elements will be overlaid on top of this view in order to provide the player with informa-
tion about Sam’s status and goings on in the game-world.
- Current Projectile + Count:In the lower left corner will be displayed an iconic
representation of Sam’s currently readied projectile. Next to this will be a series of
“chits” or “ticks” representing how many of that projectile Sam has in his
inventory. More information about the projectiles used in the game can be found in
the Projectiles description below and the Game Elements section. - Selecting the Current Projectile:When the player presses and holds the Next
Projectile button, the player will see a horizontal display of the projectiles in Sam’s
inventory along the top of the screen. The player can then scroll through this list
and select the object he wants Sam to ready. The weapons will be represented as
icons. Once the player releases the Next Projectile button, this display will
disappear. - Flight Time:Sam’s rocket-pack has a limited amount of flight time. This will be
represented by a horizontal bar next to an iconic picture of Sam’s rocket-pack in the
lower right corner of the screen. The bar will appear full when Sam’s rocket-pack is
fully charged and will slowly go down the longer Sam stays airborne. For more
information about the rocket-pack and its functionality, see the Flying Movement
section below. - Current Dialog:Different people will talk to Sam during gameplay; the friends
Sam has accompanying him on his adventures, the Electric Priestess via the radio
she gave him, and other characters Sam encounters may all say things to Sam. All
of this dialog will be prerecorded and played back to the player. In addition,
however, in the upper left-hand corner of the screen a 2D cartoon representation of
the character will appear with the text appearing next to it. This will be important
for players playing with the sound off or who did not manage to hear the dialog as it
was spoken. This GUI element will disappear a reasonable period of time after it
appears, allowing enough time for the player to read the text. When the game is in a
non-interactive cut-scene, however, the dialog will appear at the middle of the
bottom of the screen, as it would in a subtitled movie.
Replaying and Saving
The player has no “lives” inAtomic Sam. When Sam is incapacitated by one of the
robots or another adversary (always in a relatively non-violent way), the player is able
to go back to the last checkpoint and play that section again as many times as he wants
until he passes it. Checkpoints are scattered throughout the levels, and the game auto-
matically and transparently remembers when the player has reached such a
checkpoint. The checkpoints will be carefully placed so as to enhance the challenge of
the game without making it frustrating for the player.
During the gameplay, the player will be able to save at any time. However, when
the saved game is restored, it will only start the player back at the beginning of what-
ever level the game was saved on, instead of at the exact location (or checkpoint) where
Sam was on that particular level. This encourages players to finish a given level before
they stop playing the game.
542 Appendix A: Sample Design Document:Atomic Sam