Design Overview Document
This document outlines the Infernal Device first person shooter and goes into design detail for a single level. The game follows the newly appointed ‘outsider’ Governor Wiesenegger as he uncovers a clandestine conspiracy that reaches deep into the federal government.
Theme:
Infernal Device is a tongue-in-cheek, gratuitous action game. The name itself is a combination of ‘Infernal Machine’ (a weapon of mass destruction) and Plot Device (a contrived tool for progressing a plot) implying that this game will embrace the guilty pleasures of popular action games and movies without reservation.
To further the Infernal Device theme, the protagonist will be Alfie Weissenegger, a muscled-bound, Austrian-accented governor of California.
Weissenegger will proceed through the game uncovering the diabolical plot by bringing resolution to a number of sticky situations through creative utilization a variety of high powered weapons.
Game-play motif:
The game should always try to uphold the following three ideals:
To support these themes, enemies will be numerous and quick yet causing little damage (Imagine typical Schwarzenegger action movies). Nearly all weapons will be capable of rapid fire and ammunition will be abundant. Enemy interaction style should be based on multiplayer arena style combat AI – with enemies that know how to attack, retreat and evade. In most typical enemy encounters, the enemies will be given a large non-linear area to move around in.
Art Direction:
Characters should stand out clearly from the backgrounds, this game is about cinematic action, not realism. Environments should consist of realistic organic colors – browns and greens and a light orange-ochre color for the temple bricks. The industrial additions to the temple, including the infernal device itself, should be dull metal colors.
Common enemy: A Ridiculous Colombian stereotype with red cabana shirt, white hat, sunglasses and black moustache.
Salzar: Also wearing sunglasses, he has slicked black hair, big froggy lips and is wearing a completely white suit. (note on the name – Salzar or its variants is a comically common villain name from the Simpson’s McBain, to the TV series 24 to Resident Evil 4 to my freshman year of college)
Weissenegger: Khaki green pressed pants, button down white shirt mostly unbuttoned, ridiculously wide shoulders and large arms. Short blonde hair and thick blocky chin.
Introduction:
This level follows an attempted assassination sequence on the governor’s jet which ended with a parachuted leap from the plummeting craft into the South American jungle.
The level opens with a quick introductory fmv sequence.
The fmv opens on the shadowy entrance to a crumbly temple, swathed in an overgrown sub tropical jungle. What we are actually seeing is a portion of the playable level. The cabana shirt enemies are standing guard and patrolling with assault rifles.
The camera quickly pans away along a tight ravine and through a wide woods, densely packed with trees and undergrowth. Over the course of the fmv, we hear the following conversation over the crackle of a radio:
Ernest voice: “Governor, I know this is asking a lot, but if someone doesn’t storm Salzar’s lair and destroy his infernal device, the state of California is doomed!”
Deep Austrian voice: “How much time do we have?”
“Not much sir – no time for negotiations. This is balls to the wall, just like the old days.”
“This is kid’s stuff compared to a Democratic State Senate. Tell Maria I’ll be back for dinner. Weissenegger out.”
The camera ends on Weissenegger as his last line ends. View fades into first person.
Area 1 – the Woods
The woods is a wide, flat, teardrop shaped area. The player starts at the widest end, facing the narrow end. The entire area is filled with trees and undergrowth. The edges of the area are steep rocky slopes that vanish into a foggy canopy. It should take the player around 20 seconds to run to the opposite end of the woods area where the walls funnel together to lead to the next area.
The purpose of this area is simple – introduce the player to his first enemy, then allow him to gradually build up pacing with increasing enemy interaction. The enemies are spaced more densely further away from the player start position. Only the first enemy is visible and he is near-by and stationary - all other enemies in this area are on slow patrols. The player has two options, sneak up on enemies or run and gun. Once enemies become aware of the player, they will begin to run about rather quickly and all hell should break loose. The player should find it fairly easy to avoid enemies by weaving through the many trees and the trees should create a frantic ambiance as targets dart in and out of view. Total enemy count should be around 15 and all enemies are armed with assault rifles. At the end of the woods there is a checkpoint.
Area 2 – the Ravine
The ravine is a narrow, winding, slightly sloping corridor. Along both sides are single pathways that overlook the lower, central path. The central path is spotted with large upward jutting rocks and the occasional vision-blocking tree. At the entrance to the ravine, the player has the option to chose any of the 3 paths, the two upper paths slope upward and the central path slopes downward.
In the ravine enemies have less room to run and the situation will be more of a static firefight that progresses along the length of the ravine as the player progresses. All 3 paths will be spotted irregularly with enemies - maybe 4 per path. Therefore, regardless of which path the player takes, he will be fighting enemies both ahead of him on his own path as well as shooting across at enemies on the other paths. The upper paths will offer the advantage of shooting angle, but the lower path will have the advantage of more cover and fewer enemies to deal with at any one time; some enemies on the lower path should be positioned so that the player can not see or shoot them until he has passed their position, at which time it can be synchronized so that further enemies down the path become simultaneously apparent (and threatening).
The upper paths should be designed with tiny lips so that it is not easy for the player to accidentally slip off.
Area 3 – the Clearing
The ravine ends by opening into the clearing. The upper paths also end overlooking the clearing and the player may easily move down off of the paths. The clearing is a flat, perfectly clear, relatively circular area.
Near the ravine end of the clearing is a single crate and an armor pick up. The crate is large enough that, if the player crouches, it can be used as cover. On the opposite end of the clearing is the temple entrance – a shadowy opening in the ivy-covered wall of stacked blocks of cut stone. Just in front of and to each side of the entrance are two barricades. Behind each barricade is an enemy armed with a minigun. Behind the enemies, along the temple walls are stacks of equipment crates indicating that this is the entrance to an active and industrious secret lair.
Once the player defeats the two guards, he should be able to equip himself with a minigun (which he should be able to maintain comfortably until he finds something better). At the end of the clearing there is a checkpoint
Area 4 – the Temple Foyer
Reaction based puzzle. Spear guns (or lasers) firing toward you. A quick sequence of directional dodges will get you through. The end of the foyer has a life pack and a checkpoint.
Area 5 – the Central Room
Tiered levels going up. All levels are essentially walkways around the periphery of the room. Doorways in the wall lead to an outer hallway also looping around the temple room. These two alternate routes allow for enemies to flank the player and encourage him to keep moving (although the outer hallway route does not allow the player to ascend or descend between levels. The infernal device is some sort of massive super gun dominating the center of the room. It is in a ‘descended’ state and only extends half way up the room. An enemy with a rocket launcher on the top level is a continuous threat.
The room should have 4 levels. There is only one route for getting between the first three levels but the top 2 will have a number of routes between them. This upper half of the room is designed as an arena combat area for the fight with Salzar.
There are ‘swing points’ at various places along the levels above the device where the player may ‘swing across’ to the opposite platform. The player simply faces predefined gaps in the railing and an interaction icon appears. ‘Using’ the icon will cause the player to leap out and grab a hanging cable (presumably necessary for moving or powering the infernal device) that will cause him to swing across the room to an opposite walkway. While swinging, the player is able to look in any direction and fire his guns. This transportation can be used to break up the restrictions of a ring shaped arena.
As the user enters the central room, a quick cut-scene pans to a green tank somewhere near the top of the infernal device and Weissenegger’s voice observes – “the sensitive core – I must explode it”. This sequence will end once the player reaches the top level, kills the rocket launcher enemy and shoots a rocket at the sensitive core.
Device destroyed cutscene:
Once the player grabs the rocket launcher and shoots the sensitive core, cut to Salzar’s office. Salzar is on the phone:
“So then I said, Tiffany, baby, I’m sorry but the dog has been in the family a long time. Everybody loves the dog – it’s a loved dog.”
-Sound of explosion-
“What the fuck?! Fidel, can I call you back?”
-hangs up-
back in the Central room, the door bursts open and Salzar comes running out, guns blazing. Salzar is armed with some sort of high-damage gun that fires visible projectiles with an extremely powerful short range mode to discourage the player from getting too close.
Killing Salzar:
Once Salzar emerges he will fight the player until he is killed. Salzar has a lot of life and should like using the swing points. This sequence should play like an intense free form arena combat encounter against an intelligent opponent.
Salzar’s office
This is a small place – a desk with a phone on it and a few papers, and maybe a map of the world on one wall and a framed photo of Scarlet Johanssen on the other wall.
Once Salzar is killed, the game will cut to a cut-scene of Wiesenegger entering the office. He will pick up a file on Salzar’s desk and leaf through it.
“What – what is this? These are official documents from the office of the United States Secretary of State. What’s going on here? This looks like a receiving log of supply shipments - plutonium, light-weight titanium alloys, supercomputer processors… The next boat arrives tonight – I think I’ll help them unload.”
The next level, of course, involves Weisenegger storming the freighter as he follows the evidence to its source.