I'm working on my Design Doc. Rather than just a feature overview it details all characters, locations, and the entire script. I'm not going to give out the whole thing, but here are some key, mostly spoiler-free sections:
INTRODUCTION
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?" -Mahatma Gandhi
Key Features
Excidium is an exciting puzzle-action hybrid with a unique storyline. Principle features will include:
-‘goo guns' for a variety of engaging puzzles
-detailed environments that bring out the emotion in the game world
-a sophisticated plot with many twists and turns
-all new characters and weapons
It is the hopes of the designers that this will become more than just a shooting game and will rather make the player think about their actions and the actions of other characters in the game world.
Back-Story Overview
Based on Half-Life 2's source engine, Excidium takes place in the future, in a world dominated by The Following, a cult built around the mysterious Alpha, a creature from deep space. The player is sent as part of a government team to go and destroy the Alpha and its followers, for their crimes of human experimentation and torture. The player and their allies succeed, but must then journey through the space stations cold, metallic halls in order to escape. In the process, the player acquires the ‘goo gun,' a device which allows its user to manipulate the goo-like remnants of the alpha. While the Alpha is at the heart of The Following's teachings, behind the wheel of the operation is Ranceth Johnson Jr., the son of the cult's founder, and a shrewd businessman. The cult's members rank in the tens of millions, spread all over the world, and hundreds of billions of dollars are being siphoned from these people, to be used for who knows what...
Environment Overview
There are two principle locations in Excidium: Silo 7 and the Great Satellite. Silo 7 is a rocket launch-pad owned and used by what remains of the world's governments. It is built into a deep crater in the Sonora desert, the rocket itself filling most of the canyon. The support structures and facilities are built into the canyon walls themselves, and consist of huge tanks and pipe systems for fuel and air, an electrical generator and cables, a mission control complex, a training complex, and some staff housing. The other location is the Great Satellite. This gargantuan vessel is the size of a small city, and the base of operations for The Following. It contains large prison areas, a medical facilities and research complex, 4 housing complexes, the Alpha's chamber, industrial facilities, a large greenhouse, and the administration complex.
GOO-RELATED WEAPONS
Goo-related weapons refers to all weapons that in some way manipulate the black gooey substance of which much of the Alpha was comprised. The player first sees the goo in the Alpha. At the time the goo is fit to be used by the player though, it is all stuck on the walls of the station. The goo can kill enemies either by its weight or its toxic composure. It's strong absorption of magnetic fields causes it to be a perfect non-conductive material. The player's suit protects him from the toxic effects of the goo, allowing him to step on it.
The Morph gun is an important weapon in Excidium. It is used to extend the goo, along the perpendicular axis to the wall on which the goo is located. There is a limit to the amount the goo can be stretched, which will vary between different pieces. On the wall, the goo is black. As it is more stretched, it will become a paler and paler white, but regains its normal black color when it is not being stretched. The device is used by the player so that when they hold down their left mouse button while the crosshairs are pointed at the goo, the goo will extend towards them. If they do the same with the right mouse button, they cause the goo to extend away from them. It was an experimental weapon created by The Following.
The Cleanser is another experimental weapon created by The Following, but unlike the Morph Gun is used by Betas throughout the station. It can be used to cut or eliminate goo. Simply hold the left trigger and any goo within the crosshairs will be burned away. This gun is also a powerful anti-personal weapon. It however requires small charges to keep it functioning, which can be obtained from storage facilities as well as betas.
The Goo Launcher is a weapon that allows the player to lift goo around the station, once it is separated from the wall. It works much like the gravity gun in Half Life 2, but without the ‘punt' action. This translates to lifting the goo with the right mouse button, and then either setting it down with the right mouse button or throwing it with the left mouse button.
PROTAGONIST
The protagonist of the story is Dr. Chris Brusilov, a Russian-American pilot working for what remains of the world's governments. At the start of the story, Chris is 32, with a doctorate in applied astronomy as well as a pilot's license. He is generally reserved, but nonetheless confident in himself. Throughout the course of the story he should become more outwardly confident, as well as more realistic about the outside world. This should not, however, cause him to become a ‘hardened war veteran' stereotype, as the results of his semi-academic background should stay clear through the end of the story. By semi-academic background, it is the intent to imply that he has spent much of his life studying, but for a practical profession rather than a purely academic one. He had very strong academic pursuits, and though he is not keen on sharing them, a very strict set of morals, guided by the mistakes of his father, a political revolutionary. He detests war from a philosophical stand-point, and through his studies is familiar with international law, and thus human rights codes. He has a very good sense of humor, but this too he hides from all but his closest friends.
