This post summarizes what I imagine the gameplay and environment (and some of the story) will be like based on what I feel about the game.
Do not take my ideas too seriously, what I imagine here might not make for the best gameplay, and/or anything else, this is only the imaginings of a fan of the game.
Please excuse any lack of editing, length of the writing, and somewhat inconsistent thinking. (unless you like to be overcritical jerk, or a person suffering from
information glut)
In my laziness I excluded how the inventory system, stealth, cover will work, and a lot of other things.
This post is designed to be one large suggestion, whose ideas may be ignored or implemented, striped of it's components or derived from.
--gameplay
I imagine this game will have a heavy stance orientation and a very fast forward movement due to the quadrupedal locomotion.
(character feel)
-The main character feels somewhat weak throughout most of the game (think STALKER early game) due to these factors
1. due to the offensive power of the enemies as well as their high HP.
2. environmental traps (triggerable alarms, hazardous gas, spike pits) that are in each level
3.the difficulty in using your offensive equipment which require certain stances and positioning to effectively use (think BF3's Javelin missile), however, the
player's defensive/escape options do not require stances or equipment in hands to preform thus promote sneaky-evasive character feel.The abilities were created with
the intention that they will be combined with other abilities-weapons to enhance gameplay depth.
4. the rarity of resources throughout the game, (almost to a point that you don't have enough ammunition to defeat every enemy in a level)
5. The low HP of the main character (4-hit kills from non-auto weapons) and infrequency of medkits.
6. the slowness of side-to-side movement and backwards movement which interferes with weapon usage.
7. due to the slowness of weapon switching, weapons must be committed to once combat begins using instants to supplement the player's playstyle.
-However the difficulty is ameliorated by these factors
1. 60% of damage dealt to the player is regenerable out of combat with the last 40% being non-regenerating which can only be recovered through medkits. (idea taken
from ninja gaiden 2.)
2. enemies have predictable and mostly evadable attacks but are highly suppressive (you have to dodge and/or get out of LOS)
3. some of the environmental traps can be used to your benefit.
4. the evasiveness of your forward movement when sprinting.
5. the tools that enable you to get away from your enemies-regain stealth.
regenerating resources.
Mana: your typical spellcasting resource, but I imagine it primarily being used as a support resource (for steadying the aim of your weapons) and for powering certain
items and abilities that you aquire-start with.
stamina: your secondary resource which allows you to use your sprint ability, as well as some of your melee weapons with greater efficiency.
(abilities, equipment, weapons and accompanying resources
)
(INSTANTS) some of your abilities will have minimal requirements in stance/equipped-in-hand-items to use and are preformed instantly (potions in skyrim and the kick
in dead island or teleporting) But these abilities are entirely defensive-combat utility and have restrictions on their use (like a cooldown or spell reagents). The
resources to preform these abilities are acquired in modest quantity, enabling moderate use throughout the game.
abilities and equipment in the instant category.
Short range teleport: triggers slomo upon activating to aid in selection of a target area, this slomo also drains resources while active. can be used escape enemies
channeled spells-lockon effects Uses recharging resource (mana). Generates low noise.
slippery marbles: thrown from nearly any position to delay the enemies or stun enemies that pass under it. TRAP CATEGORY. uses non-recharging resource but creates
resources upon use. (picking up the thrown marbles) Generates no noise. Resources to use found somewhat commonly.
self-flasbang: creates large stun effect sphere around self which stuns enemies in the sphere, and blinds self but for a shorter duration than the stun effect on
enemies, disables player's attack for a short duration to promote use as a escape option. the stunsphere penetrates cover/world geometry. uses both non-regenerating
and regenerating resource. Generates high noise. resources to use found moderately.
flashlight: your typical source of illumination, slowly uses regenerating resource, will alert enemies to your presence.
Buck: An expected physical attack preformed behind the player, is used as a standard melee attack throughout the game. deals minor damage (10% of average enemies HP)
uses no resources, generates low noise (generates none if attack fails to hit anything.)
(STANCE REQUIRING) The majority of your more powerful abilities and weapons will require the use of stances and equipment-in-hand to preform with an average switching
between weapons around 3 seconds (including like the use of a grappling hook or a gliding kit (or a sniper rifle and a rocket launcher). weapons also suffer from
accuracy issues while the player is under attack and when the player isn't the stance to use the weapon effectively (run and gun is inaccurate). The resources to use
these abilities will be acquired in diminished quantities compared to the instant abilities, to promote stealthy gameplay.
abilities and equipment in the stance-requirement category.
sniper: the typical long-range single-shot weapon with penalties of restricted/no movement and restricted vision to use effectively. Deals high damage (65% of a
enemies HP) uses non-regenerating resources. Generates high noise. resources to use found rarely.
close combat assassination: a expected close combat attack preformed behind unalerted enemies to defeat them, no stance requirements to use other than having it in
hand. Generates low noise. uses no resources.
light-stun shield: A highly defensive item, used to block enemy attacks, mitigates 95% of enemy damage received in a hemisphere in looking direction of the player,
multiplies movement speed by 0.8 while blocking, damage mitigated by shield "charges" it into into 2 states, level 1,and 2, when shield is charged, it can unleash a
stun effect whose power is dependent of the charge level the shield, the stun effects enemies such that it permits a follow up attack or a hasty escape. The charge
dissipates from the item after 20 seconds (the charge persists trough weapon switching). generates low noise in use, generates high noise when using stun. uses no
resources.
bow-crossbow: A somewhat run-and-gun weapon, takes a long time to reload (7-seconds)
and requires an aiming stance (less burdensome than the sniper). resources found
commonly, generates modest noise. Can be fitted with various ammunition types, such as.
standard bolt: deals around 30% of an average enemies HP. (most common)
drugged bolt: deals 20% of average enemies HP and incapacitates an enemy 15 seconds after the bolt hits. (somewhat common)
distracting bolt: creates a distraction at impact point after 4 seconds which attracts-distracts enemies. (somewhat common) (generates high noise)
machinegun: the closest thing to a run and gun weapon, due to the large clip (120), modest damage (can defeat 1 enemy with 2 seconds of spraying), and general
inaccuracy, (think tommygun from bioshock), player speed multiplied by 0.80 while wielding.can be fired on the move, but suffers from profound inaccuracy. Has a 1.5
second windup before it fires. generates high noise. resources found rarely, but in large quantities.
auto rifle: A somewhat typical weapon that has the 17 round clip, with each bullet dealing slightly less damage than the machinegun, requires aiming stance to use
effectively,can be fired on the run with severe penalties to accuracy, and due to the lack of enemy-killingly large clip, makes it not a good run-and-gun weapon.
weapon
has a lockon effect where if one can aim their crosshair at a target for long enough, one "locks on that target" and can run and gun with that weapon,
attacking
the locked on target without the accuracy penalties associated with run-and-gun.
gliding kit: enables gliding. While gliding the player cannot preform any other action. (I imagine this would be used to get past preset areas rather than to be
integrated with the entire game's gameplay)
(ENEMIES)
Enemies in the game will by very powerful, and are frequently in par with you in terms of ability and stats (think mechwarrior or vigilante
and situations where you
can simply shoot them to death easily will be rare, which promotes stealthy gameplay. You typically fight around 2-3 enemies at a time. Enemies will revert back to
unalerted status once the player has left and the alarm system has been deactivated, and only after 45 seconds.
there are a total of 3 enemy "chassis" (1 of every species) and some roles for each chassis.
1. earth ponies, generally the area denying ponies, come equipped with powerful ranged weapons (think a rifle or machinegun). These enemies function as the "hey I'm a
wall here, you better deal with me or else I'll deny your progress" kind of enemies. encountered commonly.
variant 1. armored machinegunner: your expected "heavy" class that deals large amounts of ranged damage and comes with increased health (think 3X normal) but has
angular velocity issues and their weapons are generally fired in overheating bursts too, there is a 1.5 second delay before it fires it's weapns. and moves at 30% of
standard forward movement (compared to player). Encountered rarely.
variant 2. tough mobile flanker: your typical trooper, comes equipped with a basic automatic rifle,
comes with above-average health (1.6X normal), moves nearly as fast
as the player (70% of forward movement) and can pursue the player during sprints quite well. Tries to stay around a armored machinegunner if one is around. As
mentioned, it tries to flank the player and deny movement-cover options. (encountered commonly)
2. Pegasus, moves faster than the player, flies, and generally requires the use of instant abilities to get away from, their attacks are powerful (taking away 25% of
your health per hit) but tend to be far more dodgeable than the earth ponies, these enemies function as the "Do something about by invasive attacks or else" kind
enemies. Tends to be a great pursuer. encountered uncommonly.
variant 1. Charger: is a cover breaker of sorts, flies quickly to the player and lands violently nearby, (landing is an AOE attack), then functions as a kind of fast
melee unit, if the player is sufficiently out of melee range the charger will charge at the player using their wings with some lockon in their charge.
quite difficult
to get away from. (encountered uncommonly)
variant 2. harasser: A difficult to avoid enemy that flies much higher than the charger and comes with a rifle, it's attacks are quite inaccurate and weak, but is
difficult to break LOS of, and is hard to hit with your weapons. Generally an annoying enemy to deal with given it's battlefield longevity. (encountered rarely)
variant 3. Bomber: much like the harasser in terms of battlefield longevity. Comes with 2 attacks, a basic long-fuse gernade-throw that can be catched and redirected,
and a lighting strike attack (from kicking a cloud). Both of these attacks deal substantial damage (33%). Is easier to hit than the harasser, limiting it's
battlefield longevity somewhat. (encountered rarely)
3.Unicorns, I imagine these guys being used as support and/or puzzle enemies, with powerful and unusual attacks, but are quite dependent on being supported by other
allies due to their attacks being interruptable, and have the lowest HP average of all the 3 "chassis", and have the easiest to dodge attacks, they are by far the
easiest chassis that you can rush in and kill easily (which isn't that stealthy). They are best described as the "I'm the glass cannon that forces you to dodge my
attacks without denying you your cover options as much, or the buffer that strengthens surrounding enemies" (think spellcasters from most MMORPGs.)
variant 1. healer/support: has 2 weak defensive attacks 1. your standard buck, 2. staggering omnidirectional shockwave which radiates form itself (can effect allied
ponies). It emits an aura that heals nearby enemies 10% every 3 seconds. the healing aura also heals you when in it. (to promote stealthy leeching). tries to stay
around other ponies and tries to heal wounded ponies. Surrenders when there are no friendly ponies around and has been struck in melee combat 4 times and/or has it's
HP put dangerously low (30% of total). (encountered uncommonly)
variant 2. seeker/inhibitor: preforms delayed sensor sweeps in a area (targetable ARE) to try and detect the player, if detected, will alert other enemies of your
presence. Can channel slowing spells on the player which ignores cover and multiplies player speed by 0.7, the channeled slow is interuptable via attacking, and can be
outranged. Possesses a mildly damaging stun-electrical attack that can be preformed at range which completely stuns the player for 0.7 seconds. (encountered
uncommonly)
variant 3. armored/artillery: a slow moving enemy with 2 modes a standard movement mode, and the extremely slowly moving (0.1x standard) armored artillery mode which
they only activate once they detect the player. (think ranged form of flood from halo 3) while in armored artillery form all damage dealt to it is multiplied by 0.333
and gets a extremely slowly rotating directional shield that tries to put itself between the player and the artillery, (think a flat plane in between himself and the
player.) which rotates about 10 degrees every 3 seconds which further multiplies damage passing through by .4, and can preform it's powerful (50% player health) attack
once every 8 seconds that ignores cover.
The attack is made dodge-able by first making a distinct sound, with stationary runes that light up below the player shortly
afterwards, then a somewhat slow and large energy ball is fired at the player, which ignores level geometry. Has wall penetrating vision in armored/artillery mode
which enables it to continue it's offense despite being out of LOS, but can still "lost" by simply being sufficiently far away. (encountered rarely)
(level design)
The levels draw a heavy inspiration from F.E.A.R 1, and dues ex HR, thus they are mostly indoors, but are roomy and permit creative gameplay options. with some
segments that are outdoors (to permit pegasi enemies to be implemented) and some areas that have windows (to permit dramatic entrances). Resources will be scattered
around each level that will be awarded to the player by completing puzzles and searching for them.
The first level will be a prologue that introduces the player to the backstory.
It will take place in a angry protest, where you are in a building, with a sniper, your proceed up to the roof of the building and then snipe a guard, triggering a
clash between security forces and protesters, The game blacks, and the story in a cutscene, after the cutscene, you are thrust into the first level.
(morality)
I just imagine you might get different endings depending on the amount of enemies you killed And what decisions you make as well as how many of your allies die.
but the morality system that makes good actions something that the player must ultimantly go out of his way to become good (bad-neutral is the easiest way to play the
game)
Subject: What I think the game will be like from what I know/feel. 
Sun Apr 01, 2012 6:30 pm
