rockful

Rockful ideas
* As Talon moves along in the single player game, he is secretly "scored"-when he reaches certain score thresholds, his demeanor will change (he is growing more confidant), so that the content of his spoken dialogue will alter. We may also want to give him slight performance bonuses, as well.
* Talon's great grandfather will appear to Talon as an Obi-wan-like spirit in the game, helping him at times. His spirit type is "plain-walker" and Talon will encounter other "walkers" in the game, some good, some malevolent.
* Have Talon "warp" between two separate experiences, changing location and time within the Trocara ship. This can give us a unique way to deliver the story, as well as create a sense of player tension (he may explore the same room, but it has changed somewhat, for example). One possibility is that he has made a "spirit connection" with the plain walker that is his great grandfather and becomes him, at an earlier time, during an earlier abduction (when Earth was not on the brink that it is now). Another, related way to approach it is that Talon's great grandfather is actually Talon-and the connection Talon had as a small child was a contact between and old and new "version" of his self
* At the end of the shareware, Talon is "abducted" and operated upon-he is literally disassembled and then re-assembled. This process helps to awaken some mystical powers within him. Talon is also fitted with a translation device-this allows him to, at time, decipher the alien's language (all except the insectoids-their language should remain wholly unintelligible)
* Talon's default weapon, the wrench, will also come in handy during some "fix it up" puzzles and operations
* Talon can urinate-this might just be done for relief, but may be key in some puzzle situations (like shorting out some wires to open a door, or to make some ammo insolvent).
* Maybe have the Keeper's realm be a sort of "game hub" (we can utilize this "central area concept in multiplayer as well). This is where Talon goes to choose between the many areas that compromise the Trocaran ship-the way he gets "from here to there" is varied: some are doors, some are shuttle bays, some are trams and other are portals. Once Talon gets through an area, he can return here to access other areas of the game-some area may require keys or other "tests to be passed" for access. Talon can also regroup and recharge here (an idea: this is the only place that Talon can save a game?). We could possibly do a variation on the "hub" for multiplay areas-this is where player's meet to set up a multiplay game-then move to the level in which they are playing-new passages can be added in the form of user levels and such-perhaps this multiplayer hub can handle access to up to 10 environments-when a player joins an online or Internet game, they enter the hub of a certain server, and then can check out that server's unique levels.
* Modular interfaces on the screen that the player can move around and position anywhere-the game doesn't pause during the move operation, however. The player taps a key (like Tab) to activate the mouse pointer, and can then click and drag the interfaces-tapping the key again returns the player to normal control
* "bot" play should be part of the package-let's let the player choose between three types of play experiences: single play, bot play or multiplay. In bot play, we should have two "flavors"-traditional (like Quake) bot play (coop or deathmatch) and a learned mode, in which the player can create a bot, much as we'll create an AI (with a set of characteristic values). This bot will then learn levels as the player learns, gaining more and more knowledge about the location of prime objects, as well as the player's fighting style. When the player loads the bot into a new level, it will begin learning again.
* Let's see if we can use the Prey engine for the game cinematics-that way, we can hand control back to the player without ever having a break in the action-we can even use these "engine cinemas" at certain times within the game when Talon may have some interaction (interactive or not) with entities such as Keepers or his spirit guide-the camera can zoom out to 3rd person even, and then "re-enter" Talon's view when finished (as in Resident Evil)
* Let's make the Trocaran ship look many millennia old-the humanoid sections of the ship should be riddled with insectoid infestations and saurian advances on their territory, etc. We should do this "species blending" throughout the game.
* Once Talon has gotten about 2/3 of the way through the game, he is given the "ultimatum" from the Keepers, who tell him that if he survives, Earth will then be "taken out of the game." This allies the humanoid nobles with Talon (all other humanoids and all other species will still attack him).
* Let's have some enemies group together an attack in "packs" or attempt to surround the player
* Some weapon using enemies use the some of the same weapons Talon uses-can use multiple weapons-when Talon kills one, he can grab the weapon (or ammo) of the weapon it was using
* We want to, later in the game, really convey the sense that the Trocaran species wager and gamble with each other in trials of combat (with their genetically enhanced alternates)-we need to see, hear and feel these contests and even place Talon in the middle of them, later in the game
* We most definitely want Talon to be able to blow off arms and legs of his foes (single and multiplay)-maybe we can have Talon get his arm blown off as well? He'd shriek, blood would spatter everywhere, and he'd see his severed arm twitching on the ground-couldn't use 2-handed weapons then. If he has the right stuff in his inventory, perhaps he could make a tourniquet so that he doesn't bleed to death.
* Another option is to have one of Talon's arms replaced with a cybernetic arm after his abduction and mutilation-he could then have some enhanced abilities, and when he looses the arm, he wouldn't automatically begin bleeding.
* We could have Talon, when he loses an arm, grab an arm from certain killed foes, "grafting" it onto his body, and gaining some of that creature's abilities (think of the cool, panicked hunt for a donor arm before the player bleeds to death...)
* We should allow some of the beasties to "morph" into different types of creatures, or variations with alternate abilities-keeps the player guessing
* Natural crystals: crystal formations that grow out of rocks, etc. Perhaps they glow slightly. If the player shoots a formation, the whole thing explodes violently. If, however, the player bashes it with his wrench, then he might be able to break off a "prefect" crystal that is ammo for his crystal gun.
* from the web: in multiplay, when you die, your "spirit" raises up from your body (other can see this? It'd be cool). You can then "remanifest" yourself by either just becoming corporeal again (at any spot), floating to a multiplay-only "soul-to-body conversion station," or simply by picking which start point to materialize into
* we can dynamically link areas in the game via dynamic portals-example: a burrowing insect pops up through the floor to get you (you hear rumbling first), in a shower of earth and haze. When you've killed the burrower, you see his tunnel down to another area.
* Let's have the player get things (such as keys, access codes, etc.) from in-game characters, such as the great-grandfather spiritwalker, etc. Also, we can take advantage of a DNF idea: say you enter a level, and then work your way through it-at the end, you see a dead body and several primaries with weapons, which you must fight though. But if you cruise there right away, you can possibly stop the execution, and get something useful (an object or some information) from the individual that you've just saved.
* In the first levels of the game, let's let Talon have his first cool battle in the motorpool garage, and he can grab his default weapon there-it can be something like a wrench, a crowbar, a big screwdriver, etc. Each will offer some cool type of attack and tool benefit later in the game
* Idea from Todd (DNF): let's have a large humanoid alternate-when the player sees him, he seems to have these things wrapped around him. It turns out that its actually an insectoid alternate, specifically bred to control this humanoid (to aid in their war with the humanoids). If the player kills the humanoid, then the spider thing will leap off and attack. Too cool!
* Let's have a "necklace of kills" that the play sees before loading a new play session (once he's played for a while). It will be filled with fingers, ears, etc. (done in cool 3D) of critters he's killed. It'll let the player see at a glance where he's at and the proud killin' he's done. As an aside, we could have a button that the player can click that will make this necklace, plus some other cool Prey stuff, into a .bmp image that it loads into the Windows directory and makes the current wallpaper.
* What if we have different gun positions? There is a standard "gun held at ready" position. He can run, jump, fire, etc. He can switch to a gun standby position, which will let him run faster and jump farther, but not fire (if he fires, it will switch back to gun ready position). He can also sling the gun on his back for climbing, etc. Finally, when standing perfectly still, he can raise the gun to his shoulder for a better, more stable "sniper-like" shot.
* Allen's idea: what if Talon saw a helpless woman huddled in a dark corner, moaning for help? Talon goes over to help, but suddenly she flashes out of the way, and a large boss steps into the light. The "woman" was actually an appendage of the beast, like those things hanging in front of deep sea fishes to attract their prey.
* Let's have a "stealth" mode-no weapon drawn, slower than walking, but Talon is quieter and more difficult to see (allowing him to do sneak attacks)
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August 15 1997, Scott McCabe
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- In battle, it would be cool if the person your fighting starts
off fighting normal, if you're kicking his ass, his shots become
more aggressive and exaggerated. Once in a while if you're REALLY
kicking ass, it could do a battle cry (now this should be rare)
so spine tingling it can really scare the player.
- When loading a level, for example, have the ai take into the
account of the size of the level, fill it with monsters but
each time you play that level, the monsters start in all
different spots. So that the player cannot simply "breeze"
through the level by knowing where all the goons are.
- Sometimes in battle, being able to get close enough to someone
(ie. Saurian) to where you're waiting for him to move and he's
waiting for you...but during this tense moment, you can see him
staring you down but it can actually blink it's eyes...this can
give the player an even more frightening experience by looking
it dead in the eyes.
- Before play, the game can actually take the models and apply
different skins. By this I mean for example, take one saurian,
for that model it has 5 different skins (for 5 different looks
of the dude) and randomly apply the skins so that they also
appear differently each time you play.
- Have a Saurian that is nothing but an earth equivalent to the
elephant, it gets ridden but you can actually shoot the rider,
and take over this creature for transportation.
- At the start Talon should be Joe Normal. But as the game moves
on, he , like his past Indian relatives, can take "souviniers"
from certain "Bosses" (if the player so chooses) so that in
the end he emerges looking like a true warrior. Perhaps certain
items help him out (ie. A Claw from a Saurian boss gives him luck)
he can actually use with his character while playing on the internet.
- Twitching bodies....depending on the strength of the shot, an enemy
could fall to the ground....twitch for a bit and die but sometimes
twitch but later be able to pick up their gun for a surprise attack.
- Have a choice for a default weapon...being able to pick up a weapon
from a variety of different stuff (ie. knife, wrench yadda yadda) and/or
2 firing weapons , (peacekeeping pistol or bolt action rifle)
* Pistol that is loud, powerful, long barrel, very old (possibility of
misfire), and must be reloaded every eight or so shots.
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Loyal's Nifty Ideas:
8/15/1997 Skateboarder monster (I think that Matt would like this!)
Medium that we travel through. We have seen too many lava and water effects.
Thick cloudy oddly windy and torrential mediums
Ether that gives you a wacky drug effect
Rain
Snow (good and swirling)
First person camera that is completely correct as the third person view!
Yes! it will make stuff mega-simple!
No special cases!
8/28/1997
Shrinking the weapon to make it fit into your backpack
inventory items around your belt (you look down to select something)
no numbers (health is analogue breathing heavily bad controls,
ammo read-out on the gun, inventory see above)
--Two headed monster that is controled by two different people (good for monster cam)
portal for seeing what a monster sees
William:
8/18/1997
The decal poster of the chick on the wall
when you shoot it it turns into a portal and the chick jumps out and rocks you.
Switches that are that nifty deformed geometry
UPDATED August 15th by Allen
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*3D interactive interface for main menu.
*Setup menus and configuring should be as "graphical" and point and click as possible.
*TONS of options in the config.
*More hand to hand combat than typical shooter. Have the ability to grab an entity as you whack it or throw it. Also some kinds of "combo" moves to counter an attack or kick them up in the air to then shoot, etc. Todd's idea for DNF: grab and use enemies as shields. cool no?
*Force field corridor barriers that you can pass through, but take 1/4 of your damage(unless you turn them off). Might make for interesting puzzles. (like you're surrounded by these fields and you can only move through 3 of them to get out of a maze or you'll die.
*You can destroy sensors in a room or area to keep enemy troops from finding you immediately.
*Big crystal walls in insectiod level that refracts energy weapon shots, so you can't fire a lot (or just don't miss) without having blasts bounce everywhere and hitting yourself.
*Anitgrav rooms where you have Grav boots that you can turn off and on to get around. Like turning them off and then jumping towards another wall or ceiling and then rotate 180 and turn them on again to stick.
*Level that has transparent tube transports (like gerbil tubes) for zooming around in, and also fighting in them as you zoom around to the tubes destination.
*Level that has a cloning machine Talon can use to make a small temporary squad for co-op against lots of enemies or a bad-ass boss.
*Bots ("Preditors?") you can use for CTF levels and co-op against real players. This way you don't always need an even number of players for team games. Make the AI smart enough to be able to take orders and learn. Ex: "Bot, get flag" "defend base" "defend me" etc.
*End of a level where you start going down an insectoid corridor, then fight nursery guards who are carrying and protecting larvae. You keep going and notice you're now in a slimy, organic tunnel. As you progress you fight maggots and finally discover that you're inside a huge insectoid mother. You end up destroying her from the inside as her immune system tries to thwart you.
*Add flashlight (ala 3DFX demo), maybe Infrared lens to follow footprints?
*Primary's throw humans at lower GM's to slaughter and eat.
*Grandfather's words as Talon wakes from dream to start cinematic "The circle (cycle) begins again..." (In Apache with subtitles?)
*Enemies can run out of ammo too and also try to get powerups.
*Roll sideways and get off a few low % shots. (make it a combo move?)
*Jabba's palace door-robot sensor thingy that scans you before you can enter a room. You have to use a Personal Holographic Camo Projector belt device to look like a saurian to gain entry.
*Big, alien, floating orb-like things in levels. Possibly generators?
*Ground rumbles and shakes when close to big dinos.
*Big Roman-esque bathing house social area for saurians.
*Doors that are stuck partially open and you have to use a manual pump in side panel to open it.
*Weapons depo area or factory with moving gears, belts,etc. that you can't fire inside it without blowing it all up so you're forced to use stealthy hand to hand to reach goal.
*Dune-esque personal shield so you can't be damaged if you're still, only venerable when moving.
*Robotech protoculture-like powersource for certain weapons and powerups that can scanned and traced by sensors when in use.
*Last thing you see after bloody hand to hand defeat is the monster bending down and laughing in your face?
*AI ideas: Enemies can get frustrated, have dying/mad bezerker scream, be able to be scared/surprised by you, and some enemies have unknown intentions at first- you don't know if they're good or bad.
*Instead of boring lava (why the hell would lava be on a spaceship anyway), have flowing, crackling crystal-like substance. If you step in it, it will start to grow up your leg and crystallize, inflicting damage. If you get out before it overtakes you, you can move and kick to shatter it although the whole process will fuck you up. If you fall in a deep pool of it, you're pretty much fucked unless you have a jetpack, shield, etc.
*Talon curses and comments when you're totally out of ammo. Also he curses when a shot is close to him. Comments when loading weapon during a firefight. ("Get in there you piece of shit!!",etc.)
*Cool-ass blizzard like arctic area (probably outside in land areas up in a mountain range, and although it's closer to the "sun", the atmosphere is thinner).
*Aquatic saurian levels, maybe swampy or an awesome, huge ocean area with big alien battleships,etc. you run around on. Perhaps a waterworld type level miniadventure or underwater saurian base areas with lots of windows for great views and effects! please,please,please!!!!
*(Scott Miller's idea)In one level, let's have Talon walk past a forcefield of some sort. Through it, he can see some mondo creature/boss just rocking on "lesser" creatures, destroying them utterly. In a few levels, let's have Talon open some door and there he is, in that arena, ready to face that boss.
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Scott McCabe's Appendum [August 22 1997]
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*What about a level or part of a level, that is mostly based on speed.
Like, huge air tunnels that the player can only accelerate but never
slow down. The player(s) can fight each other or enemies wizzing along
at a smooth 200+mph. Also, there could be things that the player can
grab hold off or even switches to shoot (ie. Railroad tracks) to switch
tunnels to make things harder. These would either switch tunnel tracks
or activate traps. Example, players racing down this air tunnel shooting,
then one shoots a switch, opens a tunnel and closes off another, if the
one player manouvers over so that he gets pulled in to the other tunnel,
he's safe while the other (not knowing what happened) gets slammed into
a closed door and thus dies.
*It would be cool if characters had memory. Like if the player shoots
a family member of a certain species, the living members can seek revenge
and comes to kill the player at the most least expected time.
*Since Talon is an Indian, it would be cool if he could "track" things
but without the use of technology. He could say something to the player
that could drop a hint of what he's tracking.
*Timed events would be cool. Like for example, the humanoid section would
have timed sewer flushes. The player would die if caught in something like
this. In order to avoid it, he could pick up something like a "Trocaran Watch"
so that he could avoid such things.
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Scott Miller's Brainfarts:
* Mystic Walking -- After Talon first meets his grandfather, a plainwalker, he gets a medallion, which his grandfather says gives him a special ability, but doesn't say what. That ability, to be discovered by the player, is "mystic walking." The player presses a key that puts Talon in this mode, which allows Talon to leave his body and move in any direction, including up. This allows Talon to see in places he might not be able to see otherwise, and preview look around corners to see what awaits. When this mode is activated a Mystic Meter appears which shows how much time is left to do this. The whole while Talon's real body is motionless, but still open to attack. Any attack automatically pulls Talon back to his body. The journey back to his body is swift, and done using the spline method, so it'll look cool. Talon's mystic energy recharges slowly, so this is not an ability he can use often to great effect. Like a ghost, I don't think Talon should be able to in any way affect his surroundings will out of his body.
* Base the weapons on what the various enemies might likely use (Every weapon is alien in design, except the first which is a wrench, and/or the knife that Talon carries, if we use this weapon). The humanoids will likely have the high tech weapons and shields. The Saurians can have the stranger weapons and bio-weapons, like the Stinger (below). The Insectoids should not have weapons other than those it has built-in (they can spit acid streams, shoot stingers, shot webs, etc.) Basically, Talon can only have weapons that are also used by his foes. He shouldn't have any weapon that isn't used by an enemy. Weapons in this game are a discovery process for the player. Several might have a secondary mode that is not known until much later in the game. The game manual must not describe what the weapons do.
* Weapon idea: Slugs that are ripe with acid, and if stepped on will deliver damage. You can collect them and throw them as if they're acid grenades. They just slither around rather aimlessly. Because they're organic, shields do not protect against them.
* Weapon idea: Stinger -- A bio-style weapon similar to the wasp's or scorpion's stinger. Shoots a stinger that hits and delivers 20 points of damage (a number used just for illustration), but the damage occurs at a rate of 1 point per second. If hit several times then each stinger is delivering 1 damage point per second. Stingers penetrate all shields because they are organic. A person with 30 points of health might get hit with two stingers (40 points of damage over 20 seconds), but be able to find enough health before dying.
* Shields -- These do not protect against biological weapons, such as the slug and stinger. Shields protect against energy and mechanical objects. A shield device is worn on Talon's belt. Only humanoids use shields, not the other two species.
* Cloaking device -- Attached to Talon's belt. When standing still you're 90% invisible. When moving you're 75% invisible. When firing an energy weapon you're 100% visible while firing. Using a non-energy weapon, like a slug, will not affect your current cloaked percentage. Several tactical trade-offs are incorporated here.
* Bosses: Multi-stage bosses that are not killed via the all to common circle-strafe technique. Multi-stage means that they change at points during the attack, similar to how Hitler changed from the robot to the human-form at the end of Wolfenstein 3D.
* Natural Crystals -- These are crystals that grow out of rocks. There are two color types, one is rare and more powerful. These crystals are unstable and will explode if set-off with a blast of energy from another source, such as a weapon. If you find an out-cropping of crystals and you hit them with your wrench, you might break off a piece useful for your crystal gun--hit the crystal two many times and it'll explode in your face, so you need to be careful. You might also find smaller crystals in walls/rocks that you can take. These crystals out-croppings can be used to blow holes in walls or kill nearby enemies. The chipped off pieces (or small pieces you find) can be used in your crystal weapon.
* AI Considerations: In making actor AI, we should dissect what it is about players in a multiplayer game that makes them appear to be intelligent. The following issues make human players appear intelligent:
1. Humans react different to opponents depending on the opponents weapon. This can be replicated by a number of actors.
2. Humans use a wide range of available weapons, and make intelligent choices on which weapon to use in different circumstances. For actors, some should be able to use two, three, maybe up to four or five weapons. I do not think that it's prudent to have these actors seek out or use weapons that are available for the player to pick up. Instead, I think these actors should already have these weapons on them.
3. Humans use all of the power-ups available, which obviously shows them making intelligent decisions. This might be tough for actors to do, too, since I think power-ups, like ammo and weapons, should be reserved for the player's use and the mappers shouldn't need to be concerned if a strategically placed power-up will be used by an actor before the player gets to it. However, some actors should use certain power-ups as if they already have them in their inventory, such as maybe an invisibility device. Overall, this is a hard ability to get actors to duplicate, so it should be very low on the priority list.
4. Humans use all of the interactive parts of the level, such as doors, switches, computer screens, elevators, vehicles, etc. Some actors should also use these things.
5. Humans can fire while moving forward, backward and strafing. Actors should do the same them unless they have attacks that don't make sense for this.
6. Humans will run away and dodge when necessary, rather than always pursuing the target without personal concern for damage. Many actors should do the same.
7. Humans will seek advantage points in a level to snipe from, or to have a better position on opponents. We can flag certain level locations as "vantage points" so that certain actors (with long range attacks) can go to these points easily if they choose.
8. Humans know a levels full layout and make movement and pursuit decisions based on this knowledge (whereas in all previous 3D shooters the actors do not know a level's layout at all, and simply follow the player via a line-of-sight algorithm. Actors can be given a better understanding of a level's layout by mappers placing a "player pursuit array" (PPA) at junctions in the map in which the actor might not know which way is best to go because the player has already left its line-of-sight. For example, an actor spots and player and the player bolts away around a corner and into a room that has two other exits and a ladder going up. The mapper can place a PPA at this junction that gives each direction a percentage value (they all add up to 100%), and based on those values the actor picks a direction of pursuit rather than just giving up the chase.
9. Humans do unpredictable things while playing. Actors can be programmed to do unexpected things, too, such as randomly going into a plan (see above) that is a series of moves, such as running out of the room, waiting 5 seconds, then running back into the room guns blazing.
[Sept 20th by matt]
* this might be a bit fantasy style, but with all of exploited portal crap, we should have some sort or 'portal' container for talon to carry that can hold more inventory than it seems it could. as an example a zipper of infinate holding like the old Sorcerer game. it is just a zipper, but when you open it, it is a black hole (or PORTAL) that can hold a shit load of stuff. if we have an inventory, Talon could aquire this to give an excuse for all of the heavy shit that he will be carrying. in the beginning (before he gets it), he has to discard objects/weapons because he cant carry them.
* i want to have a firehose in a level. not necessarily a 'hose' but a nozzle that shoots water/sludge/sewage that you could pummel players/enemies with and they would totaly fly back against a wall or whatever. not really a destructive device, but a cool one none-the-less. you could really hose things down and piss people off by blocking a doorway off with it. you could even rig it to stay on and players would have to take alternate routes to get to the nozzle to turn it off.
* WE NEED A SHOTGUN! this is my excuse for having a shotgun style weapon, but not calling it that or whatever. A crystal or rock exploder or something of that nature. WTF does it underline this sheeyat?? Anyway...Judge Dredd the movie had this AWSOME shot gun thing that had this high pitched ping/hum when it shot and when you cocked/reloaded, it gave this high-pitched kick ass tech sound. It also made this fine mist when it shot (hollywood effect im sure) but it was cool. We should all watch it. Anyway, my idea was to have this kind of gun but you load a crystal/rock thing/something hard into it and it crushes it at a very high speed and projects it out of the barrel. Dammit we just need it. :p
*OLD POWER-UPS/WEAPONS IDEAS from Big Al--------------------------------------------->
GENERAL:
POWER-UPS
RC recon hovering probes (with handheld monitor?)
Digital Binoculars (X-ray too? w/ super microphone?)
Personal Shield Belt (ala Dune-equivelant to Quake's armor. Each race has it's own frequency rate, but there's also a super-shield for all rates)
Health (in a more realistic form-like food, drinks, gel-containers,etc)
SuperHealth (for all the pussies out there)
Black-Holes (the WB style Portal holes that can be thrown on the ground, etc.)
Nova Boost (Makes weapons 300% more powerfull)
WEAPONS
Hand to hand default weapon (Wrench, laser saber,etc)
Wire for choking/hanging/decapitating enemies.
Laser Grenade (pops 10' up and spins around shooting lasers in several directions)
Rift Cannon/Bomb(rare - opens a portal that sucks people in or unleashes aliens from other levels that fight/flee depending on race and situation)
M-16 (for earth level only-obviously you won't find ammo for this on the mothership)
CRAFT
Shuttle (space and flying inside ship to other towers)
INSECTOID:
POWER-UPS
Anti-Grav Belt w/ Mag Boots
Gen-Boost(Genetically inserted temp wall crawling abitlies)
Projection device (project a holo-image wherever its pointed. Images can be of you, powerups, weapons, etc. Great for causing a distraction)
WEAPONS
Cutting laser rifle (cuts enemies and other stuff in two-and maybe through walls to hit enemies with IR or X-ray scope)
Morph Gauntlet (Bio-tech living cannon that attaches to your arm and can morph into a powerful set of spinning blades for hand to hand, plasma spread shot gun or ion cannon -also it takes damage for you, but takes a bit of health to power itself too- so don't waste shots or you'll end up killing yourself)
RC throwing blade (ala Krull, Pred 2-maybe has laser blade cutting edges-you can control it for 4 seconds before it returns to you)
Energy "Hall Cleaner" trap (setup at the mouth of a hallway and it sends a wave of energy down the hall damaging anyone in it)
Electro-Net Mine (a booby trap that nails you to the wall with an electrified "web")
Bio-Cannon (Eats target's skin off and leaves a bloody, red muscle only, screaming body)
Rictor Cannon (sound based blaster that sends a high-frequency defening/damaging concentrated shockwave or a low-frequency booming shockwave that knocks you off your feet and back a few yards)
Disruptor (The longer you hold the trigger, the more powerfull this beam gets-enemy turns into particles and disolves when hit -like spinning particle system sprites-if held down long enough, it can destroy anything within a 20 feet radius)
Goo-Shooter (Emits sticky goo-crap that damages you and glows so everyone can see you)
Tentacles (Another weapon that latches onto you. It extends out (very fast) a few flailing bio- metallic tentacles that pierce targets and gut them like pigs. And can be used like a grappling hook too.( about a 35' range) Also you can grab other weapons and powerups across a room without moving-plus rip skins off people! Try this at home with the kiddies)
CRAFT
Living Shuttles (space and flying inside ship to other towers)-part bio-mech and have a mind of there own-to a certain degree.)
Living Bio-pods for traveling into "goo"- filled "cocoons" levels?
SAURIAN:
POWER-UPS
Personal "Dephasing" cloaking belt (again another Predator inspired device- you're only 100% transparent when still, say 90% when in motion)
Psionic Helmet (Several uses- can make others not see you, can be used to totally blind them,
make their movement controls reversed, make them shoot themselves, make their eyes see world upside down, etc.)
Gen-Boost (Genetically inserted temp super strength- great for knocking someone on their ass or throwing them across the room, ripping out spines, etc.)
Temporal Displacement (makes you slightly out of sync with the world, the extra friction you create when you move creates shockwaves that cause damage. EX: You can shadow- box and hurt someone across the room. But you walk slower though.)
WEAPONS
Laser-tipped Tachyon Spears (after it's thrown, it instantly reaches it's target with a wicked screaming noise and can stick into walls/characters. Throw it at an enemies chest and spear them to the wall behind them. Stick them in the wall and climb on them, etc.)
Crystal Transparent Rifle (you can see into how the gun works. Different energy crystals power it for different results and you can see the energy building up and firing inside the weapon. Possibly has it's own energy based adjustable shield projector that disminishes when firing. Possible crystal powers: a slow, very powerfull wave of energy rolls across the ground toward enemies, rapid laser firing, heat ray that sets you on fire, Sidewinder Blaster (energy blasts with trails that seek any motion and target it, Energy Regulator ( you can shoot a concentrated beam or a thin flat expanding beam-either horizontal or vertical for "sweeping" a room...)
Bio-Magnetic Mines (Low hovering mines that quickly slide toward you if you're stupid enough to walk by them)
SLAMMER (beam that graps an enemy and hold them-like an "alien on a stick". You can slam enemy into walls, floors just by swinging around.
SLAMMER POLE (trap that acts like a SLAMMER, but it leaves enemy stuck 20' in the air ripe for target practice)
Vortex Cannon (sends out a spinning vortex of energy particles that create a small antimatter implosion within any object it hits, creating a huge explosion of blinding lightrays and radiated matter particles. Very powerfull and great to use in a crowd)
CRAFT
SpeederBike-esque personal transports (very fast-plus leads to deathmatch races, and excuses for huge levels, etc)
Shuttles (space and flying inside ship to other towers)
Underwater transports (for possible aquadic levels)
HUMANOID:
POWER-UPS
Structural Integrity Scope (to analyze walls for areas that you can blow up)
Oil Slick (spray oil all over ground or enemies to make slippery or light on fire)
Cloning machine (rare-you can replicate weapons, ammo and even another you-temperarilly of course)
Cherubs (2 or 3 balls orbiting and protecting you -if you get a weapon powerup they can fire it too?-ala old arcade "SideArms" game)
Gen-Boost (Makes you faster for limited time)
WEAPONS
Ion Rifle (to knock out shields and cloaking devices, but only 1/2 damage to health -has cool electricty "shocker" frag look -like Luke getting zapped by the Emperor)
"Flaming Balls" Hall Cleaner (launches huge flame ball down hall to clear out any bad dudes)
Energy-Sucking/Transfusion Weapons (For possible vampire GM's to use)
Limbo-Mine (sends you to a Hell of visual wierdness and dangerous creatures for 10-30 seconds, odds are you won't come back alive-AAAAWHAHAHAHA <evil laugh)
Tempest Rifle (Based on sound. Small multi-ringed vertical shockwaves shoot out. Any environmental sound causes damage to expand and do more damage to target and any close-by aliens. Enemy screams and blood comes squirting out of them in different points before they fall like a limp rag -like poking pinholes into a water-balloon)
Springer Traps (thin boxes on the floor that catapult an enemy across the room (splatting into walls, etc.) when they step on it.
Acid Bombs (Canister of acid that damages enemy and also can eat away his weapons/powerups)
Gas Grenade (yep, nasty gas that can kill you if you're downwind)
CRAFT
Shuttles (space and flying inside ship to other towers)
Mechs (Robotech style, small (or medium sized ones at most), possibly transformable (like Cyclone Bike Power armor) maybe just an exo-skeleton like Aliens Loader machine)
Hoverpads (small one person pads with a control box sticking out of it to hold onto)
More Crazy Ideas from Allen (Sept 29th)------------>
Enemy (insectoid?) that uses removable bony appendages from it's own body to attack with. Ex: throwing shards, swords, etc.
Jumping attack Saurian with large umbrella-type flap of neck skin that opens up when excited.
(Tyrs?) Small Compy-like scavengers about the size of a cat that run around here and there and feed on dead carcases.
(Negs?) Small scavenger bugs similiar to above but travel in groups of 2 or 3 and can fly.
Bezerker grunt warrior (saurian?) who when low of life will go nuts and attack you hard core, during this short time, the creature's defense is double.
BOSSES:
Huge aquatic/plant -type dude that is "planted" to it's roots but has little bit of movement range, also controlls plant life in area that can attack you.
Ariel Saurian pyradactyle type thing that humanoids are afraid of and make you fight it before they help you or give you info/key,etc. Perhaps you have hoverbike/battle armor to battle it with.
To keep anymore Insectoids(since they won and are taking it over) from tearing up Earth while you're trying to save it, one "mission" is to find and blow up their main hanger bay. (maybe this is first part of trocara levels?)
*A beastie that gains HP the first five seconds after being attacked. The more you fire in the period, the bigger and stronger the alien gets. Then after this time, you can inflict damage on it. This will cause all those dumb-ass shoot-first types to get reemed up the bunghole!
*(Matt's) Sound Shockwave generating armbands, so when an enemy punches or moves it's arms, blasts come out.
*Weapons that can transform into other items.
*Still have weapon pop up when it's out of ammo. It will just "click" and do nothing, but it's more realistic than having it just disappear.
*Enemy that can grow/shrink to use different abilities/strategies against you.
*Dynamic Portals that can be "ripped" or pulled open with your hands. It keeps stretching and getting bigger as you pull on it.
*Ability to push crates, rocks, etc. Also pull open windows, vent grids by hand instead of just blowing it up and making noise that could cause enemies to come rushing your way.
*A "parasite" onboard the Trocara that will attack the enemies sometimes out of the shadows and take them away for food. Kind of an "Alien" for the Aliens.
*Level where you have to chase/hunt down a small, but fast creature who has an object you need to solve a puzzle.
*Try playing with FOV to get better gameview with realworld objects/camera. Say, 70 degrees instead of 90?
*Have less Ammo available so you think more and don't waste shots. This can be used to set the pace of a level.
*Use Power Crystals for weapons/armor in a similar way to Materia in FF7.
*Fire that is "alive" like demons or something really wicked or can form into shapes like snake, skull, sword, etc.
*Gravity controlled level where you need to manipulate the gravity sectors to solve a puzzle.
*While fighting a Boss, Keepers show up and take away your weapons so you are forced to find another way to kill it.
*Early in game, you meet a catured human (while in holding cells?) who helps you out with some brief background of the immediate area and helps you escape. A few other times throughout the game, he/she shows up and gives you info, THEEEEN...you find out that he/she was an agent of the Keepers (or a shape-changing Keeper) who has been manipulating you the whole game to do it's bidding and now has led you into a trap.
*Lose hearing for a few seconds when a big blast hits you or when a sonic weapon is used on you.
*Perhaps have Talon receive/find a device, glowing sphere, etc. that can be used throughout the game in certain spots to open doors, or make a change reaction with other such devices to solve puzzles, etc. This way you can have a small inventory of 2 or 3 special items that you can try to use and figure out how to use them throughout the game. (Kind of like in The Dig, where you'd get a strange object then get to use it much later in the game, maybe for more than one thing)
*CyberVamps that can somehow do a little mind control(mess with the player's config?) and try to lure you into their haven. You need to fight the controls to escape. Perhaps only with a Boss Vamp?
*Area where you get trapped underwater and have to blow a hole in the wall/glass to escape and you are shot out of the hole along with the water down a long tube into another room.
*Have ropes/vines/cables to swing around levels with in certain areas.
*Alien that can inhale huge amounts of air causing a vaccum that sucks in weapons, powerups, talon?
COPYRIGHT 3D REALMS 1997. CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENT
Jan 7, 98 - Tom:
) Have different keys/events assigned to the left and right hand and get rid of the Quake-like 'Attack' message. Have talon be able to hold different things in the left and right hands. For example, a pistol in left hand, and wrench in the right. Then when the user presses a key to use the left or right hand, the appropriate action will be taken. Using the left hand fires the gun, using the right activates the wrench (if appropriate) or attacks with it (if appropriate). Some items may require both hands, in which case, using either hand will activate the item, but may activate it in different ways. For example again, with a staff, left hand action can mean attack, while right means block (for medieval type battles with certain enemies). This could also mean that if the player takes possession of a three or four armed creature, he could equip each arm with a different weapon.
) Have each item have a certain weight, and each character a strength. This would mean that Talon would only be able to carry so much in his pack. At times, this would mean he would have to trade off a powerful weapon for something else. We will also have some other human characters for coop or deathmatch play with some different stats. Strength, speed, constitution, etc... to throw in a little variety. And of course, stronger monsters might carry more, while weaker ones less.
You look into a mirror and are attacked by your reflection (keeper level).
1/17 allen
*ability to become small fly/wasp, etc. as observer in multiprey. Fun to buzz around and sting people with extreme FOV bug vision. Then some user can later make a Bug-Bot to create dangerous swarms. BAWWAAAAHAHAHAHA
2/4 DM
* Humanoids have little remote controlled vehicles that shoot. You may acquire one of these to control yourself, maybe from a position of advantage or a stronghold. In addition, this could provide a cool interface to control something else...differing perspective and accessability.
March 3
Alpha Textures an a portal that allow us to have weird shaped portals. This will be really nice on the portal device. It requires alphatesting and some funky blending modes to draw it correctly.