Game Design

(Elliott) #1

Security Monitors


Players will find various TV screens in the game that will be hooked up to security cam-
eras at remote locations. When viewed in the game-world, the screens will have actual
real-time renderings of the areas the security cameras are looking at, with “monitor”
filters applied over them. If the player presses the Use button when near such a secu-
rity monitor, the player’s view will be shifted to a first-person view of looking directly
into the security camera. While in this Security Camera Mode, none of the player’s
ordinary commands will have any effect, except the player can press Use again to exit
the Security Camera Mode. Some tables will have multiple or “banks” of security moni-
tors for the player to use. Security monitors and cameras are fragile devices, and if
either is shot or blown up, the hookup will stop working.
The security cameras themselves can be either fixed in their orientation, or may
rotate/pan side-to-side in their view of the world. Of course this will translate into the
player’s view of the world when looking at the camera. The player will never have con-
trol over the rotation or panning of the camera.


Pushable Objects


The player will encounter objects in the game-world that he can move around. When
the player comes up to one of these objects, the player can press Use to “engage” it and
enter Push/Pull Mode. The player can press the Use button again to exit this mode.
While in Push/Pull Mode, the player will move as if in Aimed Weapon Mode: he will
be able to move forward, backward, and strafe, but he will not be able to turn. For every
move the player makes, the pushable object will move along with him. If the pushable
object is blocked, the player will be unable to move at all. The pushable object will move
along a rectilinear grid, with the player having to push the object fully from one grid
location to another and being unable to move the object along a diagonal. This move-
ment system is like the one found inIco.
Pushable objects can be used for a variety of gameplay scenarios, such as pushing
an object out of the way of a passageway, providing a step-up onto a passageway, push-
ing an object to block something else, or other puzzle-oriented uses.


Destroying Objects

The game-world inUnspeakablewill be littered with objects that can be destroyed dur-
ing gameplay. Some objects will be destroyed by predetermined events, while some
will be destroyed dynamically depending on the gameplay situation. For instance, if the
player throws a TNT stick at a particular office the desk, chairs, and security monitors
may all be destroyed. The player will be required to blow up certain objects, such as
wooden doors that won’t open, in order to progress through the game or just to access
secret areas.
Objects that can be destroyed will be assigned a health value that indicates how
much damage they can sustain before being destroyed. Certain objects will be invulner-
able to certain types of damage. For instance, some objects may only be blown up by
TNT sticks, while others can only be damaged by fire, with each taking no damage at all
from bullets.
When destroyed, some objects will reveal one or more items inside them, such as a
weapon, ammunition, or health. This will be done in as plausible a way as possible: for


Appendix B: Sample Design Document:The Suffering 611

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