DEADLOCK DESIGN DOCUMENT 1.06
INTRODUCTION
GAMEPLAY PREPERATIONS SCENARIO IDEAS WEAPON EFFECTS ON HUMANS INCAPACITATED MODE PLAYER DEATH DRAGGING HUMAN SHIELDS FIRING MODE MOVEMENT AND FIRING MODES AVAILABLE PLAYER MOVES USE MODE IN GAME COMMUNICATION VEHICLES [ Comments in bracketed green italics ] INTRODUCTION
This game will aim to put realism above all other things, including gameplay considerations, excluding the story and scenarios which is not based on things that have already happened, but that can happen. Let only the technical difficulties limit what is possible and what is not.
Realism dictates that the player is to look through the eyes of his character so this is a first person game. It is not a shooter. The goal of this game is not to kill or maim. The goal is to survive, to prevent harm and pain, to get away with the master crime, to stop others from commiting a crime.
Deadlock is about the people and lives of the criminals, police who try to stop them and the onlookers whose lives are in the hands of first two groups. It is not necessarily between right and wrong. Justice and what is good and bad for who have many considerations and faces. States are not angels. On the other hand, neither are terrorists or all criminals. It is up to the player to decide who is right and wrong in the scenarios that are presented in Deadlock. It is up to the player to choose who and what to fight for, to decide what is right and what is wrong.
SCENARIO IDEAS
equalizer moo : A scenario is built up randomly by diffrent goals. It is kind of like the board game risk. On side gets several misson cards under the scenario
Witness protection program attack, Drug busts, computer raids, bank robberies,
GAMEPLAY PREPERATIONS
The Police team spawn into a set of rooms that look like the police station armory and locker rooms, which are embeded in all the maps available for the game, outside the actual playing space on the map. They proceed to choose/pick up the equipment and armament they wish from the armory. There are limited ammounts of weapons of each type.
Player(s) wishing to assume the limited number of specialist roles (such as sniper/spotter role) here choose to do so. The player wanting to snipe simply picks up the sniper gear/weapon in the armory.
There is a server adjustable time limit to how long they may be in the armory before the game starts.
WEAPON EFFECTS ON HUMANS
<Any human hit by a bullet will recieve an animated entry would decal on the point of entry - and in some cases an animated exit wound decal on the other side.> - This may not be possible with LithTech.
Each body part has a value attached to it which represents it's functionality. When it is down to a certain value, the body part stops functioning. There are three different health modes for each bodypart, except the head. Depending on which body part this is the player goes into different pre-made damage modes (such as limping or being unable to use weapons or even walk). The damage each bullet makes has a base value and a randomized bonus value added to that value.
Example :
75-100
- Normal
25-75 - Injury ( Player limps )
00-24 - Serious Injury ( Player falls to ground in the incapacitated mode (
See chapter X ) and cannot stand up. )
Jake the Muss's leg is in perfect shape, 100/100. He recieves a gunshot by police officer in his right leg by a 9mm MP5 bullet. The bullet's basic (minimum) damage value is 25. A random damage bonus is added, which is in between 0-300% of the base value, and turns out to be 50% in this case.
Total damage - 37.5 Jake's leg's value goes down to 62.5 which is in the "Player limps" section.
Actual damage effects on body parts :
Head - Death on all accounts, unless PGSAT helmet is worn.
Torso - Injury initiates a randomized time countdown. When the time runs out (approx 3-180 seconds), the player has gone enough into shock and blood loss to stand on his legs, and goes into incapacitated mode ( see section X ). Serious Injury causes the player to go into incapacitated mode and also initiates the timer, but the end result of this timer is death not incapacitation.
Kevlar Body Armor addenum - - - -
Right Arm - Injury disables the firing mode, serious injury disables weapons usage all together.
Left Arm - Injury disables firing mode. Serious injury eliminates usage of two hand weapons (see section X ), human body shield taking ( see section X ) dragging ( see section X ) and the use mode ( see section X ).
Legs - Injury causes limping ( See section X ), serious injury causes incapacitation ( see section X ). A injury to both legs also mean incapacitation.
INCAPACITATED MODE
When the player is injured beyond the capacity to stand up, he/she becomes incapacitated. In this mode, the player lies on the back unable to move. The player may still use weapons (not in the firing mode however) if the arms are operational.
An incapacitated person/player may be dragged by another player, into safety etc. When the drag mode is commenced, the incapacitated player can not do anything except move his head (as the player is clinging on to the arm of the dragger).
PLAYER DEATH
Headshot - Screen immideately turns black and all sound is cut off.
Torso death (Shock) - Screen slowly fades to black.
DRAGGING
Humans
who are lying down on the ground may be dragged by players. The dragging animations
are shared by both criminals, officers and hostages.
The dragging is actived through pushing the use button (See chapter X). The
left hand will as usual let go of any weapons the player holds and be reach
forwards. When the use button is released when in reach of a downed human, the
player grabs hold of the downed human. The dragger may rotate the direction
but only drag backwards.
The dragger uses the left hand to grab onto the downed humands both hands (For civilians it looks like their hands are taped together and are being dragged against their will - within the team it appears as they are holding onto the draggers arm with both hands).
Police Officers who are injured may be dragged into safety by fellow officers.
Criminals may drag other criminals in the same manner.
Both player groups may drag hostages.
If the downed human is holding a weapon he/she lets go of it when dragging.
The use button should be pressed once to let go of the human and return to normal mode.
HUMAN SHIELDS
Criminals may grab civilians for use as human shield.
In order to grab a human shield, the civilian must be standing and be within reach. The player must press and hold the use button ( see section X ) and release it when the hand is within the civilians bounding box. The civilian is then held by the players left arm as a human shield.
The player may move slowly in any direction in this mode, together with the human shield.
The player aims his weapon towards the human shield's head, and may fire at any time.
Pressing and holding the firing mode button ( see section X ) will aim the weapon towards the center of the screen using the iron sights found on the weapon (for snap shots at officers).
If the criminal is shot and killed when aiming at the human shield there is a 25% chance that he shoots and kills the human shield.
The player may let go of the human shield at any time by pressing the use button (see secion X) .
FIRING MODE
When holding a weapon, the player may press and hold the firing mode button (preferably the right mouse button). This mode brings the weapon to bear the way it was designed to be fired. A submachine gun is shouldered, a pistol is raised on two straight arms. The player aims through the iron sights that are found on most small arms of today.
Pressing the attack button ( Left mouse button ) will fire the weapon.
When in this mode, the player walks with stealth, with half the speed of normal walking. If the running mode is activated, the player will jog at about half normal running speed.
Releasing the firing mode button will put the player back in normal mode.
MOVEMENT AND FIRING MODES
Two modes:
A. The first is the casual (normal) mode, walk normally, or run normally, without aiming your weapon, and without regards to what noise you might be making. If a person shoots in this mode, he shoots 'gangsta style'. Without aiming through the sights of the weapon. Very inaccurate, but it's effective for supressing and moving at the same time.
B. The second is the firing mode. In this mode, the person holds the gun up in correct two or one hand firing stance, constantly looking through the iron sights. Walking in this mode is about half the speed of the walking in the casual mode. One step at a time, being as quiet as possible. Running in this mode also includes looking through the iron sights, but it's more like jogging, like the special forces and SWAT teams do, with the weapon constantly chambered/shouldered/ready.
These two modes have different animations both for upper body and lower body.
The firing mode is the only mode were the feet does not make sounds when walking.
The default is the casual mode, until a button, preferably the right mouse button; is held down. For as long as it is held down, the person is in attack mode, and thus aims through the sights of the weapon. +firingmode -firingmode.
The "cumbersome" value attached to the casual movements are high, while attack mode have rather low cumbersome values to it's movements.
Summary:
Four movement modes. Three movement speeds.
SPECIAL MOVES
Gradual leaning : The player gradually leans around a corner until the maximum lean angle is met and may stop anywhere between these two poses. In the firing mode ( see chapter X ) the weapon remains shouldered not losing aim. May lean left, right and forwards. May not look up above the horizon when leaning forwards. May only engage in leaning when standing up.
[ This makes it possible to lean just the right ammount the player wants, and the gradual lean also makes it look far more realistic and convincing when observing other players doing it. ]
The Lean Key, which pressed down, disengages the mouse from it's freelook mode and instead moving the mouse gradually leans in the three directions possible.
[ This control mode actually saves control space. Take the Theif and System Shock series for example : There one had three keys, one for each leaning direction, and no where near as powerful as this much easier to manage control method. ]
Gradual crouching : The player gradually goes from standing to crouching and may stop anywhere between these two poses. Operates differently from the leaning as this uses two keyboard keys instead - crouch and stand/jump key.
[ Gradual crouching is very useful for looking up above cover and not exposing more than necessary of oneself. ]
Going prone : The player holds the crouch key down until crouched; releases the crouch key; then pushes it once more, and the player goes prone. Pressing the stand key will make the player go straight into the standing position.
A prone player may crawl in any direction but may not aim nor fire when crawling. Pressing the strafe keys rotates the players direction on the floor. Rotating the mouse while not moving looks/aims around a small possible axis.
[ Going prone is the most effective way of making one self a small target when cover is not available. It also presents a much smaller profile which by the enemy is harder to detect. ]
USE MODE
When pressing the use button, the players left hand will let go of whatever it's doing and reach forward towards the center of the screen. When the button is released, the hand is drawn back, and the object is picked up/ activated / manipulated. If it is a pickup, the object picked up will be attached to the hand node on it's way back.
IN GAME SPEECH COMMUNICATION
If you have played "SWAT 3" or "Tribes" you know what I'm getting at. The most practical way is to have an on-screen HUD (Head Up Display) that simply says:
<bound key>. <menu/speech>
Example:
-SAY-
-MENU-
1. - Report
2. - Request
3. - Taunt
TAB. - Cancel
Say a person presses the "3" key, and the HUD should now read something like this:
-SAY-
-TAUNTS-
1. "Shit Faced Cock Master!"
2. "I'm gonna kill you again!"
3. "Bite me, you dracula wannabe!"
4. "How about a Garlic Pizza you fanged clown!"
TAB. - Cancel
Now pressing 1 through 4 would make the character say (play the speech-wav) of what is quoted on screen.
FIREARMS AND HEARING LOSS
Doing some research, I have come up with that the following happens when one discharges a given firearm indoors without proper hearing protection:
9mm SMG (HK MP5/UZI) hearing loss, and severe ringing after only 1, 2 or 3 round bursts. Under sustained fire, total irreparable hearing loss within 1-2 hours.
9mm semi-automatic handgun (Beretta M92FS) hearing loss, and severe ringing in the ears lasting up to 2 days after 10-15 rounds.
.12 Gauge Shotgun (2 3/4 and 3 in. Magnums) Hearing loss, and severe ringing in ears after the first round! IRREPARABLE DAMAGE, as well as possible blackout due to the EXTREMELY HIGH decibel levels after only 10-15 rounds under sustained fire in an enclosed area.
.50 AE Desert Eagle. Without proper hearing protection, one would experience IMMEDIATE hearing loss, and ringing in the ears upon discharge of the first round in an enclosed area. All subsequent rounds fired will further damage hearing, and can possibly cause perforation/rupture of the eardrum as well.
All of the above being fired simultaneously by 5 shooters for 5 seconds inside an enclosed area would deafen one PERMANENTLY without proper hearing protection.
Makes you think what should really happen in action movies. GRRRRR!
Regarding ear protection, most government, police SWAT, SPECOPS entry and assault
teams are issued extremely effective sonic ear filters, which actually lower
the decibel level of the sound coming into the ear, thus preventing damage to
the operatives' hearing. This is all I know about this however.
To best simulate this; there should be a seperate channel for a 'noise.wav' that simply is a wav being looped that sounds like ringing in the air. If it is on a seperate sound channel; then the normal sound channel, with gunfire, speech, etc, can be reduced by say, 50%, depending on what weapon you fired. Each shot brings the hearing down even more, and the ringing in the ears get louder. This would give us three different channels. Currently, there are two used channels in Quake 3 Arena: Music and Sound.
The music shall not be affected by the gunfire decibel levels.
VEHICLES
Are used by the players for insertion and extraction, for both the criminal and police teams.
Cars, helicopters, vans, boats, aeroplanes.
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Wishful thinking section
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SPEECH (Wishful thinking)
What scares people in the horror movies; is it the images, or the sounds, or the music? The images all have an amplifying effect, but that which affects people the most is the sound and music. So if one wants to make a scary game, should not much effort be put on the sounds/music? But of course.
Another thing that enhances the feeling of being there, of it all being 'real', convincing, is the communication. Dark Gift shall use mainly pre-recorded speech as means of communication. Typing on keyboards quickly becomes silly...
Now this is all Jolly Cool you say, but isn't it annoying to having to press buttons on the keyboard all the time? And are there not times when you do not have the TIME to find the correct buttons? Yes yes and yes. That is why the DYNAMIC SPEECH PLAYER ( See 1.1 ) comes into action. The more automatic speech the better.
Examples: Scream your lungs out when a vampire has it's grip on you, screaming for help, coughing when hurt bad, shouting "Power ON!" when you turn on the main power switch in the tool-shed.
The game uses several characters that the gamers can choose from when logging onto a server. One of each character. One voice per character; also adds to the experience. Sucks up RAM, but it's worth it. People are getting more and more RAM by the day.
The characters
all have their own 'pool' or 'library' if you may, of speech-wavs for each given
puropse, so it does not get too repeatative.
Lets assume that character Jake shoots his Beretta 92F (15 Round Clip) repeatedly,
and after the 5th shot a speech-wav from his character dir gets played. We have
perhaps three or four different wavs, all saying the same things in different
words, such as "Dieeeeeee mother fuuucker!" "eat this piece of
shit!" etc. "die_1.wav" "die_2.wav", etc. Played randomly.
So when he has shot 5 rounds or so in a row, he automatically say one of those
wavs randomly.
Another example would be that the human who plays as Jake in the game presses
the "help me!" key on the keyboard a few times. There are, say 3 help
speech-wavs for that. helpme_1.wav helpme_2.wav, etc. You get my point. Jake
in the game screams out for help, in a few different variations, so it does
not get repeatative. You get my drift.
DYNAMIC MUSIC PLAYER
Quake 3 Arena already play stereo wav files as the main source of music. A more dynamic system is needed.
It must let us choose any music.wav to be played at any time we choose so. Examples are such as a certain song being triggered by death, death of a teammate, serious injury, killing an opponent, wounding an opponent, reloading, etc.
A "trigger_changemusic"
is in the works by IoQuaTiX. This should allow us to change or trigger music
by anything within a map that can be input in the Q3 Radiant editor. An example
would be, triggering the light system; stepping on an invisible button on the
floor (That doesn't sink down). Very useful for dictating special moods for
special locations on the map.
The dynamic player must be able to loop music wavs, play them once (if specified),
and fade the music OUT. Fading in is a bonus.
Another use thought of, is having a vampire special ability that is called "confusion" or "anxiety". This simply triggers a very anxiety-terror like music-wav to be played (loud enough so it makes it harder to actually hear the in game sounds that matter such at footsteps) at the intended victims computer (at his/her end). Not hearing what's going on properly, and being overwhelmed by the horror-anxiety music can trigger tremendous ammount of stress and paranoia at the intended target.
Music is a powerful tool if used correctly.