing it:

Frantic: Things happen fast, so every decision has to be made in a split second, so if
something is slow or awkward to use, with some minor exceptions, it has no place in
the game. “You are in a Ferrari, if you want to tell me something, do it fast and as
clearly as possible.”

Rage: The answer to everything in the game must be rage. Most of the details in the
game can be destroyed. The player interacts very aggressively with the environment
props.

Immersive: Everything in the game exist in the world itself, including the User
Interface, to highlight that the player sees the world in this way and to make a more
cohesive experience for the user, meaning that they wouldn’t need any extra
information or tutorials because everything behaves in an expected way.

We also have a series of questions to answer before designing anything. These are to
be answered if we want to maintain the vision and rules of the game consistent.
 4

3.1 What’s the player’s interest in this object:

Here we describe the interest of the player for the object. This will help us know what
color will represent it visually in the game.

3.2 How do the characters interact with it:

Here we describe the way the player and the enemies interact with it. Be it through
pressing a button, by shooting at it or hitting it with melee weapons.

3.3 What’s the consequence of it’s interaction:

If the object lacks consequences when interacting with it, it will feel empty. Here we’ll
describe if it’s destroyed, dies, instantiates particles, changes the states of other
objects, drops other objects or whatever it’s necessary.

5. Gameplay
Description of the control scheme and its actions. Inputs are first in a Mouse and
Keyboard scheme and then in a Generic Gamepad scheme.

5.1 Movement:
The player can move with W, A,S, D or with the Right Analog Stick. The first steps will
have a brief acceleration, later on it will run at a constant speed. It’s speed varies
depending on where the player is looking, for example, if he’s running forward he’ll
go faster than running backwards or sideways.

He can only run on hard surfaces and he can never modify his vertical axis (Meaning
that he can’t go upstairs or go down a ramp, etc).

5.2 Main action:

With the Left Mouse Button or by pressing the Right Trigger the player can use
whatever object he has on his hands. Some examples of this are:

● Shooting weapons like the Infinite Pistol, SMGs, Shotguns, etc.

● Throwing objects like boxes or explosive barrels.
● Hitting with melee weapons.
 5

Depending on the object in hand, this can vary.

5.3 Mechanical Arm:

Our protagonist has a mechanical arm with a grappling hook which can be used
with the Right Mouse Button or by pressing the Left Trigger to grab an object at a
distance, interacting with certain props or latching on to an enemy. Some examples
of this are:

● Bring at a distance consumables, boxes or barrels.

● Activate consoles and traps.
● Tear apart pieces of some enemies.
● Bring at a distance very small enemies.
● Latching onto an enemy to hit and stun them.

The function of the hook varies and works logically depending on the target.
Additionally, the hook can be charged through kills. When it’s full it can be used to
make a Brutal Murder on enemies.

5.4 Interact:
Through the game, the player will find objects of color black and white which can be
interacted with by pressing the F key or the West Button.

Taking the shape and size of the object into account, the player will do different
actions:

● Small/medium sized objects will be picked up.

● If it’s a weapon, the player will equip it.
● If it’s a consumable, he will save it to the correspondent consumable inventory.
● If it has some sort of button/screen he will activate it.
For example: Teleporter or activating consoles that enable/disable traps.

5.5 Propulsor:
While the player is moving, pressing the Spacebar or the South Button will make him
use his propulsors to dash in the direction he was currently moving to.
 6

When dashing, the player is briefly invulnerable, allowing him all types of damage.
He’s also able to get through Regular Enemies, in consequence they will also be
pushed and stunned.

The player won’t be able to perform any other action while dashing.

5.6 Inventory:
The player can take some objects with him, putting aside currencies like Space Coins
and Printing Matter, these are categorized as follows:

5.6.1 Weapons:
The player can carry two weapons. The first slot is reserved for the trusty Infinite
Pistol, a weapon that never runs out but can overheat. The second slot can be filled
with any weapon that the player picks up. Of course, the player can switch between
both weapons by pressing keys 1 or 2, spinning the Mouse Wheel or by pressing
D-Pad Left or D-Pad Right.

When the player has a throwable object on hand, both weapons will be holstered.

5.6.5 Skills:
One of the most important objects are those who possess rechargeable unique skills
like throwing all the objects in a room or morphing the player into different things.

The player can only take one of these with him and these are used by pressing the R
key or the Right Shoulder.

5.6.3 Attack Consumables:

Certain consummables that the player can get have offensive functions like the
grenades, explosive mines, throwable knives, etc.

Only one of this type can be carried at all times and it can be used by pressing the G
key or the North Button.

5.6.4 Defense Consumables:

The other types of consummables are the defensive ones like the medkits,
holograms, adrenalines, etc.

Only one of this type can be carried at all times and it can be used by pressing the Q
key or the East Button.
 7

5.6.5 Key Consumables:

Lastly, we have the keys. These allow access to locked rooms for each race based on
the key type.

An infinite amount can be carried for each type of race (Human, Robot, Alien) and it
can be used by interacting with the locked door.

5.7 Rage Mode:

Pressing the Left Shift key or the Left and Right Thumbsticks at the same time will
let the player enter the Rage Mode. Doing so will briefly push and stun all the
enemies, change the vision of the player to full red and change the music. During
the short duration of the Rage Mode player will have a series of benefits:

● Increase Damage Reduction.

● Increased Melee Damage.
● Increased Movement Speed.
● Unlimited hook charges.
● Ability to Brutal Murder Elite Enemies.

5.8 Brutal Murders:

Player can brutally execute enemies by latching onto them with his Mechanical Arm.
This can only be done if certain conditions are met, these are:

● If the enemy is Regular Threat Level and its health is low (red blinking will let
the player know).
● If the enemy is Regular Threat Level and the hook is fully charged
(represented by hook indicator above the targeted enemy).
● If the enemy it’s a Regular Flying Enemy.
● If the enemy is Elite and the player is in Rage Mode.

Doing a Brutal Murder is vital as it gives the player invulnerable during the animation
and it heals him.
 8

6. Goal and Game

Loop
6.1 Goal:
The player’s goal is to kill his ex-police partner who destroyed his family. In order to
do so, he will have to invade a series of ships through three different sectors, ships
from which he will get information about the location of the ship of his target.

6.2 Game Loop:

There are two main identifiable loops, these are:

In the Micro Game we are already on a run. We begin by choosing a ship we want to
invade, we explore it in order to acquire temporary upgrades to get stronger for the
next ship, we end it by beating the final room or boss and then we get back to our
ship so we can choose the next ship we will raid. This cycle can be repeated up to a
maximum of 19 times per run and a minimum of 10.

In the Macro Game we start a new run, we play through all the sectors we can,
achieving different feats and when we finish the run either by beating the final boss
or by dying through the run, we unlock new content for the next run.
 9

7. Story
7.1 Story overview:
The story of I See Red is about an enraged space outlaw who is in search of
vengeance. He used to fight crime with his police partner but one day he started to
notice odd behaviours from his partner, after doing some investigation he found out
that he’s doing weapon traffic. His ex-police partner, knowing this, pays the
protagonist a visit to his house where he along with other criminals shoots the entire
house down in a way to warn and silence the protagonist, but during this, her
daughter is fatally injured. After this whole situation, the player loses their sanity and
is filled with rage, he promises to kill his ex-police partner, he begins to see red.

7.2 Prologue:
At the very beginning of the game the player will see the protagonist going at full
speed on a small spaceship crashing into a mothership. After fighting his way
through different rooms he finds a person that, shown by the cinematics, the
protagonist is eager to kill. During the fight, the core of the mothership explodes,
knocking the protagonist unconscious.

When he wakes up, he notices two things: the enemy from before disappeared
(which he assumes, died), and the other thing is that his left arm is missing. The
explosion from before caused a lot of damage on him and took his arm with it. The
protagonist slowly traverses the mothership looking for a way out, and at the end of
a hallway connected to a Hangar finds a big spaceship which he uses to escape.

Months later we see the protagonist in a garage-looking place, where the player sees
a surgeon full of robotic technology connecting a mechanical arm to the
protagonist, there’s also the detail of the protagonist’s visor not being red. After
doing so, he tells the protagonist to go ahead and try his new arm in the backyard
where he has some robots that look like punching bags. Later on, he goes back
inside the garage, and pays attention to a TV where a news anchor is reporting
something about a really dangerous criminal, after a few seconds they show a
picture of it. The protagonist recognizes the face from the picture, is the guy he
fought in the mothership but he changed, half of his face is robotic probably due to
the explosion of the mothership’s core. The protagonist rages, his mask visor turns
red and immediately calls his spaceship to start his search for vengeance once again.
 10

7.3 Story:
Throughout the game, the player will find various events that show a glimpse of the
protagonist’s past. In these events players will find out about the protagonist's past
and his relationships in order to get to know why he is looking for vengeance.
Some of these events include (but are not limited to) the fact that his wife died from
cancer. How the protagonist took care of his daughter and how they spent time
together. That he worked on the Universal Defense Protocol as a Space Regular
Officer along with a partner. A lot of details help explain the fact that the protagonist,
aside from being filled with rage and hatred towards his ex-police partner, also feels
guilt for not being able to protect his daughter and his wife's last gift, an example of
this is when in Rage Mode in a place with ad screens, the ads changes and show a
new one where the protagonist is standing with a gun, filled with the text “your fault”
and “she is dead”.

7.4 The ending:

When the player gets to the hallway connected to the final boss room having seen all
the story events, a cinematic will happen showing the player running through the
hallway, remembering all the events. After beating the boss the player has two of the
following endings played out:

7.4.1 Fake ending:

If the player beats the final boss without having seen all the story events
(“flashbacks”), he won’t be able to kill the protagonist’s ex-police partner and will
instead see himself badly injured. While this is happening, the target is helped by its
assistants. After this the players will see a computer loading data (showing the
credits) while in the background Hookman is cloning the protagonist.

7.4.2 True ending:

After beating the final boss another cinematic will happen where the player will see
both characters badly injured on the floor. The protagonist stands up and slowly
walks to the enemy, points his gun towards him and, after a second, pulls the trigger,
finally killing it for real. After a few seconds, we see the character landing on his
landing pod in a forest-looking area, holding a box full of stuff on his right arm. The
protagonist, still badly injured, begins walking to the north following a trail and, every
few seconds we see him losing something, first his cloak falls off, then his left arm
follows. At the end of the trail the player sees a grave, the protagonist leaves the box
full of stuff in front of the grave and after a really quiet second, the protagonist takes
his mask off from his face and after a deep breath, he finally begins to see colors
again, lastly he looks up to the sky while the camera goes upward to the sky and
begins to slowly turn white representing that the player is finally at peace, while this
 11

happens players will hear a sound of someone falling to the ground, sound that
helps the players know that the protagonist probably died.

After this the credits roll for the last time and, as a post-credits scene, we see
Hookman creating someone. This time it is not the player, but his robot incarnation.

7.5 Story progression:

In order for the player to progress through the story, he will have to find normal
colored objects scattered through the different ships.

7.5.1 Memorial items:

These items are scattered through all the ships in the game. They have normal colors
instead of being in greyscale, which makes them stand out from the rest of the
scenery. If the player gets close enough to them, the camera will zoom and focus on
the object and the protagonist will make a brief interaction with the item, interaction
that will give the player a clue of what the object could mean for the protagonist and
its past. Once interacted with, the object won't appear again until a tier from the
memory locker is filled.

7.5.2 Memory locker:

The memory locker is a storage inside the player’s spaceship where the memorial
items found in the playthroughs are stored. The memory locker is divided by three
tiers, each one with 11 slots. Every time the player obtains a new memorial item, a
light from the current tier turns on in order to show the progress. When a tier is fully
completed, along with an achievement pop up to show the player’s progress, all the
memorial items will start appearing again but this time they’ll have it’s appearance
changed to a damaged version, and later on, to a destroyed version.

Once all three tiers have been filled, the player will be able to complete the game
and unlock the true ending.
 12

8. Game progression
8.1 Cloning Machine:
I See Red is a hard game and dying will return players to Hookman’s house, meaning
that they’ll have to start a new run from scratch. To balance this, players will be able
to upgrade the protagonist permanently, becoming stronger with every run..

During ship raids, players can find cloning machine points called “Printing Matter”
which is a currency used to buy upgrades for the Cloning Machine in order to make
the protagonist's next clone stronger than previous ones.

These upgrades are divided into four categories which are:

● Body: Upgrades the player's physical body for more Physical Strength,
Damage Reduction, Movement Speed, etc.
● Arm: Upgrades the player’s mechanical arm for faster charges, increased heal
from Brutal Murders, etc.
● Rage: Upgrades the player’s Rage Mode for better stats benefits, duration and
faster charges, etc.
● Gun: Upgrades the player’s Infinite Pistol to increase its critical chance,
reduced cooldown, etc.

Once all the upgrades have been acquired, the remaining Printing Matter can be
used to purchase extras from Hookman.

8.2 Hookman:
The player can purchase different game modes using Printing Matter. For example,
higher difficulties, modifiers to the player’s abilities, and so on. Completing a run in a
mode unlocks an achievement.

8.3 Achievements:
I See Red is filled with tons of achievements, every achievement unlocks more
content in order to make future runs more varied:
● Passives.
● Skills.
● Enemies.
● Ships.
● Weapons.
● Consumables.