Design Document 1:Merge two games
A game design pattern in the Borderlands game franchise is to use skill trees which are accessible to change at any point during game play once the player earns the necessary skill points. A skill tree is an illustration available during game play for which enables the player to see any number of skills assigned to that particular character. Although the skill tree can be seen at any point during game play, the use of the skill is not allowed until the player earns skill points from defeating bosses which then unlock a particular skill. Each character’s skill tree is different. A good skill tree empowers the player to think strategically and cleverly in order to defeat enemies. These action skills can be offensive or defensive but most are a mix of the two. For example, in the game Borderlands, the Vault Hunter named Zer0 has three elaborate skill trees focusing on gun attributes (green rectangular image below which is titled “sniping” in the game), deception effects (blue rectangular image below which is titled “cunning” in the game), and melee attacks (red rectangular image below which is titled “bloodshed” in the game).
Illustration of character Zer0’s skill tree from the Borderlands 2 game.
Screenshot from Borderlands 2: Zer0 In-Depth Character Guide (Banana Scoop).
Accessed December 10, 2023.
While the skill tree game design may need to be very elaborate in some games, such as that incorporated in the Borderland game franchise, other games could utilize a very simple skill tree structure. Cuphead which does not use that game design technique, could enable two of its three characters to have a skill tree game design with three added features for each character. The action skills would only be available once skill points are earned by killing select bosses.
The game Cuphead could greatly enhance its game play by implementing a fast travel system because traveling through the overhead map can take a while which can be frustrating. In fact, any game that has unnecessary travel time could benefit from a fast travel system.
