Game Design

(Elliott) #1
Thrown weapons will be differentiated by a number of variables:


  • Damage and Radius:When they explode, thrown weapons do damage over a radius
    on impact.

  • Secondary Damage Effect:Certain thrown weapons may cause a secondary damage
    effect on objects that they damage, such as catching them on fire.

  • Stunning:Like projectile weapons, thrown weapons have a certain ability to stun
    the targets they damage.

  • Time to Detonate:Some thrown weapons detonate on hitting an object, whereas
    others will bounce off objects and only explode after a certain amount of time has
    passed. Some weapons will never detonate on their own, and will require the
    player to press the Throw button again when he wants to detonate them.

  • Throw Speed:This is the time it takes for the weapon to be thrown, the time before
    the player can return to attacking with his primary weapon.

  • Accuracy:Some thrown weapons will be more accurate than others at actually
    hitting their target. Like projectile weapons, they will have a small amount of
    potential range which, when farther from the target, will cause them to fall short or
    go past their target.


Mounted Weapons


The player will be able to “mount” certain stationary weapons found in the game. This
will be accomplished by walking up to the weapon and pressing the Use button. At this
time, the player will be forced into First-Person/Examine Mode, with the mounted
weapon showing up on the bottom of the screen and pointing toward its target in the
distance. An on-screen reticle will be drawn to show where the weapon will hit. The
ammo available for this weapon will be shown in the ammo display portion of the
in-game HUD. Once in First-Person Mode, the player will be able to aim the weapon
and press the Attack button to fire at targets without the assistance of auto-targeting.
The player will be able to dismount from the weapon by pressing the Use button again.
The variables that determine the behavior of the mounted weapon will be the same
as the variables for the projectile weapons except that mounted weapons are not
reloadable and do not need the player to have ammo for them. The mounted weapons
will have ammunition with them when the player finds them, and that will be all the
ammunition they will ever be able to fire for that particular weapon. Once the ammuni-
tion is out for a mounted weapon, the weapon will be unfirable though the player may
still “Use” the weapon. Attempting to fire an empty mounted weapon will produce a
“clicking” empty sound.
Certain mounted weapons will not have any ammunition but will produce a differ-
ent effect from the player moving them around. An example of this is the high-power
spotlights found in the prison, which shine their light around as the player moves them.
Pressing the Attack button will have no effect on these non-firing mounted weapons.


Insanity Mode

As the player attacks and kills creatures, he gains points on his “Insanity Meter,” which
is a component of the in-game HUD. Once this Insanity Meter is completely full, the


600 Appendix B: Sample Design Document:The Suffering

Free download pdf