Design Bible - MAJOR UPDATE - April 2021

Hi everyone,

Alex here, with an update on the Design Bible and its progress.

[NOTE: The Design Bible PDF is attached to this post and can be downloaded via the link on this page.]

Here are some key points of interest concerning the design bible moving forward.

A few things to note;

1. The PDF attached is a work in progress.

Some areas are tidier than others, others need a bit more work. You'll see everything continue to take shape and become more refined naturally as we continue our work.

Where you see "lorem ipsum" jargon and placeholder text, there is still copywriting and information to be finalized in these sections. Like we said. There is still lots of work to be done.

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2. Inventory, Chapter Summaries and Key item Sections.

I have been focusing on creating templated re-occurring layouts, (Such as weapon summaries, character encounters, etc.) in the Chapter Summaries at the end of each narrative section.

This is designed like a "Pause" screen, that allows you to dive into your progress and additional lore that might not be immediately communicated in the game-play experience.

You'll see blank areas allocated for a running tally of Key Items the player collects on their journey. This is similar to this screen from A:MR; (See below).

Once all weapons and key items are finalized, the UI here will reflect this.

It will gradually be filled as the items are collected in the Narrative, so you'll have an accurate running tally of items and their collection rate as the story progresses.

Areas like the "health / mana / sanity" bars are largely placeholder and signify area allocated to the UI once we boil down the gameplay and mechanics a little more. Stay tuned.

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3. Weapon Quirks / Weapon Summaries.

In the summaries, you'll find conceptual outlines for the weapons and items as they are collected.

After game design discussions, we've landed on;
• Weapon lore;
• Weapon perks (weapon quirks in our game), and;
• Specific Attacks per weapon.

We'll complete these outlines as the information required becomes locked in.
The current text is ideation and conceptual, but we feel they're heading in the right direction.

We're also working on summaries of Key Characters and Enemies encountered, so you can keep tabs on who Alice meets, and who she chops up into meaty chunks.

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4. New Art Tasks Throughout / Narrative Enhancements.

As we're working through the DB, we're noticing room for potential new art tasks, (posted throughout) that will enhance the narrative and improve the reader experience.

As we progress, American and I will be reviewing these potential new art tasks, then if greenlit for resource allocation, we'll be placing them in the workflow for the artists, and continuing as we go to improve the DB. 

We want to strike the right balance between pacing, word count, and resource expended with the art team, and so far, I think it's a happy balance.

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5. Moving Forward / Closing Comments.

The design bible by nature is an ambitious document. The process we've built around it is meeting that ambition, and the workflow and structure built around it is sound.

The DB is designed to catch and provide as much information as possible, without it being overwhelming to process for the reader.

Simultaneously, it is meant to also provide high-level entertainment, cohesive narrative structure and supply an outline of the whole game experience that we want to create with Alice: Asylum.

The DB is also a sales tool.

Something we can drop onto the desk of an executive and show them, (in detail), what we've got, and what we want to do. And so far, from what I gather, even in these early stages, it's been received very positively in meetings with the powers that be.

It's a hybrid mix of script-writing, comic book pacing and presentation, a game design document, play-guide, art book, and a sales presentation.

There's a lot more work to go, and we're loving working on it.
I am having a blast making this document come to life.

Expect plenty more content, surprises, and updates as we proceed to completion.

I hope it lives up to your expectations and is something you'd be proud to read and share as a fan of Alice. Let us know how you're feeling about this too!

-Alex 

NOTE FROM AMERICAN

Insane Children, 

Just a quick note to say THANK YOU, for helping our team bring this document to life. 

We'll schedule a Live Stream / Zoom get-together with Alex in the new ~week so we can review your comments and throw some Crowd Design into the mix. 

Be sure to share your feedback and ideas in the Comments below! 

From Shanghai with Love & Appreciation, 

-American