GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT

Table of contents
Game overview ..................................................................................................................... 3
High concept ......................................................................................................................... 3
Unique selling points ............................................................................................................. 3
Synopsis ............................................................................................................................... 3
Game objectives ................................................................................................................... 4
Game mechanics .................................................................................................................. 4
Game structure ..................................................................................................................... 5
Gameplay ............................................................................................................................. 5
Game controls ............................................................................................................................................................... 5
Game camera ................................................................................................................................................................. 6
HUD ................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Story .................................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Quest ................................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Player ................................................................................................................................. 10
Player character .........................................................................................................................................................10
Player’s stats ................................................................................................................................................................10
Player’s states..............................................................................................................................................................10
Player’s skills ...............................................................................................................................................................11
Equipment........................................................................................................................... 11
Weapons ........................................................................................................................................................................11
Weapon Stats ...............................................................................................................................................................11
Ranged Weapon Stats..........................................................................................................................................12
Melee Weapon Stats .............................................................................................................................................12
Weapon accessories..................................................................................................................................................12
Consumables................................................................................................................................................................12
Resources ......................................................................................................................................................................13
Structures ........................................................................................................................... 13
Enemies (NPC) ................................................................................................................... 13
Zombie............................................................................................................................................................................14
Types of zombies .......................................................................................................................................................14
Zombie Stats ................................................................................................................................................................14
Zombie generation ....................................................................................................................................................15
Human ............................................................................................................................................................................15
Enemy states................................................................................................................................................................15
Missions .............................................................................................................................. 15
Camp upgrade .................................................................................................................... 16
Craft .................................................................................................................................... 16
Survivors ............................................................................................................................. 16
Art ....................................................................................................................................... 17
Universe .........................................................................................................................................................................17
Level design .................................................................................................................................................................17
Graphic orientation ...................................................................................................................................................17
Audio ...............................................................................................................................................................................17
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) .......................................................................................... 18
Wishlist ............................................................................................................................... 18
Game overview
Title: Code Z (Provisional)
Platform: PC
Gender: Third person shooter
Graphic orientation: Low poly
Rating: 18+
Target: Casual gamer (aged 18 - 30)
Technology: Unity
Multiplayer: No
References: Overkill’s The Walking Dead, State of Decay

Code Z is a third-person shooter where the player controls a survivor who finds
himself in an apocalyptic environment overrun by zombies. The player must survive
by finding other survivors, fortifying a camp, collecting resources and eliminating the
zombies that have invaded this world.

High concept
Code Z places the player in an urban environment attacked by zombies. Fight with
your weapons, use your equipment as your traps to overcome the trials that make
you do. Fortify a camp and improve it, find allies to help you and rebuild a world in
the hell around you.

Unique selling points

● Stunning particle effects
● Unique story
● Dynamic between action and exploration

Synopsis
The civilized world no longer exists. You are one of the few survivors of the zombie
apocalypse. You are surrounded by this wandering menace. You have no choice, to
survive you must fight.
Game objectives
The objective of the game is to build a camp, improve it by collecting resources
during expeditions, save and rally survivors to your cause while eliminating any
threat to this world. To achieve this the player performs various missions.

Game mechanics
The game takes place in an indoor and outdoor urban environment but also in its
surroundings (See Art).
The player starts a mission from the game map (See Missions).
The player can configure his equipment before going on a mission (See Player's
Inventory).
The player has a skill tree that allows him to improve his character's abilities (See
Player’s skills).
The player moves in order to perform different tasks.
The player encounters zombies and hostile individuals that he will have to ignore or
face to continue on his way.
The player can defeat his enemies using various hand-to-hand or ranged weapons
and other equipment available (See Weapons).
A noise gauge is filled according to the actions of the player. A high gauge attracts
the attention of surrounding zombies.
Each enemy has a different behavior and will try to defeat the player (See Enemies).
The player can collect resources and equipment from enemies and in the world (See
Resources).
Resources allow you to improve your character, your camp (See Camp upgrade)
and make equipment (See Craft).
By killing enemies or completing missions, the player gains experience which allows
him to unlock skills.
By completing a mission, the player can obtain a survivor that he can use in his
camp.
The player can send his survivors on an exploration mission to recover resources
(See Survivors).
The player can make his survivors work in his camp to improve his camp, craft
equipment or obtain additional bonuses.
Game structure

Gameplay

Game controls
- Move
- Attack
- Roll
- Crouch
- Jump
- Walking mode
- Interact
- Weapon switch
- Utility 1
- Utility 2
- Utility 3
Game camera
The camera is focused on the player and follows him. The camera is fixed and does
not rotate with the player. The camera has a 2.5D view perspective.

HUD
Player life
Indicates the player's life.

Stamina
Indicates player's stamina.

Weapon and ammo

Indicates the equipped weapon and its ammo.

Consumables
Indicates consumables the player has and can use.

Noise level
Indicates the amount of noise the player emits.
Description of the mission
Indicates the current mission.

Story
The game is set 10 days after the uprising, by which time the zombie invasion was
out of control.
You play a young character who finds himself alone in this apocalyptic world.
You are out of resources and need to find shelter.
During your journey, you encounter hostile individuals. Fortunately, not everyone has
gone mad in this hellhole and you manage to find survivors to join your clan.
Together, you build a camp to survive and work to make your environment safer.
Between exploration missions, you have to defend your camp against zombie
attacks or hostile clan humans. This leads you to have to eliminate this human threat
which makes your daily life even more complicated. You seek to understand the
origin of this chaos and if the whole world is concerned.

Quest
Quests allow you to progress in the story, unlock content and earn rewards.
A quest system that allows you to receive and complete quests.
A menu contains all of the player's current quests.
In a mission the quests of the mission are displayed in a panel on the right of the
screen.
A quest contains:
- The location of the quest
- A title
- Description
- A list of objectives (Examples: Kill 10 zombies / Defend a position / Collect an
object / Complete an objective/mission)
- A reward list (Examples: Materials / Money / Mission unlocks / Feature unlocks)
Player

Player character
The player controls a character.
The player can customize his character through a character panel.
The player has an inventory where he stores his equipment, his materials, his
resources.
When the player walks, runs, shoots, does an action it produces noise which
increases the noise level of the player.
You can equip 3 weapons on you:
- A primary weapon
- A secondary weapon
- A melee weapon

Player’s stats
The player has stats like life, stamina, movement speed and noise level. Player gear
can affect stats.

Player’s states
Idle: The idle state is a cyclic animation where the character waits. It is played when
the character stands still.
Walk: The walking state makes the character walk. It is triggered when the character
moves while walking.
Run: The running state causes the character to run. It is triggered when the
character moves while running.
Jump: The jump state causes the character to jump. It is triggered when the
character jumps.
Crouch: The crouching state crouched the character. It is triggered when the
character crouches.
CrouchWalk: The walking crouch state causes the character to walk while
crouched. It is triggered when the character walks while crouched.
Roll: The roll state makes a roll forward of the character. It is triggered when the
character rolls.
Climb: The climbing state allows the character to climb an obstacle. It is triggered
when the character climbs.
Death: The death state causes the character to die. It is triggered when his life
reaches zero.
Player’s skills
The player has access to a skill tree allowing him to choose tactical choices on his
character. He can for example choose to be quieter, have better health regeneration,
have more stamina but also to unlock abilities.

Equipment

Weapons
There are several different weapons to fight.

Weapon Description

Mass Allows you to inflict melee damage on

the target

Ax Allows you to inflict melee damage on

the target

Chain saw Allows you to inflict melee damage on

the target

Sword Allows you to inflict melee damage on

the target

Pistol Fires a projectile at the target to inflict

damage

Assault rifle Fires a projectile at the target to inflict

damage

Shotgun Fires a projectile at the target to inflict

damage

Sniper rifle Fires a projectile at the target to inflict

damage

Rocket launcher Fires a projectile at the target to inflict

damage

Flamethrower Projects flames towards the target to

inflict damage

Weapon Stats
Weapons have different stats depending on whether they are ranged or melee
weapons.
Ranged Weapon Stats
Shoot clip: List of sounds when the weapon fires.
Reload clip: Sound when the weapon is reloading. (start / end)
Damage: Amount of damage inflicted on the target.
Fire rate: Delay between each shot.
Max ammo: Maximum amount of ammunition in a magazine.
Current ammo: Amount of ammunition in the current magazine.
Reload time: Weapon reload time.
Attack range: Maximum shooting distance. (After this distance, the projectile should
disappear and no longer be able to reach a target, inflict damage. Example: the
attack range of a shotgun is very small compared to an assault rifle.)
Lifetime: Duration from which the projectile disappears by itself. (Based on attack
range. The projectile disappears once the maximum attack range is reached.)
Projectile speed: Speed at which the projectile travels.

Melee Weapon Stats

Attack clip: List of sounds when the player uses his weapon. (Example: player
noise.)
Damage: Amount of damage inflicted on the target.
Attack rate: Delay between each attack.
Attack range: Animation based.
Attack angle: Animation based.
Attack speed: Animation based.
The particularity of melee weapons is to be able to hit several targets in front of you
in an arc.

Weapon accessories
Weapons can be customized with accessories.

Accessory Description

Aim Scope Increases accuracy

Silencer Reduces weapon noise

Electric wire Allows electrocution

Consumables
Consumable Description

Health kit Restores an amount of life

 Drink Restores an amount of stamina

Ammo Allows you to fire with a weapon

Grenade Explodes and inflicts damage in the

target area

Molotov cocktail Burns and inflicts damage in the target

area

Barbed wire Inflicts damage on contact

Electric wire Inflicts damage on contact

Firecracker Produces noise in the target area

Resources
The player gets resources by completing missions or scavenging.

Name Description

Scrap Used to improve the camp and make

crafts

Provision Used to complete survivor missions

Equipment Used to improve the camp and make

crafts

Medicine Used to heal a sick survivor

Structures
The player can build structures that give an advantage on the field:
- Turret
- Barricade

Enemies (NPC)
The enemies are in the environment. They wander in search of the player or are
waiting.
When an enemy detects the player, he can warn those around him.
When an enemy attacks the player, it produces an amount of damage depending on
its type and its possible equipment.
Zombie

Zombies detect the player primarily by noise which directs them to the noise source.
The player can pick up loot from zombies.

Types of zombies
There are different types of zombies:
- Empty
- Bomber

Each type of zombie has its own stats and effects. The Bomber inflicts damage over
time.

Zombie Stats
Zombies have different stats.
Attack clip: Sound when the zombie is attacking. (Example: zombie noise.)
Walk clip: Sound when the zombie is walking.
Death clip: Sound when the zombie is dead.
Hit clip: Sound when the zombie take hit.
Health: Zombie health.
State: Zombie current state.
Speed: Movement speed.
Detection radius: Player detection radius.
Damage: Amount of damage inflicted on the target.
Attack rate: Delay between each attack.
Attack range: Animation based.
Attack angle: Animation based.
Attack speed: Animation based.
The particularity of melee attack is to be able to hit several targets in front of you in
an arc.

Zombie generation
In case of high noise gauge zombies can appear from the edge of the game level
and swarm the player. The rate is defined according to the noise level.

Human
Humans detect the player by noise which directs them to the noise source.
Humans detect the player by their line of sight if the player is in it. Humans have
varied equipment which makes their abilities different.

Enemy states
All enemies have the same behavior and states, as described below:
Idle: The idle state is a cyclic animation where the character waits. It is played when
the player is dead or the character remains stationary.
Walk: The walking state makes the character walk. It is triggered when the character
moves while walking.
Run: The running state causes the character to run. It is triggered when the
character moves while running.
Death: The death state causes the character to die. It is triggered when his life
reaches zero.

Missions
Different types of missions exist:
Defense mission: The player must defend a position against a zombie or human
attack. He can build defensive elements.
Recovery mission: The player must go in search of objects to recover.
Assassination mission: The player must eliminate a determined target.
Rescue Mission: The player must rescue survivors.
Camp upgrade
The player can upgrade their camp using resources they collect.
Improving the camp allows you to unlock certain infrastructures, offer more
possibilities for manufacturing equipment and unlock the world map to have access
to more missions.

Craft
Crafting allows the player to craft equipment using scavenged resources such as:
- Grenades
- Traps
- Accessories

Survivors
The player can send his survivors on missions for provisions.
A mission can bring back resources or equipment.
A mission has a success rate based on the number of survivors assigned.
A survivor can come back sick or die if the mission fails.
A survivor can be assigned to a workstation. A workstation gives a bonus to your
character such as accelerated health regeneration, improved stealth, the ability to
have critical health heals.

Art

Universe
The game takes place in an urban environment and its surroundings including
forests in an apocalyptic atmosphere where death reigns.

Level design
The levels consist of urban environments but also forestry (houses, garages,
restaurants, etc.). Obstacles (vehicles, holes, etc.) limit the player's movements.
Enemies are scattered in this environment at pre-established points.
Mission objectives can be found in this environment (vehicles, resources, etc.). The
player has to interact with it to progress in his mission.

Graphic orientation
The game adopts a low poly graphics orientation.
The game uses Synty Studios “POLYGON - Apocalypse Pack” graphic asset pack.
The game uses Synty Studios “POLYGON - Nature Pack” graphic asset pack.
The game uses the "POLYGON - Particle FX Pack" from Synty Studios to produce
a quality particle system.

Audio
Music and ambient sounds are present.
Sounds are present in particular for the following elements:
- Human
- Zombie
- Weapon
- Consumable
- User interface
- Structure
- Interaction
MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
- Playable player character
- Playable enemy
- One playable game level
- Build for PC

Wishlist
- Addition of ally during mission
- Added possibility of vehicle use
- Added multiplayer mode
- Added other types of missions (Car Race / Zombie Crush)