MISSION DESIGN DOCUMENT
ABSTRACT
Concept: One out of three small sabotage missions as a part of a bigger military operation. The three missions have equal levels of difficulty but with varying types of challenges. The success of these missions will have some impacts on the main mission that will be opened up later on. There are multiple ways for the player to accomplish the mission goal. Stealth approach will have some added advantages both in the level challenges as well as narrative standpoint, but it may take longer to complete.
Narrative: In order to support the primary mission to attack the high command base in the Alpha Osiris system, the player is instructed to sabotage all three surrounding outposts. Once disabled, the backup communication channels will be halted or at least disrupted. This will prevent the high command base from requesting for help from nearby star systems. The player can choose to attack the three outposts in any order. Northern Ridge Outpost is one of those three, and possibly the most interesting one to attack.
The assault is aided by a remote support team who temporarily jam the local communication under the guise of solar flare electromagnetic bursts which are not uncommon in the region (hence the need of three outposts as contingency/redundancy system). All out large scale military attacks and destruction on the outposts can’t be done as it will reveal the operation prematurely, hence the player is assigned in a cloaked infiltration as a lone assailant.
MISSION FLOW
There are various initial approaches that the player can take. As the player progresses, the options are narrowing towards the end. To simplify the diagram, we can have four general layers (opening, infiltration, showdown, and conclusion). There are flexibilities between opening and infiltration layers. The player can back out or transition between sub-components to try and experiment with different approaches.
Goal(s): To physically sabotage the high powered long-distance communication mini antennas located at the top of the outpost.
Challenges:
The mission can be subdivided into four layers:
- The opening — Player chooses how to reach the outpost and eventually get into it. The challenges are mostly dexterity and logic challenges.
- The infiltration — Player needs to react quickly as more information about the security details inside the outpost is known. The challenges are mostly dexterity and knowledge challenges.
- The showdown — Player needs to overcome the mini boss and the goons who guard the final room before the player can access the antenna tower. The challenges are mostly dexterity and endurance challenges.
- The conclusion — Cooldown moment after intense encounter with the mini boss. The challenges would be logic and time, as part of the sabotaging mechanic.
Rewards: Apart from completing the objectives, there are opportunities for the player to gather precious materials and currency that can be used to upgrade the equipment. There might also be information fragments lore expansion as well as gaining knowledge to upgrade the abilities.
Beginning: (Cutscene opportunity) The arrival point gives a sweeping view of the outpost from which the player can observe some of the important elements (defensive set up, access points, path options, etc.). The player can then make an informed decision and feel empowered if successful and understand the cause-consequence if failed.
Ending: (Cutscene opportunity) If the outpost is the last one to sabotage, a special scripted event is triggered to emphasize the importance of the next main mission. Enemy reinforcement has arrived and the player quickly zip down and steal a flying vehicle. If it is not the last of the three, simply proceed to the next one.
Failure: As consequence of failure by death, the player will respawn from the latest checkpoint. Failure of maintaining stealth will result in the enemy units to fallback and assume more defensive formations within their assigned area (unless the player chooses to ditch stealth from the start).
Environment: Northern Ridge Outpost is located in a treacherous terrain which opens up opportunities for interesting traversal and stealth attack. The old land access has been destroyed to reduce risk of ground invasion. It is however not a problem for the player since there are vertical surfaces with plenty of climbing points to reach the outpost.
Exterior and interior environment visual inspiration. Gritty sci-fi industrial and military facility juxtaposed with exotic location of natural ridge and cliff formations.
Storyboard of the Opening & Ending cutscenes
