Taking of Petrograd is a custom map made using the unreal 3 level editor. It's a unique map in that it takes the ordinary Warfare style of game and alters it, turning it into an assault style map, where one team (Blue) must push into the enemies territory and capture their nodes, while the other team (Red) must defend their points until the Blue team's core destroys itself. The Blue core will destroy itself if the Red Core is not destroyed within 10 minutes.
Petrograd has just entered its Beta stage after several weeks worth of accumulated work. There are still several known issues with the map, but as it stands I feel that the gameplay is solidly where I want it to be, and the art is refined to the degree that players will be ale to identify the direction. This is an ambitious project, unique to Unreal 3, and I want to be be able to begin collecting feedback on it as soon as possible. I am acutely aware of the fact that the nature of the game type means that balance will likely be a severe issue, and very tricky to manage, so the sooner the better. Within just a few days I will have it posted for download in several different sources, and will be advertising it in a variety of locations.
A new iteration of Taking of Petrograd will be released for more testing every 1-2 weeks, depending on progress on the map.
Currently known issues with the build:
Art:
- several untextured BSP's
- Several Unmeshed corners
- snowfall yet to be implemented
- snow in city yet to be implemented
- Several BSP's placeholding for future meshes
- Area around Blue Core unmeshed (Core is suspended in space)
Gameplay:
- Players spawn away from nodes under attack (players should spawn at points closest to untested node)
Misc:
- Music yet to be implemented
Download Link:
Coming Soon.
Monday, 23 January 2012
Devblog: Live Entertainment
I've recently begun working on a new project to put in my design portfolio, a mod for Fallout: New Vegas. It's a bit of an interesting beast, so far as modern games go, because there's absolutely no action in it. At least, never on the part of the player. What little action there is is all performed by a particularly surly NPC.
What Live Entertainment is, is a murder-mystery. The player enters an old-fashioned dinner-and-a-show restaurant just in time for the lead actress in the performance to drop dead on stage, making them the only person in the building definitely innocent. The player is coerced by the owner of the restaurant into puzzling out just who is responsible for the murder. There are four suspects for the murder, as will be detailed further along into the blog.
As I've mentioned previously, there's absolutely no action in the mod. The only gameplay comes from speaking with the different NPCs, pressing them for information about the victim and their involvement with her, and ferreting out which of them is responsible. As the player speaks to them their pasts and motivations will be slowly revealed, and with each new piece of information different conversation paths will open for different suspects. The overall goal of having the gameplay focused entirely on dialogue is to create a very unique experience to it. I want the mode to have a slower, and more methodical feel to it, while still retaining that element of black humor present in the original Fallout series. My hope is that by taking any action out of the game it will feel much slower automatically, hopefully forcing the player into the slower mindset. The nature of the investigation (very cerebral and requiring a lot of puzzling and deliberation) will also help in this respect, as it will force the player to slow down and think things through, rather than barreling through.
A lot of the experience is borrowed from the recent Rockstar title, L.A. Noir. Noir has the same element of investigation and interviewing as the main gameplay element. I had, in fact, been playing a lot of the game in the planning stages of Live Entertainment, to really get a feel for the gameplay. There's obviously a lot that separates Live Entertainment from L.A. Noir. Live Entertainment won't have the facial animations, nor the ability to accuse a suspect of lying. The player is forced to rely solely on the information they've gather and their own sense to puzzle out when information is conflicting, and to decide what's true and false.
What I had learned from L.A.Noir, though, and what it does have in common with Live Entertainment, is a huge emphasis on dialogue. Very subtle intricacies of language can be enough to turn what should be the truth into a lie. Less or more perceptive players can be thrown off by a wrong word. I have to be very careful about how I choose to word each sentence, and to make sure I don't accidentally contradict myself. Combining this with that fact that certain conversations will be unlocked by other conversations, and the sheer amount of dialogue needed, speech is easily going to be my largest challenge here.
At the time of writing this entry, I have completed my documentation of the mod, up until the actual dialogue scripts. I have thee main documents: A map of the environment, Character Bios, and a story overview. I have begun building the environment, after which point I will move onto making the characters, and finally the dialogue. Once the dialogue is finished I will begin to take additional passes over the mod, giving it an extra layer of polish.
Past this point, the entry is dedicated to my documentation.
Story Overview:
Characters:
Map:
Coming Soon
What Live Entertainment is, is a murder-mystery. The player enters an old-fashioned dinner-and-a-show restaurant just in time for the lead actress in the performance to drop dead on stage, making them the only person in the building definitely innocent. The player is coerced by the owner of the restaurant into puzzling out just who is responsible for the murder. There are four suspects for the murder, as will be detailed further along into the blog.
As I've mentioned previously, there's absolutely no action in the mod. The only gameplay comes from speaking with the different NPCs, pressing them for information about the victim and their involvement with her, and ferreting out which of them is responsible. As the player speaks to them their pasts and motivations will be slowly revealed, and with each new piece of information different conversation paths will open for different suspects. The overall goal of having the gameplay focused entirely on dialogue is to create a very unique experience to it. I want the mode to have a slower, and more methodical feel to it, while still retaining that element of black humor present in the original Fallout series. My hope is that by taking any action out of the game it will feel much slower automatically, hopefully forcing the player into the slower mindset. The nature of the investigation (very cerebral and requiring a lot of puzzling and deliberation) will also help in this respect, as it will force the player to slow down and think things through, rather than barreling through.
A lot of the experience is borrowed from the recent Rockstar title, L.A. Noir. Noir has the same element of investigation and interviewing as the main gameplay element. I had, in fact, been playing a lot of the game in the planning stages of Live Entertainment, to really get a feel for the gameplay. There's obviously a lot that separates Live Entertainment from L.A. Noir. Live Entertainment won't have the facial animations, nor the ability to accuse a suspect of lying. The player is forced to rely solely on the information they've gather and their own sense to puzzle out when information is conflicting, and to decide what's true and false.
What I had learned from L.A.Noir, though, and what it does have in common with Live Entertainment, is a huge emphasis on dialogue. Very subtle intricacies of language can be enough to turn what should be the truth into a lie. Less or more perceptive players can be thrown off by a wrong word. I have to be very careful about how I choose to word each sentence, and to make sure I don't accidentally contradict myself. Combining this with that fact that certain conversations will be unlocked by other conversations, and the sheer amount of dialogue needed, speech is easily going to be my largest challenge here.
At the time of writing this entry, I have completed my documentation of the mod, up until the actual dialogue scripts. I have thee main documents: A map of the environment, Character Bios, and a story overview. I have begun building the environment, after which point I will move onto making the characters, and finally the dialogue. Once the dialogue is finished I will begin to take additional passes over the mod, giving it an extra layer of polish.
Past this point, the entry is dedicated to my documentation.
Story Overview:
Overview:
Live Entertainment is a murder mystery taking place at a small dinner-and-a-show restaurant. When the player first enters the restaurant, the lead performer has just died mysteriously. The owner locks the restaurant down until the killer can be identified, trapping the player inside until the mystery can be solved.
Once the panic around the killing has subsided, the owner of the restaurant approaches the player. As the player entered after the victim died, they cannot be reasonably suspected of committing the crime. The owner asks the player to interview the patrons of the restaurant and identify which one of them is the killer. In return the lockdown will be lifted, and the player will be allowed to leave. In addition, the player will be given a discount at the restaurant in the future.
There are four people present at the restaurant (Excluding the owner, the player and the victim) – The chef, the victim's co-star, a fan of the victim, and the restaurant’s financier. As the player interviews them they gradually gain more and more information regarding each of the suspects, as well as the victim. The information will be revealed differently depending on how the player questions each of the suspects, meaning that there are several different endings wherein the player accuses each of the suspects. In truth, however, the real culprit is the co-star.
Detailed:
The story begins as the player enters the restaurant. The opening is a small hut, leading down to an underground restaurant. As soon as the player enters the foyer in the lower area, a scream is heard. There are sounds of panic, and the suspects come through the door of the dining area into the foyer. The owner appears, demanding the guests stay where they are, and sending the restaurant into a lockdown. From this point on the player will be unable to exit the restaurant until the quest is completed.
Once the restaurant is locked down, the owner addresses the patrons. Here the player learns that the star of the show has been killed. The owner addresses the player directly, asking them to identify the killer, as they are the only one free of suspicion, and therefor the only trustworthy one.
From this point on, the suspects will begin to move around the restaurant. Each suspect will remain in their own general area, but will move about within it. The chef, Simon, will remain in the kitchen. The Fan, Francis, will remain in the dining area. The Financier, Everett, will remain on the balcony overlooking the dining area. The co-star, Donna, will remain in the back-stage area.
The player will be able to move throughout the entire restaurant, including: The Foyer, The Balcony, The Dining Area, The Stage, The Backstage, The Performers' Rooms, the Kitchen, and a small Maintenance Closet. The player can search for any clues they might find in these areas. They can be used to unlock different lines of questioning with the suspects. There are Four (4) possible stories for the player to uncover, leading to four different culprits.
First Story: The Co-Star
Donna and the Victim, Marilyn, had known each other for a long time before the restaurant had opened. They hadn't necessarily liked each other, but they'd got along. They were born into a small tribe together. The tribe was eventually annexed into the NCR, and the two girls were exposed to a larger culture. The tribe began trading with larger NCR settlements, and both Donna and Marilyn took up trading, like many of the other young tribals.
Eventually their trading took them to New Vegas. It was the largest settlement they had ever seen by far; enormously huge to the two small-town girl's minds. After their trade was finished they decided to explore the strip. They caught the attention of several Troopers, and were convinced to spend the evening with them.
Donne and Marilyn continued to make trading trips to New Vegas, each time spending more and more time in the city after the deliveries. Eventually they both moved out together.
They began living on the kindness of the NCR Troopers – which they did not find difficult. They began to grow competitive, seeing who could gain the most in a night, or who could entice more troopers in a week. Marilyn was the victor in most, if not all, of these competitions. Her lead was slight, but distinct and constant. Donna, being naturally competitive, began to grow frustrated, to which Marilyn remained oblivious. Their competition remained relatively friendly. Eventually, after spending several months preying on the patrons of the New Vegas Strip for several months, they were approached by the Owner – Isabella Jade.
Isabella was preparing to start a new business venture: a dinner-and-a-show restaurant on the outskirt of the Vegas Strip. It was her idea that, as the Strip continued to grow, they would eventually be consumed by it and grow famous as an already established restaurant. She promised the girls fame and fortune, if they would chip in and help start the business. They agreed.
New Vegas, however, did not continue to expand, nor did it swallow them up. The restaurant began to fade into obscurity, bringing in less money as the years went by. What few people who did attend the restaurants shows gravitated to Marilyn, as they had always done. In what little way there was to do so in Freeside, Marilyn began to become famous. Donna, on the other hand, was seen as little more than a supporting role. As time went by their act changed, and Donna had less and less of a part.
Having already given up a substantial amount of caps she had saved up on the restaurant, Donna became more and more jealous and spiteful of Marilyn as the time passed. Sick of being constantly overshadowed by her, Donna hatched a plan.
From having grown up together, Donna knew that Marilyn had several allergies, ranging in intensity. The most intense was an allergy to Mutfruit, which would give Marilyn a violent reaction – resulting in death. Even the juice mixed in with something else could trigger the reaction. As a result, Marilyn was very picky about where her food and water came from. She trusted Simon implicitly, and kept her own personal water supply in her room, which was locked at all times, and only she had the key.
Donna also knew that Marilyn had grown much closer to Donna than Donna had grown to Marilyn. After a show Donna offered to have a drink with Marilyn. They drank a fair bit, but Donna manged to stay sober enough to be clever, and to plan. After she had gotten Marilyn drunk enough, Donna managed to talk Marilyn into bed.
Once Marilyn had fallen asleep after their romp, Donna slipped mutfruit juice into her personal water. Marilyn took her water with her for that night's performance, and when she took a drink she suffered a fatal reaction, and died as the player entered the restaurant.
Guilty Suspect: Donna
Path: True
Second Story: Chef
Simon, The Chef, was born and raised in the wilds of the Mojave. His family was small, and tight-knit. He learned from a very early age how to cook, to help provide for his family.
His family was nomadic, and had not heard of the battles between the NCR and Caesar's legion. In fact, they had not learned about the NCR at all, until they stumbled across the New Vegas Strip. They settled down in Freeside, and started a fairly decent living.
Simon was well known in Freeside for his cooking skills. He was approached by Isabella Jade when she first opened her restaurant to be their head chef, and he agreed. He had little reason to, he simply enjoyed the work.
As time went on, Simon enjoyed the restaurant less and less for the work he did, and more and more for the performers – Marilyn, in particular. He began to court her, and after a time the two had what might be considered a steady, healthy relationship. He would often prepare special meals for her, which they would eat together before her shows.
Simon would also prepare breakfast for Marilyn on occasion. One such day he happened to, he found Marilyn in bed with Donna. Both women were still asleep, so he left without them knowing he had ever been there. He was furious, and felt betrayed. He swore to have revenge on Marilyn.
Having prepared her meals for so long, Simon had a comprehensive knowledge of all her allergies. Chief of all he knew that he could never give her anything that had touched mutfruit, as she was deathly allergic. Mutfruit was a popular dish, however, and he often had some on stock. He also knew that Mutfruit juice could be easily mixed in with a meal without being noticed until it was too late.
He prepared Marilyn a special meal before she went on stage, just as he always did. This time, however, he added mutfruit juice to it. Marilyn ate the meal unawares, and went on stage to perform. The mutfruit hit her system, and she had a fatal allergic reaction on stage.
Guilty Suspect: Simon
Path: False
Third Story: Fan
Franics was born and raised in Freeside. He had been known from a very early age to have an addictive personality; he would very often find a single person or thing and become completely devoted to it for months, or even years at a time.
It was not much of a surprise to anyone that Francis joined the kings gang when they started up. Being one of the first members and completely devoted to it, he quickly rose in the rankings. He didn't find a top slot, but he was still important. He accumulated a fair wealth of caps, making him an ideal patron of Isabella's restaurant, once it was started up. He was invited to a grand opening, and attended out of curiosity.
During the grand opening's performance, Francis fell completely in love with Marilyn. As usual,he became almost slavishly devoted to her at once. He became a regular patron of the restaurant, coming almost every night to watch Marilyn sing.
After several months Francis began to grow more bold, and started approaching Marilyn after shows with gifts of candy or flowers. She appreciated the gifts, but was honest and said that she already had a relationship with Simon.
Francis was distraught, but not put off. He approached Simon about the issue, demanding he back off so Francis could have a shot at Marilyn. The two were in a fight, and in the end it was Marilyn herself who ended it. She forced Francis to promise to leave Simon alone, lest he be banned from the restaurant. Not wanting to be kept apart from Marilyn, Francis reluctantly agreed.
His gifts did not stop, however, nor did his obsession. He would present Marilyn with gifts after every show: her favorite candies, or her favorite flowers. He also began chatting with her after her shows.
From there talks, Francis began to learn more about Marilyn. He learned of her various allergies, in particular her deathly allergy to mutfruit. As the time passed his obsession became more and more all-consuming, and he became more intensely jealous of Simon. Eventually he became so obsessed that he could not think rationally about Marilyn anymore. He saw her as little more than an object, a prize to be won, and if he could not win her he would ensure that noone else could.
Before giving her her gift for that performance, Francis laced it with Mutfruit juice. Marilyn had the gift as a dessert before her show, and went onstage to perform. There, the mutfruit juice reached system,and she died of a fatal allergic reaction.
Guilty Suspect: Francis
Path: False
Fourth Story: Financier
Everett, The Financier of Isabella's restaurant, was born before the great war. After the first of the bombs hit, turning him into a ghoul, he decided to make the most of his new found immortality. He began to accumulate knowledge and know-how, rapidly becoming a mental force to be reckoned with. After 200 year he had accumulated a vast sum of wealth through gambling and doing business with less intelligent humans.
He moved to the New Vegas Strip as it was first being re-established, and quickly made friends with Isabella. He offered to put forward the funds for her restaurant from his fortune, but she refused, wanting to put up the money herself. Despite this, Everett supported the restaurant where he could, advertising it on the Strip or paying for food shipments in less profitable times.
As interest in the restaurant began to wane, he lent heavier support. He eventually began to go to give the restaurant his patronage in the hope that it would bolster support among his higher society friends.
As Everett began attending the shows more frequently, one of the regular patrons caught his eye - Francis. Everett took an immediate liking to Francis, and began to talk with him during the dinners. While Francis's devotion to Marilyn remained as strong as ever, Everett's interest in Francis did not wane. It only grew stronger as the time passed, and Everett began to resent Marilyn for the attention Francis lavished on her.
As the restaurant began to fall more and more on hard times, Isabella began to rely more and more on Everett's fortune for support, to the degree where he began to supply all of the food for the restaurant. Having complete control of the food supply, and having learned about Marilyn's Mutfruit allergy from Isabella, Everett placed a special order of food.
The order was given instructions that everything be mixed with Mutfruit juice, so that it would not be detectable. The order came through as Everett had asked, and the meal prepared for her caused her to have a fatal allergic reaction when she went on stage. With the object of his obsession out of the way, Everett would be able to move in on Francis.
Emotional/High Points:
Because of the different paths the player can take, and because of the heavy comedic bent of the mod, there will be no points that are particularly moving at all. However, this does not mean that there will not be emotional high points. In fact, there will be two.
The first point will be when the player first enters the restaurant. There will be a lot happening in not a lot of time, and the player is intended to feel a distinct sense of panic and confusion as four figures come running at them, and a fifth figure suddenly starts shooting into the air. The moment is designed to create tension and capture the player's attention and interest, serving as a hook for the story.
The second moment will come at the end of the story, when the player accuses a suspect of the murder. At this point there will be an emotionally tense point between the different characters, depending on who the player accuses. Regardless of who the player accuses, there will be a fight, and the accused will be killed. This moment is meant to feel rewarding, as the player sees their efforts come to a satisfying and dramatic conclusion, serving as the climax of the story.
Characters:
SUSPECTS
The Chef:
Name: Simon
Motive: Previously in a relationship with the victim. When the Victim cheated on him with the Co-Star, he was furious at the betrayal. Killing her would be the chef's revenge.
Means: The Chef works the closest with the Victim's meals. He would have been able to poison her meal at any time.
History:
Simon was born in to a small, nomadic tribe in the Mojave Desert. From his nomadic upbringings he learned a variety of tasks to keep his tribe running, chief among them cooking. Even young Simon demonstrated a considerable talent for cooking, and so as he grew he was eventually made the tribe's chief cook.
When Simon was a young adult his tribe stumbled across the New Vegas Strip. Deciding that they liked the protection offered by the NCR and the stability, his tribe settled down in Freeside. Simon worked as a cook for the citizens of Freeside, rapidly becoming notable for his skills. When Isabella started her restaurant, she approached him to be the cook and general maintenance staff for the establishment. Simon accepted, swayed by the offer of caps.
Simon worked happily in the restaurant, eventually beginning to talk more and more with the star, Marilyn. After several months of talking, Simon had begun to fall in love and offered to make her dinner. The two began a relationship which lasted until Marilyn's death.
Major Traits:
Introverted: Simon is a very diligent and dedicated worker, and thus largely keeps to himself in the kitchen. Even when he is not working he isn't the best at socializing, preferring to stay quiet and think to himself. He prefers to interact on much more personal levels, with only one or two people at a time.
Sensitive: Not being the best at socializing, Simon tends to take things fairly seriously. While he doesn't show it often he can a lot of comments very personally, which will come out in times of stress.
Romantic: Simon has a very old-fashioned view of things, and is a frequent daydreamer. He has a somewhat idealized view of how things should be, and acts as though they were.
Humble: Simon prefers to keep his head down and avoid attention. As such, he doesn't tend to take pride in, or draw attention to his accomplishments.
The Co-Star:
Name: Donna
Motive: Constantly overshadowed by the Victim's fame, the Co-Star was jealous of the Victim. Killing her meant that the Co-Star would garner more attention on the stage.
Means: Seduced the Victim, gaining access to her personal water supply. She would have been capable of poisoning it when the Victim was sleeping.
History:
Donna was born in a small community with Marilyn, that had not been a part of the NCR. The two were, while not friendly, at least on decent terms with one another. When Donna was a teenager the rapidly expanding NCR annexed her village, offering them defense and access to technology, in exchange for a share of the food that the village produced.
Donna and Marilyn, like many young people of the village, took to delivering the food to the NCR bases. Donna and Marilyn in particular took a route that brought them to New Vegas. After their first delivery they spent the night on the New Vegas Strip, falling in love with the big city almost instantly. They continued to make deliveries to New Vegas over the years, spending more and more time there. Eventually they moved to New Vegas full time.
Donna suggested that, rather than taking on a steady job to live in New Vegas, she and Marilyn manipulate the NCR Troopers and other citizens into paying their way. They had seen in their past visits that Drunk Troopers were more than willing to buy drinks, food, and offer a few caps for as little as looking good, and Donna had fast learned she could easily squeeze Caps off a drunkard without having to give up anything in return.
She and Marilyn lived in such a manner for several months, eventually turning it into a competition. Marilyn, being the more personable of the pair, was much more popular among the troopers and therefore won almost all of the competitions between the two girls. Donna, being a naturally competitive person, grew steadily more and more jealous of her friend.
After having lived in New Vegas for some time, Donna and Marilyn were approached to perform in Isabella's restaurant, and agreed. Marilyn continued to be more popular there as well, and Donna eventually became pushed more to the sideline of the act to accommodate Marilyn.
Major Traits:
Sarcastic: Having a very cynical outlook on life, and feeling the strong desire to be the best, Donna often demonstrates a sever lack of respect for those around her, coming to light in the form of snide and sarcastic comments.
Spiteful: Donna has a tendency to hold onto grudges, which often comes through in her interactions with those whom she holds grudges against. She will rarely come out and say she has a problem, instead simply being passive-aggressive to them until she feels she has 'gotten even' with them.
Competitive: Donna has a deep-rooted desire to be the best at that she does, and so is a naturally competitive person. She will frequently become defensive when beaten at something, and will become even more snide and sarcastic than normal.
Skilled actor/manipulator: In spite of her numerous negative traits, Donna is still easily capable of convincing people to give her what she wants, for one reason: She is a very skilled actress. She can lie through her teeth, putting on which facade she needs to properly endear herself to a person. She will often put her best face forward, even when she doesn't want something, and so comes across as a much kinder person that she truly is.
The Fan:
Name: Francis
Motive: The Fan is deeply in love with the Victim, as well as deeply unstable. He was jealous of her relationship with the Chef. He may have killed her to keep anyone else from having her in his stead.
Means: The Fan regularly offered the Victim gifts of candy. He could have poisoned his latest gift, killing her.
History:
Francis was born and raised in Freeside. He had difficulty finding a place in the culture of Freeside at first, growing deeply attached to a group, only to leave it for another. Eventually, however, he became a part of the Kings. He developed an astounding dedication to the gang, slowly making his way through the rankings and developing a strong standing in the gang.
Francis visited Isabella's restaurant out of curiosity when it first opened, and fell almost immediately in love with Marilyn. His love for her grew to a fervent, almost slavish devotion as he continued to watch her performances, and he eventually began to approach her before shows, attempting to win her over. This eventually led to him clashing with Simon, Marilyn's boyfriend. She demanded that he back off, and he did so. In spite of this he has continued to be devoted to her until she was killed.
Major Traits:
Obsessive: Francis will latch onto a single person, concept or group, and become completely devoted to it. In the past his addictive personality tended to wander, and he would often find himself obsessing over something new every few months. Since joining the kings, however, his addictive personality has latched onto it en force.
Strong-willed: Francis is an extremely stubborn person, perhaps due to his obsessive nature. He will often refuse to let an issue go, or to change his mind on a subject. Even if he is not open about it, the issue is still alive and well in his mind.
Cheerful: Francis is a naturally energetic person, and so comes across as being very cheerful and friendly. It is difficult to upset him, and even when he is upset he will often recover his cheery disposition quickly.
Excitable: Francis's Cheerful disposition, couple with his obsessive nature, means that he's extremely enthusiastic and excitable when it comes to objects of his affection.
The Financier:
Name: Everett
Motive: The financier is in love with the Fan, and is jealous of the Fan's devotion to the Victim. Killing her would take the Fan's mind off of her, and leave him open for the Financier.
Means: The Financier had more than enough money to bribe someone to poison the Victim on his behalf. Alternatively, ordered foodstuff that Victim is deathly allergic to, poisoning her.
History:
Everett was born before the war, in a small town near New Vegas. He was 40 years old when the first bombs hit, transforming him into a ghoul. At first he was deeply distraught, but as the fires of the war cleared and he retained his sapience, he eventually calmed down.
In the first years after the war there were no companions, save for other ghouls, not all of whom were still capable of thought. Lacking anyone to speak to for several years, Everett became severely introverted and introspective. When the first humans emerged from the vaults he greeted them warmly, though their response was not always kind.
Having received less than warm receptions from humans, Everett once again became isolated. Eventually, however, he found several other sapient ghouls to associate with. He founded a small community of ghouls, keeping to themselves for the most part.
After almost a century, Everett once more ventured into human territories as the NCR started to form. This time, however, he was greeted more positively. He stayed in New Vegas as it was first being set up, and found that his centuries of experience and his heightened senses made him an expert gambler. He soon amassed a great fortune, but due to his introverted nature he stayed a very small name in the New Vegas community.
He met Isabella on the Strip, taking a liking to her almost immediately. He took her under his wing, turning her from a casino prostitute into a clever gambler and businesswoman. With his help, she eventually gained enough to start her restaurant in Freeside. Everett offered to help her, but she refused. He still provided his support and patronage, however, attending every show.
Major Traits:
Patient: Everett has been around for a long time, and is well aware of the fact that he has a long time left. Certainly he has longer left than most people. As a result, he is incredibly patient, willing to wait as long as it takes to get what he wants, waiting for the perfect opportunity to take it.
Reserved: Years of living completely on his own has led to Everett becoming extremely quiet and introverted. He generally does not speak unless he absolutely needs to, and when he does it's only as much as necessary. He is also skilled at hiding his emotions, and doesn't tend to let them show easily, though his natural warmness gives more the impression of stoicism and wisdom, rather than antisocialism..
Analytical: Everett, being a ghoul, has naturally acute senses. This, coupled with his two centuries of experience, has led to him becoming incredibly perceptive, as well as very analytical. He rarely acts without first assessing a situation, and so can seem slow in spite of his sharp mind.
Friendly: Everett has spent a long time with no living companion, and so values companionship highly. He' very eager to make new friends, and to engage in conversation with them.
OTHER
The Owner:
Name: Isabella Jade
History:
Isabella was born to a very poor family in Freeside. Her only redeeming feature in her early life was her looks, and she used them to as much effect as she could. In her late teenaged years she moved into the Vegas Strip, becoming a prostitute. She lived like this for several years, until she was approached by a ghoul for service. The ghoul, however, had no interesting in using her. She was, for him, a cover and someone to talk to for the evening. He took a like to her wry outlook on life, and decided to take her under his wing.
Under Everett's tutelage Isabella rapidly became a shrewd gambler and businesswoman, gaining a fair amount of Caps - enough to live on comfortably, at least. Once she felt she had enough, she approached a pair of women she had seen playing the troops, and offered them a position as performers in a business she had planned - a restaurant in Freeside.
Major Traits:
Sarcastic: Isabella grew up fast when she was still very young. She has an incredibly cynical outlook on life, and it often comes through in snide and sarcastic remarks. Isabella is an intelligent woman, and will often have a remark for anything that is said to her.
Crass: Having lived much of her life as a prostitute, Isabella tends to use very crass language, and is no stranger to the less savory aspects of the world. She has no reservations about them, and does not feel it necessary to be subtle.
Sophisticated: In spite of her inherent crassness, Isabella has left her less savory life behind her, and has no intention of returning to it. She believes that even the bleaker aspects of New Vegas life can be run well, and done as cleanly as possible. Her restaurant is completely clean, and she does not appreciate the implication that it might be otherwise.
Unflappable: Having been exposed that the worst life has to offer, Isabella is very difficult to surprise at all. She faces everything that life offers her with the same cold, wry demeanor.
The Victim:
Name: Marilyn
History:
Major Traits:
Friendly:
Trusting:
Playful:
Selfish/Hedonistic:
Map:
Coming Soon
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Greed Corp.
Greed Corp. is a turn-based strategy game, though it's unusual for the genre. It sets itself apart from ordinary TBS games in that it's partly a puzzle game as well - and thanks to having opponents, it's a dynamic one. In an ordinary TBS game you have your environments, and you move your units around it to try and defeat your opponents units, or to capture more of the environment. Sometimes you have resources, or a variety of units with various uses. Greed Crop. Features all this it has a variety of unit types, resources and environments but the key feature of the game is that the environment is always changing. The main mechanic of the game is that in order to gain more resources, you must deplete and destroy the environment.
The environment in Greed Crop. is a board made up of octagonal panels. The board is arranged in layers between 1 and 6 that serve to create height and depth on the terrain. Beyond the board, there is nothing, save for a vast expanse of bottomless mists.
Your most common, and indeed most valuable piece, is called a harvester. It will give you a set amount of resources for every one of the octagonal panels adjacent to it, and in exchange it lowers them by a single layer. When a panel is out of layers, it crumbles into space, and can no longer be played or built on. The entire game is a gigantic balancing act. In order to get more resources, you destroy the areas where you can build or place units. By the end of the match there's little left of the board maybe four or five out of the original 40 or 50. Each team becomes confined to their own tiny island, firing at one another with mortar shells and trying to gather enough resources to build a plane to fly over to their enemy's collection of panels and deploy enough units to take it over. The end of the game becomes less a game of strategy and more a race. Everyone can see what needs to be done, it all comes down to what you did before the final stretch, and how that helps you get what needs to be done, done. There can be up to four teams in a match at once, making the game a frantic land grab, forcing the player to be wary of the enemy to the left, even as they conquer the enemy to the right. The experience as a whole rapidly shifts from a slow and methodical game of chess to a frantic and heart-pounding conclusion.
Greed Corp. is available on Steam for about 10 dollars. With a few dozen missions and online multiplayer, it's well worth the price if games like this are your thing.
The environment in Greed Crop. is a board made up of octagonal panels. The board is arranged in layers between 1 and 6 that serve to create height and depth on the terrain. Beyond the board, there is nothing, save for a vast expanse of bottomless mists.
Your most common, and indeed most valuable piece, is called a harvester. It will give you a set amount of resources for every one of the octagonal panels adjacent to it, and in exchange it lowers them by a single layer. When a panel is out of layers, it crumbles into space, and can no longer be played or built on. The entire game is a gigantic balancing act. In order to get more resources, you destroy the areas where you can build or place units. By the end of the match there's little left of the board maybe four or five out of the original 40 or 50. Each team becomes confined to their own tiny island, firing at one another with mortar shells and trying to gather enough resources to build a plane to fly over to their enemy's collection of panels and deploy enough units to take it over. The end of the game becomes less a game of strategy and more a race. Everyone can see what needs to be done, it all comes down to what you did before the final stretch, and how that helps you get what needs to be done, done. There can be up to four teams in a match at once, making the game a frantic land grab, forcing the player to be wary of the enemy to the left, even as they conquer the enemy to the right. The experience as a whole rapidly shifts from a slow and methodical game of chess to a frantic and heart-pounding conclusion.
Greed Corp. is available on Steam for about 10 dollars. With a few dozen missions and online multiplayer, it's well worth the price if games like this are your thing.
Alan Wake
Alan Wake follows it's eponymous character, a writer vacationing in a small Washington town to try and get over a 2-year stretch of writers block. However, as it is with all such towns, this one harbors a dark secret though most citizens outside of the local asylum remain blissfully unaware of it.
The asylum happens to be another reason for Alan's visit, as it specializes in treating artist - writers, painters, and musicians, such as a pair of aged rock-stars who believe themselves to be embodiments of the Norse gods Odin and Thor. The asylum even features a game designer for the purpose of an interesting easter egg one of Alan Wake's level maps is drawn on a whiteboard in the designer's room and a quick jab of self depreciation he is described as barely and artist by the asylum's head doctor.
Alan and his wife suffer a fight when the reach the town, and as a result Alan's wife is kidnapped by a dark force living in the lake. Alan awakes a week later in a crashed car, with no memory of what happened that week. Stranger still, he finds a page of a manuscript that tells him what's about to happen.
Regarding Gameplay, Alan Wake is very interesting. It's is a rare Triple-A game that risks a new mechanic. The entire game is based around light and dark. Your enemy is darkness incarnate, so your main weapon is a flashlight. Standing in pools of lamplight keeps you completely safe, and will heal you. Exposing one of your enemies to a source of bright light will incinerate them instantly - which can be extremely satisfying as you manage to light up a lamp just in time to kill an enemy who's preparing to attack.
The game bases absolutely everything around its mechanic; the story, the combat, even simple things that slip under the radar like leading the player through the levels. As long as you can see light, you know which way to go. The light reveals dangers and secrets in the dark. It's an incredibly cohesive game, and it has my applause for that. Many games suffer from elements that don't fit, but this game doesn't seem to have any.
The atmosphere is so thick you could use it in a Rocky training montage as a punching bag. The music is subtle and chilling, barely noticeable as you make your way through a darkened forest. It raises in pitch and volume whenever there's an enemy nearby, adding to an already tense situation with the shock of a scare cord. The levels are dark, creepy, and reminiscent of walking through an actual forest at night - the poor light warps the bushes into looming monsters, approaching from all sides. If the player finds themselves off the path, they'll have a hard time finding their way back to it without the help of lights in the distance. It never slips right into horror territory, as its individual enemies are easy enough to dispatch, but it never stops being tense and spooky.
Of course, it's far from a perfect game. It has a large issue with its level design, in that they're very wide open. While this is excellent for immersion, it has the unfortunate side effect of making it very easy to get lost, as I'd previously mentioned. This is especially apparent in the game's many forest levels, where the environments are much the same and the light is low, making it even harder to find landmarks. There are often lights in the distance leading you where to go regardless, but even still you will find yourself blundering through the bush, dogged by enemies wherever you turn, slowly getting weaker and weaker.
On that note, it's worth mentioning that the combat can get repetitive fast. As most of the enemies are easy to dispatch it's easy to fall into a pattern when dealing with them. Point your flashlight, shoot twice, rinse and repeat for every enemy you face. Times when you have to fight large groups of enemies, and they can sneak up on you are extremely tense, but on average the combat is a slow point of the game.
It does suffer from issues story wise as well, in spite of its story being very good by game standards. It very clearly takes its inspiration from the works of Stephen King. This fact in and of itself is not a bad thing, but Alan Wake constantly draws attention to this fact. It makes it feel somewhat derivative, where otherwise the inspiration would have been clear but it would have stood strongly as its own work. The 'comic relief' character can also be abrasive at times, though thankfully the spotlight is rarely on him.
The game also has an interesting feature that I can't say I've ever seen before. A lot of games model themselves after movies; there's a single long stretch of gameplay with nothing to break it up, ending in a huge climax. Alan Wake, on the other hand, models itself after a Miniseries. It's divided into 6 chapters, each chapter having it's own defined arc, plot and climax. There's cliffhanger endings, and short 'last time on Alan Wake' segments at the beginning of each. Given the similarities of the game to Stephen King, who's had several books adapted to miniseries, I think it's an appropriate choice of aesthetic. On the Whole, the game feels wonderfully cohesive, excellently designed, and delightfully spooky.
I sadly can't speak of the game's price, nor where you could find it. I imagine it's available to be purchased at any game retailer, or on Xbox Live.
The asylum happens to be another reason for Alan's visit, as it specializes in treating artist - writers, painters, and musicians, such as a pair of aged rock-stars who believe themselves to be embodiments of the Norse gods Odin and Thor. The asylum even features a game designer for the purpose of an interesting easter egg one of Alan Wake's level maps is drawn on a whiteboard in the designer's room and a quick jab of self depreciation he is described as barely and artist by the asylum's head doctor.
Alan and his wife suffer a fight when the reach the town, and as a result Alan's wife is kidnapped by a dark force living in the lake. Alan awakes a week later in a crashed car, with no memory of what happened that week. Stranger still, he finds a page of a manuscript that tells him what's about to happen.
Regarding Gameplay, Alan Wake is very interesting. It's is a rare Triple-A game that risks a new mechanic. The entire game is based around light and dark. Your enemy is darkness incarnate, so your main weapon is a flashlight. Standing in pools of lamplight keeps you completely safe, and will heal you. Exposing one of your enemies to a source of bright light will incinerate them instantly - which can be extremely satisfying as you manage to light up a lamp just in time to kill an enemy who's preparing to attack.
The game bases absolutely everything around its mechanic; the story, the combat, even simple things that slip under the radar like leading the player through the levels. As long as you can see light, you know which way to go. The light reveals dangers and secrets in the dark. It's an incredibly cohesive game, and it has my applause for that. Many games suffer from elements that don't fit, but this game doesn't seem to have any.
The atmosphere is so thick you could use it in a Rocky training montage as a punching bag. The music is subtle and chilling, barely noticeable as you make your way through a darkened forest. It raises in pitch and volume whenever there's an enemy nearby, adding to an already tense situation with the shock of a scare cord. The levels are dark, creepy, and reminiscent of walking through an actual forest at night - the poor light warps the bushes into looming monsters, approaching from all sides. If the player finds themselves off the path, they'll have a hard time finding their way back to it without the help of lights in the distance. It never slips right into horror territory, as its individual enemies are easy enough to dispatch, but it never stops being tense and spooky.
Of course, it's far from a perfect game. It has a large issue with its level design, in that they're very wide open. While this is excellent for immersion, it has the unfortunate side effect of making it very easy to get lost, as I'd previously mentioned. This is especially apparent in the game's many forest levels, where the environments are much the same and the light is low, making it even harder to find landmarks. There are often lights in the distance leading you where to go regardless, but even still you will find yourself blundering through the bush, dogged by enemies wherever you turn, slowly getting weaker and weaker.
On that note, it's worth mentioning that the combat can get repetitive fast. As most of the enemies are easy to dispatch it's easy to fall into a pattern when dealing with them. Point your flashlight, shoot twice, rinse and repeat for every enemy you face. Times when you have to fight large groups of enemies, and they can sneak up on you are extremely tense, but on average the combat is a slow point of the game.
It does suffer from issues story wise as well, in spite of its story being very good by game standards. It very clearly takes its inspiration from the works of Stephen King. This fact in and of itself is not a bad thing, but Alan Wake constantly draws attention to this fact. It makes it feel somewhat derivative, where otherwise the inspiration would have been clear but it would have stood strongly as its own work. The 'comic relief' character can also be abrasive at times, though thankfully the spotlight is rarely on him.
The game also has an interesting feature that I can't say I've ever seen before. A lot of games model themselves after movies; there's a single long stretch of gameplay with nothing to break it up, ending in a huge climax. Alan Wake, on the other hand, models itself after a Miniseries. It's divided into 6 chapters, each chapter having it's own defined arc, plot and climax. There's cliffhanger endings, and short 'last time on Alan Wake' segments at the beginning of each. Given the similarities of the game to Stephen King, who's had several books adapted to miniseries, I think it's an appropriate choice of aesthetic. On the Whole, the game feels wonderfully cohesive, excellently designed, and delightfully spooky.
I sadly can't speak of the game's price, nor where you could find it. I imagine it's available to be purchased at any game retailer, or on Xbox Live.
The Stanley Parable
The Stanley Parable is a difficult game to describe. This is not because of anything particularly confusing within the game itself; TSP is entirely story based, and the story is very straightforward. Rather, what makes the game difficult to describe is the nature of the story. It is a story that is wholly unique to the medium of video games, in that it can be different each time, and most importantly in that it is aware of this fact.
At this point, I find myself struggling with just how much of TSP I can describe without spoiling the experience and the game is all about the experience. The gameplay is virtually nonexistent; the only actions that the player can take are pressing buttons, and making choices.
The Stanley Parable is, at its core, a game about choices. It's also a game about narrative, and about control, but only in how choice relates to them. It's core feature is that it is aware of the choices that the player is making as they play through it. I don't mean that systems built into the game track data and tabulate scores based on them, either. The game features a narrator who is wholly aware of the player and will interact with them. He tries to lead the player along a path, and becomes irate when the player deviates from it.
Again, I don't want to say to much about the game for the fear of ruining its experience. As it is, though, I imagine I've left plenty for you to experience on your own. Perhaps most interestingly, the experience is different from both a player's and a designer's perspective.
To a player, it's deeply compelling, and will make you think about any games you've played in the past particularly those that featured choices. From a designers perspective, however, it becomes something else entirely. After playing it I found myself simply staring at my computer screen. It makes me, as a designer, rather acutely aware of what I do when I lead the player.
That's all I will say about it for now. The gameplay hardly warrants mention; as I've said previously it's barely there, instead narrowing it's focus solely to delivering the narrative, which is does remarkably.
The Stanley Parable is a mod for the Source Engine. It's free to download, so long as you have the engine, which is available through any Valve game, several of which are free themselves(and, of course, excellent). It takes anywhere between 7 minutes to about an hour of gameplay, depending on how thorough you wish to be, making it excellent to play in your free time.
At this point, I find myself struggling with just how much of TSP I can describe without spoiling the experience and the game is all about the experience. The gameplay is virtually nonexistent; the only actions that the player can take are pressing buttons, and making choices.
The Stanley Parable is, at its core, a game about choices. It's also a game about narrative, and about control, but only in how choice relates to them. It's core feature is that it is aware of the choices that the player is making as they play through it. I don't mean that systems built into the game track data and tabulate scores based on them, either. The game features a narrator who is wholly aware of the player and will interact with them. He tries to lead the player along a path, and becomes irate when the player deviates from it.
Again, I don't want to say to much about the game for the fear of ruining its experience. As it is, though, I imagine I've left plenty for you to experience on your own. Perhaps most interestingly, the experience is different from both a player's and a designer's perspective.
To a player, it's deeply compelling, and will make you think about any games you've played in the past particularly those that featured choices. From a designers perspective, however, it becomes something else entirely. After playing it I found myself simply staring at my computer screen. It makes me, as a designer, rather acutely aware of what I do when I lead the player.
That's all I will say about it for now. The gameplay hardly warrants mention; as I've said previously it's barely there, instead narrowing it's focus solely to delivering the narrative, which is does remarkably.
The Stanley Parable is a mod for the Source Engine. It's free to download, so long as you have the engine, which is available through any Valve game, several of which are free themselves(and, of course, excellent). It takes anywhere between 7 minutes to about an hour of gameplay, depending on how thorough you wish to be, making it excellent to play in your free time.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)