Well I believe this is the right place to post about ideas and concepts. This is an idea I have had brewing for a long time and thought I would make the first steps in making it physical…
The Story
In the future, technology will permit the digital replication of the human brain.
A secure network will house the thoughts and memories of key individuals, who’s intelligences will have significant impact on the development of mankind.
Every network can be compromised.
It is you, hacker, who will penetrate those digital gates, and steal the data within.
Your efforts will echo our cause, the quest for truth.
We will lift the sheets from these “ghosts in the machine”.
The Game
The game takes place in a virtual environment, a battlefield.
Each level takes place on a grid where the player must navigate in their tank to obtain the “brain” in each level. The brain contains the data the player needs to progress.
The grid is a wireframe matrix, that has three height levels, the player can only travel in the central layer, the high and low levels are used to forge the routes available to the player.
Each grid has obstacles, first we will look at the security programs, these include tank programs, tower programs and fly programs.
All programs, including the player tank, can fire through the matrix grid, however no projectile can pass through the red sectors(red cubes).
The enemy tank program patrols and fires when in range with the player.
The towers work as turrets, they fire at the player when the player enters their range, typically they are the easiest of opponent programs.
The fly program is invincible, however it can be avoided by paying close attention to the path ahead.
Hexagonal targets will sway backwards and forth over key areas, entering these targets will cause a fly to lock on your position, the fly will perform an air strike which will prove costly to your tanks stability.
You can escape a target by maintaining a high speed when the fly drops its payload.
The brain, your ultimate goal, you must capture it to seize its data and progress.
Gates are barriers which usually block access to the brain or I/O streams. There are two types of gate, a Key gate and a Logic gate. A Key Gate requires the player to have possession of the relevant key to gain access. The Logic gate will require the hacker to solve a logical puzzle in order to progress, each incorrect answer will result in damage to your tank.
Killing certain enemies will produce an executable (EXE) pick-up, these programs will then be available to the hackers toolset when he or she reaches an I/O stream. Each executable will grant the player an additional function, whether its to increase health or to add additional weapons or even change colour.
The I/O stream is typically found at the halfway point of each level and allows the player terminal access to their inventory and to the hacker who programmed them. Here you can access your collected programs and turn the tables on how the grid is played.
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Well that’s the summary of my game, I just wanted to get it down on paper so it feels more “alive”, as opposed to bits and bobs floating around in my head.
When I go ahead with this project I will be kicking it off with a team request of ridiculous proportions
Comments welcome!
