

Peace Between Us
Peace Between Us is an adventure video game with the theme of exploring and finally escaping from an island.

Design Goal
To offer players great playing experience in this game

Target Audience
People interested in playing adventure type video games
Overview
Genre
Single Player
Third Person
Adventure
Top Down View
World Setting
Small Open World - Island
Factions on Island
Peaceful Primitive Environment
Island Diagram Rough Sketch

Narrative
Backstory
Player landed on the island due to plane crush
+
Player’s initial motives were to help father
(build medical center, search for medicines) and escape from the island
Hero Goal (Final):
As player learn about others on the island, the motives become helping everyone survive
Player's father was sick/wounded
Faction Theme Descriptions
Original Group
It is formed by new arrivals to the island, and it splits into 2 through the half way of game due to conflicting viewpoints.
Different viewpoints:
1. Stay on island for long terms
2. Escape from island as soon as possible
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Break into 2 subgroups:
1. The rule-breaking subgroup
2. The order-structured subgroup
2 Family Feud Factions
They landed on the island together due to cruise ship crash 10 or 20 years ago.
Relationships:
1. Hate each other
2. May fight for resources for survival
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Romeo and Juliet (Antagonists):
1. From each of the family feud faction
2. Got banished from their factions
2. Scare players to join them to revenge
Native Tribe Faction
This is the oldest faction in the island, which is formed centuries prior.
What it is like:
1. Very old and mysterious, like The ‘Aztecs’
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Current situations:
1. The ‘Romeo and Juliet’ character crowned the newest leader
2. Players can get medicine by doing quests for the faction
Overall Factions Organization
1. Original Group (1 faction becomes 2)
(1a) The Rule-Breaking Subgroup
(1b) The Order-Structured Subgroup
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2. Family Feud Factions
(2a) Family 1 (Rule-Breaking - ‘Romeo’)
(2b) Family 2 (Order-Maintaining - ‘Juliet’)
​
3. Native Tribe Faction
(3) Island Natives
Characters
1. 2 Original Groups
(1a) - Person can't stand island life, try to leave as soon as possible
- Leader, break rules
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(1b) - Person live life on island as prior life
- The Wise Man, encourage players to explore backstory of island
- Leader, follow order
2. Family Feud Factions
(2a) - Romeo, banished, becomes antagonist
- Romeo's brother, stand on Romeo's side
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(2b) - Juliet, banished, becomes antagonist
- Juliet’s Father/Mother, hates Juliet
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3. Native Tribe Faction
(3) - Leader
- Advisors (2), give players instructions
Art Spectrum on Factions Characters

Player Types
Factioner
Team up with whoever you want, build status with Factions, and choose to go against any Faction
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Explorer
Discover more of the island to find more about it's backstory and discover factions/ruins
Skill Builder
Level up the skills/abilities needed to get off the island or to make it easier/faster to complete tasks
​
Progressive Player
Motivated to advance the story or progress of their character/playthrough (encouraged to complete tasks)
Story Arc Flow
ACT 1
Set up: After players wake up at the beach, form Original Group, game characters introduce them to mechanics
​
Progress:
Sub-area 1 - Main Quests start
- Machete as reward
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Sub-area 2 - Meet Family Feud Faction
- Choose faction to work for
- 1st Fast Travel System unlocks
ACT 2
Set up: After completing quest for faction, 1st Fast Travel brings player back to the beach, Split to 2 original groups because of a fight
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Progress:
Sub-area 2 - Main Quests continue
- Know about medicines for father in sub-area 3
- Build bridge to access sub-area 3
Point of No Return
Set up: Game characters warn player about "Point of No Return" (cannot return to sub-area 1 and 2), fast travels of all areas open after finishing quests
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Progress:
Sub-area 3 - Explore Native Tribe Faction
- Found one "Romeo and Juliet" crowned the new leader of Tribe - Do dungeon-like puzzle activity for quests and get the medicine
Act 3
Set up: Final update of island map, have access to whole island, players see how their previous actions and relationships affect the game play
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Progress:
- Player return to the beach and deliver medicine
- Found out father is dying
- Father gives final words of wisdom to player, and that may affect player's end game decisions
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End Game + Reflection
Fast Travel System Diagram
These are fast access to different sub-areas and beach of island.

Mid-Level Game Loop
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Game Features
High Level Vision Canvas
It displays major elements in game including Genre, IP/World/Environment, Player Types, Player Experience, Inspirations, Core Pillars, Core System Breakdown, Required Hidden Systems
Overall Beat by Beat
It describes the step by step game play, including detailed game loop and narrative elements.
Tone Target
The overall tone of this game and some inspirations for game design.
Detailed Features
All the game features reflect player experience and core pillars in game's vision canvas.
Feature 001 - The Individual NPC Relationship
Purpose: Displays the player’s relationship with each NPC directly to player
Allow player to better manage the relationships with NPCs
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Core Pillars: “Users can build relationships with individual NPC characters”
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Player Experience: “Users will feel like they need to think about which factions they want to work for, if any, and balance their relationships against opposing factions”
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Five Star Systems (display method):
- More stars means better relationship
- Gain 1 star after successfully complete a quest, Lose 1 star after failing same quest for 3 times
- Can find this feature in Individual NPC Relationship Menu and appears above NPC's head when moving close
Inspirations:
GTA's Five Star System

Stardew Valley's Relationships Menu

Project Information:
Overview: Adventure Video Game,
Escape Island
Year: 2020
My Contribution: island diagram, art spectrum, high level vision canvas, game feature list
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Type: Video Game design
Group Project
Teammates: Braydon Dudley, Joy Lin, Yani Su, Daniel Matis