| Here it is you guys. My rough outline for "The Crew" Enjoy and feel free to give me some feedback.
Game Idea
Working Title: The Crew
Idea:
Under constant pressure from global law enforcement, organized crime
is forced to turn to freelance professionals who form “crews” to
pull jobs. Anything from high stakes heists to low-level grunt work
may be available. The player takes control of the leader of a crew
starting out in America, builds a reputation for getting the job
done, either through careful planning or brute force. Either way,
there's a lot of money out there, and maybe even a little revenge to
take care of. What better reason to spend time with friends?
Setting:
Ideally as global as possible, but realistically, probably limited
to the US and MAYBE sections of Europe and/or Japan. Having a
realistic look and feel with an edgy, moody, and dark vibe, similar
to “Kane and Lynch”, “Snatch”, and “Reservoir Dogs”.
Present Day with typically urban settings.
Music:
Probably more in line with Techno, or other electronic music.
Propeller Heads' “Bang On” is a good example of what sounds
exciting but not too happy or up beat.
Gameplay:
Ideally start with a custom character, otherwise a Kane like
character, a professional who has fallen out of favor for reasons
beyond his control, revenge is desired, but funds and a crew are
needed first, so most of the game with center around rebuilding his
reputation.
Central
hideout in a warehouse with a planning room, equipment room, garage,
and rec room. The look will probably have to remain the same through
out, but whether or not the specifics change, the base should always
look rundown and very temporary. This will be the hub of all
gameplay activity. The player will walk to different rooms to talk
to crew members; buy, equip or modify weapons and vehicles; and plan
the next job (from basic to in depth). This area will also serve as
menu area for game configuration as I would like to allow the player
to bypass the standard menu screens if at all possible, eg. Going to
a stereo in the rec room to tweak audio settings rather than using a
menu.
The
planning room will contain all information about the jobs available,
as well as details about specific jobs. More details can be obtained
by paying informants, casing the joint, or by grilling the people who
contracted you, though this may negatively effect their opinion of
you and affect your reputation, but it is free and might yield
important info that may have been with held. Interrogation of
kidnapped individuals may be implemented as well. All info is marked
on a map or blueprints and during the planning the player can plot
crew members movements and actions in an interface similar to
“Rainbow 6's” planning phase. Actions will be mission specific
and any actions that require a special tool will automatically equip
that crew member with that tool, if it is available (if not the
player will be prompted to buy one or reassign the action). The
ability to hire and fire team members, as well as temp in
professionals will be done here.
The
garage and armory will be where weapons and vehicles are stored,
maintained, obtained, and upgraded. Both may be purchased, obtained
on a mission, or possibly stolen in a mini-game of sorts. Weapon and
vehicle maintenance may be implemented in the pre-mission setup as an
opportunity for character interaction. Again, I'd like to avoid a
maze of screens here, but it would be simpler to have everything at a
workbench. One possibility would be after all selection have been
made and time laps or montage would take place showing the actions
taking place for a period of time depending on the amount of work
that is being done.
The
rec room is where most characters will hang out before a mission,
especially if they are social. The will be a pool table,
mini-fridge, stereo, computer, TV, and a couch. Perhaps these items
will be “upgraded” as you obtain more money, as specific
characters decide they want to, or even as a literal upgrade to
improve team synergy. The main draw of this room will be to interact
with your crew members. I'm hoping for a feeling similar to “Mass
Effect”, except that the characters will interact with each other
as much as with you, without prompting. This will not only be fun,
but it can also lead to more loyalty and even new missions or
contacts.
The
mission will begin with a montage/time laps of you briefing the crew
on the job before taking questions. After that, the crew will drive
to the location and drop people off at the proper locations. I'd
like this to be mostly real time as it provides more time for
character interaction. Then the mission begins. There will be a
third person camera, probably over the shoulder. Your inventory will
be available in a pause screen menu and you can only store what will
fit on your person, unless you use a backpack, valise, or other
carrying case. Radio communication will become available to the
player as well. Each job will have at least two way to complete
them. For the time being, I will refer to them as order and chaos.
The order approach involves stealth and control. This may involve
sneaking past guards, knocking them unconscious, avoiding tripping
alarms, hacking computer systems, cutting phone lines, generally
getting the job done and escaping while leaving not evidence of you
or your crew's identity. Some characters excel in this kind of
environment and others find the tension too much and may snap. This
will upset the characters who prefer order and when shit hits the fan
they start to lose their cool and screw up. Chaos characters will
prefer to fly by the seat of their pants, kicking in doors, breaking
things, and generally subduing the environment so then can complete
their objectives. If the player goes with this approach they can
plan on the fly with a Rainbow 6/ Freedom Fighters style of
commanding. I'd also like there to be neutral characters who can
handle either extreme, but who perhaps are not as skilled over all as
others. Their may also be “hired guns” who would be cannon
fodder if you plan to kick in the doors with out a plan. They would
be hired from the surrounding area, and as such would look different
depending upon where you are. They would only be present for a
mission and then be gone. They would not have ear pieces and there
for would be under the command of individual crew members.
Combat:
Some basic ideas for combat I've had are: Injuries/pain, psyche
meter, cover system, destructible cover, bullet penetration/ricochet,
weapon jams, human shields, environmental and close quarters quick
kills.
When a
character takes damage, they receive pain and injuries. Pain can be
controlled by the character in several ways, pain killers, character
stats (IE toughness), and the psyche meter. If the pain gets too
high, the character will lose consciousness until revived or killed.
By taking painkillers, being tougher, or getting the psyche meter
higher the pain threshold is increased and the character can keep
going. Injuries are permanent until the end of the mission when they
must be dealt with. These would be serious and include broken bones,
bleeding, and damage to critical organs. These would take a little
more time to accumulate but would have no means of healing while in
mission.
The
psyche meter represents how the character is feeling about their
situation. If they like chaos, then the more the better and their
psyche meter goes up. If they do not, than it goes down as the
situation falls apart. By doing chaotic or orderly things, character
can get their meter higher. Some things affect the meter no matter
what. Completion of objectives improves it. Seeing a Crew mate get
shot has a negative effect. Other methods are completing an “active
reload” like Gears of War, success improves psyche and loads the
gun faster, failure drops the clip or jams the gun and decreases
psyche, and no action reloads normally. Psyche effects accuracy,
pain resistance, team synergy, and skill effectiveness. This can
cause more complex problems, such as an orderly person taking longer
to crack a safe because of the chaos and this causing a chaos
character to berate the other, having witnessed the failure and lost
psyche as well. This is where keeping your crew under control is
most important. As the leader you would provide a boost to psyche if
you act like a leader in their presence, and you could reduce it too
by being a bad leader.
The
cover system would be like that of Rainbow 6 Vegas and Gears of War
in that you can take cover by holding down a button, but you could
“SWAT roll” from cover to cover. The cover would be susceptible
to bullet penetration and eventual destruction by gunfire. I'd like
to work in ricochet if it proves to be fun, but if it makes the game
too hard it might not make it. Weapons could jam based on their
condition, configuration, weapon use skill, and chance. Jams may be
cleared but it takes time and the required skill. Human shields
could be used, but because of bullet penetration are not a guaranteed
shield. Lastly, when close combat in required a quick kill or knock
out can be performed like in Splinter Cell, although some more
animation variety would be nice. Additionally, throwing people down
stairs, off of ledges, or into a furnace would be possible for a
chaotic boost.
Possible
Locations for Missions: Warehouse, Yacht/Cruise Ship, Auto
Repair/Chop Shop, 4 star Restaurant, Night Club, High Rise, Casino,
Armored Car Chase (entirely road based), Ski/Beach Resort, Strip
Club, English Mansion, Cargo Plane.
Possible
objectives: Kidnapping, Extortion, Robbery, Arson/Destruction,
Assassination.
Characters:
5 Chaos, 5 Order, 5 Neutral, 5 Professionals, and 20 or so cannon
fodder.
Probably more to come in the future. I KNOW YOU JUST CAN'T WAIT.
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