Design-A-Week #5

Idea Light and Dark Overview Light and darkness is prevalent in many games, primarily seen in the horror genre to provide an atmosphere of loneliness and desperation. They build an understanding with the player rapidly: players learn that darkness is bad, whereas the light represents safety and security. In this design, the objective is to apply this idea to a multiplayer gametype and level design. Design For this gametype, there are two teams with conflicting objectives o Team A is attempting to reach an extraction point placed at the further point away. o Team B is attempting to stop Team A from reaching their extraction Each team has its own capabilities o Team A are capable of defending themselves, are armed with ranged weaponry, and are somewhat hardy, but are given no respawns for the gametype Note: Keeping the weaponry generic here, as it could apply to any setting, from space marine to medieval fantasy. o Team B are fragile, cannot enter any sort of light source without taking any damage, and are not armed with anything more than the ability to pick up and throw small items, and to attack in melee However, Team B is given rapid respawns, have rapid movement capabilities and are very deadly in melee. They are also virtually undetectable in the dark. As Team A makes their way through the space, they should become acutely aware that the environment is working against them. o There should be a limited light sources throughout the space, and points where the team must pass through stretches of total darkness Smaller lights sources should consist of hanging lamps, torches, etc. These light sources should also be able to be defeated by Team B through breaking them from a distance (Ex. Throwing a stone at a light bulb in order to shatter it.) To help combat larger stretches, Team A is equipped with a limited amount of flares, which do create a pocket of light to help defend them. These last for a limited period of time Secondary objectives can be added as necessary to add an additional tug-of-war between the two teams o For example, a map could include a power generator in a dimly lit area. Team A successfully turning this generator on would power additional lights throughout the map, opening up new paths and block Team B in.

Team B destroying this generator could yield new melee weapons (Ex. Scrap pieces of the generator itself) that could be used to destroy larger light sources in the map. o Another example could be a case of flares on the side of cliff. Team A capturing the case provides the team with more resources. Team B throwing the case over the cliff denies the other team the bonus. Considerations during level design Provide at least one main lit path that cannot be completely eliminated. o Protected light sources that provide a definite path from spawn to extraction o There can be secondary lights as part of this path that can be destroyed to thin the available terrain for Team A, but nothing that creates an impossible scenario For secondary objectives, the amount of light should be inversely proportional to the value of the secondary target. o In the examples above, the generator objective should be located in a nearcomplete darkness area, whereas the flares case could be located in an area with a bit of lighting for Team A to use to their advantage. Attaching light sources to physics-enabled objects can create unique and fun variety within a map. o For example, a light bulb hanging from a cable could be swung across a large stretch of darkness to essentially create a moving platform for Team A to use to get across.