Sample Design Doc :

This was a level idea I put forward. It’s a rough outline that describes the general environment and gameplay. It’s part of the ‘basic planning’ phase which goes through a general approval and if accepted gets broken down into a lot more detail. Sadly, this level never made it to planning stage before the project was restructured.

Level Concept – The Rain Trawler

Because water is so scarce in our game world, there is a need for innovative and effective ways to resupply each major island’s dwindling supply. Once such way is the Rain Trawler, a massive ship – usually a converted oil tanker or factory ship – that has been turned into a giant water tank, it’s hull keeping the water IN rather than out. These ships sail into storms and hurricanes and collect water as they pass through or under. Huge funnels on the top deck catch the rainwater, and drain to the cargo hold. After the main tank is full or the storm dissipates, the trawler heads for it’s next destination to sell the water, as an on-board filtration plant cleanses the rainwater and stores it in large tanks at the stern of the ship.

Location: The rain trawler is a large ship that travels between the major islands. This particular one is on a crash course and has been taken over by rogue elements.

Weapons: The player will have any weapons already accrued, but he’ll need at least a silenced pistol and a long-range rifle. The player will have to use silenced weapons inside the trawler. Low visibility on the surface of the ship will require a good deal of running to sanctuary and sniping.

Objective: The Trawler ‘Little Darling’ has been high jacked by enemy agents. Communication with London Traffic Control has been cut and the massive ship has changed course to a heading that will smash it into a local archipelago where it will go down with all its cargo, and probably most of the islands.

The map is divided into 4 sub-levels. Starting on the surface of the trawler, the player must work his way from bow to stern to get to the storage and filtration section. He must then work his way through to get to the command and quarters section of the ship. In the command area is his main objective - to reset the ships guidance systems and change its doomed crash-course. The main character will need to get off the ship before local authorities board.. After he progresses up through the command area he will be able to access the ship’s zeppelin shuttle, the final level, culminating in his escape.

Challenge Highlights:

- Navigating across the ship’s surface (the funnel deck), finding a way to the storage area, and eliminating guards before they can sound the alarm.

- If the player falls or is forced into a collection funnel, rather than killing him instantly we could introduce some kind of mini-level in which he needs to get out of the lower decks before the fill with water – a time-limit restriction. That’ll learn ‘em to play by the water hole!

- The storage and filtration planet will see the player using his Grapple a good deal. The player will have to find his way up through the pipes and struts around the tanks and filtration equipment to the bridge deck. There will be some opposition in this level but stealth will be a wiser choice than open combat for this stage.

- The bridge level has a few major challenges. The player must find a guidance system terminal, and possibly have to reprogram it on the fly (mini gameplay – see mini-game doc) before sealing off the bridge and heading up to the zeppelin mooring mast. Also the best soldiers that the terrorists have will be stationed on this deck to prevent any kind of opposition from the crew.

- The control and quarters section will be more of a standard hide-and-seek affair typical of something like Winback.. There will be regular patrolmen on all levels as well as crew that the player can’t kill (but won’t sound the alert as the boat has been highjacked.)

- The zeppelin level will be the hardest. The player must work his way into the airship via the nose-door. Then he must progress along the central gantry inside the balloon, being careful not to shoot any of the hydrogen bags that are tied down on both side of the walkway.

Gameplay : This level will include many of the gameplay types we have already written up. The core gameplay of being a 3^rd person combat game is predominant, however, sniping and avoiding detection also factor in. The first level will be primarily run-and-find cover gameplay as the player makes his way up the upper deck of the ship, avoiding or stealthily eliminating sentries on his way up. The second will be navigating and climbing as well as avoiding patrol groups. The third level will be interior combat and exploration. The final level in the airship will use a good deal of auto aim and sniping as well as test the player’s reactions.

Map Description:

Surface Deck: The outside of ship is a storm. There is heavy rain blowing across the deck making it hard to see very far (lots of distance fogging J). This will mean the player will advance slowly until he can make out the form of a guard or sentry and have to either plan a way around them or eliminate them quickly and without commotion. On either side of the central gantry are huge square funnels with rainwater pouring down the sides. These funnels are lethal, as the force of the rainwater drives turbines on its way down to the tanks below. Falling into these turbines will cause severe death to the player. However it will be possible to shoot enemies walking over the funnels, or close-attack them, and have them fall to their watery graves below.

There will be frequent thunder and flashes of lightning, making light-amplification equipment useless for several seconds after each bolt of lightening (as the equipment tries to compensate for overload).

Filtration and Storage facility: This section of the level is a dark, industrial, echoing place. The player will have to work up through networks of pipes, hoses and tanks using ladders, struts or his grapple. There will be infrequent but large patrol groups moving through these decks so the player will have to be careful (think Obi-Wan in the Death Star). Lots of red lights and deep shadows will give this level a tense, sweaty feel. Also, the open, metal rooms and chambers will make sounds a good deal louder and more echo-ey. The player will need to be very careful to use less noisy routes, to creep when needed and to use his weapon as little as possible.

The layout would be a big vertical space flanked by control rooms and such looking out over it. Probably about 7 stories high. Zoning is an issue here. If this section is the weakest, or technically difficult it could be cut without much impact on the overall level.

Control and Crew’s Quarter: The control and crew decks are utilitarian. It will be easier for the player to be stealthier as the corridors and rooms have carpeting or rubber non-slip floors and the walls are painted and in some instances soundproofed. This level will need the most exploration, as there are many small rooms, storage areas and other facilities. Although there are not as many guards on most of these decks, they are much better trained and armed. Also, the original crew of the ship is being made to keep the ship on course so there will be many civilians wandering this area.

The ships crew could assist the player by giving him information pertinent to his mission, or even giving him words of encouragement – “Are you a cop? Man, I’m glad you’re here, they’re gonna do something crazy with the ship… I heard them last night, talking about impact zones and death tolls. You gotta do something!”

Shuttle Zeppelin: The shuttle is a medium-sized zeppelin capable of carrying a replacement crew, along with provisions, spare parts and mail. It uses a standard hydrogen-helium mix stored in bladders inside the main balloon. A central walkway along the inside bottom of the balloon provides access to rooms and service areas on either side, and ladders at periodic points provide a way down to the command, control and propulsion cupolas beneath the main balloon.

The player will have to be extraordinarily careful in this level. While he is inside the main balloon, any misfired or badly aimed shots might hit the gas-bladders, which would cause a chain of ignition and eventually consume the airship in a fireball. So the player must make skillful use of sniping and manual aim modes to eliminate enemies. The bladders have a minor amount of armour in the form of anti-ballistic coverings, but after a few hits these will become weakened. This is to avoid the hole ‘1 shot and you’ve blown the level syndrome’ that we want to avoid.

The player will quickly make his way from the loading ramp to the rear control car to unlock the zeppelin from it’s mooring mast and then to the front again to fly the airship away to safety.

End

We end with a fly-by tracking shot of the Zep tearing away as the trawler creaks and groans alarmingly, its wind-rudder steering it onto a drastic new course. Maybe it banks so hard water can be seen pouring out of its overflowing funnels in massive sheets. Fade to black, mission debrief etc.

Fin, as they say.

Sketches