(this is a design doc for a game based of the book Enders Game)

Ender’s Game

Ender’s Game is a tactical semi-action RPG that will follow the same storyline as the book. The earth was in a hectic search for somebody that could help prevent the destruction of the human race by the buggers, that nearly wiped them out in a previous war. The book was about the life of the young genius Andrew “Ender” Wiggin who was being trained in space combat to defend the earth. He was trained via simulations in a combat school in space. He later was informed that he was actually controlling real armies.

Challenges, Gameplay, and Victory Condition
Players will get the chance to play as Ender as he orders his troops in battle versus the buggers in the simulation. Some of the story will be explained through player interactions with NPCs between fights and training. The general gameplay will take place in a somewhat standard tactical RPG format, but with my own little twist. One team consisting of Ender and his teammates versus armies of buggers. Each team will have their chance for all their team mates to perform standard tactical RPG actions. The player will control Ender, in which they can move freely at will and issue commands to the team if Ender is the commander (some missions may have him as another standard teammate). The other team will also have a commander moving and ordering freely.
Instead of having players just select a team member, move and do an action and quit, players will only directly control Ender. However, as Ender will be the commander of most battles, he will have the ability to give orders to his team. He can command his team to go in to particular statuses such as Offensive (for attacking), Defensive (hide behind cover, prepare for dodging or taking hits), Recovery (recover health, aid teammates, reloading), Fall Back (move team away from battle, possibly retreat). He could then also then issue particular commands for each unit such as teammate B and C should attack Enemy A while Teammate D takes cover from Enemy B. Before battle, the player can set up squads within the team so Ender could give a command to the squad instead of having to command every individual unity.
Player actions will be based off of limited stamina and command points. General movement will require no stamina. Performing actions with Ender such as attacking and using items will require stamina. Stamina will regenerate over time (and can be restored by certain items as well). If the player needs to give a command to a particular unit or squad, it will require a certain amount of command points to execute. The amount will depend on the command. The effectiveness of a unit performing a command will be based off how close the commander is to the receiver of the command. The farther away the unit is, the more likely that it would be hard for the person(s) to hear the command and perform it correctly or do it within the right time. Time is important, so players can make Ender move faster than normal speed, however, this requires a substantial amount of stamina. Stamina moderation is key.
Battles will be won typically defeating the commander, though the victory conditions will be display for each battle. There may be times where the player might be require to destroy a planet or eliminate all enemies before the battle can be won. It will depend on the mission, in which many will be based off the book (and perhaps some various other ones not in the book to add longevity to the game). The most important part is that Ender is alive at the end of the mission, or it is game over.

Setting, Interaction Mode, Perspective
The game will mostly take place in simulations in the combat room. Parts between battles will be done in hallways and other rooms of the combat school for the story line. The simulation will look like space settings and various settings described so in the book. Players will take direct movement control over Ender, but will be able to issue commands to team mates. The gameplay will be seen on the battlefield from a 45-degree angle.
Modes and Structure
Like most RPG games, there will be one primary game mode (Story Mode), and maybe a Load game and Options mode. In Story mode, players will usually interact with NPC in the combat school in a third person perspective until the player reaches a point to train in combat. If Ender is the commander in the following mission, the player will get the chance to assign squads (in which the player can name as they please) that will be in the fight. Once the player done doing so, the player can start the fight and battle with the enemy until whoever wins.