Game Design Document

LITHIUM
1.0

Team Roster

Position Name Signature

Creative Director Angel Rodriguez

Producer Nicolas Duque

Programmer Yang Chen

Programmer Jason Morton

Artist Moudy Hanna

Artist Luke Michels

Executive Producer Gideon Shbeeb

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Document Revision Table

Version Updates Advocate Date

1.0 Initial Document Gideon Shbeeb 03/23/22

1.1 Final Document 05/01/22

Table of Contents
Concept 3
High Concept 3
Game Description 3
Game Goals 3
Game Features 3
Story Synopsis 4
Story 4
Backstory 4
Story 4
Character Stories 5
Ion 5
Ion’s Father 5
Wyatt 5
Sanjay 5
Mimi 5
Lazar 5
Paulus 6
Interface 6
Menu Screen Flowchart 6
HUD 6
Gameplay 7
Metrics 7
Gameplay Minute 7
Overview 7
Player Objectives 8
Gameplay Mechanics 8

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Controls 8
Software Level Systems 9
Object Systems 9
Environment 10
World Overview 10
Level Breakdown 11
Stage 1: Currenton 11
Stage 2: Suburtopia 14
Stage 3: Solar Farms 15

Concept
High Concept
Solving puzzles, exploration of the world, and interactions with strangers inspire
joy, satisfaction, and intrigue.

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Game Description
Game Goals
UBER proposes puzzles that immerse the player in the world and gives the player
a sense of satisfaction after solving them. UBER also introduces dialogue and a
narrative that gets the player invested in Ion’s journey as well as provide a window
through which the player sees how harmful stereotypes can affect people and
apply that to the real world.

Game Features
● 2D action platformer
● Puzzle Progression
● 3D Environment
● Retro Futuristic Aesthetic
● Linear Dialogue System
● Battery Power Mechanics

Story Synopsis
Ion is a helpful, cheery battery who embarks on a journey to help others. He wants
to prove that batteries are safe to be around and become friends with the animal
folk he meets.

Story
Backstory
During a huge technological boom that occurred several generations ago,
batteries were invented by tech conglomerates to help the animals of the world
understand and use new technologies. At the time, there became such high
demand for these “helpers” that a number of companies began to manufacture
them with questionable parts in order to meet the growing demand. This caused
many of the batteries to emit harmful radiation that made many animals sick.
Even after strict regulations were put in place regarding the manufacturing of
batteries a couple years later, the people’s perception of battery-folk was already

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so negative that the demand plummeted, leaving many batteries without homes
or jobs to complete. In the present time, despite batteries being extremely safe for
many decades a majority of animals are still at least wary of their presence.

Story
Ion begins his journey in his hometown of Currenton. Ion leaves his home, and
enters the elevator station to Suburtopia. The guards of the elevator inform Ion
that the elevator is broken. Ion is excited to help, and fixes the elevator using his
battery abilities. Ion travels to “Innovation Apartments” where he encounters a
handyman named Buddy. Buddy needs help solving problems in the various
problems and Ion agrees to help him. Ion fixes the problems of 3 of the inhabitants
before a major power outage disrupts Suburtopia. Curious, Ion moves on to Solar
Farms. He then fixes the generator and is hailed as the hero of the city.

Character Stories

Ion
Ion is a cheerful battery that wants to help others. He is sensitive to people’s
generally negative view of batteries, but doesn’t let that stop him from trying to be
friends with everyone.

Mimi
Mimi is a female cat. She is a streamer and social media influencer. When Ion
arrives, her stream is down and she needs help fixing her internet. She has a
“cutesy” aesthetic and also wears lots of pink and purple in her clothes.

Lazar
Lazar is a male chameleon. He is a pretentious artist who can’t focus on his work
because he is starving. He is starving because his automated, electric,
Bluetooth-enabled biscuit warmer is broken.

Sully
Sully is a male cow. He is the new apartment RA and has unhappy tenants. He is
overwhelmed with the new position and needs help assisting the tenants in the
apartment complex.

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Interface
Menu Screen Flowchart

HUD

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A. Ion’s “System Shock” Meter. Every time Ion uses his Direct Current and AC
Disruption abilities it fills the meter more. The Direct Current fills the meter
at a constant rate while it is active, and the AC Disruption adds a fixed
amount to the bar immediately when it is used. Ion is temporarily stunned
when the bar is filled completely. The System Shock Meter slowly depletes
while none of Ion’s abilities are active.
B. The currently active mission that Ion needs to complete to progress. This is
updated every time Ion completes a task.
C. Textbox that appears when Ion speaks to NPCs.

Gameplay
Metrics

Ion’s Height 1.5 meters (150 cm)

Animal NPC Height 2 meters (200 cm)

1 Unreal Unit (UU) 1 centimeter

Gameplay Minute
The industrial whirs and grinding of gears fills the factory as Ion steps into the
space. He spots the empty fuel cell riding on one of the conveyor belts up above
him, out of reach. A nearby service elevator appears to be able to bring Ion up to
the conveyor belt but the metal switch is in the ‘Off’ position. After he steps into the
cramped elevator, Ion activates his Direct Current power and shoots a beam of
magnetic energy that pushes the switch up into the ‘On’ position. The service
elevator sputters to life and a flickering fluorescent light now illuminates the
immediate space. Lurching upward, the elevator quickly brings Ion up to the
conveyor belt. Once on it, he uses his AC Resistance power to temporarily disable
the moving belt. After it screeches to a halt, Ion can safely traverse the conveyor
belt and grab the fuel cell he needs.

Overview
The player's goal is to solve movement and timing-based puzzles. The rewards
are progression and more NPC interaction for solving them.

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Player Objectives
Level/Stage/Area/Gametype Primary Objectives

Currenton Fix the elevator to Suburtopia

Suburtopia Help all the animals with their problems

Gameplay Mechanics
Ambient Current
An invisible sphere with a diameter of Ion’s height centered on Ion’s position
passively charges certain devices while he is close to them. Ion can use Ambient
Charge to take fuel cells to charging stations and temporarily charge them. When
he leaves the charging station, the charge will deplete completely after 30
seconds.

Direct Current
Ion manifests a sphere that exudes a force away from him. A beam connects the
sphere to Ion. The sphere appears next to Ion. The sphere can be aimed and
moved using Ions Movement keys. While using this ability, Ion cannot move. The
sphere can not move more than 450 UUs away from Ion. Using his Direct Current,
Ion can flip metal switches and push metallic objects that are affected by physics,
such as keys and fuel cells.

AC Disruption
Ion activates the AC Disruption control button while colliding with a device that is
constantly running. The device is deactivated, and a timer of 20 seconds begins
counting down to when the device restarts. Ion can deactivate devices that are
constantly running such as conveyor belts, generators, and gears. This allows him
to move through the environment and time events.

Controls
Jump Space

Move Right D

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Move Left A

Move Backwards W

Move Forwards S

Interact E

Use AC Disruption F

Use Direct Current L-Shift

Pause Menu P

Software Level Systems

● System Shock bar on the HUD
● Stage 1 respawn should Ion fall in the Factory Pit

Object Systems
● NPC dialogue system
● Collectible System Shock bar upgrade
● Items affected by Ion’s Direct Current
● Items affected by Ion’s AC Disruption
● Charging stations that replenish Ion’s System Shock bar

Environment
World Overview

● CURRENTON:
● ION HOMETOWN
● ELEVATOR SUBSTATION
● FACTORY
● CONTROL ROOM

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● SUBURTOPIA
● MAIN LOBBY
● MIMI’S APARTMENT
● LAZAR’S APARTMENT

Level Breakdown
Stage 1: Currenton
Legend:

Top View:

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Neighborhood and Elevator Station Side View:

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Factory, Underground, and Control Room Side View:

The player first exits Ion’s home through the neighborhood and into the elevator
station. After talking to the guards and learning that the elevator is broken, the
player must move backwards into the factory. There, they walk up a flight of stairs
and must traverse a group of conveyor belts. The player must use their AC
Disruption to avoid falling into the pit in the center of the factory. Once to the
switch across the room, the player uses their Direct Current to flip it and open a
secret hatch at the bottom of the factory. This underground tunnel leads to the
control room, where a battery can be charged using Ambient Current. The player
replaces the old broken battery with the new one and returns to the elevator to
ride it up to the next level.

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Stage 2: Suburtopia

Top View:

The player enters from the left into the lobby area of the apartment building. The
player speaks to the animal named Sully in the main lobby. Sully gives the player
the two objectives of helping the tenants in the apartment building. The player
helps both Mimi, who needs Ion’s ambient charge to fix her router, and Lazar, who
needs Ion to platform to grab his biscuit warmer. After completing both tasks, the
player goes back to Sully and completes the game.

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