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Game Mechanics Assignment 3 David Duncan Full Sail University

2 Title and Back Story The game is called Star Brigand and it is set about 350 years in the future. Humanity has perfected space flight and has settled in other solar systems. Humans have also built many space stations in order to bridge the gap between different colonies. Some of these colonies are civilian, some are military (The Terran League), and some are alien. For the most part, interaction with new alien species has been peaceful and beneficial. Treaties have been created to keep ongoing camaraderie. As a result of these treaties humans and aliens have started permitting each other on their respective space stations. Unfortunately, mankind discovered their first hostile alien civilization. This new civilization is made up of a humanoid reptilian race know as the Ilzar. First contact with this race ended up with a destroyed military escort ship and a stolen cargo ship. War seems inevitable as every time the Terran League attempts to initiate peace discussions with the Ilzar, the conversation has been short and violent. The main character is Jesse Soli (Picture 1)(Jessie Soli if you pick a female Character (Picture 2)). He is a star pilot and a bit of a freelancer. He was dishonorably discharged from the Terran Leauge for endangering his wingman and getting both their star ships destroyed by reckless actions during a training mission. Now he does what he can to get by, taking whatever job he can, be it transport, escort, fending off pirates, or becoming a pirate himself. Not only is Jesse an ace pilot, he also has extensive knowledge of different handguns and rifles. Jesse will work in space doing planetary grunt work, espionage and maybe even assassinations if the pay is right. (Picture 3 various space ship approximations that are used by merchants, and pirates alike)

3 The Set Up Early in the game a main story mission sends you to the Alpha Centauri system by an important contact you meet in the merchants guild, named Eric Scott. The mission is to infiltrate the pirate base (Picture 4 and 5) on one of the moons in the system. This particular pirates hide out is made up of only human pirates. On the approach, the pirates do not believe your cover story and open fire on your ship. After dispatching the pirate vessels you land the ship on the moon and upon exiting the ship you are ambushed and knocked unconscious. While unconscious, Jesse is kicked around and dragged through the pirates base to a quiet, warm closet. The following scenario takes place completely in the pirates base. Characters in the Scenario Jesse Soli: the main character of Star Brigand wears a tan pull over shirt with brown pants. He is also seen sometimes with a vest and cowboy-esque hat. He has brown hair and wears a Pilots Bracer. This device lets him remote control his vessel as well as check for inventory. This is where the player will access and upgrade various skills as Jesse levels up. Meldon San: the leader of the pirates in the Alpha Centauri sector, has dark hair and wears a leather coat, probably one of the nicest seen among the pirates. Various human pirates also wear leather outfits and coats. Their coats look pretty worn and often may have different symbols sewn onto them. Many times these patch workings is the only thing keeping the coats in one piece. Some of the Pirates have prosthetic limbs from injuries sustained in combat.

Scenario When the scene comes back you are on the ground and tied up. There is a man named Meldon (Picture 6), he is the leader of the Pirates in this sector. There is an interactive conversation where you may try to bribe him, lie to him about wanting to join him, being sincere about joining him or telling him you will carry out your mission. What you say matters but Meldon will leave you tied up and walk away.

5 Dialogue:

Star Brigand 1st Branching Dialogue Meldon enters the room.

Meldon My name is Meldon Ive searched your ship I see you are here at the request of Eric Scott head of the merchants guild if Im not mistaken. (Jesse struggles with his hand bindings to try to get a look at his Pilots Bracer ) The Pilots Bracer wont be much use to you in here . (Meldon motions with his hands.) We recently set our machinery to emit a dampening field so you will not be able to remotely control your ship from the Bracer.

Jesse Lie Ive always wanted to join the pirates what do you say you let me go and Ill work for you?

Jesse Truth I took this mission so I could meet with you. I heard that Medlon is always looking for new pilots.

Jesse Bribe I havent collected my payment why dont you let me go and you can have 2000 credits now and I will return with 5000 once Ive been paid.

Jesse Defiant/Heroic It wont take me long to get out I will complete my mission.

Meldon Even if you are sincere you just got here. I think you should stay awhile.

Meldon Im sure you are aware we could have killed you by now . We have different plans for you, but If you pursue this persistent tone these plans may change.

Jesse Lie Sure will this room be my quarters? Its quite comfortable.

Jesse Truth I really dont care what happens to Eric Scott Id even kill him for you if that would help my case.

Jesse Bribe Ok Ok Ill return with 8000 credits.

Jesse I see your point.

Jesse Persistent? You havent seen Persistent (Jesse gets up his hands still bound and chargers Meldon

Meldon Shrugs and leaves the room. If unarmed skill is less then 75 the attack fails to cripplel Meldon and the guard kills you. If unarmed skill is above 75 the rush will Cripple Meldon and stun the guard giving the player a chance to rush him and escape.

Player Can Wait and be set free by Meldon and Join the pirates.

Meldon can try various skill checks to get free of his binds and escape the room.

6 Game Mechanic #1 Dialogue with NPC (All game mechanics are for Mouse and Keyboard. All Story boards are from a first person perspective.)

Classification: Rule Based Progression Mechanics Description: Player is able to use the action key which is the E key to initiate dialogue with NPCs. Sometimes a dialogue will start automatically when an NPC walks up to you. Once in the conversation there are typically several responses to pick from. This can be done by selecting them with the mouse or using the up and down arrow keys and the enter key on the keyboard. Diagram:

The E key

Player

Conversation Starts.

Game checks to see if near person or other object that you may be able to interact with.

Requests what object player is near. Returns Starting sound file

This NPCs dialogue options .

Left Mouse Button/Enter Key/ up and down Key/Mouse scroll

The chosen dialogue is Player spoken by Jesse .

Game checks to see what dialogue options are available and what options have been used already.

What dialogue option is picked Appropriate sound files are chosen.

All current dialog options and NPC responses

Storyboard:

At this point you free your self and sneak out of the room you are in. (The game will have an RPG system build into it much like Fallout 3, where depending on what skills

8 you are trained in determines how you will free your self.) For example your, if your perception is high enough, you can find sharp objects to break free, maybe find a lock pick to escape the room, or use as a rudimentary melee weapon to be able to take out the first pirates you meet in the hallway. Game Mechanic #2 Skill Challenge System Classification: Skill Based Morph Mechanics Description: Player can make checks based on strength which is based on his current strength level in order to free himself from his bonds. If the players strength level is low but has a high perception skill using it will help him notice things he didnt see before. Diagram:

The Tab Key

List of skills and how proficient the character is at Player them

Computer checks to see if anything would prevent the character from lifting his arm to check his inventory and skills.

Player selects Skill check system Skill Useful in this situation

All available useful skills 50 Perception 45 Lock Pick 25 Strength Modifier

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Game Mechanic #3 Movement Classification: Spatial Progression Mechanics Description: Enables the player to navigate though the world. Diagram:

W,A,S,D

Player

Character moves as intended.

The game checks to see if wall or other obstacle is in the way.

Step Forward, Step Back, Step Right Where the Step Left. character is moving
Keys Pressed

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Mouse movement

Jesse will look the direction Player mouse is moved.

Game Checks to see where mouse has been moved

Checks where mouse moved How far mouse has moved.

360 degrees of movement able to be made by the mouse.

Storyboard:

Game mechanic #4 Combat Classification: Action oriented Progression Mechanics Description: The player is able to zoom in or aim at enemy or target then fire at the target. Diagram:

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Left Click and Right Click

Player

Zoom or no zoom with a shot fired.

Game checks to see if weapon is held and if it is does the character have ammo for said weapon.

Check to see if buttons are pressed Zoom, fire, or both

Damage for current weapon equiped .

R Key

Player

Jesse will reload weapon as long as there is room to do so.

Game checks to make sure selected weapon isn't being fired and checks to make sure ammo is already full.

Is Weapon low on ammo or empty

Difference between clips size and amount of ammo in clip.

Clip size

Storyboard:

12 Once the pirate guards outside the room are dead, search them then check the corridors because escape is only your secondary objective here. You need to gain access to the pirate computers to bring the pirate movements to the contact you have in the merchants guild. The computer room is in the center of the base. To access the computer room you will have to find the key for or be able to lock pick the door. So its a good idea to check all the rooms and dispatch any pirates found to see if any of them have the key to the computer room. Once the information is retrieved you make your way out of the base complex. Most areas will lead to dead ends or locked doors where its unlikely your lock pick skill will be high enough to get into these areas. So you will fight resistance (Picture 7 and 8) until you make it to the outside landing pads. Its a good idea to explore as much as you can and if you can get into locked doors they probably have nice items that can be sold or that may be of benefit to you. Once you make it out to the landing pads you find your ship and eliminate any other hostiles then board your ship.

Dialogue:

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Star Brigand 2nd Branching Dialogue

Jesse Enters his Ship to find the Meldon sitting in his Captain's Chair

Meldon I see you are not to be trifled with Jesse, my subordinates must be all dead if you are standing here.

Jesse Lie I left most of them alive.

Jesse Truth I was able to evade most of them. OR it is as you say they died by my hand. (depends on if you killed them or not)

Jesse Defiant/Heroic I told you it wouldnt take long for me to be free and complete my mission. Now only one thing is standing in my way.

Meldon What will you do with me?

Jesse Truth I really dont see anything other to do then kill you and rid this sector of your piracy.

Meldon Wait Wait! Dont kill me. I can be a valuable ally ,

Jesse Lie Ill let you go (Meldon goes to walk out and Jesse shoots Meldon in the back of the head on his way down the ramp.)

Jesse Bribe Ill let you live but once you continue your piracy you will give me 40% of all profit.

Jesse You could give me a cut of your profits once your operation is back up and running.

Jesse Would you be willing to travel with me and do what I say and be helpful with out a gun pointed at you?

Meldon Ok take 40% just dont kill me

Meldon Yes you can trust me I will aid you. I am also familiar with the sector my presence may even help persuade others to do as you wish.

Jesse leaves to return to Eric Scott and complete the mission or where ever else he decides to go..

Jesse is able to come back and get greatly discounted weapons, ship parts, unique pirate ships, and decorations as well as cash rewards for not killing Meldon .

Meldon will Join Jesse as a Compainion. He will open up quests assist Meldon in the space ship if it has a turret. He also will come with Jesse in dangerous ground situations and fight along side him.

14 Once the dialogue has ended and the choices have been made you are free to return to Eric Scott or explore other planets or space stations as you explore the galaxy with your ship. Alternatively, if you are sincere about joining Meldon with the pirates you can simply use the wait option to have him come back to you and the conversation can continue. If properly convinced he will free you and then you are able to pick up additional quests from Meldon or other pirate NPCs. If the conversations does not go well then he will leave again and you will escape and fight your way out as previously discussed. All Photos are approximations of what characters, vehicles, and places may look like The look of the level will appear futuristic but the base will be somewhat run down on a small moon. The moon is cold but habitable. Most the architecture of the place will look to be almost entirely out of metal, with the floors and the first bottom 2 feet of the walls being concrete. I want the game to have the feel of a larger universe with big things going on but you are just a guy trying to make his living when you are dragged into something larger as the story progresses. Id love to see several game series inhabit this universe that I want to make. The look is going to draw from lots of science fiction and hopefully with some skilled artists we can come up with some of our own unique looks as well. The level layout I drew is rough but represents the basics of idea of what I would like. The picture following the level layout is a rough 3D layout created in the Unreal Development Kit.

Physical Prototype

15 Materials: Two Players 2 d6s 2 d4s 1 d20 Game mat grid 3 different colored markers for the grid 12 army man figures 6 weapon cards 4 armor cards 2 Inventory cards

The Set Up: The outline of the level will be drawn on the grid and it will be divided up into 4 quadrants. One player will play Jesse the main character in the game and he will start in the area where he is tied up. There will be 10 army men in the different areas of the base. The last two will represent Jesse and Meldon.

16 Each of the weapons and armor cards will be numbered. Player two will play all the 10 pirates and Meldon. So for the set up Player two will need to roll a d6 and d4 for each of the pirates. He will put the weakest two in quadrant 1 the very strongest will be Meldon and be placed were Jesses ship will be. The next 3 strongest will be in quadrant 4. Then quadrant 2 will have 3 pirates and quadrant 3 will have 2 pirates. The player playing the pirates will keep track of the inventory on his pirates on his inventory card. Jesse will start with no armor and to decide his weapon a d4 will be rolled if the number is odd he will have an unarmed attack if the number is even he will have a basic melee attack from some object that was found in the room where he starts. The player playing as Jesse will also have an inventory card to keep track of everything he picks up off of the enemies he encounters. Meldon will have 16 Hit points (HP) including his armor. Guards and Jesse will start with 8 HP before their armor type. Cards: Level 1 Armor adds 2 HP Level 2 Armor adds 3 HP Level 3 Armor adds 4 HP Level 4 Armor adds 5 HP Unarmed will do 1d4. Basic melee will do 1d4 multiplied by 2

17 Pistol will do 2 d4 Shotgun will do 1 d6 + 1d4 Machine gun will do 1 d6 multiplied by 2 Laser Rifle will do 2 d6. Rules: Each quadrant will have 6 places which the Pirate player can place the pirates. Pirate player will note what places the pirates will be on the inventory sheet. To navigate the rooms Jesse will roll a d6 and go to the corresponding area number If a 6 is roll the player has the option of going to the next quadrant without seeing the rest of the rooms. If the pirate player has a pirate in area 6 and Jesse player rolls a 6 then he must defeat the pirate to get to the next area. When Jesse player is exploring a quadrant and has been in area 2 and rolls a two he will go to the next area up on the dice that has not yet been explored. Jesse will gain full HP when crossing into one quadrant to the next. (he can not go back to a previous quadrant) When Jesse enters an area with a pirate combat will ensue. Each player will roll a d20 who ever rolls higher goes first. They will take turns rolling damage based on their weapon damage rating until one is dead. (Rules for critical damage below)

18 On the first combat of the game if Jesse Player rolls over a 10 on the D20 it is an instant kill because everyone assumes is captive. On any other Combat if Jesse Rolls a 18-20 It is considered an instant kill NPCs have to roll a 20 to Instantly Kill Jesse. (if none of these 3 conditions are met combat plays out normally) Jesse can hold all inventory found on Pirates but can only use 1 armor and one weapon at a time. Armor does not stack. Not all rooms have to be explored Not all pirates have to be killed Game is won when Meldon dies.

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Picture 1

Picture 2

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Picture 3

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Picture 5

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Picture 7

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Picture 9

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25 Homepages.Paradice.Net. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2011, from http://www.homepages.paradise.net.nz/~marsden_/Downloads/Ships2Scale.gif Thanatosrealms.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://www.thanatosrealms.com/privateer2/pictures/ships/freij-mkii.gif Thanatosrealms.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://www.thanatosrealms.com/privateer2/pictures/ship1.gif Picture 6 Deviantart.com/. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2011/093/9/c/sci_fi_underground_bunker_by_arenthil -d3d4le4.jpg Slashfilm.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wpcontent/images/cliveshootsm-440x264.jp Picture 7 Deviantart.com/. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2011/093/9/c/sci_fi_underground_bunker_by_arenthil -d3d4le4.jpg 3d-stuff.ru/. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://3d-stuff.ru/wpcontent/uploads/HLIC/dffcf180af1e807dcbc2e2091c2863e6.jpg Picture 8 Deviantart.com/. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2011/093/9/c/sci_fi_underground_bunker_by_arenthil -d3d4le4.jpg Images.elfwood.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://images.elfwood.com/art/r/j/rjbartrop/skypirate.gif Picture 9 Images.wikia.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/b/b4/Slave1.jpg Daemonsmonvies.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://s2.daemonsmovies.com/mov/up/2010/11/cowboys-and-aliens-movie-photo-02550x383.jpg

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