1. Bioshock Mod GDD
My game design document for my Bioshock mod project called Bioshock Fates.

2. High Concept/Tag Lines
A real time-strategy fighting game set in the Bioshock universe.
A top-down RTS arena featuring characters from the Bioshock series.
A story-driven fan-made mod from the Bioshock franchise.

3. Game Genre
My Bioshock mod is a real-time strategy fighting game presented in a top-down battle arena.
The game will also contains strong themes of horror just so it fits into the Bioshock universe. This give a new spin on the regular RTS genre as they are usually aimed at children and look very attractive, as opposed to my one which revolves around a decayed and worn down art style and dark tone.
The mod is also a permadeath, meaning every time a character dies in battle you cannot get them back.

4. Target Audience
Primarily I will be focusing on attracting fans of the Bioshock series, who are mainly casual gamers over the age of 18 who enjoy the story of the franchise and want to see more. It is important that I focus on pleasing these fans because the mod requires you to already own the game to be able to download and play it.
I will also be targeting the massive online modding community and relying on their support to make my mod popular, an example of this is the NexusMods community where players are more interested in the mods than the actual game, meaning I will have players of my Bioshock project simply because it is a mod of a popular game.
Fans of the top-down strategy fighting game genre, such as Fire Emblem fans, may also be interested in my mod so I must strive to keep the game true to the genre.

5. Unique Selling Points
Players who already own the original Bioshock game will be able to get the mod for free through the Steam Workshop.
As it is a mod, it will be much cheaper than a full game meaning it will be much easier to promote and sell online.

6. Features
The mod includes a long and expansive storyline based around characters from the Bioshock games with little to no backstory, expanding the Bioshock universes lore.
The story branches as you chose to do certain things or lose certain characters in the game, meaning there will be multiple endings. The arena you fight in during the game will also change, for example areas will be revealed as you reach new checkpoints.

7. Game Overview
The mod, while being part of the Bioshock series’ lore, is not entirely accurate as it features all characters from Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite which are games set 40 years apart from each other. I can work around this however because as the mod does not follow the typical play style or genre it can be classed as a party game or spin-off such as Super Smash Bros Brawl where many different characters from other games fight together even though it would make no sense for them to be there.
The story will be about uncovering the backstory of the characters in your party, and side missions in the game are focused around you rebuilding Rapture.

8. Comparative Games
The main competitor game for my mod is the Fire Emblem series, this is because I have taken a lot of inspiration from them to create Bioshock Fates, even the name is a rip-off of one of the Nintendo releases. They also will feature very similar combat and movement styles.
Any other Bioshock mods are also competitors to my one because people will realistically only chose one completely game-changing mod, so I have to make sure it is my one.

9. Technology
My mod will run on the Unreal 2.5 engine using some advanced technology from Unreal 3, this is the same custom engine used to make the first Bioshock game which was originally taken from Irrational Games’ SWAT 4 title. I will use this engine to add realistic water physics to the levels and add a ragdoll mechanic to in-game fighting sections, imitating the physics in the original game.
Because most of the assets I will be using are already in the game it is just a case of removing them from the game files and placing them in my own unreal account.