Star Wars: Holocron Design Document

Copyright © 2015 - Kessel Run Studios - All Rights Reserved

Design Document for:

Star Wars:Holocron

“The next great promotional app!”

All work Copyright ©2015 by Kessel Run Studios

Written by Jason Lang, Oliver Marras, Taylor King and Tristan Atkins

Version # 1.00

Friday, July 10, 2015


Table of Contents

High Concept BriefDesign Document - Version HistoryGame Flow OverviewGame Mechanics

ContextGameplayMicrotransactionsPrototype Mechanics Flowchart

AestheticsOverviewVisualsAudioMenus and Application flowUI & Feature DesignUI & Feature Art - Original art by Tristan AtkinsGame Art - Original art by Oliver Marras

Technical RequirementsConnectivityDevice StorageScreen ResolutionCPUCamera

Style GuideReferences

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High Concept Brief

Holocron is an app to promote the upcoming film Star Wars: the Force Awakens. Its goal is to reinvigorate the existing fanbase of the Star Wars universe while bringing in new fans with its gameplay and social media aspects. We hope that the app will help to foster excitement for the resurgence of the franchise with the new trilogy of films.

● Build momentum for the return of the Star Wars franchise.● Celebrate the legacy of the original films.● Fantasy - Immersing people into a unique rich universe.● Provide a place to interact with other fans.● Resurgence - make star wars big again.

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Design Document - Version History

Version 0.1 (30/6/15)● First Draft of document● High Concept, Gameplay Mechanics, UI Feature Design dot-pointed

Version 0.2 (3/7/15)● High Concept, Gameplay Mechanics, Aesthetics, Microtransactions,

summarised.

Version 0.3 (7/7/15)● Title Page and formatting established.● Review of document comprehension.● Edits created for Second Draft.

Version 0.4 (9/7/15)● UI Design art added.

Version 1.00 (10/7/15)● Game Flow Overview defined, revised.● Mini-Game Art added

Version 2.00 (18/08/15)● Updated information about screens

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Game Flow Overview

The Trench Run mini game is played on a mobile device, players will only play the game within short periods ranging from 5 - 20min. Players will usually confine themselves to this window of playtime due to limitations of the battery life of a mobile device. It is difficult for a player to enter a “flow” state while playing mobile games; because of mobile as a platform, user’s are on the go when playing and have a lot more distractions than say a professional esports player.

However, on the off chance the player has an extended period of play (1 hour +) than average a flow state is possible and likely due to the following factors.The mini game itself is a challenging and immersive experience. The trench run is a infamous track that claims even the best of pilots, so the aspect of completing the run successfully is alluring to the player. And it is not just the player who is trying to get the best score on the trench run, with the use of world wide leaderboards and connections with Facebook friends, players can easily compare scores and strive to beat their friends scores for a never ending battle of skill and fame.

The mini game is challenging in regards to what players have to individually keep track of what is on the screen at any given time. Players over time will learn and study patterns and with this natural progression the game itself will increase the difficulty to still provide challenge to the player, inducing a “flow” state due to concentration and lack of outside stimuli.

Average play sessions of the Trench Run sequence will take an average of 5 minutes depending on player skill. Incentives for players to come back to the game are things such as player rewards to unlock unique ships as well as bettering their score against opposing players and contributing to overall faction score. Increasing their position on the global leaderboard also warrants prestige and fame for the player's individual score to compare with friends and other players. The lifetime achievement of blowing up the Death Star successfully will grant the player a celebration AR video of the player dressed as a Red pilot and celebrating with the rest of the squadron. This

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video can also be shared with friends for exclusive bragging rights and encourage others who don’t already own the app to give it a try.

Game Mechanics Context

Star Wars: Holocron includes a mini-game which perfectly emulates the famous trench run scene from Star Wars: A New Hope. This defining moment of Episode IV is the climax to the film where Luke Skywalker and the other red pilots explode the Death Star and land a devastating blow against the Empire instilling hope within the rebel cause.

Gameplay

The mini-game allows players and fans alike the ability to be able to experience the pivotal scene that solidified Luke as a hero, and let’s players vicariously be able to insert themselves into this sci-fi/fantasy story.

The mini game is a runner set within the confines of the Death Star trench leading players towards the reactor core of the space station. The goal is to survive as long as you can until they reach the “Window of Opportunity”. Once players are within firing range to launch their photon torpedoes they will have the chance to blow up the Death Star and win the game.

Players will be able to move between three “Lanes”. This type of movement will allow you to avoid terrain obstacles, incoming energy blasts as well as incoming enemy TIE fighters. Players can fire with their own ship to destroy the TIE fighters to gain points as well as contributing to a meter that when filled will give the player access to their wingmen. The “Wingman” ability will give players the chance to call in help from other red pilots. These pilots will fill in the other 2 lanes allowing players to fire in all 3 lanes at once for a set amount of time.

Strategically, this ability is useful for players who feel under pressure and need a period of respite to get back in control of the situation. Your wingman will actually be selected from your Facebook friends list, and will also take use of their individual ship types as well as their chosen skins visually represented in your own game.

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Microtransactions

Microtransactions are available within the app in the context of the mini game itself. Players will have access to paid content that is purely cosmetic, there is no pay-to-win model being used. Item’s that are available for purchase are things such as ship skins for each of the various types of spaceships that you unlock through playing the game.

Player’s will also be able to purchase different helmet types for their pilots as well as skin variants for those helmets as well. The aim of the app is purely promotional for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and any profits made from the mini game will go only to serve as a return on development costs.

Prototype Mechanics Flowchart

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Aesthetics Overview

The overall aesthetic is to be designed to adhere to the classic Star Wars aesthetic. From colour choices, visuals, audio and music, to fonts and layouts, everything must be selected to instantly create brand recognition that this is a Star Wars product.

VisualsThe Main-Menu and all backgrounds will feature a starfield. This imagery is synonymous with the beginning or finale of a Star Wars film, users will experience a similar sensation of excitement and satisfaction.

Holocron will be using the same fonts as used in the original trilogy and The Force Awakens.

● The Star Wars Logo ™ , known as Star Wars Jedi Hollow● ITC Serif Gothic for titles. It is featured in The Force Awakens title and

original 1977 posters.● Franklin Gothic Book and other fonts from the Franklin Gothic family for

general text. This is used in the opening blue text of Star Wars films and in the yellow opening crawl which follows.

Audio

Audio used within the app will include all original tracks from the trilogy's score composed by John Williams. When the app is opened the ‘Star Wars theme’ plays initially, then loops ‘Luke’s Theme’. The mini-game itself will have tracks playing such as ‘Imperial Attack’ and ‘The Battle of Yavin’. These musical scores will increase the level of tension players will experience as well as bring an air of nostalgia to long time Star Wars fans. All sound effects were taken from the Star Wars Archives so that every laser blast and Tie Fighter sounded genuine to the original films. With the support from Industrial Light & Magic every sound is original and memorable.

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Menus and Application flow

The app will initially have a splash screen with the logo of the film, the Holocron insignia and a large Holocron visual logo. On tapping the screen, the logo will fade out, leaving the Force Awakens logo and the main menu. Tapping the Star Wars logo again will fade out the menu, revealing the logo again as a “screensaver’ effect.

The main menu links to 8 sections: ● the photo gallery● the video viewer for the trailers● the mini-game hub● the quiz main screen● Cinema session times screen● Social media feed● Augmented Reality screen● Setting screen

Transition Types

Each transition away from the main menu will use the “Pop” transition. Transitions back to the main menu should use a “dissolve” transition. Images, videos and screens which are naturally serialized (such as the quiz questions) or would use a

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“swipe” gesture, should use a slide left / slide right transition types). Screens which are a “reveal” such as the answers to the quiz questions should use a dissolve. For screens where dissolve does not adequately convey the transition has occurred, a Pop transition should be used instead.

App Features

The game is featured above. The other main complex feature of the app is the quiz. Each week a new quiz will be uploaded. The quiz will consist of a series of questions.

UI Design

The main heading font is Monoton, 60 point in bright yellow, with a black background. The main font for buttons and text is Didact Goth, 36 point.

Our app will be mostly prorate design throughout the app this is so it can be easy to use while sitting or standing more for convenience for users the only part of this app that’s necessary to go landscape is the promotional content and game. These parts of the app must be in landscape for the ease of swiping gesture to move in the Game and scroll through the promo material. Originally the app was planned to be developed with a graphical icons and to eschew text labels. However due to time constraints and usability design considerations, these assets were not used in the final design. A signature Star Wars yellow-on-black design was used for control buttons.

The reason why we originally planned to use icons instead of plain text buttons is so we don’t lose the feel of the app with plain text and each icon represents its function.

· Arrow -to return to previous page· Helmet- The Ar photo function for the game· Medal- Leaderboard scores for the game· Death Star-To play the game· Holocron- to start the quiz· Cross Guard Lightsaber- to view promo content

Official twitter feed on the bottom mid for easy to see constant updates of the movie

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Quiz Flow Chart

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UI & Feature Art - Original art by Tristan Atkins

Main Menu Icons and layout. Screenshot of twitter feed integration.

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Game Art - Original art by Oliver Marras

In-game screenshot demonstrating models and textures, fxs, basic instructions and ‘Wingmen’ ability bar.

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Technical RequirementsConnectivity

● Wifi or 3G mobile connectivity is required for social elements of play, and to conduct in-game purchasing.

Device Storage

● 50 MB of storage is required for the app. Additional storage may be required for video and trailer data.

Screen Resolution

● The app is designed to play on a screen of at least 1136 by 640 pixels, the resolution of the iPhone 5s.

CPU

● A dual core 1.0GHz or greater is required for play. 1.5GHz or greater is recommended.

Camera

● A video-capable camera is required to utilize the AR features of the app. Preferably at least a 1.3 Megapixel camera.

Style GuideHeading Size: Monoton 60Button text: Didact Goth 36Font COlour-Hex: e7d901All screens to use 750 x 1334 screen resolution

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References

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens Official Site. (n.d.). Retrieved 10 July 2015, from http://www.starwars.com/the-force-awakens/

Prototype (Invision)

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http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Rebel_Alliance_starship_classes

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http://www.smallartworks.ca/Gallery/Starwars/sw.html

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YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erLk59H86ww

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YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngElkyQ6Rhs

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● · TIE/LN starfighter/Canon. (n.d.). Retrieved 21 August 2015, from

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● · #bwing. (n.d.). Retrieved 21 August 2015, from http://www.deviantart.com/tag/bwing

● · #z95. (n.d.). Retrieved 21 August 2015, from http://www.deviantart.com/tag/z95

Disclaimer

Original Art is noted by artist’s name.

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Documents

Star Wars: Holocron Design Document