Game Design - Ten Page Game Concept: Trader Scum!

Well, I've finally put together a mini ten page document covering one of my game ideas; it can be viewed below. Oh, and please don't feel intimidated by my obvious graphical prowess and mastery of primary school colouring techniques - illustration is not an area I intend to try and get into at any point in my life. 

PC/Online

Target Age: 18-30

Rating: PEGI 16 (for potential suggestive scenarios and drug use)

Story

After investment company ‘Lars N.E.’ start struggling, their ambitious new trader is made redundant. With £1,000 in their pocket and a cardboard box full of stolen office stationery, this trader vows to start their own investment company and obliterate ‘Lars N.E.’. They build a rapidly expanding company from humble beginnings where no method – no matter how illegal or morally bankrupt – is dismissed.

Game Flow

The trader will be a fully customisable avatar; the player can choose their name, age, gender, sexuality and appearance. They won’t need to know anything about the world of trading, as optional help and tutorials will be on hand to guide them through the different trading features as and when they become available.

The game is split into time increments of Continuous Trading Hours (8am-4:30pm) and Market Close Hours (4:35pm-8am). During Continuous Trading, the player trades their available capital on the LSE. At this time they are also able to peruse market reports on commodities and general news to make an informed choice on what will net them the most money. During Market Close, the player schmoozes potential investors to gather more capital to trade. Sleep? There’s no need for that; you’re a Trader, you have cocaine!

As the player makes more money, they will be able to purchase membership to different markets and Multilateral Trading Facilities, as well as hire analysts who can provide more accurate data on the best investment opportunities. There will also be several opportunities to advance in less than scrupulous ways: investing in ethically dubious companies, blackmailing clients and rivals, even illegal practises such as Insider Trading will be available – at a high risk. Eventually the player will be in a position to absorb their previous employer, ‘Lars N.E.’; how they choose to handle this will impact the ending.

‘Elevator’ Pitch

Civilisation series meets Theme Park, with a dollop of morality choices.

Player Character

A. Nother

This is the main character which the player can customise in the following ways:

• Name – whichever name the player types in will be used in all the text dialogue.
• Gender – Male or Female
• Sexuality – Heterosexual, Bisexual, Homosexual. This choice will only affect which gender strippers will cause you the biggest scandal; any behaviour that runs counter to your choice will cause a greater scandal than behaviour that matches it. If the player chooses Bisexual, this doesn’t apply.
• Skin colour – from a pre-defined palette
• Face shape – from a pre-defined set
• Nose shape – from a pre-defined set
• Hair colour – from a pre-defined palette
• Hair style – from a pre-defined set
• Eye colour – from a pre-defined palette.
• Body type – from a pre-defined set.
• Suit – from a pre-defined set. The colour can be altered from a pre-defined palette.

The character is controlled using the mouse. For those screens where the character appears in first person (such as the office), a cursor will be used to select objects and characters that the player can interact with; these will all have their own prescribed set of actions which can be performed. In screens where the character appears in the third person (such as Schmooze Central), a representative figure will walk to whichever object or character is selected; the cursor will still be used to select appropriate actions.

Gameplay Style

The game will work as a point-and-click adventure on a number of single screens with fixed cameras. When the player hovers their cursor over a character that can be interacted with, a series of options will be displayed. They could be one or several of the following:

• Talk
• Examine
• Get information
• Give item
• Bribe
• Blackmail
• Photograph

When the player hovers their cursor over an object that can be interacted with, a series of options will be displayed. They could be one or several of the following:

• Examine
• Enter
• Exit

All options for purchasing (and hiring) will be clearly displayed on the HUD with labelled buttons:

All available trading options will be displayed on the ‘Markets’ website, along with a short tutorial introduction to each technique (this tutorial can be skipped):

Game World

The game is set in an unnamed financial district. The player has an office, and can travel to two areas of the city; Shopping Heaven and Schmooze Central.

The office is where all the trading, research and recruitment takes place. This environment starts out dank and threadbare; the more money the player makes, the better facilities they can hire and the more ostentatious the office will appear.

Shopping Heaven is a smart city street where all purchases are made; from real estate to sweeteners for clients. The following places can be accessed here (see Game Experience for more details)

• ‘Rat and Mouse’ Real Estate – Where you purchase new office space.
• ‘Whistle and Flute’ Clothing Boutique – Where you purchase new attire and accessories.
• ‘Iron Lung’ Gift Shop – Where you can buy all kids of weird and wonderful things to curry favour with clients or investigators (if you want to take the risk of finding one who’s corrupt).
• Black Cab – This will return the player to the Office screen or take them to Schmooze Central.

Schmooze Central is a pretty, cosmopolitan square where players take clients to convince them to invest with them. The following places can be accessed here (see Game Experience for more details):

• ‘Vino d’Acampo’ Wine Bar – Where you can meet with clients to discuss business modestly.
• ‘Gadzooks’ Restaurant – Where you can meet with clients if you want to create stronger ties.
• ‘Laissez Faire’ Posh Restaurant – Where you can meet clients to both make them feel special and exert your financial prowess.
• ‘Merchant Banker’ Exclusive Member’s Club – When you’ve got enough cash and kudos, you can obtain membership and meet the wealthiest clients here.
• ‘Ginger’s’ Strip Joint – When you can take the pervy clients.
• Black Cab – This will return the player to the Office screen or take them to Shopping Heaven.

The typical movement between hub worlds is as follows:

Game Experience

The player starts with £1000 and a room in a meat packing building. Rent is already paid up for six months, LSE and AIM membership for a year. The objective is to make more money to cover rent and expand your business, until you overtake ‘Lars N.E.’ and are in a position to buy them out. This can be done by:

Investing money on the LSE or AIM

·      The player has access to data on how certain stocks are and have been performing, as well as data on current business news.

·      This information can be used to make a reasonable guess as to what will make money; for example, if stocks in ‘Books ‘R’ Us’ are cheap, and there is a news story on a sudden paperback phenomenon, the chances are that if you invest some money in these stocks, their value will rise dramatically. As your character is not a specialist data analyst, the information they have access to isn’t comprehensive. There will always be risk and random events that can drive a stock price down; the player needs to keep an eye on the news and the markets to circumvent this.

      

      Gaining investors

·      The player has a Raspberry phone which contains contact details for a few potential clients. These people can be charmed or cajoled into investing with you, and you will be able to negotiate a cut of the profits. If you give them a good return on their money, they will recommend you to friends and associates. The more clients you get, and the greater the quality of clients you get; the more money you will have to invest. If you perform badly, you run the risk of losing clients.

• Schmooze Central - The world of entertaining is conveniently located on one single town square. There are a number of places you can meet and negotiate with potential clients.
• ‘Vino d’Acampo’ Wine Bar – The standard, and cheap, way of schmoozing with clients. You can go all out and purchase expensive champagne for everyone if you think it’ll help, or just stick to a pint for your prospective client; just remember not to be too stingy
• ‘Gadzooks’ Restaurant – A little more upmarket than the wine bar; you can impress clients a little more easily, but it will cost more. This is also a good place for repeat meetings.
• ‘Laissez Faire’ Restaurant – for when you really want to impress a client. Again, a lot more costly than the previous options, but you’d be amazed what people will sign up for over a glass of expensive champagne and a plate of stuffed Peruvian Racoon heart.
• ‘Merchant Banker’ Exclusive Member’s Club – When you’ve got enough cash and kudos, the staff of this venue will be falling over themselves to offer you membership. Here you can meet the wealthiest clients and really aim for the big time. Be sure to check the toilets for compromising behaviour if blackmail’s your thing.
• ‘Ginger’s’ Strip Joint – When all else fails, a trip to this famous establishment might be the perfect way to ingratiate yourself with a client. Just be prepared to follow their sexual proclivities and be wary of anyone with a camera phone; you may just become the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons. On the other hand, if you catch a billionaire or celebrity who might want their visit to remain private, then you may be able to nab a new client with just a compromising photograph and a smile.

·      Dirty Tricks

      Nice guys always finish last, or so they say. The player can avoid this by bending the rules, or even outright breaking them. Say you decide to schmooze some clients in a seedy bar, and catch a well-known multi-millionaire and family man motorboating a twenty year old lap dancer called Crystal? You can take some sneaky photos on your Raspberry and persuade him to invest with you in return for not leaking them to the press. Maybe you get some insider information on a huge takeover bid and use it illegally to play the stock market? All these options are available to the player and will potentially net them huge money, but at great risk. That multi-millionaire may tail them and return the favour when the player is at their peak, leaving them at his mercy. That illegal insider trade might look suspicious, and could land them in jail (and that is an instant Game Over). Risk versus reward is the name of the game.

      In-Game economy

·      The player will also have access to:

•       ‘Rat and Mouse’ real estate - where office rentals appear. Your current dive costs £500 per month; the most expensive office blocks in the heart of the City are £10,000 per month.
•       ‘Uncle Bob’s’ recruitment - where you can place advertisements for job positions or approach prospective employees who have profiles on the website. A fresh out of university data analyst would have a salary of £1,500 per month, a senior data analyst with 15+ years’ experience would have a salary of £8,000 per month. You get what you pay for.
•       ‘Markets’ website - shows all the markets and MTFs you can possibly trade on throughout the game. The player starts off with automatic membership to LSE and AIM. Every £5,000 they make unlocks another market. The cheapest membership is LSE and AIM combined at £1,000 per month. The most expensive is NYSE at £10,000 per month. MTFs are more expensive – the cheapest is £2,000 per month, the priciest is £20,000 per month. The more expensive the market, the greater the rewards you can make.
•       ‘Whistle and Flute’ Clothing Boutique - where you can buy new suits and accessories to make yourself look the part. Sure, £5,000 on a gold-plated Growlex watch with a built-in compass may seem excessive, but some clients will be more willing to hand over their money to someone who seems to have enough to waste.

      Once the player has made a reasonable amount of money, they can afford nicer office space, which attracts more influential clients; as clients become available, they are added to your contact book. They can also hire staff, such as data analysts, who can improve the accuracy of trading information and thus guarantee better returns on investments. However, even with the best staff and most accurate analyses, the player can lose money. Natural disasters, unexpected crashes, surprise takeovers; all of these and more can destroy your investment. If the player always has a reserve of cash in the bank, they can recover from these.

      How to Win

·      Make lots of money, retain lots of clients, and gain a good reputation for making money.

      How to Lose

·      Go broke and lose all your clients; even by getting arrested if you’ve been involved in any illegal activities.

Interface

The first screen the player encounters is the Character Editor. Here, they can change their name, appearance and pick their first suit. They also get to pick a sexuality; this is important purely for blackmailing purposes. For example; if you identify as heterosexual, but are caught near a same-sex stripper (because you go with the stripper your client wants), that becomes more scandalous than if you were caught with one of the opposite sex (and vice versa!). Of course, if you identify as bi-sexual, then that gradient won’t apply.

Once a character has been created, the opening cutscene detailing the premise is shown. Then the player reaches the Office screen. This screen provides is static and has a first person view; it is essentially the main hub of the game, and provides you with access to:

• Raspberry phone – The trader’s best friend. This pocket device gives you access to potential clients, current affairs news, and information on the stock exchange. You can access this at any point in the game.
• ‘Markets’ website – Where you can access any of the markets you have membership to in order to buy/sell stocks and shares, as well as purchase additional memberships (see ‘Investing’).
• ‘Uncle Bob’s’ recruitment site – Where you can place job advertisements, or search for potential employees.
• Schmooze Central Exit – A door which takes you to Schmooze Central
• Shopping Heaven Exit – A door which takes you to Shopping Heaven

The Office screen will change depending on what type of real estate you are renting. At the start of the game, this is a small room in a meat packing building. The more expensive the office you rent, the grander this screen will appear. As you hire staff, they will appear in this screen at their own desk. If you click on them, you will be able to converse with them as follows:

• Data Analyst – Will give you information on recommended investments as well as any investments that are looking shaky; this information can be downloaded to your Raspberry.
• Personal Assistant – Will provide you with a schedule to meet with clients, additional personal information on existing and prospective clients, and access to illegal substances (these can be used to woo certain clients).

If the player selects the Schmooze Central Exit, they end up in Schmooze Central:   

• This screen is a picturesque town square in isometric static view. There are a number of places you can meet and negotiate with potential clients. All buildings (and vehicles) which can be interacted with will display their name and brief function when the cursor is placed over them. The following options are available here:
• ‘Vino d’Acampo’ Wine Bar – Where you can meet with clients to discuss business modestly.
• ‘Gadzooks’ Restaurant – Where you can meet with clients if you want to create stronger ties.
• ‘Laissez Faire’ Posh Restaurant – Where you can meet clients to both make them feel special and exert your financial prowess.
• ‘Merchant Banker’ Exclusive Member’s Club – When you’ve got enough cash and kudos, you can obtain membership and meet the wealthiest clients here.
• ‘Ginger’s’ Strip Joint – When you can take the pervy clients.
• Black Cab – This will returns the player to the Office screen.

If the player selects the Shopping Heaven Exit, they end up in Shopping Heaven:

• This screen is a typical city street in isometric static view. All buildings (and vehicles) which can be interacted with will display their name and brief function when the cursor is placed over them. The following options are available here:
• ‘Rat and Mouse’ Real Estate – Where you purchase new office space.
• ‘Whistle and Flute’ Clothing Boutique – Where you purchase new attire and accessories.
• ‘Iron Lung’ Gift Shop – Where you can buy all kids of weird and wonderful things to curry favour with clients or investigators (if you want to take the risk of finding one who’s corrupt).
• Black Cab – This will returns the player to the Office screen.

Investing

All investing actions will be done through the ‘Markets’ website. The player will have their available funds, and they will be able to access any exchanges they are members of.

At the start of the game, the player will be able to buy and sell anything on the LSE and AIM markets only. They can keep stock they have bought for as long as they like, but they will only release capital once they sell something at a higher price than they bought it.

They will also be able to complete short-term short selling on the LSE:

·      

• Sell a stock that is currently at a reasonable price, but the player predicts will plummet before Market Close that day.
• Buy the same amount in this stock before Market Close that day – hopefully the player will have been proven right! If not, they’ll be facing a loss.
• As trades are technically completed up to three days after Market Close, player’s accounts will balance.

As further markets are unlocked, other investment techniques and products will become available. These will encompass a variety of low-risk/low reward, medium-risk/medium reward and high-risk/high reward methods. Examples of available techniques are as follows:

•       Pairs trading – Where two related stocks can be traded together to make modest gains no matter how the market turns. The player wants to trade in Coca Cola, but is worried that Pepsi might make more money? Trade in both – you’ll make money regardless of which one triumphs by selling long or short.
•       Iceberg – Not to be found in a salad or sinking Edwardian ships, these are trades where you make a buy/sell for a certain stock, but it is split into several smaller orders. The player may want to do this if they’re dealing with large volumes of stock, so that other traders don’t realise and the market value falls or rises in response.
•       Long Term Short-Selling – Riskier than its short term counterpart, this works in much the same way; except that the player borrows the stock they expect to fall in value, and retain it over a specified period. During the time they are in possession of the stock, the player can sell it at its current value. Once that period expires, the player has to return the stock they have borrowed by purchasing the equivalent amount on the market (they will also have to pay the loan charge). If all goes according to plan, the stock the player buys back will be much cheaper on the market and they will profit. If all doesn’t go according to plan… well, they could be in big trouble.
•       Dark Pools – Be careful when swimming here; the player won’t know who they’re trading with. On the plus side, nobody else will know the player or how much of a product they want to buy or sell. This makes it even easier to shift large volumes of stock while minimising the effect on the market. These only exist in expensive Multilateral Trading Facilities.

Cutscenes

Cutscenes will be represented by simple flash animations where characters will speak in text bubbles. These will be triggered when the player does the following:

•       Wins over a client
•       Loses a client
•       Moves into a new office
•       Hires a new member of staff
•       Blackmails a character
•       Is blackmailed themselves
•       Is arrested
•       Goes bankrupt
•       Gets the chance to take over Lars N.E.