across the screen, with the use of some point animation or blur effects as necessary.
The flashbacks are brought on because of events or locations that remind Torque of the
crime in some way.
Game-World Events
Many of the events that happen in theUnspeakablegame-world will help to shock and
startle the player and are central to some of the game puzzles as well as communicating
portions of the story. However, the player will not lose control of the game during these
scenes, helping to keep the player immersed in the game-world instead of breaking him
out of it through a completely canned “cut-scene.” The effect will be extremely remi-
niscent of howHalf-Lifeeffectively used in-game scripted events to tell its story.
Events can be triggered in a variety of ways, such as a player reaching a certain
location or flipping a switch. Other events will only be triggered to occur when the
player looks at a certain location, thus making it more likely the player will see the
event take place.
Some events may be set up behind glass doors and behind walls in ways that the
player cannot interfere with them. Other scenes will take place at a far enough distance
that the player cannot get close enough to interact or interfere with the scene. The par-
ticipants in these scenes will be set to an invulnerable state so the player, if he manages
to shoot them at a distance, will not disrupt the scenes. Other scenes may be inter-
rupted or aborted entirely based on the player action. For instance, if the player kills a
friendly NPC before he has a chance to perform a scripted event, the scene will never
happen. Similarly, if the player kills a participant of such an event while the event is
transpiring, the event will be immediately aborted, with still-living participants return-
ing to their normal AI behavior. For instance, if a scene involves a prisoner being killed
by a monster and the player kills the prisoner while that is happening, the prisoner will
die and the monster will start attacking the player.
Vibration
Controller vibration will be used extensively yet not excessively inUnspeakable, with
unique vibration types set up to create different effects. Typically, vibrations will be var-
ied by pattern and intensity, with the intensity being controlled from within the code
(for instance, playing the same vibration pattern but at different strengths based on the
amount of damage sustained).
Damage
When the player takes damage of any kind, the controller will vibrate. The type of vibra-
tion will differ based on the amount and type of damage the player is sustaining. The
basic vibration types are: fire, explosive, projectile, melee, electrical, and gas. While
battling The Black One at the end of the game, when the player sustains damage as a
result of attacking the creature when it is in the same state as the player (Insanity
Mode, for instance), there will be a unique damage vibration.
Insanity Mode
While the player is in Insanity Mode, the controller will continuously vibrate lightly to
indicate the player’s unstable state.
Appendix B: Sample Design Document:The Suffering 615