Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
In order for these visual hints to make sense and tell the story of the
factory's dark secret, we first needed a common understanding among
everyone developing content for the level as to how the facility normally
worked and how the gunrunning operation functioned within it. I gener-
ated a short but informative addendum to the LDD, which laid out in some
detail how the gunrunning operation actually worked. It went something
like this.…
Plastic-bag-sealed gun parts would be hidden within some of the large,
incoming slabs of meat, which were subtly marked. Workers would separ-
ate these contraband-laden slabs from the rest as they came in, so they
could be cut open and the gun parts removed. There was a cleaning and
drying area to prepare the gun parts for assembly, while the meat was sent
along the line to be processed and packed with the rest. Another area
would provide the space for the gun parts to be assembled into full
weapons, which were in turn packed into crates for shipping, presumably
to some pretty shady characters.
Adding to the challenge of showing this story as the player moved
through the factory was that he would be moving
backward
through the
chain, seeing the packed guns first and the innocent-looking slabs of meat
last.
During the process of various team members weaving background clues
into the level environment, there were a number of interesting develop-
ments.
1. Even with the benefit of detailed documentation, it turned out to be
very easy for elements of this side story to be misunderstood and
misinterpreted. For example, instead of gun parts being embedded
in the meat as originally described, at some point during imple-
mentation they morphed into fully assembled assault weapons. To
me this seemed less believable and negated a number of the gun
assembly work areas we had planned. Interestingly, it also raised a
game design issue: the designers felt strongly that if you leave a
weapon lying around in the game, the player would expect—and
rightly so—to be able to pick up said weapon and use it (which we
didn't want the player to do in this location). Communication
between the level designer, artists, and myself was important
throughout the entire process to ensure the integrity of the
concept.
