“Crank the Weasel”

Inventory System

Brian Silva

Design Overview

Weasel can possess an abundance of useful and entertaining special items. Special items are purchased from vending machines located throughout Scratchtown. The cost of special items usually runs pretty steep, so Weasel will have to do all he can to collect every last bit of loot available in each playfield. Weasel can carry more than one unique special item at a time within his inventory system. These special items can be carried-over from one level to the next. By using the controller’s D-Pad, the player can toggle between and select inventory items on the fly, with no pause in the game.

Detailed Design

1. Pressing the D-Pad will instantly cause all of Weasel’s available special items to appear in a vertical row beneath the currently selected special item on the HUD graphic.

a. Pressing the D-Pad up will toggle the special items in an upward cycle

b. Pressing the D-Pad down will toggle the special items in a downward cycle

i. As the special items cycle, they move at brisk speed and lock into place automatically per each D-Pad command

ii. An appropriate SFX is played as the special items are toggled and come to rest

c. The special item at the top of the onscreen list will display its remaining usefulness to its right

i. A special item’s usefulness is determined in either number of remaining uses or length of time remaining

2. If the game is paused, the pause menu selection screen will be presented

a. Located within one of the pause menus is a screen that provides more lengthy explanations of each one of Weasel’s acquired special items

3. If a “selected” special item runs out of usefulness, the special item display will quickly slide up off screen.

a. If the player tries to activate the special item, a negative buzzer will sound

b. The player must use the D-pad to select a new special item

c. If the player is entirely out of special items, the D-Pad will have no effect at all

i. Perhaps a low negative tone is played?

4. If the D-pad remains untouched for 2 seconds, the onscreen special item list will quickly fade away leaving only the currently selected special item onscreen

Design Outcome

Providing the player with a selection of special items to choose from at any given time while allowing the player to select which inventory item they want to ready for use without having to stop/pause the gameplay.

Entertainment Factor

The player will have a wide selection of alternative means of character and playfield interaction at his disposal. Having a multiple inventory system that carries over from one level to the next allows the player the chance to try a variety of methods when attempting to overcome an enemy or playfield obstacle.

Meshes

N/A

Terrains

N/A

Textures

• A variety of HUD icons representing each special item in the game
• Numbers 0 through 9 to represent a special item’s usefulness on the HUD
• A colon to represent a special item’s time remaining
• An “x” to represent a special item’s number of uses remaining

Animations

N/A

Particles and Effects

N/A

Sounds

1. Sound of special item icons appearing onscreen

2. Sound of special item icons cycling up and down onscreen

3. Sound of special item icons “locking in place” as they cycle up and down onscreen

4. Soft sound of special item icons quickly fading away

5. Negative buzzer noise for trying to use a worn out special item

6. Low negative tone when the D-Pad is pressed but the player is entirely out of special items

Tunable Variables and Parameters

· Opacity of each icon

· Delay before menu is retracted

References: N/A