(first person shooter)

Design of island

A mount rising out of sea. Summit of tabletop mountain has series of holes sunk into it. This is where the molten cannon balls are ejected. These tumbling balls of molten iron are the major obstacle to be avoided while travelling around the island. They roll down the side of the mountain in sequences. Work out the pattern and dodging the cannon balls is easier. The tower now has a chimney belching black smoke. this is purely for aesthetics. Trees for cover dot the environment.


Snow is constantly falling and covers the sloping sides of the mount. The balls roll down the sides of the mountain cooling.


Curved metal chutes capture the cannonballs which hit the chutes and roll towards ships where they are loaded.

A FPS. The king 'owns' the tower and rains down fury onto the collection of princes as they attempt to be the first to scale the mountain and touch the tower. The princes starting position is atthe end of a delivery chute, and work their way towards the summit of the island. Standing on the summit is a tower and whoever controls the tower controls the island. touching the tower supplants the king who joins the unsuccessful aspirants.

Any Prince who is standing on the table top of the mountain when a exchange is made is killed off and are re-spawned at their reset positions.

King o the castle

The King has excellent vertical field of view.

His horizontal field of view is restricted by four windows cut into the tower. The King also has a radar hud to help keep track of the Princes. Score points for number of cannon balls loaded onto ships. The longer a player is King, the greater the number of cannon balls loaded.

The Princes

Fall in the water and your dead. Get shot and your dead. Get run over by a boulder, yer dead. Once dead you are re-spawned at the point on the jetty that you started the game at. The princes are also armed with single shot rifles and sabres. The princes may decide to work together or hinder each others progress.

In essence a 3D interpretation of a platforming game.

Other things I might add are...

• Bumps in terrain so boulders are forces to jump allowing players to duck underneath
• The King could have a variety of weapons such as grenade launchers, whose projectiles are are 'lobbed' giving the Princes time to anticipate but have a wide area of splash damage when they hit something.
• (James) Old fashioned out house made of bricks. sit in out-house and energy is recharged. possibility that out-house could be destroyed by cannon ball with player still inside.
• (James) Balls cutting channels in snow (using height map???)
• Possibility to leap on top of a cannon ball and alter it's path of travel by running in opposite direction (treadmill type cartoon action)
• 
  

The Look

• Steam punk
• Victorian
• Cool winter colours in environment
• Princes are dressed in bright colours
• all the characters are dressed in formal military dress of the time. Tall hats, bright coats, shiny boots, gleaming sabres strapped to hips.
• Tower would be decorated with Victorian iron work.
• 
  

Story

The island was owned by the best cannon ball manufacturer in the world He makes the only 'shot' that can be fired from 'Black Butt Bertha' a mortar made by the best armour in the world. The island is where these cannon balls are made. Molten metal is fired out of the summit, the balls are shaped by rolling down the snowy slopes, funnelled into the delivery chutes, to be loaded onto ships. Unfortunately the great military powers of the world want exclusive control over the manufacturing process and have dispatched their princes to gain control of the island. These Princes land on the island and launch individual attacks on the tower. Who ever controls the tower controls the output of the island.

Reference

See previous doc... http://studiobyfortyfive.blogspot.com/2009/09/creating-worlds-game-concept.html
Gentlemen's duel http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1780192/blur_studio_a_gentlemens_duel_fantastic_animation/