5 Game Design Theory and Practice (601 723)

576 Appendix A: Sample Design Document: Atomic Sam
Once Tool is brought to Ike, a cut-scene takes over as Tool performs the procedure
to restore the old robot’s memory. Tool is successful, and Ike now remembers the wax
cylinder fragment Sam’s parents sent to him and will pass it on to Sam. With another
piece of the puzzle in hand, Sam can board the Priestess’ zeppelin and return to her
bubble home.
New Boston
Finally Sam will be able to travel to New Boston, the Moon colony. Sent there on the
Electric Priestess’ private rocket, Sam will encounter the friendly extraterrestrials
known by Earthlings as “Moonies.”
On some of their research projects, Sam’s parents had worked with one of the
Torso Moonies, a fellow by the name of Dulo. It is this Moonie Sam must find, since the
Electric Priestess suspects that he has another piece of the wax cylinder. New Boston
itself is another domed city — like Benthos — and its inhabitants are able to live much
as they do on Earth. Earth-like gravity is maintained inside the dome, and a device
called an Atmospherator generates breathable air for all the inhabitants. Some
Bi-Header Moonies live inside New Boston, assisting with research projects.
When Sam inquires about Dulo, he will be told that Dulo, as a Torso Moonie, is not
allowed inside the Moon colony, so Sam will have to acquire a space suit and go out onto
the Moon’s surface to find him. Shortly after going out onto the surface, Sam will meet
Dulo. Dulo explains that, as a Torso Moonie, he was not able to work with humans.
Sam’s parents, however, noticed that Dulo had some special talents in their field of
research, and as a result were willing to leave New Boston and travel to Dulo’s home on
the Moon’s surface.
Appendix A: Sample Design Document: Atomic Sam 577
Dulo says that, yes, he too has a piece of the wax cylinder, but has stored it in his
home, a good distance from the dome. Sam will go with Dulo to get the cylinder. Of
course, throughout New Boston as well as on the surface of the Moon, more robotic
adversaries will try to stop Atomic Sam from achieving his goals. Like Xeraphina and
Scrap, Dulo will work with Sam in defeating the adversaries they encounter on the sur-
face, helping to incapacitate the robotic nuisances. Once Sam reaches Dulo’s home he
will be able to get the fragment of the wax cylinder from him. Sam must then fight his
way back to New Boston and return to Earth from there.
Return to the Electric Priestess’ Bubble Home

After Sam has completed each of the three areas, he will have collected all of the frag-
ments of the cylinder he thinks he needs and will return to the Electric Priestess’
bubble home. In a cut-scene, the Electric Priestess says that she is most impressed
with Sam’s work in recovering all the fragments of the cylinder. Unfortunately, when
Sam tries to put it together, he finds that one piece is still missing. The Priestess then
reveals that she has the final piece, with which Sam can fully assemble the complete
cylinder.
Fortunately, the Priestess has a machine with which to play back the cylinder. On
the cylinder Sam’s parents explain the work they had been researching, and how it led
them into conflict with Max Zeffir, the owner of their company, Zeffir Zoom, and the man
who has abducted them. Sam hears his parents explaining that in their work for Zeffir
Zoom they discovered a dangerous flaw in one of Zeffir’s new monorail systems, some-
thing that would mean huge losses for the company in order to successfully redesign.
Unfortunately, they relate, Max Zeffir himself became aware of the problem but refused
to have it fixed, and needed to silence them so the monorail system could go ahead
without delay.
With the cylinder’s playback complete, the Electric Priestess reveals that, in fact,
she is Zeffir’s sister. She was the original head scientist for Zeffir Zeppelins, and lost her
leg many years ago in a zeppelin accident, which she blames on Zeffir’s cost-cutting.
She suspected all along that Zeffir was behind Sam’s parents’ disappearance, but felt
she must have proof before she could reveal her suspicions to Sam. In fact, she
explains, she has been a friend of Sam’s parents for some time, and when they started
to fear that they would be caught by Max Zeffir, they broke up the evidence, in the form
of the wax cylinder, and scattered the pieces, putting one in their apartment, one in
their office in Benthos, and mailing the remaining pieces to Ike, Dulo, and the Electric
Priestess herself. The Priestess now concludes with certainty that it has been Zeffir
sending robot minions to try to stop Sam from discovering the truth about his parents.
The Ikairus
His parents, the Electric Priestess reveals, are most likely being held captive aboard
Zeffir’s atomic-powered flying fortress the Ikairus. A constantly airborne, mammoth
craft — its atomic power allowing it to fly indefinitely — the flying fortress is Zeffir’s
pride and joy, and is also where he resides. Kept aloft by some eighty propeller engines,
the craft looks like a gigantic flying wing, and is large enough for other aircraft to
land on.
578 Appendix A: Sample Design Document: Atomic Sam
The Priestess again lends Sam her private auto-gyro, which flies him to the
Ikairus. On board the flying fortress Sam will have to battle still more robots in addition
to the very challenging Merciless Mercenaries. The battles on the Ikairus take place in
much more small and confined spaces, representing the corridors of the ship, and the
player will need to adjust his fighting style accordingly. Finally, Sam will be able to con-
front the quite insane Zeffir. Zeffir not only has Sam’s parents held captive, but he has
also captured Xeraphina, Scrap, and Dulo. While Sam and Zeffir battle, Zeffir brags of
what he will do to Sam’s friends once he has defeated Sam. Finally managing to subdue
Zeffir, Sam will at last be reunited with his parents, who are quite glad they gave him the
atomic rocket-pack for his birthday.
VII. Bibliography
The following books were key points of inspiration for the setting and world of Atomic
Sam. Those working on the game will find researching these books to be quite useful in
getting a feel for what a “retro-futuristic” setting is all about.
Corn, Joseph J. and Brian Horrigan. Yesterday’s Tomorrows. Baltimore: The Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1984.
A great historical treatment of the various visions of the future from the past cen-
tury, including many invaluable photos and documents.
Moore, Alan and Chris Sprouse. Tom Strong. La Jolla, CA: America’s Best Comics,
1999.
Moore and Sprouse’s brilliant comic book Tom Strong is set in the “clean and
friendly” world of the twenty-first century, following the adventures of “science
hero” Tom Strong.
Motter, Dean and Michael Lark. Terminal City. New York: DC Comics, 1996.
Motter and Lark’s future as seen in Terminal City is a bit bleaker and darker than
Tom Strong, but with the same sort of retarded technological development. Both
Tom Strong and Terminal City include brilliant visual design and amazing environ-
ments, perfect for a video game such as Atomic Sam.
Appendix B
Sample Design
Document: The
Suffering
U nlike the previous appendix, in this section I have included the design docu-
ment for a published game that shipped in early 2004: The Suffering.
Developed at Surreal Software and published by Midway, the game endeav-
ored to explore the horror genre but apply a significantly more action-oriented
experience to it. I was lead designer and writer on the project, meaning it was my
responsibility to create and maintain the design document. The document has been
included here in an unedited and unpolished form, “warts and all” as it were. This is
exactly the version of the document used during development. As I stated in Chapter
19, “The Design Document,” it is not actually that important that your design docu-
ment be written with flowery verbiage or perfect grammar, as long as it conveys the
information you need to get across.
For space reasons, this document was edited down from its original form, which
was just about twice as long as what you see here. Most of what has been removed are
the specifics of various game-world entities (weapons and NPCs) as well as a lot of the
Gameflow section, which described specific environments on a room-by-room basis.
These details were all specific to The Suffering, and are repeated in other examples you
will find still in the document. I have tried to maintain the overall structure of the docu-
ment, however, leaving in all the major section headings. Whenever you see “[…]” you
will know that something was cut from the document at a particular location in order to
allow it to fit in this book.
It is interesting to notice what information is not included in the document that
probably should have been. The main area in which The Suffering innovated was
through in-game storytelling techniques, and, strangely, many of these unique tech-
niques are not covered in this document. Our morality/reputation system was also one
of our biggest points of differentiation, but the mechanics of how it works are not dis-
cussed in this document. Also, we amped up the horror components of the game quite a
bit midway through development, though those changes never made it into the docu-
ment either. Finally, we did a lot of work on enhancing the behavior of the creatures, but
none of that data was added to this document. For each of these changes and refine-
ments to the game, new documents were drawn up, but they were never incorporated
579
580 Appendix B: Sample Design Document: The Suffering
into this main design document. As I have discussed, one problem with a big design
document like this is that it can be unwieldy to find information in. Thus, for these later
changes to the game, it was easier to isolate the new information in a smaller document
to which people could easily refer. Further complicating matters are some sections of
the document that were added not because they were well thought-out or even espe-
cially needed, but because someone not on the development team requested them, to
make the document seem more complete. For example, the section on vibration is not
particularly detailed and the final vibration implementation is significantly different.
Indeed, if I were to create this document all over again, I would try to write a signif-
icantly more condensed document that would convey information more simply and in
less space, while also hyperlinking to separate, more detail-oriented documents. A
number of sections of this document could easily be broken out into separate docu-
ments. For example, it would be good to have most of the back-story and character
descriptions in a separate story bible. Having a number of separate documents would
probably work best over a Wiki-type web-based system that everyone on the team
could easily access and update. Also, the biggest problem with this document is how
“fossilized” it is. There are many sections that are out of date, such as references to the
game’s old targeting system that was scrapped midway through development. In part,
the reason so many other documents were made instead of updating this one is
because, after a given point, the programming team knew not to trust the design docu-
ment for the definitive word on any given feature.
Since it was so out of date, fans of The Suffering will find many differences between
this document and the final game, some of which may prove amusing. In addition to all
of the changes from earlier in the project that never made it into the document, readers
will notice that this document is dated July 7, 2003, a full eight months before we finally
shipped. Of course, during this time many changes were made to the game. Some of the
more interesting differences include:
• The game was originally called Unspeakable, but this was changed halfway through
development, and I saw no need to update the document for this cosmetic change,
except in the title page of the document.
• The “Quest Items” were cut from the game completely, and the puzzles that used
them were redesigned.
• Dozak was renamed Xombium.
• The Cartwheeler creature was renamed the Slayer, and the creature that was
originally called the Slayer was renamed the Marksman.
• On the art side, the “Stun Stick” was conceptualized, modeled, and textured, but
its functionality was never implemented because there was some concern whether
it would be a fun weapon to use and we ran out of development time.
Appendix B: Sample Design Document: The Suffering 581
• The introductory “Level 0” was added very late in development and is not in this
document at all. It was subsequently cut from the game and re-added as a bonus,
unlockable feature. A different introductory section to the game is described in this
document. This introduction was never attempted because it was decided it was
too high risk and labor intensive for what it accomplished.
• Of all the sections of the document, the gameflow changed the most. Of the
gameflow included here, the basement is much shorter and simpler than what is
included in the shipped game. The basement was an example of unanticipated
level-bloat that occurred during development. That said, it is generally agreed the
final basement level turned out quite well and is one of the spookiest spaces in the
game.
Despite all the changes, it is interesting how much the final game matches a lot of the
mechanics, story, and general goals set out in this document. Fairly early on in develop-
ment I made a focus statement for the game, and the final game follows it to a
remarkable degree.
Unspeakable is designed to at once frighten and horrify the player, while being a
fast-paced, action-oriented game. The controls will be tight and responsive, with an
emphasis on allowing the player to easily navigate the 3D environments while defeat-
ing a large number of opponents. The player’s character will be strong and dexterous to
the point of being superhuman; the character will be able to overcome overwhelming
opposition with primarily projectile weapons. The horrific creatures the player battles
will take the form of perversions of the human form, creatures that “should not be” and
which are upsetting to look at in both appearance and movement. The setting, with the
exception of the monsters, is fairly realistic for a computer game, and the game touches
on portions of human history that will inevitably be unsettling and disturbing to the
player.
In the end, despite everything that did change in the game but not in the document, it
was still an essential tool for developing The Suffering. Though I would write it differ-
ently in the future, many games in the past have certainly done far worse.
Surreal Software
Game Design Document
The Suffering
Revision 1.51
7/7/03
Table of Contents
Section I: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
Section II: Game Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588

Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
Checkpoint Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
Continue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
Auto-Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
Difficulty Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589
In-Game Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589
In-Game HUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589
Combat HUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
Inventory HUD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
Map HUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
Aimed Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
First-Person/Examine Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
Player Movement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
Basic Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
Aimed Weapon Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
Jumping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
Clambering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
Ladders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
Immobilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
First-Person/Examine Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
Aimed Weapon Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
Auto-Targeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
Attacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
Melee Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
Projectile Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
Thrown Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
Mounted Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600
Insanity Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600
Insanity Meter and Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
Melee Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
Player Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
Healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
Stunning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
HUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
Selecting the Equipped Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
Selecting Grenades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606
Equipping a Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606
Item Placement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
Item Pick Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
Flashlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
Using Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609
Open and Unlock Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609
Open Chests/Lockers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
Flip Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
Mount Ladders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
Mount Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
Use Quest Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
Enter Insanity Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
Security Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
Pushable Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
Destroying Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
Exploding Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
Weather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
Blood & Amputation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
Projectiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
Flashbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
Game-World Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Vibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Insanity Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Attacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
Controls Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
PlayStation 2 Default: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
PlayStation 2 Alternate Controls 1: Dual Analog . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
Section III: Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617

Melee Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
Shiv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
Fire Axe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
Stun Stick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
Projectile Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
Pistol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
Shotgun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
Machine Gun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
Flame Thrower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
Thrown Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
TNT Stick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
Molotov Cocktail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
Concussion Grenade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
Shrapnel Grenade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
Mounted Weaponry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
Mounted Machine Gun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
Miscellaneous Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
Ammunition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
Flashlight and Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621
Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621
Quest Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621
Section IV: NPCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622

NPC Base Mechanics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622
Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622
Taking Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623
Reaction to Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623
Standard Enemies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624
Cartwheeler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624
Mainliner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
Nooseman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Burrower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Fester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Slayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Inferna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Boss Enemies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Killjoy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Horace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
Hermes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
The Black One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
Friendly Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
Humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
Section V: Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630

Game Progression Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630
Flashbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633
Back-story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
Carnate’s History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
Torque’s History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
Friendly NPCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636
Dallas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636
Luther. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
Sergei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
Clem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
Jimmy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
Ernesto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
Section VI: Gameflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638

Prison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
Area: Death House, Top Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
Area: Death House, First Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640
Area: Death House, Basement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
Area: Courtyard Outside Death House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
Area: Courtyard Outside Death House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644
Area: North Cellblock Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644
The Quarry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644
Transition to Asylum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Asylum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
The Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
The Beach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Return to Prison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Bluff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Caverns to Lighthouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Lighthouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Surrounding Area Outside Lighthouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Return to Lighthouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Road to Docks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
The Docks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Section VII: Maps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646

Island Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646
Prison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
Death House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
Courtyard Outside Death House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
The Quarry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
Asylum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
The Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
The Beach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651

Escape Tunnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
Return to Prison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
Bluff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
Lighthouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
Road to Docks & Docks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
Section VIII: Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651

Main Menu Screen (No Saved Game Available) . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
Main Menu Screen (Saved Game Available) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
Game Paused Menu Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Load Game Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Save Game Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Options Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Controller Settings Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Customize Controller Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Screen Alignment Settings Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Audio Settings Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
The Archives Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
The Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
Creature Archive/Clem’s Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
Location Archive/Consuela’s Scrapbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654
Section I: Introduction
Unspeakable captures the disturbing and frightening nature of the horror genre in a
compelling third-person action/adventure game. By alternating periods of tense and
cautious exploration with frenetic and stylized combat sequences, the game seeks to
create a uniquely tense and visceral gameplay experience. Though the player is well
stocked with weapons and ammo, the strength and quantity of the enemies he must
face creates a feeling of nearly insurmountable odds. In the dark world of Unspeakable,
creatures jump out of shadows, fall out of trees, and erupt out of the ground, attacking
the player in the most frightening ways possible.
Unspeakable features a continuous game universe, where the gameplay is unbro-
ken by cut-scenes or other distractions, causing the player to feel constantly
threatened and unsafe. Storytelling is kept to a minimum and is conveyed through
in-game events and voice-over dialog that the player “hears” through various devices
(a voice crackling out of a disconnected speaker, voices echoing out of a quarry, the
twisted speech of the creatures themselves). The continuous game-world will be key to
making Unspeakable a thoroughly terrifying game to play.
The player controls the prisoner Torque, a hardened inmate in his late 20s, sen-
tenced to die for a murder he may or may not have actually committed. Torque is around
6' 2" with black scruffy hair and a darkish skin tone, though he is of unspecified ethnic
origin. He has the hardened, muscular physical frame of a long-time prisoner, and he
wears a dirty, torn prison outfit. Torque has kept himself safe in prison by exuding a
“don’t mess with me” tough attitude, something he communicates through his wiry
build and his aggressive body language. Underneath this tough exterior hides a man
who is not quite psychologically balanced, who fears far more than he would ever admit
to. As a side effect of his mental instability, Torque has flashbacks to the events from his
past, throbbing images that depict the events that led up to the crime for which he was
imprisoned. Torque is also subject to blackouts, during which he becomes extremely
violent and the player sees him transformed into a massive monster who is a ferocious
melee combatant.
The setting of Unspeakable is Carnate, an unspecified, dark and foggy island off the
mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. Though the date is not specified, it seems to be
around present day. The island is home to a decrepit, decaying federal prison, Abbott
State Penitentiary, with architecture that makes it appear to have been built in the late
1940s. This is where the antisocial prisoners that are considered beyond rehabilitation
are transferred. Scattered around the island are numerous other abandoned structures
of various ages, including a quarry, a long abandoned asylum, a crashed slave ship, a
lighthouse, and the small cluster of houses where the prison workers lived.
At its core, Unspeakable is the story of Torque’s quest to confront his own demons
and the events that happened to land him jail. In the grand horror tradition, the details of
the world of Unspeakable are kept vague and largely unexplained, allowing the player’s
imagination to fill in the gaps, forming mental images far more frightening than what
can be portrayed on a TV screen. The story of Unspeakable starts with Torque being
transferred to the island prison. From his cell, the player overhears the prison being
overrun by bizarre creatures, the screams of the guards and other prisoners echoing
through the halls. Freed from his cell in the ensuing chaos, Torque precariously makes
his way through the island, fighting off hordes of creatures everywhere he goes, des-
perately trying to find a way to the mainland. Torque meets a few other humans on the
island who have not been killed by the creatures, and they each have their own, incor-
rect theories as to why the island has been overrun. The player is left not knowing what
to believe. At the end of the game, the player must face his monstrous alter ego and,
having defeated him, a flashback of Torque’s crime is finally revealed, with the nature of
the crime determined by the way the player played the game.
Unspeakable merges the highly popular horror setting with proven third-person
action gameplay and a unique story and locale to create a gameplay experience distinct
from anything currently available. The player will not just control Torque but actually
become him, battling his way through a world gone awry while coming to grips with his
past and conquering his own personal demons.
Section II: Game Mechanics

Saving
In Unspeakable, the player will be able to save their game at any time. The player will be
able to have as many save-games as they can fit on the current memory card. The
player will then be able to load these games at will from either the main menu or the
in-game pause screen, and doing so will restore the player’s position and status in the
game-world to exactly its state when he saved that game.
Checkpoint Saving
The game will create automatic saves for the player at certain points in the game.
These checkpoint saves will be placed at the end of major gameplay challenges, to give
players who never explicitly save their game a fair chance at playing through the game
without feeling like they needlessly repeat sections that they can easily get by. Check-
point saving will be completely transparent to the player and will allow the player to
play through without ever having to explicitly save his game. There will be an option on
the main menu to automatically save the player’s game to the memory card at check-
points without any confirmation from the player being required.
Continue
The main menu will feature a “Continue” option, which will always appear when there
is a save-game available to load. When selected, this will automatically allow the player
to load up the last save-game that was made for Unspeakable. This way, if the player
shuts off their console and returns to it later to play some more, all they need to do is
select “Continue” and they’ll be right back in the game without having to choose a save
slot.
Auto-Loading
When the player dies, he will be able to load his most recent save-game (be it a regular
save or a checkpoint save) by pressing any button when dead. With the combination of
the auto-loading functionality and the checkpoint saving, novice players will be able to
play through the whole game without having to ever explicitly load or save a game.
Difficulty Levels
Unspeakable will feature four difficulty levels: Demented (Easy), Disturbed (Medium),
Schizophrenic (Difficult), and Stark Raving Mad (Impossible). These difficulty levels
will have a dramatic effect on the difficulty of the gameplay. On the Easy setting, even
non-gamers will be able to play all the way through the game with only minor challenge.
At the Impossible setting, even the most hard-core players (such as members of the
development team) will have a hard time making it through the game. The difficulty
level will affect vitality, accuracy, and damage-inflicting abilities of the enemies, but at
the easiest level there will be fewer creatures for the player to engage with, with fewer
enemies in each battle. Ammo and health pack placement will also be varied. Further-
more, the difficulty of the puzzles will also be made easier or harder depending on the
difficulty level, with more hints provided at the Easy difficulty, and more challenging
solutions necessary at the Impossible setting.
In-Game Help
Unspeakable will not feature a tutorial level. Instead the player will be introduced to the
game’s mechanics through the gameplay itself. As the player plays and comes to new
areas that require him to perform new actions, help text will appear on the screen
explaining how different mechanics work. For instance, when the player picks up a
weapon for the first time, the text might say “Press SQUARE to Attack.” Once the
player picks up a second weapon, the help text might explain how the inventory system
works. Once the player’s Insanity Meter fills up for the first time, and the player is in
Aimed Weapon Mode, the help text would say “Press TRIANGLE while holding down
R1 to enter Insanity Mode.” After the text has been on the screen long enough for the
player to read it, or the player successfully accomplishes the action he is being
instructed about, the text will fade away. Help text can be turned off by a setting in the
options screen, so that the player will not need to see again it if they replay the game.
In-Game HUD
There will be a number of in-game heads up displays (HUDs), which will appear as
needed to communicate information to the player about the state of the game-world.
Typically, these HUDs will only show up when that information will be useful to the
player. For instance, the health meter will only show up when the player has recently
lost health or when in Aimed Weapon Mode. In this way, the screen will not be cluttered
up by HUD graphics when they are not needed, helping the player achieve a greater
sense of immersion in the game-world. HUD elements will “slide” onto the screen
when they are needed, similar to games such as Jak & Daxter.
Some items will appear in certain situations, regardless of what mode the player is
in.
• Flashlight Charge: This small indicator will show up on the screen when the
player’s Flashlight is on. A bar will indicate charge remaining on the Flashlight, and
will turn to a different color once the Flashlight starts losing strength. A small
number will be displayed next to the Flashlight, indicating how many batteries the
player has.
• Recently Equipped Weapon: When the player changes his currently equipped
primary or thrown weapon, a large view of the object will show up on the screen for
three seconds after the weapon switch, along with the name of that weapon. This
will help make clear to the player what their new weapon selection is.
• Recently Picked Up Items: When the player picks up an object, a view of that item
will be displayed on the screen along with the item’s name. This will help
communicate to the player what item they just obtained.
Combat HUD
When the player enters Aimed Weapon Mode, a number of components of the combat
HUD will be brought onto the screen. Since the player will always be able to enter
Aimed Weapon Mode without penalty, this information will be available to the player
whenever he wants it.
• Health: The player’s health will be displayed graphically as part of a bar that will
disappear as the player loses health, leaving an empty bar behind it. In addition to
being on the screen in Aimed Weapon Mode, this bar will be brought onto the
screen whenever the player is actively losing health, and will stay on the screen for
five seconds thereafter. When the player loses or gains health, this bar will flash,
and will slowly slide to indicate the decrease in health.
• Insanity Meter: The Insanity Meter will communicate how many Insanity Points
the player has at any one time, communicating how many more the player will need
to go into Insanity Mode. As the player gains Insanity Points, the meter will flash
and will slowly fill up. As the player remains in Insanity Mode, the meter will
lightly pulse as the points in it decrease.
• Current Weapon Ammo: The ammunition for the current weapon is displayed
graphically by bullets for projectile weapons or a gasoline bar for the flamethrower.
The quantity that the player has of the current thrown weapon is also displayed.
When the player is on a mounted weapon, the ammunition for that weapon is
displayed in a similar fashion.
• Reticle: When in Examine Mode or when on a mounted weapon, a reticle will show
up in the middle of the screen, indicating where the player will shoot when he
presses the Attack button.
Inventory HUD
When the player presses and holds the Inventory button, the player’s current weapons
will be displayed on the screen, sorted by type. The player is then able to navigate
through these weapons, which will scroll around the screen. The functionality of this is
described in the Inventory section of this document.
Map HUD
The player will find maps for various areas in the game, which can be pulled up and
examined at any time. An arrow will be drawn on the map indicating the player’s loca-
tion and current facing. Also in the map view HUD, the player will see the current quest
items that he is carrying, lined up along the bottom of the screen. For more information
on the functionality of the map, consult the Maps section of this document.
Camera
Unspeakable uses three primary types of camera that follow the main character through
the game-world and allow the player to view the contents of the game-world. One is
used when the player is moving around the world without his weapons aimed, the sec-
ond is for when the Target button is held down and the player is in Aimed Weapon
Mode, and the third is for when the player is in First-Person/Examine Mode.
Movement
The player views their character in the game-world from a third-person,
over-the-shoulder view, much like that found in games such as Syphon Filter or Drakan.
The camera will stay behind the player so that the player has a view that matches what
Torque sees. Furthermore, the player will be able to intuitively turn Torque and have
the camera rotate with him, allowing the player to look at and target enemies in what-
ever area of the game-world he wants. The player can turn and pitch his character with
the right analog stick, which lets them see the area surrounding his character, while
simultaneously changing the character’s facing. When the player releases the right
stick to its center position, the camera will remove the pitching, returning to a verti-
cally centered view, an effect called “lookspring.” When the player character is not
moving, the camera finds a position slightly off to the side of the player character, so
that it isn’t “locked” on to his back and provides alternate views of the character. When
the character is moving, the camera will stay more immediately behind Torque, to allow
the player to intuitively navigate the game-world.
Aimed Weapon
When the player is in Aimed Weapon Mode, Torque is pointing his gun forward, either
at a general area in front of him (if there is no target available) or at an auto-picked tar-
get. With no target, the camera will maintain its orientation in the world, moving but not
rotating along with Torque. When there is a target, the camera will also not change its
orientation, unless the current target is going to go off the screen, either because
Torque’s movements would force the target off the screen or because the target’s own
movement would do the same. When the target is going off the screen, the camera will
rotate itself to keep Torque in the center of its view while also keeping the target on the
screen. The player’s ability to pitch will also be limited by the necessity of keeping the
current target on the screen. The desired functionality of the camera here matches that
found in the Syphon Filter series.
First-Person/Examine Mode
The player is able to go into a first-person view of the game-world, which represents
seeing through Torque’s eyes. Torque is invisible to the player while in this mode. The
left analog stick allows the player to pitch the view up and down and turn left and right,
looking around the game-world. The right stick allows the player to strafe left and right
at a slower-than-normal speed, allowing the player to shift the view horizontally
slightly. This mode will also be used when the player uses mounted weapons.
Player Movement
Unspeakable features a free-roaming three-dimensional environment. The game con-
trols will allow the player to navigate their character intuitively and explore
Unspeakable’s game-world easily. All navigation in Unspeakable will be “tight,” like that
found in games such as Syphon Filter or Drakan. This means that when the player
presses the control stick to the left, Torque will turn left immediately. There will be
next to no delay or lag between the player pressing a given action button and their char-
acter performing that action.
Basic Movement
The player navigates their character through the game-world using intuitive controls
for moving forward or backward and turning left and right. The left analog stick on the
controller will control moving forward and backward, and turning left and right. The left
directional-pad will duplicate these controls. The amount the player pushes forward or
backward will determine how fast the player character moves in that direction, from a
medium speed walk to a fast run. Similarly, the player character will turn at different
speeds depending on how much the stick is pushed in a given direction. As described in
the Camera section above, the right analog stick will be used for pitching up (if the con-
troller is pushed down) or pitching down (if the controller is pushed up). The degree of
pitch will be determined by the amount the analog stick is pushed in a given direction.
In one of the alternate control schemes, the player will be able to use the left stick to
move Torque forward and backward and strafe left and right, while the right stick will be
used for turning and pitching.
The player will be able to use the commands for moving, strafing, and turning in
combination to make their character perform logical actions:
• Move + Turn: The character turns while moving, moving along a parabola.
• Move + Strafe: The character moves diagonally, moving along a line.
• Turn + Strafe (Same Direction): The player moves in a circle facing outward.
• Turn + Strafe (Different Directions): The player moves in a circle facing
inward. Known as “circle-strafing.”
Aimed Weapon Movement
If the player presses and holds the Target button, Torque will raise his arms up to ready
his weapons for firing. Torque will automatically rotate his body and pitch his arms up
and down to point at the best target relative to his current position. (Auto-targeting is
described in detail below.) While in Aimed Weapon Mode Torque moves at a “fast walk”
and at a constant speed. When the player is in Aimed Weapon Mode the camera will stay
at the same rotation it was at when he pressed the Target button, and Torque will now
move relative to that camera’s position. Thus, if the player presses forward, Torque
moves away from the camera, pressing back causes him to move toward it, and pressing
left or right moves him left or right. The player is unable to turn Torque while in Aimed
Weapon Mode.
When in Aimed Weapon Mode, Torque will play one of five directional animations,
which correspond to the following directions: forward, right, left, back right, and back
left. Simultaneously, Torque will rotate his upper body to keep his aim dead on the
enemy he has targeted, or, if there is no target acquired, Torque will keep his upper
body oriented in the direction he was facing when the player entered Aimed Weapon
Mode. This will give Torque a dynamic look while he is moving in Aimed Weapon Mode,
as he shifts from foot to foot to keep moving in the desired direction. This is similar to
the animation system used in Devil May Cry.
While Torque is in Aimed Weapon Mode, if he has a target acquired, the camera will
rotate to keep that target on screen, as described above in the Camera section. Because
of the camera-relative controls used in Aimed Weapon Mode, this will have the side
effect of making Torque rotate around the character he has targeted, if the player keeps
pressing the same direction on the control pad. If the player simultaneously rotates the
stick to compensate for the rotation of the camera, the player will easily be able to make
Torque continue to run in a straight line despite the camera’s rotation. This is similar to
the effect found in Syphon Filter.
Water
Since the game is set on an island, obviously there will be water found in the world of
Unspeakable. However, Torque is unable to swim. The player character will be able to
wade into water up to their chests and will be prevented from walking into water above
his head. Torque will die if he stays in too-deep water too long. The difference between
safe and dangerous water will be clearly indicated in the levels, so that the player will
intuitively understand which water systems they can safely enter and which they
cannot.
The player’s reactions to different water depths will be as follows:
• Calf-Deep: The player will move through this water without slowing down or
changing animation at all.
• Knee-Deep: The player’s motion will be slowed to his walk speed, preventing him
from moving quickly through deep water.
• Above Chest: The player will be slowed down exactly as in knee-deep water,
except he will now be unable to enter Aimed Weapon Mode and will be unable to
fire his weapons. If the player is in Aimed Weapon Mode when he enters this type
of water, he will be forced out of that mode.
• Above Head: The player will be stopped from walking into water that is above his
head; he will simply not be able to move in that direction. If the player falls into
water that is deeper than the distance to his head, he will immediately drown.
Jumping
At almost any time in the game, the player will be able to make Torque jump by pressing
the Jump button. Jumps can be performed while the player is in the middle of other
common actions, such as moving, targeting, or shooting. This will allow Torque to jump
over gaps in the terrain as well as to get out of the way of enemies. The height to which
Torque jumps and, as a side effect, the distance he travels, will be determined by how
strongly the player presses the analog Jump button. The type of jump movement
Torque will do will be affected by which direction he is moving, if any, as well as whether
he is in Aimed Weapon Mode.
Normal Movement
• Not Moving: Torque will jump straight up in the air.
• Moving Forward: Torque will do a running jump forward, covering a significant
amount of terrain. Torque will land on his feet and will be able to keep running
seamlessly.
• Moving Backward: Torque will vault himself backward, landing on his feet, though
it will disrupt his movement backward somewhat.
• Strafing Left/Right: Torque will do an evasive dive/roll to the appropriate side.
Aimed Weapon Mode
Torque will be able to fire his weapon while in the middle of jumping. If he does so,
Torque will appear to “hang” in the air slightly, frozen in a jumping pose but not falling to
the ground as quickly as if he had not fired. This will allow the player to get a number of
shots off while jumping. This is the same jumping/firing functionality as is found in
Devil May Cry.
• Not Moving: Torque will jump straight up in the air. Player is able to fire his weapon
while in the air.
• Moving Forward: Torque will jump forward. If the player presses Attack while
Torque is jumping forward, he will fire his weapon.
• Moving Backward: Torque will jump backward, more elegantly than the normal
jump backward. As with jumping forward, Torque will be able to fire while jumping
backward.
• Strafing Left/Right: Torque will do a quick evasive dive/roll to the appropriate side.
Torque will not be able to fire while doing the dive roll. The roll will be extremely
quick, however, so Torque will only be blocked from firing for a short time.
Clambering
Torque will be able to jump up onto high ledges and platforms by using his clambering
behavior. This action will consist of a single animation in which Torque jumps up to the
height required and throws his legs up and on to it, immediately standing up and becom-
ing ready to start moving again. There will be minimum and maximum heights to which
Torque can clamber, with the minimum height being the maximum height Torque can
jump onto normally, and the maximum height being approximately a foot taller than his
own height. When the player presses the Jump button when next to a surface Torque
can clamber onto, the game will automatically have Torque do the clamber motion
instead of the regular jump animation.
Ladders
When the player is climbing on a ladder he is considered to be in “ladder mode.” The
player enters ladder mode by walking up to a ladder and pressing the Use button. Once
on a ladder, the player character can climb up or down for an arbitrary amount of time,
limited only by the height of these objects. The player will get off a ladder automatically
once he reaches the top or bottom of the structure. The player cannot turn, strafe,
shoot, or perform any other actions that involve the character’s hands while in ladder
mode. However, the player will be able to pitch the camera up and down and look left
and right while on the ladder by using the right stick. In ladder mode, some of the
player’s movement control buttons will perform different actions:
• Move Forward Button: The Move Forward button will cause the player to move
up the object.
• Move Backward: This button will move the player character down the object.
• Jump or Use Button: These buttons will cause the player to immediately jump
off/dismount the ladder at their current location.
Ladders will be found in the game-world rotated at arbitrary angles, though there will
always be enough space left at their top to allow the player to appropriately play the dis-
mount animation.
Immobilization
Player can become immobilized by certain monsters’ attacks. Typically, the monster
will grab the player tightly and continually damage him until the player breaks free. For
example, the Mainliner immobilizes the player by jumping onto his back and wrapping
his limbs around him, while the Nooseman grabs the player with his strong arms while
hanging from the ceiling. (For more information on the way the creatures immobilize
the player, see the NPCs section later in the document.) While immobilized, the player
is still able to turn and pitch the camera, but cannot move forward, backward, strafe, or
jump. The player must hit the Attack or Jump button repeatedly while immobilized in
order to break free, throwing the monster off of himself.
First-Person/Examine Mode
At any time when he is on the ground and not immobilized, the player can enter a
first-person state called Examine Mode by pressing and holding the First Person but-
ton. The camera will change to be a first-person view as described in the Camera
section above. The player is able to look around the environment using the left stick to
pitch up and down and turn right and left, while the right stick will allow the player to
strafe slowly to the left and right.
In this mode the player will be able to see their current weapon at the bottom of the
screen pointing away toward a reticle, which is drawn in the center of the screen. The
player will be able to attack with any of his weapons in this view, though he will not be
able to do so with the benefit of target-locking, instead needing to aim to hit targets.
The player will be able to use this mode to take aimed shots at targets which may not be
auto-targetable, such as puzzle elements, explosive barrels, or light sources. The
player’s accuracy with his weapon increases when in First-Person Mode. For some
characters, the player will be able to extra damage to his targets by shooting them in
particular areas, such as the heads of human characters.
The player will not be able to jump or use any objects, or enter Insanity Mode while
in First-Person Mode. However, he will be able to throw grenades, switch weapons via
his inventory, activate the map, and turn on and off the Flashlight.
Aimed Weapon Mode

As described above, while the player holds down the Target button Torque will be put
into Aimed Weapon Mode. This affects Torque’s movement and the behavior of the
camera in the manner described above. While in Aimed Weapon Mode, Torque is not
able to “use” any items, and if the player presses the Use button while in Aimed
Weapon Mode he will enter Insanity Mode. Torque will also not Object Look while in
Aimed Weapon Mode, instead looking at his current target, though the player will still
pick up objects as normal. The player will only leave Aimed Weapon Mode a full second
after the player releases the Target button, meaning that if the player releases the but-
ton and then quickly presses it again, Torque will seamlessly stay in Aimed Weapon
Mode.
Auto-Targeting
When the player presses the Target button to enter Aimed Weapon Mode, the player
will find the “best” target for Torque to try to shoot at. This will be determined by a
combination of factors including how close the target is and how close it is to the center
of the screen. Torque will only auto-target hostile targets, and will only target enemies
within a maximum range. If the current target or Torque moves, causing the distance of
the target to be out of the maximum range, the target lock will be broken. If the player
releases the Target button and then quickly presses it again, the game will try to find
the next best target on the screen after the one that was targeted before. This process
of cycling through targets will continue through all of the targets on the screen, only
returning to the first (best) target once all of the other threats on the screen have been
targeted. This functions similarly to the targeting system used in Syphon Filter. It may
be necessary for there to be a visible “target reticle” used to indicate to the player
which enemy is currently targeted; this can be better determined once the game is
functional than predicted at this time.
Attacking
The player can at any time press the Attack button, which will cause the player to attack
using whatever weapon he currently has equipped. When the player is in Insanity
Mode, the player is unarmed and will perform a variety of melee attacks. When the
player is completely unarmed, as he is at the very beginning of the game, and when he
is not in Insanity Mode, pressing the Attack button will have no effect. The player also
has a Throw button, which will cause the player to throw the current type of lobbed
weapon. Often the player will not have a thrown weapon available, and at that time the
Throw button will have no effect.
The type of attack the player does when the button is pressed will differ depending
on the type of weapon the player currently has equipped. For instance, the player will
slash with a melee weapon, while he will shoot a projectile weapon. The effect of press-
ing and holding the Attack button will also differ depending on the weapon: the player
will fire a pistol only once per Attack button press, while pressing and holding the
Attack button will empty the clip of the machine gun. Furthermore, melee weapons will
use the analog fidelity of the Attack button to determine which type of attack to do. The
description of how the mechanics work for each specific type of weapon in the game can
be found with the listing of each weapon in the Resources section of this document.
Melee Weapons
With the melee weapons, the player will be able to attack repeatedly without the
weapon ever running out of ammo or breaking. Melee weapons each have a variety of
attacks for the player to perform with them, which is varied based on how many times
the player presses the button and how heavily they press the analog button. Melee
weapons will vary their effectiveness and the effectiveness of their different attacks by
a number of factors.
• Damage: Different weapons and attacks will have the potential to do more or less
damage to the object they hit.
• Ready Time: Different weapons take different amounts of time to draw the weapon
from the player’s inventory.
• Speed: Certain attacks will be quicker for the player to perform than others.
Typically this will be inversely proportional to how much they do.
• Motion: The visual appearance of the attacks the player does will be unique for
each type of melee weapon.
• Range: The player will have a slightly bigger swing with some weapons than with
others, and as a result will be able to hit enemies at a greater distance with different
weapons and different attacks.
• Stunning: Heavier attacks with heavier weapons will be more likely to knock back
or stun an enemy than other attacks.
Consult the Resources section of this document to see how these different weapon
attributes apply to the different weapons in the game.
Projectile Weapons
When using a projectile weapon the player will automatically fire at what he currently
has auto-targeted. If the player does not have the Target button held down when he
presses fire, Torque will immediately be placed into Aimed Weapon Mode and will stay
in that mode for several seconds after the firing is completed. When forced into Aimed
Weapon Mode in this manner, the game will also auto-target an enemy for the attack to
be aimed at, in the same manner as if the player had been pressing and holding the Tar-
get button.
Projectile weapons will vary their effectiveness in a number of key ways:
• Damage: Different weapons will do different amounts of damage to the targets they
hit.
• Secondary Damage Effect: In addition to doing damage to what they hit, some
projectile weapons will have a secondary damage effect such as catching
something on fire.
• Ready Time: Like melee weapons, different weapons will take a different amount of
time for Torque to get ready.
• Single Shot or Continuous Fire: Some weapons will be able to fire a continuous or
near-continuous stream of projectiles while the player holds down the Fire button,
while others will just fire a single shot.
• Rate of Fire: Single-shot and continuous-fire weapons will all vary their rate of fire
— the maximum speed at which they can fire projectiles.
• Number of Shots Fired: Some weapons will be able to fire more than one shot at a
single time.
• Accuracy/Range: Weapons will vary their accuracy by firing each bullet within a
random angle (cone) from their “dead-on” trajectory. This will mean that the player
can unload a weapon into an enemy and see the projectiles hit randomly around
that creature and, if at a great enough distance, the player may actually miss the
target even though he may be target-locked on to it. By varying the accuracy of the
projectiles, the weapons also vary the range at which they are effective at hitting
targets.
• Stunning: Different weapons will have different stopping power. This affects how
much a given projectile will slow the approach of an adversary: some will have no
effect, some will slow the creature down, and some will actually knock the creature
over.
• Type of Ammunition: Each weapon will use a unique type of ammunition that the
player must collect.
• Maximum Loaded Ammunition: Weapons will also vary how many shots they hold
at once. This translates into how many shots the weapon can fire before the player
must reload.
• Reload Time: Weapons will fire a number of shots in a “clip” (their Maximum
Loaded Ammunition size) before the player must reload them. This will be quite
quick for most weapons, but will still be a break in the player’s firing.
Each type of projectile weapon uses a type of ammunition unique to it. The player must
have some of the appropriate type of ammunition in his inventory for the player to fire a
weapon. When the player finds a weapon it comes with a certain amount of ammunition
loaded in it, and the player can supplement this by finding more ammunition in the
game-world or by finding additional instances of that type of weapon (with the player
able to remove the ammunition from that weapon on picking it up). Each time the
player shoots a given weapon, the amount of ammunition the player has for that weapon
decreases by one, and the rates of fire for the different weapons will cause the player to
be able to more quickly use up the ammunition for different weapons. The amount of
ammunition available for the current weapon is displayed in the in-game HUD. This
HUD is visible only when the player is in Aimed Weapon Mode. Since the player is
automatically placed into Aimed Weapon Mode after attacking, the player will always
see the amount of ammunition he has when it is being depleted. The player will also be
able to see how much ammunition they have for all of their weapons in the weapon
inventory, as described in the Weapon section of this document.
In Unspeakable, ammunition will be provided such that the player will run out of
ammunition for certain weapons in certain situations. If the player is particularly
wasteful of the ammunition, it is possible he will run out of the ammunition for all his
projectile weapons. The ammunition will be distributed through the game-world in
such a way that this is unlikely to happen for all the projectile weapons, with typically
the player having an overabundance of at least one type of projectile ammunition,
reminiscent of the ammunition distribution in games like Half-Life and Max Payne.
Weapons have a certain maximum amount of ammunition they can hold at once,
and when this runs out the player will automatically reload the weapon with the other
appropriate ammunition he has in his possession. However, reloading will not start
while the player is holding down the Attack button. While the player continues to hold
down the Attack button while firing an empty, continuous-fire gun, the gun will play a
clicking “empty” sound. This means for continuous-fire weapons (such as the machine
gun), where the player may have been holding down the Fire button to empty the
weapon’s clip, they will have to first release that button and then press it for the weapon
to reload and the player to be able to continue firing. When a particular weapon runs out
of ammunition, the game will automatically switch Torque to using the next loaded
weapon. Since the player finds the Shiv first in the game and the melee weapons have
no ammunition, the player will always have a weapon to use.
Double pistols present a unique situation for the ammunition system, since both
pistols use the same type of ammunition and the player can switch back and forth
between single and double pistol. To make this as simple as possible, when the player
switches from single to double pistol, the game will automatically reallocate the pistol
ammunition the player has between the multiple weapons, so if the player has only six
shots left, three will be placed in each pistol. If the player then switches from double
pistol back to single pistol, the ammunition he has will all be placed into that one
weapon.
Thrown Weapons
Thrown (grenade-style) weapons are grouped together and the player can attack with
these weapons by pressing the Throw button. These weapons provide the player with
an alternate attack to go along with their primary melee/projectile weapon. The system
is designed such that the player can be firing their main weapon, then quickly lob a
thrown weapon, and then immediately return to using their melee/projectile weapon.
The player’s current grenade shows up attached to the back right of Torque’s belt
so the player can easily know what thrown weapon they have ready to throw. The
player can select their current thrown weapon using the inventory system described
below.
When a thrown weapon is available and the player presses the Throw button,
Torque will continue to hold his primary weapon in his left hand. Using his now free
right hand, Torque will immediately grab the current throwable weapon off his belt and
throw it. The thrown weapon is automatically thrown at the current target; if no target
is available the weapon is thrown in the direction the player is facing. The thrown
weapon will arc through the air using realistic-looking, gravity-based movement. If the
player is not in Aimed Weapon Mode when he presses the Throw button, just like when
using a melee/projectile weapon, the player will temporarily be forced into Aimed
Weapon Mode.
While the weapon is being thrown, Torque will be unable to do his melee/projectile
attack, and pressing the Attack button will have no effect. While throwing, the player’s
motion will be undisrupted, and he will be able to keep moving in all directions while
throwing. Once the weapon is thrown, Torque will re-ready his current melee/projectile
weapon.
Thrown weapons will be differentiated by a number of variables:

• Damage and Radius: When they explode, thrown weapons do damage over a radius
on impact.
• Secondary Damage Effect: Certain thrown weapons may cause a secondary damage
effect on objects that they damage, such as catching them on fire.
• Stunning: Like projectile weapons, thrown weapons have a certain ability to stun
the targets they damage.
• Time to Detonate: Some thrown weapons detonate on hitting an object, whereas
others will bounce off objects and only explode after a certain amount of time has
passed. Some weapons will never detonate on their own, and will require the
player to press the Throw button again when he wants to detonate them.
• Throw Speed: This is the time it takes for the weapon to be thrown, the time before
the player can return to attacking with his primary weapon.
• Accuracy: Some thrown weapons will be more accurate than others at actually
hitting their target. Like projectile weapons, they will have a small amount of
potential range which, when farther from the target, will cause them to fall short or
go past their target.
Mounted Weapons
The player will be able to “mount” certain stationary weapons found in the game. This
will be accomplished by walking up to the weapon and pressing the Use button. At this
time, the player will be forced into First-Person/Examine Mode, with the mounted
weapon showing up on the bottom of the screen and pointing toward its target in the
distance. An on-screen reticle will be drawn to show where the weapon will hit. The
ammo available for this weapon will be shown in the ammo display portion of the
in-game HUD. Once in First-Person Mode, the player will be able to aim the weapon
and press the Attack button to fire at targets without the assistance of auto-targeting.
The player will be able to dismount from the weapon by pressing the Use button again.
The variables that determine the behavior of the mounted weapon will be the same
as the variables for the projectile weapons except that mounted weapons are not
reloadable and do not need the player to have ammo for them. The mounted weapons
will have ammunition with them when the player finds them, and that will be all the
ammunition they will ever be able to fire for that particular weapon. Once the ammuni-
tion is out for a mounted weapon, the weapon will be unfirable though the player may
still “Use” the weapon. Attempting to fire an empty mounted weapon will produce a
“clicking” empty sound.
Certain mounted weapons will not have any ammunition but will produce a differ-
ent effect from the player moving them around. An example of this is the high-power
spotlights found in the prison, which shine their light around as the player moves them.
Pressing the Attack button will have no effect on these non-firing mounted weapons.
Insanity Mode
As the player attacks and kills creatures, he gains points on his “Insanity Meter,” which
is a component of the in-game HUD. Once this Insanity Meter is completely full, the
player will be able to enter Insanity Mode by pressing the Use button while in Aimed
Weapon Mode. In Insanity Mode, the player transforms into a giant, somewhat horrific
creature that looks to be an extremely formidable combatant, with one hand composed
of a giant spike and the other featuring a massive clawed hand. As this creature the
player will only be able to perform brawling attacks, but these attacks will be extremely
damaging and effective against the enemies he encounters. The player can leave Insan-
ity Mode at any time by pressing the Use button again. As the player spends time in
Insanity Mode, the points in the Insanity Meter will decrease, and if the points reach
zero the player will transform out of the mode but fall over on the ground in a fetal posi-
tion, babbling gibberish to himself, and the game ends. Thus, to continue the game, the
player must leave Insanity Mode before his time runs out. When the player returns to
his Torque form, if he has killed any creatures at all while in Insanity Mode, Torque will
appear to be covered with blood. This effect is described in detail in the Blood Effects
section later in this document.
The Insanity Mode represents Torque’s blackouts when he sees himself turning
into the creature, which is the subconscious representation of his dark side. Though the
player and Torque both see the creature when in this form, in actuality Torque does not
really transform into a creature at all but instead is being fueled by an adrenaline rush,
which sends him into a psychotic rage during which he attacks creatures with his bare
hands. The true nature of the Insanity Mode will be hinted at in various points in the
game’s story. In addition, a few effects will hint at the true nature of Torque’s blackouts.
Whenever the player passes a mirror in Insanity Mode he will see himself as Torque in
that mirror. Periodically while Torque is in Insanity Mode he will flash for one or two
frames to appear as Torque, subliminally indicating that Torque hasn’t really trans-
formed at all.
Due to the creature’s large size, the player will sometimes find Torque to be in
locations where it is too small for the creature to stand. In these locations, when the
player tries to enter Insanity Mode, Torque will start to morph into the creature, but
will then fail to change, reverting immediately back to Torque. Similarly, if the player
tries to enter these small locations while already in Insanity Mode, the player will be
blocked from doing so, and will have to leave Insanity Mode to enter them. Also, the
player will be entirely unable to use objects while in this mode, first of all since it makes
little sense for the player to do so, but second of all because pressing the Use button
while in Insanity Mode will cause the player to exit Insanity Mode. While in Insanity
Mode, the “item look” behavior will be disabled, though the creature will still be able to
pick up objects (such as health, ammo, and new weapons), though obviously the player
will not be able to use the weapons until he exits Insanity Mode.
The player will not be invulnerable to damage while in Insanity Mode, though he
will lose health at a much slower rate than Torque would. It will be entirely possible that
Torque can die while in Insanity Mode, at which time he will visually immediately
revert to Torque and fall over dead.
Insanity Meter and Points
The Insanity Meter shows up on the screen whenever the player is Aimed Weapon
Mode, and since the player is forced into Aimed Weapon Mode whenever he attacks,
the meter will always be on screen when he is gaining points in it. Whenever the player
accomplishes a kill, which increases the meter, the meter will flash and will fill up to its
new level instead of just switching to that level. This way the player will see when they
gain more points for certain moves than for others.
The “cooler” the player looks while pulling off a move the more points he receives,
similar to the way points are accumulated in fighting games like Soul Calibur or
sports-trick games like SSX. How “cool” a move is is determined by a number of fac-
tors, which can be combined to further increase the number of Insanity Points the
player receives. The Insanity Meter has a base 100 points in it, and points will be added
as follows.
• Single Kill: Varies from creature to creature. The most common creatures will only
be a few points, while more rare and dangerous enemies will be worth significantly
more points. Killing friendly human characters will give the player more Insanity
Points, though this will make the game harder in other ways, as well as
contributing to the player getting one of the game’s more negative endings.
• Jumping Kill: If the player kills a creature while jumping, he receives 1.5 times the
normal Insanity Points.
• Melee Kill: For killing a creature with a melee attack, the player gains 2 times the
Insanity Points.
• Double Kill: If two creatures are killed in quick succession, the player gains 2 times
the Insanity Points.
• Triple Kill: For the third creature killed in quick succession, the player gains 3
times the Insanity Points.
• More than Triple: For each monster after the third, the player will also receive 3
times the Insanity Points for that creature.
• Explosives Object Kill: By shooting explosives (such as a large crate of dynamite)
near a creature in order to kill it, the player gains 1.5 times the points.
The above multipliers for the amount of points granted will be cumulative, meaning
that if the player combines these methods, he will get still more points. For instance,
killing two creatures each worth 5 points, and shooting both while in the air will net the
player 5 * 1.5 = 7.5 points for the first, and 5 * 1.5 * 2.0 = 15 points for the second, 20
points in all. For three creatures that are standing in front of some explosives, and for
shooting the explosives while in the air, the player will net 5 * 1.5 * 1.5 + 5 * 1.5 * 1.5 *
2 + 5 * 1.5 * 1.5 * 3 = 67.5 points. The player gains no Insanity Points for killing crea-
tures while in Insanity Mode. Once the Insanity Meter is full with 100 points, it will not
gain any additional points, making it to the player’s advantage to go into Insanity Mode
as soon as it is full so as not to “waste” points.
Movement
Though a larger creature than Torque, the Insanity Mode creature is a bit faster at navi-
gating the world than Torque. He is able to move exactly like Torque for both normal
movement and the slower, camera-relative Aimed Weapon movement, when the player
has the Target button depressed. The creature is also able to move forward and back-
ward at different speeds depending on how much the player presses the analog stick
forward or backward. In this larger form, the player cannot jump, and pressing the Jump
button will produce a particular attack, as described below. The larger form of Torque
will also prevent him from moving into certain areas, such as doorways, since the
player is now simply too large to fit through them.
Melee Attacks
While in Insanity Mode, the player will be limited to performing melee attacks, but
these attacks will be extremely effective and damaging to their targets. Using these
attacks effectively, the player will be able to take out a relatively large number of crea-
tures while in Insanity Mode.
• Large Swipe Right: Player taps Attack button for this action.
• Large Swipe Left: Follows up large swipe right. Player taps Attack twice to get the
right and left swipes in succession. Does the same damage as the large swipe right.
• Large Swipe with Both Arms: Follows up large swipe left. Player taps Attack three
times for this series of attacks. Does damage to anything in a half-circle in front of
the player. Does more damage than the other large swipes.
• Impale Attack: Player heavy presses the Attack button for this attack. The creature
does a large uppercut motion with his left arm, which does more damage than the
other attacks. Certain characters will actually be impaled on the monster’s spike,
but only when it is the fatal/final blow to them. Thus the creature will be dead, but
will be seen to be fully impaled on the spike, and the creature will then throw it off
the spike. The creatures will play custom animations specifically for this situation.
This will only happen for specific NPCs who have it enabled and for whom it makes
sense, such as the Cartwheeler.
• Shockwave Attack: Player activates this attack by pressing the Jump button. Player
jumps in the air a short distance at the start of this attack, and when landing brings
its hand and spike together to smash the ground. Anything that is in the path of the
two-arm smash takes a significant amount of damage, while the landing on the
ground creates a large shockwave that causes all enemies within a certain radius to
fall over, stunned.
• Charge: When in Insanity Mode, the player can do some damage to NPCs by
charging at them, similar to a football player. This is accomplished by pressing the
Throw button while in Insanity Mode. In addition to doing damage, the creature
will be seen to knock NPCs over and out of the way with this move, causing them
to do their heavy hit reaction.
Effects
As discussed above, Insanity Mode represents what happens to Torque when he thinks
he is blacked out, and only has hazy memories of what happened while he “lost control.”
To communicate this to the player, a filter will be used over the world that will both tint
the game-world a different, somewhat reddish color, as well as warp the screen and
make it appear blurry. The motions of the Insanity Mode creature himself will also be
blurred, which will add particular dramatic emphasis to his attacks. Since the player will
be unable to use his Flashlight in Insanity Mode, the creature will appear to radiate light
all around it. This implies less that the creature is giving off light, but more that the
creature has superior night vision than a human.
Player Health
The player starts the game with 100 points of health. This number will be decreased by
taking damage from various sources in the game.
• Melee Attacks: The player will be attacked by creatures throughout the course of
the game, almost all of whom will have melee attacks in which some part of their
body, a sharp blade for instance, comes in contact with the player, causing him
damage.
• Projectiles: The player will sustain damage from being hit by various projectiles.
• Explosions: Various objects in the game will explode and cause radius-based
damage to the player.
• Collapsing and Falling Objects: In Unspeakable, ceilings and other objects will fall
from above and wound the player. Typically, these objects will do a sufficiently large
amount of damage that they will kill the player immediately.
• Falling: The player is able to fall off of objects a certain distance without taking
damage. After a certain point, the player will take damage relative to how far he has
fallen. Falling from a great enough height will kill the player immediately.
• Drowning: If the player falls into water that is too deep, he will drown and will die
immediately.
Once the player’s health reaches 0, the player will be dead. The player will lose control
of the game and a death animation will be played. At this point a text message will come
up, prompting the player to press a button to load from the last saved game, whether
that game is an automatic checkpoint save or a player-initiated save. (See the Saving
section of this document for more information on saving.)
Healing
The player will automatically regain health up to 20 points (20%). This health will
slowly increase, taking a full 30 seconds for the player to go from 1 health back up to 20.
While the player’s health is lower than 20 points, Torque will appear to limp and will not
be able to run at full speed.
The player can regain health above the 20-point mark by collecting bottles of
anti-psychotic pills. As he picks these up, they are automatically applied to his health,
though the player’s health will never increase beyond the 100-point mark. The player
will not pick up the bottles of pills when his health is already at full.
Stunning
If the player takes too much damage at any one time, he will become stunned and will be
unable to move. Torque will not actually fall over, but may drop to one knee. This will be
particularly likely to happen when the player takes falling damage.
HUD
The player’s current health is represented by a meter, which appears as part of the
game’s in-game HUD. The health meter shows up only when the player is in Aimed
Weapon Mode (along with the rest of the in-game HUD). Or, if the player takes damage,
the health meter will appear on the screen immediately. As the player loses health, in
addition to the meter going down, it will also pulsate to alert the player to his losing
health.
Inventory
Unspeakable will feature a simple inventory similar to that found in games like Syphon
Filter and Max Payne. The space that the items take up is not a concern and the player is
only limited in the amount of ammo he can carry, though even this is a fairly large
amount. This allows the game to maintain a fast and furious action component without
bogging the game down, while allowing for a variety of weapons to deepen the
gameplay. This system allows the player to never have to worry about managing inven-
tory and to easily switch from one weapon to the next without ever disrupting the
action. Once picked up, items can be used up and removed from the inventory, but the
player cannot drop them.
The player character will be able to carry one type of each weapon, though he will
be able to carry two pistols at once to allow for double-pistol combat. The player will be
able to carry a finite amount of each type of ammunition for a given weapon. If the player
attempts to pick up a weapon that he already possesses, the player will instead take the
ammunition, if any, from that weapon.
Selecting the Equipped Weapon
The player will be able to switch from the current weapon he has equipped to the next
type of weapon in his inventory by tapping the Inventory button. For the purposes of
the inventory, the game’s weapons are divided into the following groups:
• Melee: Including the Shiv, Fire Axe, and Stun Stick.
• Pistol: Including single- and double-pistol options.
• Shotgun: Including only the shotgun.
• Machine Gun: Including only the machine gun.
• Flamethrower: Including only the flamethrower.
• Thrown Weapons: Including the TNT Stick, the Concussion Grenade, the Molotov
Cocktail, and the Shrapnel Grenade.
When simply tapping the button, the player switches to the last used weapon of each
type above, not including the thrown weapons. In this way, the player will cycle through
all of their available weapon types in five presses of the button. The system will skip
weapons that do not have any ammunition, preventing the player from equipping them.
Instead of just tapping the Inventory button, the player will be able to press and
hold the Inventory button to bring up a visual display of the available weapons. The
weapon groups listed above will be displayed horizontally across the screen, with col-
umns of each type of weapon. While holding down the Inventory button, the player will
be able to navigate these weapons by pressing left, right, up, and down on the direction
pad or with the left stick, stopping on the weapon he wants to use next. The player can
scroll left and right to select another weapon type, or up and down to select a weapon
within a group. The player will also be able to choose single or double pistols using this
interface, both showing up under the pistol type. This system functions much like the
one found in Metal Gear Solid 2. Weapons that have no ammo will still be displayed in
the menu but will be grayed out, and if the player navigates onto such a weapon, the
selection will go past it onto the next weapon. Each weapon will also have a number dis-
played next to it, indicating how much ammunition the weapon has.
Selecting Grenades
With the Inventory button held down, the display will also show the current thrown
weapons the player has in a single column. The player will be able to select the current
thrown weapon from this list. Selecting a thrown weapon in this view will leave the
player’s current melee/projectile weapon the same as it was before the Inventory
screen was entered.
Equipping a Weapon
Once the player has selected a new current weapon, either by tapping the Inventory
button or holding it and navigating his weapons, the player will immediately switch to
that new weapon. In order to speed up this transition, whatever weapon the player pre-
viously had equipped will simply disappear out of his hands and he will play the
“unsheathe” animation for the new weapon. When the weapon switches, the newly
selected weapon will be drawn in a close-up view on the right side of the screen to com-
municate to the player what his new current weapon is. This display will stay up for a
number of seconds. The ammo HUD art will also change to the appropriate one for the
new weapon, if the ammo HUD is currently on the screen.
When the player selects a new thrown weapon type, Torque does not play any ani-
mation, though the type of thrown weapon shown attached to his belt will immediately
change to indicate the new selection.
If the player tries to equip a new weapon while targeted, the target is broken. If the
Target button is still pressed after weapon switch, the player reacquires a target. While
in Insanity Mode, pressing the Inventory button will have no effect.
Item Interaction
As the player navigates Torque through the world, the player will be able to pick up cer-
tain objects. Objects that can be picked up are referred to as items. Items may be of a
few basic types:
• Weapons: The player finds a variety of weapons that can be used to fight the
monsters he encounters. The use of weapons is discussed in depth in the Attacking
section of this document, as well as the Inventory section.
• Ammunition: Ammunition is necessary for many of the weapons the player finds,
with different types of ammunition useful for different weapons. Ammunition will
be found in various quantities for each particular type of ammunition. Like
weapons, ammunition is discussed in the Attacking and Inventory sections of this
document.
• Flashlight & Batteries: Flashlights and the batteries they require are discussed in
depth in the Flashlight section of this document.
• Health: The player finds bottles of pills, which instantly increase his current health
up to the player’s maximum health. Health items are discussed more in the Health
section of this document.
• Maps: The player will find multiple maps for different locations in the game. Maps
are discussed in the Maps section of this document.
• Quest Items: Including keys, mechanical components, and other objects the player
will need to collect in order to progress in the game.
The list of the specific items found in Unspeakable is discussed in the Resources section
of this document.
Item Placement
Items may be pre-placed in the game-world, sitting on the floor, on tables, or wherever
else is appropriate. Items may also be found inside of lockers or other storage devices,
with the player able to get to these items by opening them or destroying them. NPCs
may also drop items on death. Items will be rendered realistically in the world, though
the objects will be noticeable enough that the player will realize he can pick them up.
The player’s ability to notice game-world objects will be assisted by Torque turning his
head to look at items as he walks past them, a technique referred to as “item-look.” In
the case of multiple items, Torque will look at the item that is closest to his current
position. Torque will not look at items that he cannot currently pick up (such as a
weapon he already has and doesn’t need the ammunition from, or a health item when
his health is full). Torque will also not item-look at items while in Aimed Weapon Mode,
Insanity Mode, or First-Person/Examine Mode.
Item Pick Up
The player can pick up items simply by walking near them. The player will not neces-
sarily need to collide with an item to pick it up. Standing next a table, for instance, the
player will automatically pick up useful objects that are on top of the table if they are
within a reasonable reach of the player. No animation will be played for picking up
objects; it will simply immediately occur. A realistic sound will play to indicate an object
has been picked up. Also, on picking up an item, the in-game HUD will display the name
of that item and a close-up view of the object, so that the player will know he has picked
something up.
Picking up some objects will result in an immediate effect, such as the map
becoming available to look at or the player’s health increasing. Other objects, such as
the flashlight, batteries, ammunition, and weapons, will automatically be stored in the
player’s inventory, and will not automatically trigger anything to happen when they are
picked up.
The player will be prevented from picking up certain items if he has no need for
them at the time he comes close to them. For instance, the player will be unable to pick
up health objects if his health is already at maximum. Similarly, the player will not pick
up ammunition if Torque already has the maximum amount of that type of ammo. The
player will also not pick up weapons that he already possesses, though he will convert
weapons into ammunition where possible. In the cases where Torque does not need
such an item when he comes across it, the player will often be able to return to that
location later when he does need it.
In some cases, the player will need to collect multiple parts of a certain object.
Once the player collects all the necessary parts, the component items will disappear
from the player’s inventory and will be replaced by another object.
Unknown: Should some items be randomized: ammo quantities/amounts, weapon

placement, puzzle part placement, health pack placement (can be overridden, of
course).
Flashlight
Early in the game the player finds a flashlight, which he will use extensively to illumi-
nate his way through the game-world. The player is able to toggle the Flashlight on and
off pressing the Flashlight button. It will be to the player’s advantage to turn the Flash-
light off when he doesn’t need it because the Flashlight continually uses up the charge
of its battery. As the Flashlight loses its charge, its range gets shorter and it becomes
dimmer in both brightness and color. Eventually, the light is quite dim, though it never
goes out completely. If the player finds additional batteries or already has them in his
inventory, they are inserted into the Flashlight as soon as it starts going dim.
The Flashlight automatically shines in the direction the camera is facing, creating a
spotlight on the surfaces ahead of the player. This means that as the player pitches the
camera up and down, the light automatically moves with it. This is also true in Examine
Mode and when using a mounted weapon. In each, the light shines directly at where the
camera is pointing. Visually, the Flashlight appears clipped on to Torque’s shirt, so the
light emanates from a chest height. It is necessary for the Flashlight to be clipped on to
the player’s shirt to free up his hands for using weapons. The light is not in any way
blocked by Torque or any of his weapons.
Because of their aversion to the light, the player will be able to frighten away some
monsters by shining a light at them. This will not make the player invulnerable to their
attack, but it will make his life significantly easier. Of course, once the light gets dim-
mer as its battery life is nearing its end, the Flashlight will be a far less effective tool for
scaring away creatures.
The Flashlight can be triggered to be broken in certain situations, according to the
needs of the gameflow. In these situations the player will completely lose the ability to
use the Flashlight and it will disappear from his inventory. The player will only regain
the ability to use his Flashlight when he finds another one.
When the Flashlight is in use, a small Flashlight charge bar will show up as part of
the in-game HUD. The bar will indicate how much charge is left and will change color
once the Flashlight starts becoming dimmer. The HUD element will also show a num-
ber that will communicate how many spare batteries the player has for the Flashlight.
Map
Unspeakable will include a map system that will help the player navigate the environ-
ments in the game. As the player navigates the game-world, he will come across map
items that Torque will pick up. Maps may be for the area the player is currently in, for an
upcoming area they will need to explore, or potentially for a location they have already
been to, with such maps revealing hidden areas he might have missed. There will be no
maps available for some areas of the game. The player will also find an overview map,
which provides a view of the entire island of Carnate.
The player will be able to pull up the map at any time by pressing the Map button.
Once in Map Mode, the game is paused, and the game-world is no longer visible. Map
Mode will fill the screen with a photo-realistic 2D image of a map for the current area. In
Map Mode the player will have the following options:
• Zoom In, Zoom Out: There will be two levels of zoom for any map. The farthest
view presents the entire map on one screen. The closest view presents a detailed
section of the map.
• Scroll Left, Right, Up, Down: When zoomed in, the player will be able to scroll
around to different sections of the map.
• Select Previous, Next Map: Though the map will bring up the relevant map for the
player’s current location, the player will have the option to look at any of the maps
that Torque has found, including the overview of the island.
The map view will include an arrow, which is drawn over the map and represents the
player’s current location and points in the direction that Torque was facing when the
player entered Map Mode. Pressing the Map button again will exit Map Mode, while
pressing the Pause button will take the player to the in-game pause menu, just like dur-
ing regular gameplay.
Also in the map view, the player will see a display of the current quest items he is
carrying, starting in the lower left-hand corner of the screen and stretching horizon-
tally. The items are represented iconically, with a short text description underneath
them, such as “Factory Keys.” There will not be an excess of quest items at one time,
so this listing will never become too large or need to wrap around.
Using Objects
The player will be able to accomplish a number of actions by pressing the Use button.
When the Use button is pressed, the game will check for nearby usable objects, and will
compare if the player is within 45 degrees (approximately; actual angles being specified
as the object requires) of facing them. The game will then pick the closest of the nearby
usable objects, and the player will use that one. For most usable objects, Torque will
quickly transition into a position relative to that object, and will then play an animation
specific to the using of that object. Some objects, however, will not require Torque to be
repositioned and will not play any animation. There are a number of different potential
actions that can be accomplished by pressing the Use button, as described below.
Open and Unlock Doors
When the player comes up to a door that is closed, pressing the Use button will open
that door. Once a door is open, the player can close it by pressing the Use button again
while near it. Some doors can only be opened by explosives, by being attacked by the
Fire Axe, or through other damage-causing effects. For some of these doors, explosives
will blow off a padlock or other locking device which, once gone, will allow the door to
open and close normally. Other doors are entirely unopenable but can be destroyed by
explosives. These doors will allow Torque to use them, but Torque will play a “failed to
open” animation and speak a line such as “It won’t budge.”
Some doors may be locked and will fail to open when the player tries to open it,
indicating that the player will need to open it elsewhere (using a switch, for example),
wait for it to be opened by some other event, or try to find a key for that door. If the
player has a key for the locked door he is trying to open, the game will automatically use
that key to open the door. Once the player uses a key in a door to unlock it, that door will
remain unlocked for the remainder of the game. Often when unlocking a door, that will
be the only use of that key, and the key will be automatically removed from the player’s
inventory as the door is opened. For cases where a key opens a series of doors, the key
will only be removed from the player’s inventory once the final door is opened. Some
doors that the player has opened will automatically re-close at some point after the
player has passed through them.
Open Chests/Lockers
This works exactly the same as opening doors except that the player does not actually
walk through/into them once opened. Some chests will be locked and will require keys
to open, while others can only be opened via explosives that blow off their locking
mechanisms. Often the player will find useful items inside the opened chests.
Flip Switches
Switches are used to activate events in the game-world, such as setting off explosives,
activating a machine, or opening a gate. Switches come in three basic types:
• One-Time Switch: The one-time switch can be flipped once and will never be able to
be used again.
• Reset Switch: A reset switch will return to its original state after being activated. It
differs from the one-time switch in that it can be used multiple times, reactivating a
particular event.
• Toggle Switch: The toggle switch alternates between two positions, on and off, and,
like the reset switch, can be used repeatedly.
Mount Ladders
The player will be able to mount and dismount ladders by pressing the Use button when
near them. Consult the Player Movement section of this document for more informa-
tion on movement on ladders.
Mount Weapons
The player will be able to mount mounted weaponry by pressing the Use button. Con-
sult the Attacking section of this document for more information on mounted weaponry.
Use Quest Items
In some situations the player will need to collect specific items in order to progress in
the game. Once the player has collected these items, he will need to go to a particular
location where he can use them. When in this location, when the player presses the Use
button, the game will automatically determine what items can be used at this location
and use them, removing them from his inventory at the same time.
Enter Insanity Mode
When the player presses the Use button while in Aimed Weapon Mode, if the player has
sufficient points on his Insanity Meter, the player will enter Insanity Mode. See the sec-
tion on Insanity Mode for more information.
Security Monitors
Players will find various TV screens in the game that will be hooked up to security cam-
eras at remote locations. When viewed in the game-world, the screens will have actual
real-time renderings of the areas the security cameras are looking at, with “monitor”
filters applied over them. If the player presses the Use button when near such a secu-
rity monitor, the player’s view will be shifted to a first-person view of looking directly
into the security camera. While in this Security Camera Mode, none of the player’s
ordinary commands will have any effect, except the player can press Use again to exit
the Security Camera Mode. Some tables will have multiple or “banks” of security moni-
tors for the player to use. Security monitors and cameras are fragile devices, and if
either is shot or blown up, the hookup will stop working.
The security cameras themselves can be either fixed in their orientation, or may
rotate/pan side-to-side in their view of the world. Of course this will translate into the
player’s view of the world when looking at the camera. The player will never have con-
trol over the rotation or panning of the camera.
Pushable Objects
The player will encounter objects in the game-world that he can move around. When
the player comes up to one of these objects, the player can press Use to “engage” it and
enter Push/Pull Mode. The player can press the Use button again to exit this mode.
While in Push/Pull Mode, the player will move as if in Aimed Weapon Mode: he will
be able to move forward, backward, and strafe, but he will not be able to turn. For every
move the player makes, the pushable object will move along with him. If the pushable
object is blocked, the player will be unable to move at all. The pushable object will move
along a rectilinear grid, with the player having to push the object fully from one grid
location to another and being unable to move the object along a diagonal. This move-
ment system is like the one found in Ico.
Pushable objects can be used for a variety of gameplay scenarios, such as pushing
an object out of the way of a passageway, providing a step-up onto a passageway, push-
ing an object to block something else, or other puzzle-oriented uses.
Destroying Objects
The game-world in Unspeakable will be littered with objects that can be destroyed dur-
ing gameplay. Some objects will be destroyed by predetermined events, while some
will be destroyed dynamically depending on the gameplay situation. For instance, if the
player throws a TNT stick at a particular office the desk, chairs, and security monitors
may all be destroyed. The player will be required to blow up certain objects, such as
wooden doors that won’t open, in order to progress through the game or just to access
secret areas.
Objects that can be destroyed will be assigned a health value that indicates how
much damage they can sustain before being destroyed. Certain objects will be invulner-
able to certain types of damage. For instance, some objects may only be blown up by
TNT sticks, while others can only be damaged by fire, with each taking no damage at all
from bullets.
When destroyed, some objects will reveal one or more items inside them, such as a
weapon, ammunition, or health. This will be done in as plausible a way as possible: for
instance, blowing up a footlocker will cause its contents to be left behind.

Unknown: Should the player be able to blow up ammunition. That is, if you shoot a
box of TNT sticks before picking it up, will it go off, destroying the ammunition in the
process.
Exploding Objects
When some objects blow up, they will cause explosions or other effects themselves.
For instance, if the player shoots a gas can, it will explode and cause damage to all of the
objects within a certain distance around the player, while also setting them on fire. Such
explosions may of course cause chain reactions, setting off other objects that explode
and so forth.
Glass
The player will be able to destroy some glass windows, but some glass will be impervi-
ous to damage. Breakable glass will sustain a number of projectile shots, each creating a
hole in the glass, before the entire window finally shatters to the ground. Walking on
broken glass will cause Torque to leave bloody footprints behind him as if he had walked
through a puddle of blood. See the Fluid Effects section for more information on
footsteps.
Effects
A number of effects will be central to creating the believable and frightening
game-world of Unspeakable. The effects that are relevant to game mechanics are
described below.
Lighting
Lighting will be a huge part of creating a frightening environment in Unspeakable,
where seeing a creature half in darkness will be far more frightening than seeing it in
full light.
Lighting will also be used to influence the movement of creatures in the levels. A
number of the creatures have an aversion to the light, and will do their best to avoid it.
Thus, by turning all the lights on in a particular area, the player will potentially be able
to prevent certain creatures from attacking him.
The player will be able to turn on and off many light sources via light switches,
which will be used in a realistic and logical way (light switches placed next to doors),
while simultaneously supporting fun gameplay (the lights will be broken in rooms
where that leads to more compelling combat). Some lights will be set up on a timer,
where a number of lights will stay on for a certain amount of time before their circuit
breaker shorts and the player must go reset it. Lights will also be susceptible to being
shot out or destroyed in explosions. Since generally more light is better for the player,
the player will need to be careful where he shoots and what he blows up in order to
avoid destroying the lights.
Of course the player’s Flashlight is a major source of light in the game, and the
player will need to use it effectively to survive. Consult the Flashlight section of this
document for more information. The player will also find high-powered spotlights,
which he can mount and use as a more effective flashlight. Consult the Mounted
Weapons section of this document for more information.

Fire
Objects and characters in Unspeakable can be set on fire by a variety of sources. They
may be already on fire when the player finds them, they may be ignited by the player’s
weapons (such as the Molotov Cocktail or flamethrower), they may be set off by explo-
sions (such as a gas can exploding), by the creatures themselves (such as the Inferna),
or as part of scripted events. Any object that is on fire may set other objects on fire, so
that if a chair is on fire and an NPC moves too close to it, that NPC will be set on fire as
well, or vice versa.
Fire will burn for a specified amount of time (depending on the intensity of the fire),
and then go out, though some fires will be set to burn continuously. As fires burn, they
will inflict damage on the object that they are attached to, unless that object is resistant
to fire damage. Damage will be specified on a per-second basis.
In some special cases, NPCs will spawn out of large fires. So if the player creates a
large blaze with his own weapons or through shooting some explosives, in certain areas
the player will now have to contend with additional creatures spawning out of those
fires. The creatures that spawn out of fire will be impervious to damage from the fire
while spawning.
For certain NPC enemies, once that creature is set on fire, its movement will
become more chaotic while taking burning damage, though it will continue to attack
and pursue the player. For friendly human NPCs, once set on fire they will go into a
frantic version of their fleeing behavior. All NPC characters once set on fire will have
custom screaming sounds to communicate that they are taking damage by the second.
Fluid
Unspeakable will include dripping water, blood, and other fluids to create atmosphere in
the game. Fluids will also be able to create pools, which will have a variety of important
effects on the game mechanics. Pools may be flammable (such as gasoline), so if the
player shoots or brings fire next to them they will ignite. When the player walks
through pools he will leave fluid-appropriate footprints behind him for a small number
of steps, with the footsteps themselves fading away over time. Pools will also be capa-
ble of spawning certain enemy NPCs. Pools can be created dynamically, either
appearing after a rainstorm or from the blood of a killed creature.
Streams of fluid will also be used aesthetically. However, if a thick enough stream of
water is poured onto a fire, the fluid will extinguish that fire.
Unspeakable will also include bodies of water, such as the ocean that surrounds the
island and the rainwater that fills up the quarries. Creatures will tend to either stay out
of this water completely or completely ignore it, depending on their behavior. The
player’s interaction with water is described in more detail in the Player Movement
section.
Weather
Over the course of the game, the weather effects will vary from a clear night, to light
rain, to a ferocious downpour. As it rains, the rain may collect in pools of water on the
ground, as described above. The rain will be accompanied by lightning bolts and other
storm appropriate effects.
Blood & Amputation

Blood and gore effects will be a central part of achieving a “gross out” horror feeling in
some portions of the game. When creatures are shot they will spurt geysers of blood,
which may in turn lead to the creation of pools as described above.
Certain creatures will be set up to potentially lose certain limbs or their head. This
will be done in a “canned” way such that the same creatures will always have the likeli-
hood of losing the exact same limbs in the same way. Once a limb is shot off, the limb
itself will turn into “chunks” that will fly off and then fade away. Some creatures will
start bleeding to death after they have lost a limb, though they will continue functioning
for a short amount of time. Other creatures will continue functioning as normal once
they have lost a limb.
As Torque kills creatures, he gets bloodier and bloodier. Torque will get bloodier if
he kills a creature with a melee attack or with a close-range projectile attack than if he
kills creatures from a distance. If the player is already bloody when he gets some more
blood on him, Torque will become even more bloody. Torque will become the most
bloody from killing creatures while in Insanity Mode, with the red color literally cover-
ing his body. There will be four stages of “bloody” Torque. The blood on Torque will
then fade away over time, eventually returning Torque to his original, relatively clean
state. Torque will tend to frighten away certain friendly NPCs if he comes up to them
while extremely bloody.
Projectiles
Of course projectiles will be a core element of the game, and their mechanics are cov-
ered in detail in the Attacking section found earlier in this document. There will also be
a number of aesthetic effects associated with projectiles.
Projectiles will be able to leave tracers behind them. This will be especially useful
for bullets, which will, except for the tracers, be invisible to the player. The tracers on
the bullet streaks indicate motion and will be reminiscent of those found in the game
Oni.
When projectiles hit surfaces, they will generate impact effects appropriate to the
material they hit: wood will splinter, stone will chip, metal will spark, and so forth. Pro-
jectiles will also leave behind bullet holes and pockmarks. The pockmarks and impact
effects will vary both by the type of material hit as well as the type of projectile fired (a
shotgun pellet leaves behind a different mark than a pistol bullet).
Flashbacks
Over the course of the game, Torque will have flashbacks to the events surrounding the
crime that landed him in jail, a crime his conscious mind has blocked out. Each flash-
back will portray a bit more of Torque’s back-story. The player’s actions in the game will
determine the form of the player’s final flashback, which reveals the nature of his
crime. If the player helps the NPCs he finds, it will turn out Torque was framed for his
crime, while if the player kills every human he comes across, it will turn out that Torque
savagely killed his wife and children.
The appearance of the flashbacks will disorient the player and will come suddenly
and without warning. The flashbacks before the last one will be short, lasting only a few
seconds. The flashbacks will be pre-rendered, using still paintings that pan and zoom
across the screen, with the use of some point animation or blur effects as necessary.
The flashbacks are brought on because of events or locations that remind Torque of the
crime in some way.
Game-World Events
Many of the events that happen in the Unspeakable game-world will help to shock and
startle the player and are central to some of the game puzzles as well as communicating
portions of the story. However, the player will not lose control of the game during these
scenes, helping to keep the player immersed in the game-world instead of breaking him
out of it through a completely canned “cut-scene.” The effect will be extremely remi-
niscent of how Half-Life effectively used in-game scripted events to tell its story.
Events can be triggered in a variety of ways, such as a player reaching a certain
location or flipping a switch. Other events will only be triggered to occur when the
player looks at a certain location, thus making it more likely the player will see the
event take place.
Some events may be set up behind glass doors and behind walls in ways that the
player cannot interfere with them. Other scenes will take place at a far enough distance
that the player cannot get close enough to interact or interfere with the scene. The par-
ticipants in these scenes will be set to an invulnerable state so the player, if he manages
to shoot them at a distance, will not disrupt the scenes. Other scenes may be inter-
rupted or aborted entirely based on the player action. For instance, if the player kills a
friendly NPC before he has a chance to perform a scripted event, the scene will never
happen. Similarly, if the player kills a participant of such an event while the event is
transpiring, the event will be immediately aborted, with still-living participants return-
ing to their normal AI behavior. For instance, if a scene involves a prisoner being killed
by a monster and the player kills the prisoner while that is happening, the prisoner will
die and the monster will start attacking the player.
Vibration
Controller vibration will be used extensively yet not excessively in Unspeakable, with
unique vibration types set up to create different effects. Typically, vibrations will be var-
ied by pattern and intensity, with the intensity being controlled from within the code
(for instance, playing the same vibration pattern but at different strengths based on the
amount of damage sustained).
Damage
When the player takes damage of any kind, the controller will vibrate. The type of vibra-
tion will differ based on the amount and type of damage the player is sustaining. The
basic vibration types are: fire, explosive, projectile, melee, electrical, and gas. While
battling The Black One at the end of the game, when the player sustains damage as a
result of attacking the creature when it is in the same state as the player (Insanity
Mode, for instance), there will be a unique damage vibration.
Insanity Mode
While the player is in Insanity Mode, the controller will continuously vibrate lightly to
indicate the player’s unstable state.
Attacking
When the player attacks with a certain weapon, the controller will play a vibration for
that attack. When melee weapons connect with their target, another, heavier vibration
will be played. The types of vibrations the different weapons will use can be found in the
Resources section of this document.
Landing
Whenever the player lands from a fall, a landing vibration will be played, with the vibra-
tion varying depending on the height of the fall.
Environment
Certain places in the environment will trigger the controller to vibrate. For instance,
being next to a large generator while it is on will cause a light rumbling. This will be set
up as the levels are created.
Controls Overview
References in the Game Mechanics section of this document have been made to vari-
ous buttons but not their configuration, since that may differ from platform to platform.
This section lists the actual button mappings for the game.
PlayStation 2 Default:
Directional Pad & Left Stick: Player moves forward/backward and rotates.
Right Stick: Player pitches and rotates.
X: Jump (pressure sensitive for height of jump)/Escape Immobilization
SQUARE: Attack (pressure sensitive for type of attack)/Escape Immobilization
TRIANGLE: Use/Insanity Mode (while in Aimed Weapon Mode)
CIRCLE: Throw Grenade
L1: First Person (modifier)

R1: Target (modifier)
L2: Flashlight on/off
R2: Next Weapon/Inventory (modifier)
SELECT: Map
START: Pause Game Menu
PlayStation 2 Alternate Controls 1: Dual Analog
Direction Pad & Left Stick: Player moves forward/backward and strafes left/right.
Right Stick: Player pitches and rotates.
X: First-Person Mode
SQUARE: Flashlight on/off
TRIANGLE: Use
CIRCLE: Inventory
L1: Jump
R1: Attack
L2: Target
R2: Throw
SELECT: Map
START: Pause Game Menu
Section III: Resources

Melee Weapons
Shiv
A shiv is any sharp weapon crafted by a prisoner to serve as a weapon within the prison.
The Shiv found in Unspeakable is made out of metal support for a bed, with one end
sharpened and the other end wrapped in cloth for a makeshift grip.
The player is able to do three types of attacks with the Shiv. The first is accom-
plished by lightly tapping the Attack button, and produces a slash attack. If the player
taps the button up to three times, he will do three different attacks, creating a “combo,”
with the final attack being more powerful than the first two. The second attack is
accomplished by heavily pressing the analog Attack button, and this produces a
lunge/thrust motion. This second attack does more damage and stuns the target for lon-
ger, but takes longer to pull off. The third attack is a jumping attack, performed when
the player hits Attack while jumping with the Shiv readied.
The Shiv is an effective melee weapon, with a skilled player able to inflict more
damage with the lunge attack at close range than with a pistol at a far range. The Shiv
also has an advantage over the pistols in terms of stopping power and stunning.
Fire Axe
[…]
Stun Stick
This weapon is typically used by prison guards as a means to subdue targets without
actually causing any permanent damage to them. The Stun Stick looks a bit more styl-
ized than real-world devices, but is still believable. While the weapon is in use,
electricity will arc over the length of the weapon.
Attacking with the Stun Stick involves a simple lunging motion. As soon as a target
is touched by the stick, it will become immediately immobilized in its current posi-
tion/pose for a certain period of time. Immobilized creatures will appear to twitch. If the
player keeps the Attack button pressed, the Stun Stick will remain extended and will
continue to stun the target, with the total time the target will be immobilized directly
proportional to the amount of time the Attack button is held. While a target is being
stunned, electricity arcs over its body. Though the Stun Stick is battery powered, it
never runs out of charge.
The Stun Stick is effective for temporarily blocking creatures that have gotten too
close to be dealt with any other way, and will need to be used in conjunction with other
weapons. For instance, the player could stun a creature and then switch to the Shiv to
get in a number of damaging melee attacks before it becomes mobile again. The player
could also stun a creature and then reposition to a more distant location from which to
use his projectile weapons.
Projectile Weapons
Pistol
This Pistol is an extremely large revolver-style handgun. On reload, the revolver’s
chamber rotates outward from the body of the gun, allowing all the spent shells to be
ejected simultaneously. The Pistol is fired in an arm-extended pose. For the purposes of
Unspeakable, the reloading of the Pistol will be unrealistically fast, allowing the player
to fire his six shots with only a slight pause before being able to continue firing. The
player is also able to use two Pistols simultaneously, resulting in a slightly reduced
accuracy but with a double rate of fire. Even with two Pistols, the player can still only
target a single enemy at a time.
The Pistol will fire a single shot for each press of the Attack button, meaning the
player will have to repeatedly press the button in order to keep firing. The Pistol is the
most accurate and thereby has the longest effective range of any of the game’s projec-
tile weapons, except for the Mounted Machine Gun. The Pistol has extremely light
stopping power and no stunning capabilities.
The Pistol is the core weapon in Unspeakable, and will likely be the weapon the
player uses the most. The Pistol also has the most available ammunition.
Shotgun
Unspeakable features a pump shotgun with a shortened barrel and a small grip, of the
type that might see use in a prison or in other aspects of police work. The Shotgun is
fired from a lowered position, with both hands holding the weapon mid-torso. After
each shot is fired the player will automatically re-cock the weapon, forcing a noticeable
pause between each shot. When the weapon is out of shots, the player will very quickly
be seen shoving more cartridges into the weapon, which will result in the longest
reload time of any of the projectile weapons.
When the Attack button is pressed, the Shotgun will fire a number of shots simulta-
neously, with each shot’s direction randomized such that it creates a “spread” pattern
on whatever it hits. Similarly to the Pistol, the player will have to repress the button to
fire a second group of shots. Because of its multiple shots fired, the Shotgun has
extremely effective stopping and stunning capabilities.
The Shotgun will be a more effective weapon against enemies who are in close
range to the player, especially with its stopping power. However, because of its inaccu-
racy, players will be wasting their bullets if trying to hit distant targets.
Machine Gun
[…]
Flame Thrower
[…]
Thrown Weapons
TNT Stick
The TNT Stick is typical of the type routinely used in mining and other construction
projects. A stick of a processed compound of gunpowder and nitroglycerine is packed
into a cardboard tube. The explosive is fairly stable and will not tend to explode from
being jostled but will explode when shot or set on fire. The stick has a long piece of det-
onation cord trailing out of its end, which can be lit, with the stick exploding once the
wick burns down. The wick will visibly burn down as this time passes.
The TNT Stick appears unlit on the player’s belt. When the player presses the
Throw button, the player grabs the stick and it becomes instantly lit and then thrown.
The TNT Stick will not explode until five seconds after the player presses the Throw
button, and the TNT will be seen to bounce off of whatever it hits until that time. On
explosion the TNT Stick does a significant amount of damage in a radius around itself,
with a large amount of stopping and stunning power to the targets it hits. The TNT
Stick will also be effective at blowing objects up as well as blasting down unopenable
doors and revealing otherwise inaccessible locations. Due to water-resistant detona-
tion cord, the TNT Stick will still go off if thrown in water. The TNT Stick has a medium
effective range when thrown.
The TNT Stick is the most common thrown weapon in the game and when used
correctly will be quite effective at taking out groups of enemies. The player will also
find it helpful for puzzles and uncovering hidden locations.
Molotov Cocktail
The Molotov Cocktail is a classic “homemade” weapon. It is constructed of a glass
liquor bottle filled with gasoline with a rag hanging out the end. Just before throwing,
the rag is lit. Then, on impact, the bottle shatters and the flame ignites the fluid inside,
creating a large and persistent flame in the process. In Unspeakable, the Molotov Cock-
tails appear unlit on the player’s belt, and when thrown the rag becomes immediately lit
without the player’s animation needing to actually light it. If the player shoots or other-
wise damages an unexploded Molotov Cocktail, it will immediately detonate.
On impact, the Molotov Cocktail catches whatever it hits on fire, with the fire per-
sisting for fifteen or more seconds. The Cocktail also splashes fluid that creates
sub-fires around the point of impact, with these fires being weaker than the primary
flame. The fires it creates are of medium damage. The Molotov Cocktail has no effect
when it lands in water, since its wick is immediately extinguished. The Molotov Cock-
tail has low stopping power or no stunning effect, and is most accurate at short ranges.
The Molotov Cocktail is an effective and visually spectacular weapon that will be
best used against creatures who are especially vulnerable to fire damage.
Concussion Grenade
[…]
Shrapnel Grenade
[…]
Mounted Weaponry
Mounted Machine Gun
This is a military-style, belt-fed, tripod-mounted heavy machine gun, which appears to
be of World War II vintage, such as the Browning M2. This machine gun is too heavy to
be picked up and carried around, but the player will be able to use it in a stationary man-
ner through Mounted Weapon Mode. The player holds the Mounted Machine Gun by
two grips at its back, though the player will not see this since he can only use the
weapon while in a First-Person Mode (see the Mounted Weapon Mode description in
the Game Mechanics section of this document for more information).
The Mounted Machine Gun functions identically to the regular Machine Gun when
the Attack button is pressed. Pressing and holding Attack will generate a continuous
stream of fire, while tapping it will produce short bursts. The Mounted Machine Gun
features an even faster rate of fire than the regular Machine Gun, and does significantly
more damage. The Mounted Machine Gun also features extremely high stopping
power and hitting an enemy enough times will knock it over. Since it is mounted on a
tripod, it is also effective at extremely long ranges. The Mounted Machine Gun comes
with a certain amount of ammunition when the player finds it, and once empty the gun
cannot be reloaded and will become useless. When fired, the Machine Gun creates a
heavy buzzing/stuttering sensation in the controller’s vibration.
Spotlight
[…]
Miscellaneous Objects
Ammunition
The player is able to get ammunition for each of his projectile weapons by picking up
additional weapons, with Torque automatically removing the ammunition from these
found weapons if he already has that weapon. In addition, the player will sometimes find
just ammunition. Ammunition is unique to each type of projectile weapon, and cannot
be shared between weapons.
• Box of Pistol Speed-Loaders: .44-caliber ammunition for the revolver. Comes in
a box of four six-bullet “Speed-Loaders” that can be used to insert all six shots into
the gun. Total is 24 bullets per box.
• Machine Gun Clip: A “barrel” style clip for use with the Tommy Gun. .45-caliber.
• Box of Shotgun Shells: A simple box of 30 shotgun shells.
• Can of Gasoline: Looks like a standard red metal gasoline can, becomes one of the
components of the homemade Flamethrower.
Health
Health objects in Unspeakable are instantly used when they are picked up, with the
player not picking them up if he is at full health. Health comes in the form of
antidepression prescription medication that Torque can consume, of the brand name
“Dozak.”
• Small Bottle of Dozak: Looks like a small bottle of pills one purchases at a
pharmacy, with the prescription and medication instructions written on its side.
Restores 20% of the player’s health.
• Large Jar of Dozak: Looks like a large glass jar of the type a pharmacist would
use to fill prescriptions, with a large label on its side. Restores 50% of the player’s
health.
Flashlight and Batteries
The Flashlight is a special-case item and will be the player’s most-used item through-
out the game, since it allows him to navigate the dark world of Unspeakable. The player
will always be able to turn the Flashlight on and off by pressing the Flashlight button.
Turning the Flashlight off when it is not needed is necessary since the player will have a
limited amount of battery life. Picking up the Flashlight and its batteries is similar to
the player’s mechanic for picking up weapons and their ammo: for every Flashlight the
player finds after the first one, the player will be able to remove the batteries from it and
store them for later use.
• Flashlight: Is a military-style “clip-on” flashlight that Torque will attach to his
shirt. Has a silver, ribbed look popular in flashlights from the 1950s.
• Batteries: Appears as a D-cell sort of battery, though it will be unrealistically large
to make it clearly visible to the player.
Maps
The player will find maps throughout the game that will help guide him through the
environments. Maps may cover a specific area of the game or, at one point, the player
finds a map that provides an overview of the entire island. Maps appear in the world as
folded-up “roadmap” style maps, though they are not colorful beyond pure functionality.
The maps the player can find include:
• Carnate Island Map: Provides an overview of the entire island.
• Death House Map: Has a separate map for each floor of the building, but not
including the basement.
• Prison Map: Provides an overview of the entire prison, but is not especially
detailed and does not include the basement.
• Asylum Map: Has a separate map for each floor.
• Clem’s Map: Provides a map of the Woods, the Beach, and the basement of the
prison, with Clem having marked numerous locations.
• World War II Fort Map: An old layout of the Fort as it existed when it was
operational during the war.
• Town and Docks Map: Does not include the cave entrance the player must find in
order to return to the Lighthouse.
Quest Items
There are various items that the player will find throughout the game which he will
need to pick up in order to solve puzzles in order to progress in the game. These items
will typically stay in the player’s inventory until they are successfully used, at which
point they will be removed from the inventory and cannot be picked up again.
• Corrections’ Officer Keys: Found near death row, allows access to a locked door.
• Dallas’ Keys: An oversized ring of a number of keys. Dallas has these keys, and he
will use them to grant access to the cellblock.
• Radio Parts: Found in the Asylum, these parts are needed to get the Radio in the
prison operational again.
• Sliding Lever Handle: A long metal bar, which the player will need to find to
operate a sliding wall puzzle in the basement of the prison.
• Jack Handle: Used for the jack puzzle in the woods.
• Generator Parts: Found in the town, the player will need to collect a certain
quantity of these (out of a larger maximum number that can be found) in order to
get the generator in the Lighthouse functional again.
Section IV: NPCs

The monstrous creatures the player fights in Unspeakable are all undead creatures that
have been brought back to life by The Black One, the central villain of the game and the
architect of the chaos that takes place. All of the creatures the player must fight corre-
spond to a specific method of execution that has been used on the island at some point
in its storied history. For some creatures the connection will be extremely obvious
(such as for the Nooseman, the hanged enemy), while others will be more subtle (such
as the Cartwheeler, who was beheaded). The theme for each of the creatures exists for
the player to find if he is interested and thinks about it, while it will not be overdone or
thrown in the player’s face.
The NPCs have varied means of attack and ways of moving through the
game-world, which will serve to prevent visual and gameplay monotony, while also
allowing creatures to be used in interesting combinations to create different gameplay
situations for the player to cope with.
Since all of the enemy NPCs are derived from humans (though their actual appear-
ance will be twisted into horrific form), the creatures will all be able to “speak” to the
player as he battles them. Depending on how twisted the creatures are, these voices
may be more or less intelligible, and the very manner of their speech will be frightening
to hear.
NPC Base Mechanics

The creatures Torque battles throughout the game are of course a major component of
the gameplay in Unspeakable. The mechanics for these creatures are discussed in a
per-creature fashion below. NPCs share some base mechanics common to all of them,
as described here.
Health
Almost all NPCs take damage at one time or another, though some will be invulnerable
or sometimes invulnerable to damage. Vulnerable NPCs take damage similar to the
player, from melee weapons, projectiles, explosions, or effects (such as fire). NPCs are
unable to regain their lost health, however, and will die permanently once their health
reaches zero.
NPCs employ a resistances system, such that certain types of damage will be more
or less effective on different NPCs. For instance, the Slayers are partially resistant to
damage from projectiles, while taking extra damage from melee attacks. The Infernas
are invulnerable while they are moving, but once they have completely burned down to
a pile of cinders, their cinders are invulnerable to fire-based attacks. They are
extremely vulnerable to explosive or melee attacks and take normal damage from pro-
jectile attacks.
Taking Damage
Monsters can be slowed down in their movement by certain weapons, while other
weapons will actually knock them over and/or stun them. The stunning depends on the
creature, the amount of damage sustained, and the origin of the damage. For instance,
the Festers are relatively immune to being slowed or knocked down, while
Cartwheelers are easily pushed back. Furthermore, being shot by a shotgun will be
much more likely to knock a creature over than being shot by a pistol bullet.
There are eight possible reactions for an NPC to have when he takes damage:
1) No reaction.
2) Hit reaction animation played, monster speed is unaffected. Hit reactions
will vary from NPC to NPC based on types of hit reaction (for example, light,
medium, heavy), which will be based on the amount of damage sustained.
There will be a minimum of damage that must be sustained to trigger any hit
reaction.
3) Hit reaction played, monster is slowed down.
4) Monster plays a “knocked back” animation and is actually pushed backward
by the weapon.
5) Monster is actually knocked down/stunned by the weapon, then can get up
after the duration of the stun.
6) Monster is killed by the damage and plays an appropriate death animation.
7) Monster is killed by the damage and sent flying through the air by the
damage sustained. This occurs if the damage comes from a position below
the NPC.
8) Monster is killed by the damage and the damage is so great that the creature
“gibs” (parts of his body sent flying in various directions).
Reaction to Light
In general NPCs tend to stay out of the brighter areas, though some are far more averse
to it than others. For instance, the Cartwheeler doesn’t mind light that much, the
Mainliner will always flee to a dark area when illuminated, and a Burrower has no reac-
tion to light and dark. Extremely bright lights, such as the prison spotlights, will cause
all NPCs to flee from their path.
Standard Enemies
Cartwheeler
The Cartwheeler is a creature that was executed by being beheaded. He is relatively
humanoid in appearance, but on all four of his limbs his hands/feet have been removed,
and long swords have replaced them. The Cartwheeler is able to walk and stand upright
by balancing on these blades, as the Movement section below describes. The
Cartwheeler’s head is somewhat crooked on his torso, and stitching is visible around
the circumference of the neck, as if the head had been sewn back on after being sev-
ered. Stitching is visible on other parts of his body, such as on his shirtless chest. His
head is covered by a bizarre and horrific mask.
Movement
The Cartwheeler has a variety of methods of navigating his environment, including
moving on the floor, on the ceiling, and jumping through the air. When using all four of
its limbs to move, the Cartwheeler is able to travel extremely fast, either on the ground
or on the ceiling. On the ceiling the creature crawls with its head looking at the floor and
its limbs bent back behind it, moving with a spider-like motion. On the ground, the
Cartwheeler moves on all fours reminiscent of a monkey. On the ground, the
Cartwheeler can also move by walking on its two legs like a normal human, though he
moves much slower in this fashion than when using all four limbs. The general motion
of the Cartwheeler has a start/stop feel, with the creature moving extremely fast for a
second and then slowing down to a crawl, which will make its motion erratic and unpre-
dictable, but also a bit disturbing.
The Cartwheeler is able to switch from moving on the floor to moving on the ceil-
ing by leaping in the air while simultaneously moving its limbs in order to stick its
blades into the ceiling. Conversely, the Cartwheeler can easily drop off of the ceiling
and onto the floor. Cartwheelers will decide to switch from being on the floor to being
on the ceiling and vice versa when it is to their advantage during combat or simply to
efficiently navigate the game-world. Cartwheelers can be flagged to stay only on the
floor or on the ceiling in certain specific situations.
The Cartwheeler is quite skilled at jumping, which it uses to move from the floor to
the ceiling as described above. The Cartwheeler can also jump in order to cover large
distances in a short amount of time, or to lunge at the player in order to attack him. This
is described in detail below. Cartwheelers can also spawn into areas by jumping and
landing from great heights, such as off of rooftops or, in one case, out of the sky itself. In
such cases the Cartwheeler will use a special “heavy landing” animation.
When moving on any surface, the Cartwheeler’s blades stick a few inches into that
surface. This will provide a visual explanation for why the creature is able to stay
attached to the ceiling. Though the Cartwheeler has a human body with normal joints,
these joints are able to bend in “wrong” directions as if extremely double jointed. This
allows the Cartwheeler to pull off the various moves it needs to in order to navigate the
environment, while simultaneously making the creature’s movement disturbing to
watch.
Melee Attacks
The Cartwheeler has a number of specific melee attacks, which it will pick from based
on whether it is on the floor or ceiling and depending on the range of its target. Each of
the Cartwheeler’s four blades is capable of doing damage to the player on contact, and
some attacks will allow the creature to hit with multiple blades at once.
• Ground Slash Right, Left, Both: While on the ground and standing on its legs,
the Cartwheeler can slash at its target with its right or left arms individually, or
swipe with both blades at once. The Cartwheeler can perform this attack while
moving.
• Ceiling Slash Right, Left: While on the ceiling the Cartwheeler can swipe
downward with either of its arms, slashing at a target when in range. The
Cartwheeler can perform this attack while moving.
• Ceiling Swing Slash Front, Back: While on the ceiling, the Cartwheeler can pull
both its legs out of the ceiling while staying attached to the ceiling with its arms and
swing toward its target, potentially striking it with both blades. Similarly, it can
leave its legs attached to the ceiling and swing down with its arms. After
completing one of these attacks, the Cartwheeler will immediately swing back up
to the ceiling, once again attaching itself with all four of its limbs. The Cartwheeler
must be stationary in order to perform this attack.
• Leaping Attack: The Cartwheeler leaps through the air toward the top of its
target, with all four of its blades facing forward. The Cartwheeler can significantly
damage the target with all four of its weapons using this attack.
Ranged Attacks
The Cartwheeler has no projectile attack, though its ability to leap through the air and
do a melee attack achieves a similar effect (see above).
Behavior
The Cartwheeler and Mainliner are natural enemies of each other and will attack each
other on sight. The Cartwheeler prefers to ally itself with the Burrower.
In some areas on specific NPCs, the Cartwheeler can do an “impaling” attack
where it runs its blades deep into a creature, killing it instantly. Performing this move
will not be part of its regular behavior, and will be considered scripted.
Cartwheelers tend to favor the darkness and will try to avoid the player’s Flash-
light beam or other sources of intense light. Despite their fear of the light,
Cartwheelers are still quite effective when in an illuminated environment.
Mainliner
The Mainliner was killed by lethal injection, though the form of its body is far more
twisted and horrific than such a manner of execution would imply. The creature resem-
bles a human torso with its two legs amputated right below the knee, one arm missing
its hand, and the other arm longer than the first, bony, and multi-jointed. The second,
longer hand clutches a massive hypodermic needle. In its back are jabbed thirty or more
hypodermic needles, which wiggle a bit as it moves. Its head is bald, though two
syringes have been jabbed completely through the back of its skull (where the plunger
ends still stick out) and exit the skull where the Mainliner’s eyes once were. Except for
the syringes, the creature is reminiscent of some of the more disturbing carnival char-
acters in the movie Freaks.
Movement
Because of his deformity, the Mainliner is not able to stand upright, but instead crawls
along the ground using its two leg stumps to wiggle forward, while jabbing its hypoder-
mic needle into the ground to assist in pulling itself along, all leading to a very
distinctive movement sound. Despite this awkward method of locomotion, the
Mainliner is able to cover quite a bit of ground, though it does not move quite as quickly
as the player. To compensate for that, the Mainliner is able to jump great distances in
the blink of an eye, which is a key component of its deadly melee attack.
The Mainliner may appear normally in levels, but can also spawn out of sufficiently
large puddles of fluid on the ground. That fluid can be water, blood, gasoline, or any
other liquid.
Melee Attack
For its melee attacks, the Mainliner is able to leap onto the player from a significant dis-
tance. From there, it can perform one of two attacks:
• Grab: If it finds itself positioned correctly relative to the player, in midair the
Mainliner will attempt to grab. It then wraps its legs around the player’s torso just
below Torque’s arms, holding tight with its vise-like grip, putting the player into
the immobilized state. Once attached, the Mainliner starts moving the arm that
holds the syringe toward the player’s neck, raising it high over his head, preparing
to jab in its deadly chemicals. To prevent the Mainliner from actually sticking the
needle into him, the player must press the Jump button repeatedly, forcing the
creature’s arm away from Torque as the player taps the button. Once the arm is
fully pushed back for a certain amount of time the creature detaches itself from the
player and jumps off of him. If the Mainliner is successful in jabbing the player
(which causes a large though not necessarily fatal amount of damage), the creature
leaves the needle stuck in the player’s neck and jumps off of him, simultaneously
grabbing a new needle from among those stored on its back.
• Slash: If the Mainliner cannot align itself for the Grab attack, it will simply slash at
the player with its needle arm. This will cause significantly less damage than the
Grab attack, but will be much easier for the creature to pull off.
Ranged Attack
The Mainliner can also hurl the hypodermic needle it holds toward the player, using it
as a projectile weapon. The needles are medium range, slow-moving projectiles and do
much less damage than the Mainliner’s melee attack. On impact, the syringes inflict
damage and stick into objects, including the player’s flesh. Once the Mainliner has
hurled its syringe at the player, it immediately grabs a new one from the collection off
its back, though the number of syringes back there does not actually decrease, and the
Mainliner has an unlimited amount of ammunition.
Behavior
The Mainliner is a bitter enemy of the Cartwheeler, but is the frequent companion of
the Fester.
Mainliners are most effective in darker areas, and will tend to spring out of the
shadows toward the player, or simply do their ranged attacks. Mainliners are afraid of
the light and will try to navigate to the shadows when possible, and will tend to flee from
the player’s Flashlight beam. Mainliners do make a distinctive sound as they drag
themselves along the ground, and sporadically make a dripping/sucking sound reminis-
cent of a hypodermic needle being depressed. Their projectile will also have a
distinctive “whooshing” when it is hurled.
Nooseman
[…]
Burrower
[…]
Fester
[…]
Slayer
[…]
Inferna
[…]
Boss Enemies
Killjoy
Killjoy is a twisted doctor/psychiatrist dressed in garb historically appropriate for a sur-
geon from the year 1900. He is seen wearing a bloodied apron and clutching a bizarre
medical device in his right hand. Killjoy looks the most human of all the enemies found
in the game, though still twisted and disturbing. Killjoy was an adherent to radical tech-
niques that could be used to “cure” patient insanity, the lobotomy being the least grisly
of his methods. Killjoy was a hideous creature while living and he has barely been
altered in appearance for his post-death form. In the game, Killjoy appears as if pro-
jected from sepia-tone film, a proto-hologram kept alive on dirty, worn, and deteriorated
film stock, his image appearing crackled and dusty as old prints of films do when shown
in a theater.
Movement
Though Killjoy appears to look like a normal human, he is no longer able to move nor-
mally. All of Killjoy’s movements are performed backward and with a unique twitching
motion. This also fits with Killjoy’s ability to resurrect the dead, in fact turning back
time for those he resuscitates. Killjoy is quite fast in his movements and will be able to
easily get away from the player in most situations. Generally Killjoy tries to stay far
away from the player, preferring to have the creatures he resurrects attack the player.
Melee and Ranged Attacks
Killjoy has no attacks of any kind. He is able to damage the player only through the crea-
tures that he reincarnates and sends to attack Torque.
Behavior
The player encounters and battles Killjoy in the Asylum as the game’s first boss
encounter. Early in the game, the player gets a glimpse of Killjoy in the prison death
house as he administers a lethal injection to a man strapped to a gurney, but the player
is unable to fight him at that time.
Killjoy is invulnerable to damage directly from the player. Though he is unable to

attack the player himself, he is able to indefinitely resurrect fallen creatures so they can
attack Torque for him. When the player fights Killjoy in the Asylum, the combat area
will include a number of Cartwheelers. These creatures provide the true threat to the
player’s health, and he will need to concentrate on keeping them at bay. As the player
kills them, however, Killjoy will run up to them (if they are not too close to the player)
and return them to the living by performing a quick operation on them. During this bat-
tle, Killjoy hangs back behind the other creatures.
Killjoy is not exactly mentally stable himself, having delusions of his own grandeur
and fame, as the statue of himself he had erected on the Asylum’s lawn will testify. Dur-
ing his life Killjoy was fixated on film stars and fame, and bought projection equipment
to film the treatment of his patients. Killjoy became delusional, believing that his filmed
“performances” were beloved by audiences of millions when in fact no one at all
watched them. When the player encounters Killjoy in the game, he is still extremely
narcissistic and obsessed with his own status as a superstar.
Horace
[…]
Hermes
[…]
The Black One
[…]
Friendly Characters
Humans
Humans are important characters in the Unspeakable game-world and will be key to
communicating the story. Humans have a realistic, believable appearance, which con-
trasts with the stylized creatures the player must kill. Humans come in two forms —
guards and prisoners — but both manifest the same behavior.
• Guards: Guards tend to look tough and physically imposing, though not
excessively muscular. Guards appear in the game with multiple flesh tones and
with slightly different texture sets for their clothing. They can also be visually
differentiated by their attachments (hat, etc.).
• Prisoners: Prisoners appear in appropriate prison uniforms, and are a bit larger in
size and stature than the guards, but are also not too large. Like the guards, texture
variations provide them with a variety of flesh tones and slightly different clothing.
Movement
The human characters move through the game-world as the player will expect a human
to. They are able to go anywhere Torque does, including up stairs and ladders, though
they will not be able to jump. Human characters are able to move slightly faster than
Torque and thus will be able to follow behind him without getting left behind. Con-
versely, they will be able to slow down their speed in order to lead Torque somewhere
without leaving him behind.
Melee Attacks
Human characters have no melee attacks.
Ranged Attacks
Humans will be able to use different weapons, depending on what they are equipped
with in the level. The humans will be able to fire single pistols, shotguns, or machine
guns. These weapons will behave similarly to how they do for the player. Some guards
will have no weapons at all and will thus be unable to attack and will flee when in a com-
bat situation.
Behavior
When killed, human characters will drop their weapons. The player will be able to pick
up these dropped weapons to use them or, if they already have that type of weapon, to
get additional ammunition.
Humans are naturally the enemies of all the monstrous creatures found in the
world, and all the monstrous creatures will attack the humans when given the opportu-
nity. As a result, human characters will fight alongside the player, in some situations
meaning the difference between life and death. If the player attacks a human character,
the human will now consider the player as hostile as well, and as a result will either
retaliate against him (if he’s armed), or will flee from him (see below). Some humans
will be set to be hostile to the player from the onset, such as crazed prisoners or guards
who assume the player (as a prisoner himself) will attack them.
If a human character has no weapon and is in a dangerous situation (where it’s
threatened by either monsters or if the player attacks them) the NPC will flee. Fleeing
will consist of the NPC trying to find a designated “flee” location, which is farthest away
from the threats it is facing. Once the NPC has nowhere else to flee to, it will cower
there. Some “crazed” humans will flee from the player even if he has not actually
attacked them.
Human characters will be able to talk to the player. This will involve them speaking
lines of dialog to the player without the player responding. Humans can be set up to
approach the player and speak to him in certain situations, while other humans will
speak when the player approaches them and presses the Use button. All human charac-
ters who are not hostile to the player will have some response when the player presses
the Use button near them.
In certain situations, humans will lead the player to predetermined locations in the
levels. In other situations, the humans will need the player to lead them out of a danger-
ous situation to somewhere safer. Some humans will be used to help the player out by
opening locked doors, suggesting the solution to a particular puzzle, or by warning the
player of a dangerous creature right around the corner. Some humans may request the
player to help them in other ways, such as bringing another human or object to them or
fixing a certain device (such as a generator). Humans may reward the player by giving
him an object.
Section V: Story
Game Progression Overview
As the game begins, it is night, and Torque is brought by boat to Carnate Island and
Abbott State Penitentiary, where he will eventually be executed for the murder of his
ex-wife and two children. Torque’s boat ties up at the docks on the east side of the
island, and he is then moved to a short, black school bus that transports him up to the
prison. The bus passes numerous landmarks during the journey, including the town,
the lighthouse, and the World War II fort. In the prison, Torque undergoes the standard
admittance procedure and is then escorted to his cell by two guards who discuss his
crime between them along the way. Once they reach his cell, one looks at his watch and
mentions how, if his watch is right, the prison has just now finally executed Willie
Wiggins after ten years on the row. The guard drops off a box containing Torque’s per-
sonal effects, including an artist’s sketchpad.
Locked inside his cell, Torque has a minute to look around. Looking at the artist’s
pad, he sees a few drawings falling out of it, one of them a version of what the player will
later become introduced to as Torque’s monstrous form, the image of his “dark side”
that he came up with as a child.
Suddenly, chaos erupts outside his cell and Torque hears people screaming and
other bizarre noises as the entire building shakes as if an earthquake is happening. Soon
a creature rips off the door of his cell, and Torque is able to move about the death house
structure. Initially, Torque’s primary goal is to keep himself alive as he navigates his
way through the building, including its various execution chambers and abandoned
basement. Torque acquires weapons as he goes that makes staying alive possible.
Leaving the death house, the player meets Dallas, a prisoner who befriends Torque
and wants to help him. Dallas presents the first of many bogus theories Torque will hear
about why the monsters have come to Carnate: there were government scientists
experimenting on prisoners and those experiments have gone horribly awry. Dallas
leads the player through the several areas of the prison, and eventually the player is
able to open a gate, which allows Dallas to make a break for freedom and safety.
The player proceeds cautiously through the prison, navigating his way through a
cellblock, and eventually making his way into a guard tower. From the top of the guard
tower the player is able to see the island’s lighthouse to the east, shining its light
through the fog accompanied by the intermittent wail of its foghorn. In the guard tower
Torque meets Luther, a large guard who has mentally snapped, and is now afraid of
everything he encounters. Using a spotlight to scare creatures away from Luther, the
guard leads Torque into the communications building so they can call for help. Unfortu-
nately the radio has been damaged and needs parts to be fixed. Luther explains that the
guards use the abandoned asylum on the far west side of the island as a place to relax
away from the prison and away from their families, who live in the small town on the
east side of the island. In the asylum they have another radio that should have the parts
this radio needs. If Torque can go there and return with the parts, they can get the radio
working and summon help to the island.
Luther suggests that the best way to get to the asylum is to leave the prison
through the graveyard entrance. Following his instructions, Torque successfully makes
it out of the prison and to the graveyard. Needing to navigate through the graveyard,
where the player will expect to find creatures to battle but instead hears only disembod-
ied voices, the player progresses to an abandoned quarry. Used for prisoners sentenced
to hard labor in the years following World War II, the quarry has been abandoned for
decades. Torque must navigate through the quarry to reach a path that winds up the hill
to the asylum.
The asylum has been abandoned for nearly a hundred years and looks it: ceilings
are collapsed, the tile floor is rotting, the paint is peeling off the walls, and the player is
only able to access a small section of the building. Once inside, Torque is quickly locked
in the building by the projected form of the long-dead head of the asylum, Doctor Killjoy.
The player soon meets Sergei, a guard who was in the asylum hanging out with some
fellow guards when the monsters started appearing. All of his fellow guards are now
dead, and the player will find their bodies horribly mutilated around the facility, as if
they have undergone postmortem operations and experiments. Sergei is clearly intoxi-
cated and is decidedly calm about everything, explaining that he’s ready to let whatever
happens happen. Sergei does tell the player where the radio is located in the building so
that Torque can get the parts he needs. He also explains about the circuit breaker in the
basement that the player can use to turn on the lights in the building, and adds that he’ll
be thankful if the player can turn it on so he can listen to his record player again. He’s
certainly not going to risk his life to go turn it on himself, though.
As the player navigates the asylum, Killjoy repeatedly appears in a strange “pro-
jected” form, taunting the player from afar. Once the player has recovered the parts he
needs from the radio, the player is lured into a final confrontation with Killjoy, who
speaks to Torque and claims that he knows about the player’s “condition” (the black-
outs), and suggests he can possibly cure him. Once the player smashes all of Killjoy’s
projectors, he is defeated, and the player is finally able to leave the asylum. It is impos-
sible to return to the prison through the quarry, so Torque has to go back via the beach.
On the way to the beach, the player travels through a large expanse of woods.
Along the way, he may discover the somewhat hidden location where the island’s
natives were massacred 500 years ago. In the woods the player will meet Clem, an
intelligent and well-read prisoner who had been planning an escape for months and who
complains that the appearance of the creatures has ruined everything. Clem knows of a
way the player can get back into the prison, through the escape tunnel he dug, which
terminates on the beach. Clem has planned a way of getting himself off of the island via
a raft he constructed out of various pieces of junk from the prison. But Clem cannot go
down to the beach and use it because of the horrific monsters that are lurking there. If
the player will help him, Clem will gladly show the player the location of the escape tun-
nel as well as some other secrets.
On the beach the player finds the wreckage of the slave ship that crashed on the
island in the 18th century. An old rickety set of stairs used to lead up off the beach to the
prison, but they collapsed in the earthquake. From the beach the player can once again
see the lighthouse on the eastern side of the island, but now its light has gone out. Clem
shows the player the escape tunnel, which will get him into the prison’s abandoned
basement. The player will need to defend Clem while he gets his raft ready to go, and if
the player is successful, he will watch Clem float out to sea.
Navigating through the narrow escape tunnel dug by Clem while fleeing from a
swarm of rats, the player comes up in the abandoned basement of the prison. There he
discovers that some of the corpses of executed prisoners have been preserved in
strange glass cases. The player finally emerges from the basement back in the death
house, arriving in the electric chair room. Suddenly the player is trapped inside and
must fight the bizarre boss creature, Horace. Defeating him by shutting off his power, a
fire erupts in the death house, and the player is forced to flee to the second story and
death row, where he must return to his original cell.
In his cell, Torque finds a stack of bodies, one for each of the innocent humans he
has killed in the game up to this point. Also on the wall is a crayon drawing of the Dark
Side creature Torque becomes when he blacks out. The drawing is labeled, “T, age 5”
and has the word “Bad Man” scrawled under it. Also in the cell is a medical report
signed by Doctor Killjoy that diagnoses Torque’s “condition,” explaining, in obtuse
medical jargon, what happens to Torque when he blacks out.
Avoiding the fire, Torque makes his way back out of the death house, and can now
return to the guard tower containing Luther and the radio. On returning to the room
where he left him, however, Torque finds that Luther has been killed while defending
the radio from a Cartwheeler. The player is still able to use the parts he got from the
asylum to get the radio to work and make contact with the outside world. A Coast Guard
ship responds, saying they can’t reach the island because their computers are down
and, with the lighthouse out, it is too foggy for them to navigate into the harbor. If
Torque can get the lighthouse working again, however, they will be able to attempt it.
Navigating his way out of the prison, Torque must set a large bus rolling down an
incline to smash through the main prison gate. Once open, Torque can head toward the
lighthouse, following the road that leads to the drawbridge to the eastern side of
Carnate. Swarming with enemies, the player must battle them and then jump across
the partially open drawbridge without falling into the chasm below.
On the east side, the player travels for a bit before he comes up to a World War II
fort, which has been abandoned for many years but is still structurally intact. Here the
player may find the wreckage of a crashed Nazi plane and the location where a paranoid
colonel executed all of his German-American troops during the war. The player comes
across a machine gun nest with a large number of dead creatures surrounding it, indi-
cating that someone has recently used the gun to defend themselves. As the player
explores the fort, a human suddenly shows himself, screaming for help: Jimmy, a young
prisoner who has used his wits and a good amount of luck to survive the monsters’
onslaught. But Jimmy has sustained a serious head wound and blood is covering his
eyes, preventing him from being able to see. Jimmy says he knows there is an infirmary
in the basement, and if the player can get him down there, he’ll be able to bandage him-
self up. The player will be able to lead Jimmy down to the basement where he will patch
himself up. With Jimmy able to see again, the young prisoner helps Torque get to the
natural cave system, which leads to the lighthouse.
The cave system leads the player into the basement of the lighthouse, where the
player will be forced to battle strange gaseous creature Hermes, defeating him by turn-
ing on a fan, which blows his gaseous form into an old coal furnace that the player must
then quickly shut and ignite. With Hermes defeated the player can progress up into the
lighthouse itself. Here the player will see that the generator that powers it has been
damaged by the monsters and that it will need new spark plugs to become functional
again.
Traveling to the makeshift town where the guards’ families lived, the player at first
finds it oddly devoid of creatures, instead seeing a swarm of little girls come running
out and asking him strange questions. Suddenly these girls burst into flame and reveal
themselves to be the dangerous Inferna creatures. Subsequently the player meets
Ernesto, a guard from the prison who, immediately after the monsters arrived, ran to
the town to check on his wife and child, only to find them dead. Now he is angry, feels
his life is no longer worth living, and, armed with a machine gun, will help the player
battle whatever creatures they find. On the south edge of the town the player finds the
site where witch trials were conducted in the late 18th century, with the resulting
“witches” being burned alive.
While battling the neverending waves of Infernas that populate the town, the
player will find the spark plugs he needs scattered in various places, such as in a car, in a
lawn mower, and in the small general store that served the town, with Ernesto pointing
out places the player might look for them. With enough spark plugs, the player
attempts to return to the lighthouse, but finds he cannot go the way he came since an
avalanche has mysteriously collapsed on the road. Ernesto indicates that the only other
way back to the lighthouse is through a hidden cave system, which leads into the sizable
basement of the lighthouse.
Once back in the lighthouse, Torque is able to use the spark plugs in the generator,
move it into position, and get the lighthouse turned on again. He must then crank up
the lighthouse mirror and align its bulb before the Coast Guard informs him via a radio
that they are sending a ship in and that Torque should head down to the docks to meet
them.
On the docks, the player hears a number of strange voices, saying things like
“Torque, you’re one of us,” “We brought you here to meet us,” and “Join us.” These
voices represent the collective evil presence of the island, a force which has been caus-
ing horrific acts to take place here for hundreds of years. As Torque hears the voices
coming from all sides, The Black One shows up and the player must battle him.
With The Black One defeated, the player’s final flashback is shown to him, reveal-
ing the nature of his crime, which changes depending on how the player treated the
friendly NPCs he encountered throughout the game. During the flashback, the player
hears more of the voices who, in the “good” ending, say that Torque is not who
they thought at all, while in the “bad” ending they point out “We told you you were one
of us....” With the flashback concluded, for the good and middle endings, a Coast Guard
skiff arrives and Torque gets on it to leave the island. For the bad ending, Torque is seen
transforming into a huge version of his beast form, and then walking back onto the
island to live among the other monsters.
Flashbacks
At five distinct points in the game, the player will have a flashback to the events sur-
rounding the crime that landed him on death row. These flashbacks will be as jarring to
the player as they are to Torque, suddenly ripping him out of the gameplay as he slowly
remembers the details of this traumatic event. The first four will be generalized to all of
the multiple versions of the crime and will all be quite short (three seconds at most),
while the fifth and final flashback, which he sees at the end of the game, is significantly
longer (though still fast paced) and shows what Torque actually did and reveals whether
he is innocent or guilty. All flashbacks take place through a first-person view, represent-
ing what Torque sees.
• First Flashback: The player sees a closeup Malcolm drowned in a tub of water,
floating slowly beneath the surface. His lips are blue and his eyes are wide open in
disbelief.
• Second Flashback: The player sees Cory dead on the sidewalk outside Torque’s
fourth-story apartment in Baltimore, obviously having been killed from the fall.
Cory’s limbs are bent in obviously incorrect ways and his body has been slightly
smashed on the sidewalk, a pool of blood having formed around the body.
• Third Flashback: The player sees a closeup of Carmen’s face, her eyes wide open
in a death stare, her expression one of shock, a copious amount of thick blood
pouring out of her skull through her braided hair.
• Fourth Flashback: We see through Torque’s eyes and he opens the door to his
apartment, speaking, “Carmen, are you here?”
• Fifth: Torque’s crime is revealed when the player sees one of three flashbacks,
depending on his actions in the game.
• Positive: Torque walks into his apartment, looking for his ex-wife and children.
He first finds Carmen in the bedroom, dead on the floor. We hear him exclaim,
“Carmen, oh my god!” He turns and questions, “Boys, where are you?” In the
bathroom he sees Malcolm drowned in the bathtub, and we hear him scream,
“No! Cory, where are you?” Now in Cory’s bedroom, we see the window is
open with the curtains being blown in by the wind outside. Looking out
through the window we see Cory dead on the sidewalk below. Torque speaks,
“Who did this? Who? Why?” Suddenly Torque hears a sound behind him and
turns around to see two darkly dressed males run out the door of his
apartment. He chases after them to the stairs that lead up to his apartment, but
they are gone.
• Neutral: We see Carmen arguing with Torque in Torque’s bedroom: “I have the
money now, I want the boys up in New York with me.” We hear Torque shout
back: “You’re just trying to take my boys from me!” “Where were you for those
three years, Torque?” “How many times can I tell you that....” Then we see
Torque’s fist swing out and hit Carmen on the jaw, sending her flying to the
ground. On the way down she hits her head on the bed frame, creating a large
gash in her skull. She falls, dead, on the ground. We hear Torque speaking:
“Carmen? Carmen? What have I done?” The camera turns to look at the door
of the room where Cory is standing, anger visible in his eyes and his stance.
He turns to run out of the room, and the camera follows him. First we see him
run into the bathroom and drown his brother, Malcolm, in the tub. Then we
follow as Cory runs into his own bedroom, opens the window, steps up onto the
windowsill, and throw himself out onto the pavement below. We hear Torque
screaming and weeping: “Cory! Malcolm! What have I done?”
• Negative: We follow from Torque’s point of view as he enters his apartment.

Carmen is there in his bedroom, smiling at him. Torque gets close to her and
then savagely starts pummeling her with his fists. She falls to the ground and
he smashes her skull against the frame of the bed. Soon we see that she is not
moving and is apparently dead. We hear Torque breathing heavily over her
dead body for a second. Then, keeping with Torque’s POV, we go into the
bathroom and Malcolm looks at him from the tub, saying: “Daddy, what’s
happening?” Torque takes his hand and shoves his son’s head under the water.
Bubbles flow out of his mouth as his body writhes and, shortly, Malcolm is
dead. Now Cory is in the bathroom, asking, “What’s going on, what’s
happening?” Torque grabs Cory under his arm and carries him into the child’s
bedroom where he opens the window with his free hand and hurls him out to
the pavement below. We see Torque breathing heavily for a few seconds,
looking out the window at his dead son.
Back-story
The following sections provide reasonably detailed accounts of the back-stories of
some of the elements in the game. These are included here to give the places and peo-
ple a history so that they will be consistently and compellingly portrayed in the game,
though the specific details of these accounts will never be fully revealed to the player.
Carnate’s History
Situated several miles off the mid-Atlantic coast, Carnate is an island that has been a
home to evil for centuries. People who have come to the island have found themselves
committing acts of brutality and cruelty beyond what they would have done elsewhere.
The precise nature of this evil is never explained in the game.
In 1681, a small agrarian community of puritanical settlers is living on the island. In
this small village, a nine-year-old girl decides to seek revenge against her strict parents
and others who have upset her by proclaiming them witches. She enlists two friends as
part of the scheme, which ends up leading to the burning alive of 11 “witches” as the
town becomes hysterical over the satanic forces in their midst. Fearing being caught,
the girls flee to the woods and, as the concluding act of their pact together, fling them-
selves off a cliff into the ocean.
In 1732, a slave ship sailing from Africa ran aground on the northern end of the
island. Few were injured in the crash. However, the slave traders were frightened to let
the slaves out of the holds, since they might join together and revolt against the traders.
Instead the slave traders left the slaves trapped in the ship, where they slowly starved
to death and were eaten alive by the rats. The slave traders themselves were never
able to make it off the island alive.
[…]
Torque’s History
Torque is an extremely tough and “street smart” individual who, when in the company
of strangers, puts up an outward facade of extreme confidence, strength, and intimida-
tion. Torque developed this persona over the course of his life as a protective shield
against the harsh world he grew up in. When around the people he is friendly with,
however, Torque reveals his softer side, and can be quite affectionate, gentle, and lov-
ing. Torque primarily reveals this side of himself when with his children, wife, and some
of his close friends.
When Torque was two years old he was abandoned and ended up a ward of the
state. As a result he has no memory of his real parents and was raised in a group home
in inner-city Philadelphia. Life in the group home was far from pleasant and certainly
not a loving environment, and Torque felt very much alone in the world and soon
learned that he would have to be responsible for bettering his own life, because no one
else would help him. Torque always had a fierce temper and was a bit prone to violent
outbursts. At a young age he drew a picture of a monstrous creature that, though he did
not realize it, represented his dark side. Torque would continue to have visions of this
creature throughout his life.
[…]
Friendly NPCs
Over the course of the game, Torque meets six NPCs who will help him, either by
pointing out solutions to puzzles or by actually joining him in combat against the mon-
sters. These NPCs will speak more dialog than the other NPCs, and will stay alive for a
good amount of time, if not for the rest of the game, assuming the player doesn’t kill
them himself. As with the Back-story section above, not all of the information about
these NPCs will necessarily be communicated to the player. Suggested lines of dialog
contained in this section are intended as a guide, and are not necessarily representative
of the final dialog to be used in the game.
Dallas
Dallas is an African-American prisoner from one of the rougher neighborhoods of Balti-
more. He exudes bravado and confidence, and takes pride in the neighborhood he grew
up in and the friends he keeps. While putting up the front of being extremely tough
around men, Dallas is a great lover of women, being tender and caring around females,
always eager to please them. While on the outside, Dallas slept with as many of them as
would have him, with his good looks and charming personality making him quite a suc-
cess as a ladies man. In Abbott, however, Dallas had to find another outlet for his sexual
energies, and ended up in a consensual sexual relationship with a large Caucasian male
inmate, Byron. Coming across Byron’s corpse will upset Dallas significantly, though he
is quickly able to compose himself. Though obviously intelligent, Dallas did not receive
much of an education and betrays this in his speech. Dallas also presents the first bogus
theory about where the monstrous creatures come from, suggesting that the govern-
ment has been conducting medical experiments on prisoners and that they have now
gone awry: “I heard the government’s been conducting experiments on us inmates,
next phase of MK-Ultra if you can believe that shit.”
Dallas actually was friends with Torque from a previous stint the two of them did
back at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Maryland. Dallas knows what an intimi-
dating and forceful person Torque can be, yet respects him for his inner strength and
integrity. Once Dallas finds Torque, he immediately realizes that Torque is the one man
who can help him stay alive with all of the monsters around. The player’s goal is to keep
Dallas alive as long as possible, which is not an easy feat since Dallas is completely
unarmed and thereby incapable of defending himself. He is familiar with many areas of
the prison and will be able to warn the player of impending threats, thus rewarding the
player for keeping him alive.
Luther
Luther is a large guard with a heavily muscle-bound physique who is extremely tough
and physically intimidating. A dark-skinned African-American originally from North-
east Washington, D.C., Luther has an extremely deep voice, though he speaks quietly
and with a slight stutter. Luther has a theory about what is happening on the island but
is fairly vague about it. Torque will hear him mutter various biblical references and
speak of the “end times.”
When the player comes across Luther in the prison’s guard tower, Luther has been
severely traumatized by witnessing the appearance of the horrific monsters that have
caused so much carnage around the prison. Luther is in a state of shock and is deathly
afraid of everything he encounters, including the player. The player will have to chase
after Luther and then try to talk to him for him to calm down. Once calm, Luther can be
set off again by anything, such as the appearance of another monster or even the player
firing his weapon, causing him to run screaming in terror once more. Once calm, how-
ever, Luther is extremely cogent and leads them to the radio room, explaining to
Torque that in order to get the radio working, he must collect parts from the asylum.
Unfortunately, when the player returns to the radio room significantly later, he finds
that Luther has been hideously slaughtered by a Cartwheeler creature. The player
finds Luther dead with a Cartwheeler’s blades sticking through him, though the
Cartwheeler has apparently been killed by a fire axe that Luther had obtained, which is
buried in its body. It appears that Luther finally stopped being afraid of the monsters
and, in his final action, defended the radio from the Cartwheeler’s attempt to destroy it.
Sergei
[…]
Clem
[…]
Jimmy
[…]
Ernesto
[…]
Section VI: Gameflow

This section describes the major areas, events, items, and characters the player finds
as he progresses through the game. The final game will no doubt include additional
items (such as health), encounters, small side-rooms, and other details that are not
mentioned here. These will be added as needed for balancing as the level is developed.
Note that each weapon is specifically mentioned when it is first introduced to the
player. After that point, these weapons will be liberally sprinkled through the game as
dictated by the needs of the game balance.
Prison
Intro: During the introduction the player does not have control of Torque’s movement,
but is able to use the game’s controls to look around at the environment he is led
through. As the game begins, it is night, and the player sees Torque brought by a
Small Boat to Carnate Island and Abbott State Penitentiary. Torque’s boat
ties up at the Docks on the east side of the island, and he is then moved to a short,
black Transfer Bus that transports him up to the prison. The bus passes numer-
ous landmarks during the journey, including the Town, the Lighthouse, and the
World War II Fort. Finally inside the prison, Torque is taken into the Admissions
Building where he undergoes the standard admittance procedure and is then
escorted to his cell on Death Row by two Guards who discuss his crime between
them along the way. Once they reach his Cell, one looks at his watch and mentions
how, if his watch is right, the prison has just now finally executed Willie Wiggins
after ten years on the row. The guard drops off a box containing Torque’s personal
effects. This introductory sequence takes approximately a minute of game-time,
though in reality it would take much longer. This is achieved through fade-outs that
cut the player from one key section of the introduction to the next.
Area: Death House, Top Floor
DH1. After the intro finishes, the player starts the game in Torque’s Cell. Torque’s
Cell is a small, tight area containing a bed, a toilet, and a small table. There is no
window. The door is shut and has a small barred window through which the player
can look to see the Death Row Hallway outside. Torque overhears inmate chat-
ter outside his cell. Torque will be confined to his cell long enough for the player to
become familiar with the controls.
DH2. Chaos ensues outside Torque’s Cell. Torque hears explosions, screaming, earth-
quake-like rumbling, as the Monsters start appearing and killing everything in
sight. The entire building shakes, indicating that a massive earthquake is taking
place, but that shaking eventually subsides.
DH3. Door of Torque’s Cell is ripped off by a fast-moving Cartwheeler that the player
sees only as a blur.
DH4. Torque leaves his Cell and is in the Death Row Hallway. Death Row consists
of the hallway and six cells in a single block, with a barred door at the end, behind
which is a hallway. The Guard Station adjacent to the hallway includes a window
that looks in on the Death Row Hallway as well as the hallway just outside Death
Row. The player sees the door of the cell adjacent to his slam shut, the implication
being the Cartwheeler that ripped his door off is now in that cell. The player sees
a Scared Prisoner grab onto the bars and scream for his life before he is ripped off
the cell door by the Cartwheeler from the darkness behind him. The player hears
the screams of the Scared Prisoner suddenly come to a stop as he is apparently
killed in the darkness.
DH5. The Flashlight Guard in the Guard Station walks out from the station to the
hall outside Death Row. He shines his Flashlight toward the player and says,
“Prisoner! Back to your cell while we sort this out!” Suddenly he is jerked up into
the ceiling, blood drips down, and his Flashlight clatters to the ground below, leav-
ing only the Batteries for Torque to pick up (once he leaves the Death Row
cellblock).
DH6. Investigating the rest of Death Row after seeing the guard killed, Torque sees
one Other Cell with its door open. Torque goes into the Other Cell and in it finds a
dead inmate with a look of terror frozen on his face, a Shiv stuck straight into his
chest. Walking close to the body, Torque gets the Shiv.
DH7. From within this Other Cell, Torque hears a door-being-ripped-off sound and,
leaving the Other Cell, sees the gate to Death Row has been removed. Fore-
boding and frightening sounds come from the darkness of the hallway.
DH8. Leaving the Death Row area, Torque ventures into the dark and frightening hall-
way (picking up the Batteries along the way), expecting to see the Creature that
killed the Flashlight Guard. However, there is no Creature there any more. The
player finds a Map of the Death House in the Guard Station.
DH9. To the left the hallway leads to a door that is locked and a Miscellaneous Room
that contains a Large Window that the player can go into to find some Revolver
Ammo. Here the player finds a number of dead guards. The player can look out of
the Large Window and see the Courtyard below, watching an altercation between
Prisoners and Guards. Soon indistinct Creatures rush into the fight and the
Prisoners and Guards unite to try to fight them off, but are slaughtered in the
process.
DH10. A dimly lit hallway stretches in the opposite direction of the dead end. As the
player moves down this hallway, an Escaping Prisoner emerges and runs up to
him, saying, “We gotta get out of here, follow me!” He then turns and runs down a
hallway that has an Open Door to the outside and an Exterior Set of Stairs.
Light streams in from the wide open door. The Escaping Prisoner gets ahead of the
player and says, “Hurry up!” right before the whole building rumbles and the Ceil-
ing caves in on him, crushing him and blocking the exit.
DH11. Turning around from the dead end with the collapsed ceiling, the player moves
toward a completely darkened hallway, out of which a Winded Prisoner runs,
panting, leaning over on his knees. “Thank God I made it to the light,” he wheezes.
As the player gets close to him, a Cartwheeler, apparently clinging to the ceiling,
swings out of the darkness, impales him with his blades, and yanks the prisoner up
toward the ceiling. The Winded Prisoner’s decapitated head then falls back to the
ground. The Winded Prisoner drops a key to the ground, which the player can use
to open a nearby control room.
DH12. The player is then forced to open the gate the Winded Prisoner was killed
behind using a control switch in the nearby control room. He then heads into the
dark area where the Cartwheeler was, expecting to be killed.

DH13. As the player rounds a corner and the hall continues, he spots the Cartwheeler
up ahead on the ceiling that drops down in front of him, blocking his way. Suddenly
the player hears gunfire as the Cartwheeler is shot down and killed by an Armed
Guard farther down the hall.
DH14. The Armed Guard calls to the player and the player approaches him. The
Armed Guard tells the player they need to work together, and tells him to go get a
Flashlight from the Equipment Room just down the hall.
DH15. In the Equipment Room, the player finds a Flashlight that is fully charged. A
mysterious PA speaker in the room talks to the player in a nefarious voice, urging
him, “You can’t trust him, kill him before he puts you back in your cell.”
DH16. Leaving the Equipment Room with the Flashlight, the Armed Guard tells
the player that they need to head down the Stairs toward the exit. The Armed
Guard leads the prisoner downstairs.
Area: Death House, First Floor
DH17. The Stairs lead down to the first floor, where it is pitch black, though the player
can now use his Flashlight to shine the way. At the bottom, a Cartwheeler
appears, but the player can use his Flashlight to frighten him away, potentially
wounding it with his Shiv. After a moment a Second Cartwheeler appears.
DH18. While the player is fighting, the Armed Guard is also attacking the
Cartwheelers. He apologizes for putting the player at risk like that. At the room at
the bottom of the Stairs, there are two passageways: one to the abandoned Elec-
tric Chair Room and one to a hallway that leads to the Electric Chair Control
Room, which looks in on the chair. The Armed Guard tells the player to look in the
executioner’s room while he checks out the execution chamber.
DH19. Suddenly, the Armed Guard hears a sound coming from the Electric Chair
Room, and he runs off to investigate it. Once the guard has entered the room, sud-
denly a burst of lightning fills the room, and the Armed Guard is killed and
disappears.
DH20. The player can now go to the Electric Chair Room to find that all that is left of
the Armed Guard is a pile of ash, though the player can now pick up his Revolver.
DH21. If the player decides to kill the Armed Guard at the top of the Stairs, the
Armed Guard will fight back with his Revolver. If the player successfully kills him,
however, he will get his Revolver, but will have to fight the Cartwheelers at the
bottom of the Stairs by himself. Step 19 will be skipped entirely.
DH22. Continuing down the hallway that leads to the Executioner’s Control Room,
the player comes to a Large Foyer. Locked double doors lead to the outside. A
hallway leads to the Gas Chamber and Electric Chair Observation rooms, but has
been collapsed by the earthquake. Another hallway leads north, but is blocked by a
Double Lock Down Gate. A Lock Down Gate Control Room is also off the
north end of the Large Foyer, which has a locked door on it. Four Cartwheelers
drop out of the ceiling (though not necessarily all at once) and provide the player
with his first experience at gun combat. If the player didn’t pick up the gun, this bat-
tle is going to be difficult to survive.
DH23. With all the Cartwheelers killed, a final one rips through the door to the Lock
Down Gate Control Room and hurtles into the room. Defeating the
Cartwheeler, the player is then able to go into the Lock Down Gate Control
Room.
DH24. In the Lock Down Gate Control Room, the player can operate a Lock Down
Switch, which operates the Double Lock Down Gate that blocks progress out of
the Large Foyer. However, it only opens the first gate, closing the second. Re-flip-
ping the switch inverts the positions of the doors. In order to get through the gate,
the player must first make the first gate open, and then push a Statue from the
Large Foyer to the gate. Then, while the first gate is open, if the player pushes the
Statue under the gate, and then re-flips the switch, both of the gates will be opened
and the player can proceed down the hall.
DH25. Straight ahead, the hall passes the Gas Chamber Control Room and then
leads to another hall that forks off to the east. If the player passes that hall and con-
tinues, he comes upon the Lethal Injection Control Room. In that room the
player finds some Revolver Ammo and Batteries for the Flashlight. The player
can also look in on the Lethal Injection Room, though he cannot access it at this
time. If the player continues down the hall past the Lethal Injection Room, he finds
that the hallway has collapsed and he cannot progress. Along this section, the
player fights a number of additional Cartwheelers.
DH26. The player must go back to the hallway that veered off to the east. Traveling
down that hallway, the player comes to the door to the Lethal Injection Room,
which is locked, as well as the door to the Gas Chamber Room, also locked.
DH27. The player must go back to where he passed the Gas Chamber Control Room.
There the player will be able to see into the Gas Chamber Room, which is barren
except for the Gas Chamber itself. Strapped into the chair inside the Gas Cham-
ber is a Gas Chamber Victim, who turns to look at the player and is crying out for
help, though his cries are inaudible. In the room is the Gas Chamber Switch,
which the player can flip if he wants to. If he does, the Gas Chamber fills with gas
and the Gas Chamber Victim is seen to be struggling and screaming as he dies.
DH28. Also in the Gas Chamber Control Room, the player will find a Door Switch,
which opens the previously locked door to the Gas Chamber Room. Now the
player can travel down to the Gas Chamber Room door and enter.
DH29. Entering the Gas Chamber Room, the door suddenly slams shut behind the
player and the player cannot re-open it.
DH30. If, in DH27, the player killed the Gas Chamber Victim in the Gas Chamber,
the Gas Chamber Victim is slumped over in the chair, dead, and the door to the Gas
Chamber immediately springs open and gas starts billowing out.
DH31. If, in DH27, the player did not kill the Gas Chamber Victim, the man is still in
the Gas Chamber, screaming (almost inaudibly) for the player to let him out.
However, the player is unable to open the door to the Gas Chamber. Looking into
the Gas Chamber Control Room through the glass wall that separates the two,
the player sees a shadowy, indistinct human figure who flips the Gas Chamber
Switch that fills up the Gas Chamber with the deadly gas. The Gas Chamber
Victim inside is killed in the same manner as if the player had flipped the switch.
Once the Gas Chamber Victim is dead, the door to the Gas Chamber springs
open, just as in DH27.
DH32. The gas flowing out of the Gas Chamber causes continuous damage to the
player if he lets it reach his mouth, and so the player must avoid it by running to the
other side of the Gas Chamber Room. Here there is a glass wall that looks into
the Gas Chamber Observation Room.
DH33. Now, with the player up against the glass wall that joins the Gas Chamber
Room to the Gas Chamber Observation Room, the player sees a Cartwheeler
in the Observation Room. The Cartwheeler bashes up against the glass several
times before finally breaking through, allowing the player to escape the gas from
the Gas Chamber by fleeing into the Gas Chamber Observation Room. The
player will be able to speed up the shattering of the glass by shooting or hitting the
glass while the Cartwheeler bashes against it, though the thick, bulletproof glass
will be unbreakable from the player’s attacks alone. While escaping into the Gas
Chamber Observation Room, the player will simultaneously need to deal with
fighting the Cartwheeler.
DH34. In the Gas Camber Observation Room, the player finds several corpses,
which have been propped up in the observation chairs, as if to watch the execution.
The corpses include one guard and several prisoners, some of whom have been
beheaded. The guard is still clutching the prison-issue Stun Stick, which the
player can pick up.
DH35. From the Gas Chamber Observation Room, the player sees a wall that has
been bashed through, apparently by the Cartwheeler. It looks like the wall was
made to cover up an old, abandoned door that leads down into the darkness of the
Basement.
Area: Death House, Basement
DH36. Traveling down the stairs, the player finds himself in the pitch-black Basement.
Old pieces of prison equipment such as shackles, a pillory, and various torture
devices are found here. The player finds several gates, which are locked for the
time being. The player must navigate the musty, abandoned, and initially totally
dark basement, where the player will have to fight numerous Cartwheelers. The
player will be able to turn on the gas-powered lights that are in the basement if he
finds the Gas Control Switch. But only some of the lights work, so this will pro-
vide only partial illumination of the basement, but will make fighting the
Cartwheelers considerably easier.
DH37. If the player searches the Basement, he will find one tile on the tiled stone floor
that makes a different, hollow sound when walked on. This panel is partially cov-
ered by a heavy piece of furniture, which the player can push and pull. When the
object is pushed off the floor tile, it springs open, revealing a cache of Revolvers
and Revolver Ammo.
DH38. The only obvious way out of the Basement leads up some stairs, but these
stairs are behind a closed gate the player cannot open. However, in the Basement
the player finds a Metal Lever sticking out of a long horizontal slot in the wall. The
Metal Lever does not rotate, but the player is able to push and pull this Metal Lever
along the slot in the wall. Though not immediately obvious, if the player is at all
observant he will notice that moving the Metal Lever moves a corresponding part
of the wall opposite the Metal Lever. When the Lever is positioned just so, the wall
opens to reveal a passage the player can enter.
DH39. Traveling through the passage, the player reaches the stairs on the other side of
the closed iron gate. The stairs lead up through another wall, similar to the one
leading out of the Gas Chamber Observation Room, which has recently been
smashed through, apparently by the Cartwheelers. Now back on the first floor of
the prison, the player sees a locked Door to the Outside and another passageway
that leads into the Lethal Injection Observation Room.
DH40. In the Lethal Injection Observation Room, the player sees a glass wall facing
into the Lethal Injection Room, along with a number of chairs where the wit-
nesses would sit. In these chairs are more dead prisoners and guards, propped up
in the chairs, some decapitated. Among them is a guard who is clutching his
Revolver, which the player can pick up to allow him to use two Revolvers simulta-
neously (if he didn’t find the hidden ones in the basement). There is also a
Security Monitor, which the player can walk up to and use to get a televised view
of the Lethal Injection Room.
DH41. Looking into the Lethal Injection Room, the player sees a Lethal Injection
Victim strapped to the gurney in the room, struggling in the straps that hold him
down. If the player uses the Security Monitor, he sees a view of the man on the
table, but now Killjoy (the doctor boss eventually fought in the Asylum) is there,
hooking up the IV, bloody amputation cleaver in his free hand. If the player contin-
ues to watch, Killjoy looks into the security camera, straight at the player. If the
player stops using the Security Monitor and looks back into the Lethal Injection
Room through the window, Killjoy is not there. Eventually the Lethal Injection Vic-
tim dies, whether the player looks at him over the Security Monitor or not.
DH42. The player hears a knocking coming from behind him, from the Door to the
Outside, followed by a voice on the other side of the door asking, “Is there any-
body there?” The player hears keys rattling, and the Door to the Outside opens,
revealing Dallas, a friendly prisoner who is eager to talk to the player. He quickly
explains what he thinks is causing these monsters to appear: they have been doing
experiments on the inmates and something went horribly wrong. (Of course this is
not actually true, but Dallas believes it wholeheartedly.) He explains that he has
just come from the North Cellblock Building, and that there are lots of
Cartwheelers in there, so he’s looking for another way out. This end of the Death
House only leads to dead ends, so Dallas suggests he saw another way out through
the Death House, and tells the player to follow him. If the player kills Dallas at any
time, the prisoner drops his Ring of Keys, which the player can pick up.
Area: Courtyard Outside Death House
CY43. Dallas leads the player through the Courtyard, which is to the northeast of the
Death House. Here the player sees the bodies of a number of guards and prison-
ers strewn about, with a few dead Cartwheelers as well. Many of the guards will
have dropped their Revolvers when they died, and the player will be able to collect
them for their ammo. The player also sees assorted hypodermic needles lying
scattered around the yard. Dallas leads the player to where there is a large hole in
the wall, apparently caused by the earthquake. The hole leads back into the Death
House, and the Friendly Player leads the player back into the building.
DH44. The player and Dallas enter the Lethal Injection Room through the hole in
the wall. Here Dallas is stunned to see the Lethal Injection Victim on the table,
and tells the player that it was an old buddy of his. The Lethal Injection Victim lies
dead on the table as the player had seen him from the Lethal Injection Observa-
tion Room, except now he is stuck with thirty or more hypodermic needles,
making him resemble an acupuncture patient. “What the hell is this?” questions
Dallas. The door out of the Lethal Injection Room is unopenable, however, and so
Dallas admits that they won’t be able to get out through the Death House. As a
result, Dallas, leads the player back out into the Courtyard.
Area: Courtyard Outside Death House
CY45: Returning to the Courtyard, there are now a number of Cartwheelers that the
player must fight. Dallas is defenseless, and the player must try to keep the
Cartwheelers away from him to keep him alive.
CY46: With the Cartwheelers killed, Dallas leads the player to a door that leads into
the North Cellblock Building, which is located across the Courtyard from the
Death House. Dallas unlocks the door, heading into the building.
CY47. If the player killed Dallas, or Dallas was killed by one of the Cartwheelers, the
player will have to pick up the Ring of Keys that he drops. If the player then tries
to open the door to the North Cellblock Building, the player will automatically
use the keys and be able to open the door. Also, as soon as Dallas is killed, the
Cartwheelers start appearing in the Courtyard, if they have not already shown up.
Area: North Cellblock Building
CB1. Inside the door of the North Cellblock Building, the player and Dallas stop in
the Entryway. Dallas warns the player that there are a number of Cartwheelers
ahead. He suggests that the player should lead the way now, since he’s armed and
more of a bad-ass, besides.
CB2. From the Entryway, the player hears sounds coming from around the corner.
First is the distinctive blade clattering noise of the Cartwheeler, followed by a new
sound of the squirting of fluid through a hypodermic needle (made by the
Mainliner, though the player does not realize this yet). The sounds seem to indi-
cate something in a fight with the Cartwheeler. After that, only the sound of the
Mainliner is left, and then everything is quiet.
[…]
The Quarry
[…]
Transition to Asylum
[…]
Asylum
[…]
The Woods
[…]
The Beach
[…]
Return to Prison
[…]
Bluff
[…]
Caverns to Lighthouse
[…]
Lighthouse
[…]
Surrounding Area Outside Lighthouse

[…]
Return to Lighthouse
[…]
Road to Docks
[…]
The Docks
[…]
Section VII: Maps

Island Overview
Prison
Death House
Second Floor
First Floor
Basement
Courtyard Outside Death House
[…]
The Quarry
[…]
Asylum
[…]
The Woods
[…]
The Beach
[…]
Escape Tunnel
[…]
Return to Prison
[…]
Bluff
[…]
Lighthouse
[…]
Road to Docks & Docks

[…]
Section VIII: Menus

All menus (except the Main Menus and the Save Game Screen) can be accessed when
no game is running as well as while a game is paused in the background. When no game
is running, a custom-build 3D prison environment will be displayed behind the menus,
while when the game is paused the game-world will be shown behind the current
screen.
Main Menu Screen (No Saved Game Available)
New Game -> Immediately starts a new game
Options -> Goes to the Options Screen
Main Menu Screen (Saved Game Available)
Continue -> Immediately loads the last created/used saved game
Load -> Goes to the Load Game Screen
New Game -> Immediately starts a new game

The Archives -> Goes to the Archives Screen
Game Paused Menu Screen
Resume -> Unpauses the game and closes the menu
Save -> Goes to the Saved Game Screen
Revert -> Goes to Confirm Dialog, then ends current game and loads last used
save-game
Load -> Goes to the Load Game Screen
Quit -> Goes to Confirm Dialog, then ends current game and goes to the Main Menu
Load Game Screen
Lists all currently saved games. If the player selects one, that game is loaded and the
game is started. Player is also able to delete old saved games.
Save Game Screen
Shows all available save slots, including those with saves already in them. If the player
selects one, the current game state is saved there and gameplay is resumed.
Options Screen
Controller Settings -> Goes to the Controller Settings Screen
Screen Alignment Settings -> Goes to the Screen Alignment Settings Screen
Audio Settings -> Goes to the Audio Settings Screen
Return to Main Menu -> Goes to the Main Menu
Controller Settings Screen
Controller Configuration Selection (Player selects from three presets)
Customize Controller -> Goes to the Customize Buttons Screen
Checkpoint Save -> Save to Memory/Prompt/Save to Memory Card
Help Text On/Off
Look Sensitivity Slider
Invert Pitch Toggle Box
Vibration On/Off Toggle Box
AutoTargeting On/Off Toggle Box
Auto Pitch Correction On/Off
Return to the Options Screen -> Goes to the Options Screen
Customize Controller Screen
Allows player to remap functionality of buttons as they desire, including analog sticks.
Screen Alignment Settings Screen
Player is able to adjust the alignment of the screen to fit their display device.
Audio Settings Screen
Sound Effects Volume Slider
Dialog Volume Slider
Music Volume Slider

Stereo On/Off Toggle Box
The Archives Screen
Selection for Creature Archive/Clem’s Diary
Selection for Location Archive/Consuela’s Scrapbook
The Archives
The Archives is a unique feature of Unspeakable that allows players to learn more about
the game-world without intruding unduly on the game experience itself. The Archives
is accessible only from the Main Menu of the game. As the player uncovers each crea-
ture or special environment in the game, the game will unlock another section of the
Archives, allowing the player to read an informative text section accompanied by an
illustration/image. Before the player plays the game, the Archive will be empty, except
for an overview of Carnate Island. The player will always be able tell how many ele-
ments he has yet to uncover (for example, blank entries will appear in the notebook),
which will encourage the player to keep playing to unlock more information or to go
back and replay to unlock elements he may have missed. A player may successfully
complete the game without unlocking all the elements in the Archive.
Creature Archive/Clem’s Journal
For each creature the player encounters, the player will unlock a new page in Clem’s
Journal. This is a diary-like book with yellowed and worn pages that was written by
Clem, the prisoner that the player will meet in the game. Clem writes in an educated
manner, almost as if a naturalist writing about new species he discovers. Clem’s knowl-
edge of Carnate’s past will play into the descriptions he writes of the characters,
allowing him to reveal facts only hinted at in the game itself. Accompanying Clem’s text
will be an illustration of the creature in question that he appears to have drawn himself.
Fortunately, Clem is an accomplished illustrator. All seven of the main creatures in the
game will be featured, in addition to the four bosses, and interesting sections on prison-
ers and C.O.s.
Location Archive/Consuela’s Scrapbook
For each historically relevant location on the island the player uncovers, the player will
unlock a new page out of Consuela’s Scrapbook. Consuela is the wife of Ernesto, the
ornery guard who leads the player in at the beginning of the game and who the player
will battle alongside later on. Consuela lived on the island in the town area, and filled
her ample free time by researching the history of the island, exploring its terrain, and
taking photographs of various locations. Thus her scrapbook will include a page on
numerous key locations she has found, including the prison itself, the prison cemetery,
the quarry, the quarry cave-in, the asylum, the native village, the shipwreck, the air-
plane crash, the execution site on the bluff, the lighthouse, the witch cemetery and
burning site, the town, and the docks. Since the player may not find all these locations
when playing through the game, the Scrapbook section may contain several empty
pages when the player finishes the game. Consuela’s book looks much like a
well-maintained photo album, with black corner picture holders and little typed-up
sheets describing each image.
Interface
Main Menu
From the main menu, the player is given the option of going to the Archives menu.
Archives Selection Menu
This screen comes up from the main menu, and the player is presented with a picture of
two books on the left and right of the screen. On the left is Clem’s Journal, and on the
right is Consuela’s Scrapbook. They appear on top of a table in the style of Medal of
Honor: Frontline. The player is able to select them by pressing left and right to select
the one he wants. When selected, an item glows and pulsates to indicate it is selected.
When the player presses the Select button on either of these texts, he is taken to one of
the two Book screens.
Book Screens
Both Clem’s Journal and Consuela’s Scrapbook function identically, though they look
somewhat different. Both present an open book to the player, viewed from a top-down
view, with only the right page visible. The player can then flip through the pages using
the left and right buttons. On each page an image appears in the upper right, with text
wrapping around it. For both books, each page will at first appear blank, with a “To Be
Discovered” text appearing at the bottom of the page. Then, as the player unlocks a
given creature or location, the page text and image will show up. A text message will
appear in the game indicating that some piece of content has been unlocked, so players
will know to go to look for it.
Clem’s Journal
Clem’s Journal appears to be a worn leather book with various pieces of paper and odd
scraps stuck into it. It is very much a journal Clem was able to keep with him through
his adventures around the island, scribbling in it with his pen whenever he had a
chance. After a brief introduction, each page of Clem’s Journal shows a different crea-
ture on the island and presents an uncolored illustration of the creature in question,
with text that wraps around the illustration. The text in Clem’s journal is a readable
handwriting, in longhand. The text describes, in a few sentences, what Clem has seen
of the creature and how it is tied into the execution theme (something Clem will remark
on with curiosity). The text is simultaneously read aloud in Clem’s voice.
Consuela’s Scrapbook
In contrast to Clem’s Journal, Consuela’s Scrapbook looks significantly nicer, the prod-
uct of an intelligent and skilled woman with a lot of time on her hands. Following an
introductory page, each page of her scrapbook features a photo of a given location, with
text that wraps around it. This text appears to have been created with a typewriter and
then cut out and pasted into the scrapbook. The pictures are of 3D renderings of the
various locations, and are in black and white, and are held into the book by black photo
corners. The text describes the area that is seen in the picture and its historical rele-
vance, and while on the page the player will hear Consuela reading the text aloud.
Glossary
T his section includes brief definitions of a number of the terms referred to in this
book, and should be of particular use to readers less familiar with the jargon of
the computer and video game industry. Some of the definitions veer close to talk-
ing about programming, and in these cases I provide only enough information to give
the reader a general idea of what the term means. Those looking for more complete def-
initions are advised to pick up a book about computer game development from a
programming standpoint, of which there are many.
A*: The most popular pathfinding algorithm used by computer games, which finds
short and effective paths consistently and quickly, though it is far from perfect. The
basis of the A* algorithm is to search for a path by expanding valid nodes that are closest
to the target location first in order to try to find the shortest path possible without
searching too extensively. Of course, this can be found described in more detail in
almost any book about programming games. See also Pathfinding.
Agent: See AI Agent.
AI: See Artificial Intelligence.
AI Agent: The entity that the artificial intelligence controls in a game; the agent of
its actions. In a computer game, the AI agents include the monsters the player fights
and the NPCs to which he talks. Many people make the mistake of referring to those
creatures themselves as “AIs,” but this has always bothered me. Just as you would not
say that a person walking down the street is an “intelligence,” you should not refer to
the agents in a game as the “AIs.” See Chapter 9, “Artificial Intelligence.”
Algorithm: In the land of game development this refers to a usually short piece of
code designed to solve a particular problem, typically mathematical in nature. For
instance, you might have an algorithm that determines whether one character in a 3D
environment can see another one or not. Or you could say that the code that finds a
walkable path from the first character to the second one is an algorithm. Or, in a game
like SimCity, algorithms are used to calculate the population density in a given location
based on the choices the player has made in building the city.
A-Life: See Artificial Life.
Alpha: Customarily describes a game that is not yet close to being complete but is
playable all the way through. At this point, the design and content is largely done, and
bug-fixing, refining, and balancing are all that remain to be done on the title. This is
often used by publishers to define the state of a project they have in development and is
typically followed by the Beta state. Other developers may define Alpha differently,
such as using it to mean any game that is in a playable state. See also Beta and Release
Candidate.
655
656 Glossary
Arcade Game: Strictly speaking, a computer game that is found in an arcade envi-
ronment. It may also refer to home conversions of the same games. More broadly,
arcade game describes any game featuring the short and intense gameplay typical of
these games. See Chapter 4, which contains an analysis of the arcade game Centipede
and an exploration of the nature of the arcade game as a genre.
Art: In the context of game development, this is most often used to describe the
graphical content of a game. It can also mean what all game developers engage in, the
creation of computer games themselves, which qualify as art. The author’s favorite def-
inition of art comes from Chapter 7 of Scott McCloud’s excellent book Understanding
Comics: “Art, as I see it, is any human activity which doesn’t grow out of either of our
species’ two basic instincts: survival and reproduction.” Some game developers spend
endless time debating whether or not computer games qualify as art, but these argu-
ments are seldom productive or useful.
Art Bible: A document used in game development that includes concept sketches of
game art assets and possibly some descriptive text. The art bible is used by a game’s art
team as a reference tool in the development of the game’s graphical content, usually in
order to maintain consistency.
Artificial Intelligence: The artificial intelligence in a game controls all of the enti-
ties or agents in the game that have the ability to react to the player or otherwise
provide an unpredictable challenge for the player. Artificial intelligence in a single-
player game typically fulfills the role that human intelligence provides in a multi-player
game. Thoroughly defined in Chapter 9, “Artificial Intelligence.”
Artificial Life: A system for artificial intelligence that tries to imitate biological life
by assigning AI agents base behaviors and desires, which cause them to perform spe-
cific actions by their “nature.” This is the opposite of the type of AI typically used in
most games, though artificial life was famously used in the computer game Creatures.
Assets: The content of a game; customarily used to refer to the art, sound effects,
music, and possibly the levels. Code itself is seldom referred to as an asset.
Avatar: The same as a game-world surrogate, the player’s avatar is whatever charac-
ter represents him in the game-world. It may also be an icon used in chat-room-like
situations. “The Avatar” is also the name of the character the player controls in the
Ultima series of games.
Beta: The state games reach after passing through Alpha, and the last step before a
game is published or otherwise released to the public. In Beta, changes made to a game
are supposed to be strictly limited to bug fixes. Some developers define Beta to be
when they first have what they consider to be a release candidate. See also Alpha and
Release Candidate.
Bible: Used in the gaming industry to refer to various reference materials used dur-
ing a game’s development. See Art Bible and Story Bible.
Blind-Play: In multi-player gaming, this refers to each player being able to make his
moves without the other players being able to see them; the other players are “blind”
to their actions. In non-computer games, this is typically accomplished via a physical
“screen” of some type that is placed between different players, or between a Game
Master and his players. In computer gaming, blind-play is most common in online
Glossary 657
gaming, where each player has his own computer system and thereby cannot always
see what the other players are doing.
Boss Monster: An enemy in a game, though not necessarily a “monster” per se, that
is much larger or simply more difficult to defeat than the other opponents in the game.
Typically boss monsters are placed at the end of levels and provide a climax for that
level’s gameplay.
’Bot: Short for “robot,” this refers to artificial intelligence agents that are designed to
appear to play similarly to humans, typically designed to work in first-person shooter
death-match games. Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament both feature ’bots as the
player’s only opposition in the single-player game.
BSP: Short for Binary Space Partition. A method for storing and rendering 3D space
that involves dividing the world into a tree of space partitions, most famously used in id
Software’s games Doom and Quake.
Builder Games: One term used to describe games in which the player is responsible
for building lasting structures in the game-world. In a sense, in builder games, the play-
ers are responsible for the level design. Examples of this type of game are SimCity,
Civilization, RollerCoaster Tycoon, and The Sims.
Burn Rate: The amount of money a company, typically a developer, spends in a
month to keep itself in business. This typically includes all of the employees’ salaries,
rent, utilities, and other persistent expenses. Sometimes publishers will try to fund a
developer only to the extent of its burn rate, so that the developer does not have any
spare cash and remains forever beholden to the publisher.
Candidate: See Release Candidate.
Canned: Another term for “scripted,” though “canned” is typically used more deri-
sively. See Scripted.
Capture the Flag: A game involving two teams, both of which have a flag. The flag is
kept at a specific location and possibly guarded, while the players on both teams try to
grab the other team’s flag through stealth or brute force. In computer games, this is
often a game variant offered in first-person shooter multi-player cooperative games,
such as Quake or Unreal.
Choke-Point: A point in a game past which a player can progress only by passing
through a particular area, completing a particular puzzle, or defeating a particular mon-
ster. Often the areas preceding and following a choke-point allow the player more
freedom of play, while the choke-point presents a task the player absolutely must
accomplish before proceeding.
Classic Arcade Game: This does not necessarily mean a game that is a classic, but
any game that was released during the early period of arcade games or that exhibits the
traits typical of those games. Classic arcade games include simple, single-
screen-player games such as Space Invaders, Centipede, Robotron: 2084, or Pac-Man.
Classic arcade game is defined more fully in Chapter 4. See also Arcade Game.
Code: When used in reference to games, code is the lines of text that programmers
enter into the computer and which the computer then compiles into the functional
game. A talented programmer is sometimes referred to as a code-jockey.
658 Glossary
Color: Beyond the obvious definition, in terms of game design this may also refer to
the specific content and setting of a game. Monopoly, for instance, includes the street
names of Atlantic City and a Depression era real-estate mogul theme as a means of pro-
viding color. Color is separate from the gameplay itself.
Concept Document: Also known as a pitch document. This is a short document that
includes text and concept sketches and that is used to initially sell the idea of a project
to a publisher or other financier. A concept document gives the reader an idea of what
the game will involve without including sufficient detail to actually develop the game. If
accepted, the concept document is usually expanded into the design document.
Concept Sketch: A sketch of a particular game art asset that is used to show some-
one what the art will look like, approximately, before that graphic or model is actually
created. May also be a sketch of a scene from the game as it will appear once the game is
functional.
Creative Services: A deceptively titled wing of the publisher that is typically in
charge of creating the box art and other advertisements and logos for a game.
Critical Path: The path that the player is expected and encouraged to follow when
moving through a game or a particular level. Somewhat reminiscent of the yellow brick
road in The Wizard of Oz.
CRPG: A computer version of a role-playing game. See also Role-Playing Game.
CTF: Typically refers to capture the flag multi-player games, though it may also refer
to Valve Software’s Classic Team Fortress game. See Capture the Flag.
Cut-Scene: A non-interactive portion of a game typically used to communicate to the
player information about the game’s story line, sometimes involving pre-rendered or
live action full-motion video, other times using the game’s real-time graphics engine.
Cut-scenes often come between levels in a game, and are sometimes used as rewards
for the player having finished a particularly challenging portion of the game.
Death March: When a development team, particularly the programmers, works
every waking moment on a project for a long period of time, typically trying to make an
unachievable deadline of some sort. Often the death march is entered into thinking it
will be over soon enough, but it then drags on long beyond what anyone thought
possible.
Death-Match: A multi-player game in which the players’ only goals are to kill each
other. Usually refers to games of that sort in first-person shooters such as Half-Life,
Unreal, or Halo.
Decision Tree: A type of chart that shows how various player decisions will lead to
different outcomes. Referred to as a tree, since each fork produces two branches that
move away from the previous decision, making it look like a tree.
Design Document: The textual reference used in developing a game that attempts
to describe in detail every important aspect of the game’s design. Sometimes referred
to as the functional specification. Described more completely in Chapter 19, “The
Design Document.”
Designer’s Story: This is the story written by the designer or someone on the
development team that the game follows. This story is completely predetermined,
Glossary 659
even if it has a number of different paths for the player to explore.

DM: Depending on the context, see Dungeon Master or Death-Match.
Dungeon Master: The term for the Game Master used in conjunction with Dun-
geons & Dragons games. See Game Master.
Emergence: In terms of a game, emergence is when unanticipated behaviors and
results emerge out of the various game systems interacting with each other and with
the player’s input. In short, emergence is when the game experience takes a direction
the designer never anticipated. Some emergent behaviors may turn into player
exploits, which are generally viewed as a negative form of emergence, while other
emergent behaviors just mean players are able to author their own experience without
ruining it. Some designers view any amount of emergence as a negative, though most
would agree emergence is one of the most exciting parts of game design.
Emoticons: Somewhat odious slang expression referring to the sideways smiley
faces and other characters made out of the ASCII character set, for example, :-P. These
are often used in e-mail, ICQ, or other messaging systems, or when chatting in online
gaming experiences.
Engine: The core code that handles the most basic functionality of the game, but not
including the code that governs specific gameplay functionality. Sometimes the engine
is split up into the rendering engine, the sound engine, the behavior engine, and so
forth. Each of these components can be considered to be part of the game’s engine as a
whole. Engines are typically more general than a particular game, which allows them to
be reused for multiple different projects. However, some developers use the term
engine to refer to the entirety of a game’s source code. For example, id Software has
licensed their Quake engine for use in a broad range of games, from Half-Life to Soldier
of Fortune to Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.
Exploit: An exploit is a technique a player may use in a game to become more suc-
cessful more quickly than the designers had intended. Exploits are viewed by
developers as bugs, and are typically fixed by patches when possible. It is important to
differentiate an exploit, which gives a player unfair advancement, from an emergent
behavior, which the designer may not have anticipated but which does not ruin the play-
er’s experience. Exploits should be fixed, while emergent solutions should be
embraced.
Finite State Machine: See State-Based AI.
First-Person Shooter: The type of game exemplified by Doom, Half-Life, Unreal,
Marathon, Halo, and Medal of Honor. In first-person shooters, the player’s perspective
of the world is from the first person and his objective is to shoot everything in sight,
though some first-person shooters offer some subtle variations on this goal.
Flight Simulator: Often shortened to flight sim, this is a type of game that attempts
to model the flight of a real-world aircraft. The amount of realism involved varies from
game to game; some games are extremely realistic and difficult, while others prevent
the player from crashing entirely. Examples include Microsoft Flight Simulator, F-15
Strike Eagle, Flight Unlimited, and Hellcats Over the Pacific.
FMV: See Full-Motion Video.
660 Glossary
Focus: A brief, three- to five-sentence description of the most important concepts

guiding a game’s development. Described in detail in Chapter 5, “Focus.”
FPS: Depending on the context, this may refer to the first-person shooter genre of
games or to the frames per second that the game’s engine is currently rendering. See
First-Person Shooter.
FSM: Stands for finite state machine. See State-Based AI.
Full-Motion Video: Any non-real-time graphics in a game that are displayed quickly
in a sequential order to create a movie-like effect. Full-motion video can be of live
actors, computer-generated environments, or a combination of the two.
Functional Specification: The sister document to the technical specification, in
that it describes how the game will function from the user’s perspective, as opposed to
how the programmer will implement that functionality. In game development, typically
referred to as the design document. See also Design Document.
Fuzzy Logic: A type of AI that introduces some degree of randomness into the deci-
sion making process. This means that, given the exact same inputs, an AI agent will
make different decisions based on chance.
Game: The Oxford Universal Dictionary includes a number of definitions for “game.”
The definition we are most interested in for this book reads as follows: “A diversion of
the nature of a contest, played according to rules, and decided by superior skill,
strength, or good fortune.” To rephrase, a game presents an entertaining challenge to
the player or players, a challenge which the player or players can understand and may
be able to succeed at using their wits, dexterity, luck, or some combination thereof. To
expand, in order for that challenge to be meaningful, the player must be presented with
a number of interesting choices for how to succeed at the game, and those choices must
be non-trivial. And in order for the challenge to be truly meaningful, the game must
define the criterion for success. This excludes “software toys” such as SimCity from
being games. Of course, one could write an entire book about the nature of a game at its
purest level, but this is not that book.
Game Design: The game design establishes the shape and form of the gameplay in a
game. The game design may be communicated through a design document, or it may
only exist in the head of the implementors of the game. See also Gameplay.
Game Designer: The game designer is the person on a project who is responsible
for establishing the form of the gameplay through the game design. See also Gameplay
and Game Design.
Game Engine: See Engine.
Game Flow: The chain of events that make up the playing of a given game. A game
can be said to flow between its action, exploration, puzzle-solving, and storytelling
components. The proportional amount of time spent in each of these components and
the pace at which the game takes place contributes to its overall flow.
Game Master: In a pen and paper role-playing game, the Game Master is the player
who governs the actions of all of the other players in the game-world. The Game Mas-
ter often has also dreamt up the adventures that the players are going on, and continues
to dynamically create this story as the players navigate through it.
Glossary 661
Game Mechanic: A specific way in which a part of the gameplay is implemented. For
instance, the mechanic for doing an attack-jump in Crash Bandicoot is to hold down the
“down” or “crouch” button while in mid-jump. The mechanic for sending a unit to a new
location in WarCraft is to click on the unit in question with the left mouse button, move
the pointer to the desired position on the map, and then click there with the right
mouse button. The gameplay as a whole is made up of a number of different game
mechanics combined together.
Game Minute: A narrative description of how gameplay will proceed in a given situ-
ation in a game. These prose narratives are typically written before development on the
game has begun, to give the development team an idea of how the game will play when
it is complete. You will find a detailed discussion of game minutes in Chapter 17, “Game
Development Documentation.”
Gameplay: The gameplay is the component that distinguishes games from all other
artistic mediums. The gameplay defines how players are able to interact with the
game-world and how that game-world will react to their actions. One could consider the
gameplay to be the degree and nature of a game’s interactivity. Of course many different
people have different definitions for gameplay, but as far as this book is concerned,
gameplay does not include the game’s story, graphics, sound, or music. This is easy to
understand if one recalls that gameplay is what separates games from other artistic
mediums; each of these components is found in literature, film, or theater. Gameplay
also does not include the code used to make the game run, the game’s engine, though
that engine does necessarily implement the gameplay. The gameplay, however, could
be implemented using a completely different engine while remaining identical.
Game-World: This is the space in which a game takes place. In a board game such as
The Settlers of Catan, the game-world is represented by the board the game takes place
on. For a sports game, the game-world is the real-world but is limited to the extent of
the field the game is played on. For a role-playing game, the game-world is maintained
within the imaginations of the Game Master and the players. For a computer game, this
is a “virtual” space that is stored in the computer’s memory and that the players can
view via the computer screen. The actions the player makes in a game are limited to the
game-world, as are the reactions of either the game itself or the other players.
GM: Depending on the context, see Gold Master or Game Master.
Go Live: Term used for when a massively multi-player game is launched and players
start playing it. See Live.
Going Gold: The time when a team completes a game and is thereby able to create
the gold master, which is sent to the duplicators. See also Gold Master.
Gold Candidate: See Release Candidate.
Gold Master: The version of the game, typically recorded onto gold CDs, that is
going to be used by the duplicator to create copies of the actual shipping game. In other
words, the final version of the game.
Graphical User Interface: This is any communications method the player has of
interacting with the computer that is primarily graphical in nature. For instance, the
Macintosh has always had a graphical user interface, as opposed to the text-oriented
one available in MS-DOS or UNIX. Games use GUIs for starting up new games, loading
662 Glossary
saved games, and choosing other options from the main menu, but also for communicat-
ing information to the player not readily apparent from their view of the game-world:
the player character’s health, currently equipped weapon, amount of ammo, number of
lives, score, and so forth.
Griefing: In a multi-player game, especially a massively multi-player online game,
griefing is when players go out of their way to ruin the play experience of other gamers.
This may be as simple as blocking a doorway so other players cannot travel through it,
or it may be as mean-spirited as actually killing them. Griefing is different from simple
competition, since “griefers” have little to gain by their actions beyond sadistic
satisfaction.
GUI: See Graphical User Interface.
Heads Up Display: A type of graphical user interface that is overlaid on top of the
player’s game-world view. This may include the player character’s health, a mini-map
of the area, or radar of some sort, and typically communicates vital information to which
the player must always have easy access. Heads up displays take their name from the
displays used by jet fighter pilots, which constantly convey crucial flying information to
those pilots while they are navigating the plane. See also Graphical User Interface.
High Concept: The most primitive form of a game idea, high concept describes a
game in the simplest terms. Unfortunately, high concept ideas have a bad reputation
because of their tendency to describe games that are best not developed. For example,
a high concept might attempt to merge disparate types of gameplay or setting into one
game, without regard to whether those different ideas will work well together. An
example might be making a first-person shooter with a turn-based strategy game, or a
wargame that includes a golf simulator. In these unfortunate cases, a high concept is
often synonymous with a “bad concept.”
HUD: See Heads Up Display.
IF: See Interactive Fiction.
IK: See Inverse Kinematics.
Immersive: When discussed in the context of games, an immersive game is one that
tries to suck players into the world, making it as believable and consistent as possible,
while giving the players as many choices as possible. Typical of an immersive game is a
first-person viewpoint and a lack of “gamey” elements, such as blinking power-ups or
obtrusive GUIs and HUDs.
Input/Output: Often shortened to I/O, this refers to the systems a computer uses to
allow the player to input information (typically a keyboard and a mouse) in combination
with how it communicates information back out to the user (typically the monitor). In
terms of computer games, the I/O refers to the controls with which the player manipu-
lates the game and the way the game then communicates to the player the current
nature of the game-world.
Interactive: An interaction is when two systems, be they a human and a human, a
human and a computer, or a computer and a computer, are mutually active in a given
process. For instance, a television show is not interactive, since the television only out-
puts data and completely ignores whatever the user/audience does. A conversation
Glossary 663
between two people is interactive, however, since both parties listen to what the other
has to say and will then say something related or in response to that. As another exam-
ple, a strict lecture is not interactive since the lecturer reads a prepared speech without
any input from the audience. A discussion group, however, is interactive, since the pro-
fessor or leader of the discussion will answer the students’ questions and listen to and
evaluate their ideas. Games are interactive since they allow both the player and the
computer to determine the shape of that particular game. Computer games are not
being especially interactive when they play long cut-scenes over which the player has
no control.
Interactive Fiction: A term originally coined by Infocom, interactive fiction is an
alternate name for text adventures. Some people use interactive fiction to describe any
games that use text to describe scenes and include a text parser, even if graphics are
also included. See also Text Adventure.
Interactive Movie: A term coined by those working in games who wish to call their
profession something more glamorous than what it is. This is similar to how the comic
book industry sometimes attempts to call some of its longer and more sophisticated
works “graphic novels.” Typically, interactive movies involve more and longer
cut-scenes than your average game. Unfortunately, the makers of so-called “interactive
movies” typically add more movie than they do interactivity, resulting in works that are
almost always not very good movies and lack the interactivity to be good games.
Inverse Kinematics: An animation technique whereby a joint in a character’s skele-
ton is moved to a desired location and the joints that depend on or are influenced by that
joint are automatically moved to the correct location. For example, if animating a
humanoid, the hand could be moved toward a door handle and the elbow and shoulder
would automatically move to reasonable positions. See also Skeletal Animation.
I/O: See Input/Output.
Isometric: Isometric is defined to mean “equality of measure,” particularly in refer-
ence to drawing objects. If one were isometrically drawing a cube from a distance with
one of the points of the cube pointing directly toward the viewer, the lines of the cube
would all be of the same length and would not use any foreshortening. Games such as
Civilization II, SimCity 3000, and StarCraft are drawn isometrically. This allows a game
to be drawn from a somewhat 3D overhead view, which can then be scrolled around in
all directions, without actually needing to involve a 3D rendering engine. The perspec-
tive on the world is technically wrong, but players do not seem to mind. Also referred to
as a “three-quarters” view of the game world. See also Three-Quarters View.
LAN: An acronym for a Local Area Network. These networks typically consist of a
small number of computers in a specific area networked to each other but not necessar-
ily to the Internet or other networks.
LAN Party: Held when a bunch of friends get together, bring their computers to one
central location, and play multi-player games over them. Typically the fast “ping” times
allow players to have much faster and more lag-free games than are available over the
Internet or other long-distance networks.
Linear: When the only way to get from point A to point B is via the line segment that
connects them, we say that the movement is linear. Linear implies a lack of choice
664 Glossary
outside of a single dimension: forward or backward. In gaming, a linear game is one that
does not give players much choice in what they do. For some games, linear may mean
no choice at all, since backward is often not even an option.
Live: A term used for when a multi-player online game is up and running, with users
from the world at large playing it. The expression “go live” means the time when the
game is released for the general public to start playing. The “live team” consists of the
developers responsible for keeping the game running and updating its content once it
has launched. Any MMP developer will tell you that the act of keeping a game live and
working smoothly is as much work as developing it prior to launch.
Lone Wolf: Term used to describe game developers who do practically everything
themselves in the development of a game: the design, programming, art, sound, and
writing. At the very least, a lone wolf developer must do all of the game’s design and
programming himself. A lone wolf does not typically develop commercially released
software any more, though there are exceptions. For example, Chris Sawyer designed
and programmed all of RollerCoaster Tycoon by himself, with a contractor completing
the art to his specifications. Though he did not do the art himself, Sawyer can still be
described as a lone wolf developer.
Massively Multi-Player: Strictly defined, a multi-player game involving a very
large number of people playing it at once, at least 100 or more. Typically such games are
also persistent and played over the Internet. Ultima Online and EverQuest are exam-
ples of massively multi-player games. See also Multi-Player and Persistent.
Media: Go out and buy Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media. Read it. Come
back only when you fully understand it.
Metagame: According to Richard Garfield, creator of Magic: The Gathering, the
metagame is “how a game interfaces with life.” This means what players take to and
bring away from a particular playing of a game and how that impacts their subsequent
playings of that game. This is particularly applicable to multi-player games. Take, for
example, a game of Unreal Tournament on the Internet. If one player is known to play
unethically through camping and other undesirable tactics, players will be likely to
make a special effort to eliminate him in subsequent games. This means that the player
may end up losing subsequent games because of his behavior in previous games. This
interaction between the players from game to game is not part of the playing of the
game itself, but is part of the metagame that the playing creates. For another example,
in Magic: The Gathering the time a player spends preparing his deck before a game,
though not part of the game itself, is part of the metagame.
Milestones: A term often used in contracts between publishers and developers. A
milestone is an agreement of how much work on a project will be done at a specific date,
with the publisher only paying the developer when that milestone (usually in the form
of a current build of the game) is delivered to the publisher.
MMOG: Stands for Massively Multi-Player Online Game. See Massively
Multi-Player.
MMORPG: Short for Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game, such as
Dark Age of Camelot, EverQuest, or Ultima Online. See Massively Multi-Player.
MMP: See Massively Multi-Player.
Glossary 665
Mod: Short for “modification,” mods are user-created add-ons or changes to an exist-
ing game. Mods were popularized by id Software’s open-architecture policy, which
allowed players to make their own levels for Doom. Beyond levels, mods also often
include new AI, new weapons, new art, or some combination of all three, potentially
creating a radically altered gameplay experience from what was found in the original
game.
MOO: Stands for MUD, Object Oriented. See MUD.
MUD: Originally stood for Multi-User Dungeon, but now can also stand for
Multi-User Domain or Multi-User Dimension. MUDs resemble a text adventure with
heavy RPG elements in their central play mechanics, with the important difference
being that they take place in persistent, massively multi-player worlds. MUDs were set
up and run by college students starting in the 1980s. Players of the games, when they
reached a high enough experience level or rank, would become the creators of the
games’ content for other, less experienced players to explore. The primary interest
many players have in MUDs is the social component, preferring to chat with people
they have never seen before to going on Dungeons & Dragons style adventures. In
many ways, Ultima Online and subsequent MMORPGs are carefully regulated graphi-
cal MUDs. Another popular variant are MOOs, which stands for MUD, Object
Oriented. MOOs are architected such that players are able to easily expand the
game-world themselves. There are also MUSHes, which are Multi-User Shared Hallu-
cinations. MUSHes tend to forgo typical MUD gameplay, which centers around
accumulating stats and weapons, in favor of a more social, role-playing oriented experi-
ence. There are lots of other acronyms for MUD variants, such as MUCKs and MUVEs,
which I encourage readers to search out on the Internet if they are so inclined.
Multi-Player: A game that involves more than one player. Today, this typically also
means “networked multi-player” where each player has his own computer and com-
petes with the other players over a network, such as the Internet.
MUSH: Stands for Multi-User Shared Hallucination. See MUD.
Newbie: Slang for someone who is new to something. In games, this means novice
players who have just started playing a particular game. Often used to refer to players
who have just joined an online game, such as a massively multi-player RPG. Newbies
are often at an extreme disadvantage to the players who have been playing longer.
Non-Linear: Obviously, the opposite of linear. In terms of gaming, this means that
players are not locked into achieving different goals in a specific order or in achieving all
of the goals they are presented with. Instead, players are able to move through the
game in a variety of paths and can be successful in a variety of ways. Non-linearity
leaves players with more choices to play the game their own way. See also Linear and
On a Rail.
Non-Player Character: Any character in a computer game that is not controlled by
the player. Typically this refers to game-world characters that are not hostile to the
player, such as townspeople in an RPG.
NPC: See Non-Player Character.
666 Glossary
NURBS: Stands for non-uniform rational B-splines. A 3D graphics technique for cre-
ating curved surfaces, a detailed explanation of which should be sought out in a 3D
graphics programming book.
On a Rail or On Rails: A game is said to be on a rail when players are forced to move
through the game in a very specific, carefully controlled way, as if they were locked onto
a rail that ran through the game. Games that are said to be “on a rail” or “on rails” are
very linear games. A specific type of game called a “rail shooter” is on rails to such an
extent that the flight path of the player’s vehicle is completely predetermined, and play-
ers are only able to shoot at targets as they pass by. Rebel Assault is an example of a rail
shooter. See also Linear.
180 Degree Rule: A film technique for cutting a scene that says that the camera
must always stay on one side of a line that extends between the two centers of attention
in the frame. If the camera never rotates anywhere outside of those 180 degrees, the
audience will not become confused by the scene’s cuts from character to character.
Online: A game that is played online is run over any sort of a network, whether a
LAN or the Internet. Typically online games are multi-player, and, since each player has
his own machine and display, allows each player to have a blind-play experience, where
other users cannot see what tactics he is using. This makes online games play signifi-
cantly different than single system multi-player games.
Parser: In gaming, often refers to the input method used by text adventures. A
parser takes natural language words or sentences the player enters and translates them
into commands that the game logic can understand. Parsers can become quite sophisti-
cated while still failing to understand many of the sentences that players attempt to use
as commands. Natural language processing is a major field of AI research, one that is
still far from perfect, so it is no wonder that parsers have as much trouble as they do. A
more modern usage of the term parser is in reference to the interpreter for a game’s
scripting language. See also Text Adventure.
Pathfinding: This is the portion of the AI code that allows an agent to figure out how
to get from one location to another in the game-world. Ideally, pathfinding allows the AI
agent to avoid getting stuck on obstacles or other agents, yet pathfinding in many
games is less than perfect. There are various algorithms, such as A*, that can be used
for pathfinding, which may have different results in terms of efficiency and the quality of
the paths generated, though that is a topic better explored in a book about program-
ming. See also A*.
PC: May refer either to a game’s player character or to the Intel-based personal com-
puter originally popularized by IBM and powered by MS-DOS. See also Player
Character.
Persistent: A persistent game is one that continues running and maintaining the
state of the game-world regardless of whether a particular player is actively playing it
or not. Often persistent games are also massively multi-player, and vice versa. MUDs
were one of the first persistent games, while commercial products such as Ultima
Online and EverQuest have made persistent games quite popular to mainstream
gamers. See also MUD.
Pitch Document: See Concept Document.
Glossary 667
PK, PKing: See Player Killer.

Place-Holder: Typically refers to sound or art used in a game while it is in develop-
ment but which the development team plans to replace before the game is released to
the public.
Platform: Often used to describe the different systems a game can be developed for.
Popular gaming platforms past and present include the Apple II, Atari 800, Commodore
64, IBM PC, Commodore Amiga, Macintosh, Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment Sys-
tem, Sega Genesis, and Sony PlayStation.
Player Character: This is the character the player controls in the game, such as
Mario in Super Mario 64, Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, or the space marine in Doom. This
term is a holdover from pencil and paper RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons.
Player Killer: In multi-player games, players who go out of their way to ruthlessly
kill other players. These are particularly problematic in games that are supposed to be
more collaborative in nature, such as massively multi-player online RPGs.
Player Surrogate: See Surrogate.
Player’s Story: This is the story the players create through their actions in playing
the game. This will involve the clever techniques they used for succeeding at the
game’s challenges, whether it was where they positioned themselves to shoot and kill
their enemies, how they laid the streets down to build up a city, or which plays they
chose to win a football game. Some would be hesitant to call this a story, as it can often
more resemble a simple chronology of events. However, the player’s story is unique to
that player’s game experience, and is what he is most likely to remember and talk about
with his friends.
Playtesting: A term referring to the process of testing the gameplay of the game to
see how well it plays. Playtesting is different from bug fixing or quality assurance in
general since playtesting focuses on the performance of gameplay itself instead of gen-
eral bug fixing. See Chapter 25, “Playtesting.”
Port/Porting: The process of converting a game from one gaming platform to
another, such as from the PC to the Macintosh, or from the Sony PlayStation to the
Nintendo 64. Typically, games that are ported are completed on one system first, and
only then brought over to the other system.
Power-Up: A generic term that refers to any item in the game-world players may
acquire to improve their abilities, either briefly or long-term. Typically used in
action/adventure type games, a power-up may include a weapon, ammo, a key, a health
pack, a jet pack, or money. Power-ups are often used to draw the player to explore cer-
tain locations, with the abilities granted by their acquisition conferring a generally
positive reward on the player.
PR: See Public Relations.
Pre-Rendered: 3D graphics that are rendered into 2D sprites or images before the
player plays the game. Myst features pre-rendered 3D graphics, while Unreal features
real-time 3D graphics. See also Real-Time 3D.
Proposal: See Concept Document.
668 Glossary
PSX: An abbreviation for Sony’s PlayStation console. Actually based on an early

name for the system, the PlayStation X. Nonetheless, the abbreviation stuck. However,
Sony does not like you calling their newer system the PSX2.
Public Relations: A wing of the marketing department whose primary job is to hype
a company’s upcoming games in the press by readying press releases, screenshots, and
other information. They also can be quite helpful in granting permission to use
screenshots in books such as this one.
QA: See Quality Assurance.
Quality Assurance: This is the process of testing a game to make sure that it is
bug-free and plays reasonably well. The quality assurance cycle or period is the time
when a nearly complete project is extensively tested just prior to release. In large com-
panies, the quality assurance department or team performs that testing.
Rail, On a: See On a Rail.
Real-Time: Anything that is computed or rendered for players while they wait, such
as graphics and pathfinding. This differentiates something from being pre-computed
before the actual gameplay is taking place. Can also differentiate a game from being
turn-based. See also Turn-Based.
Real-Time Strategy: A currently popular genre of games, including such titles as
Command & Conquer, WarCraft, Total Annihilation, and Myth: The Fallen Lords. This
term is typically emphasized to differentiate these RTS games from turn-based strat-
egy games such as Civilization, X-Com: UFO Defense, and Alpha Centauri.
Real-Time 3D: Describes 3D graphics that are rendered while the player is looking
at them, so that as the player moves around the world, many different views of objects
and configurations of the game-world can be generated on the fly. Unreal uses real-time
3D graphics while Myst uses pre-rendered 3D graphics. See also Pre-Rendered.
Release Candidate: A build of the game the development team believes may be the
one that can be shipped. A release candidate is generally tested for at least a few days,
optimally a week or two, to determine if it is bug-free enough to be acceptable to the
publisher. It is not uncommon for a particular product to go through five or more release
candidates. See also Alpha and Beta.
Role-Playing Game: Games based on the type of gameplay established by pencil
and paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. Those original non-com-
puter games were so titled because in them players took on the roles of characters of
their own creation and guided them through a fantasy world. Much of the gameplay in
RPGs depends on the players role-playing these characters who often had personalities
different from their own. Ironically, most computer role-playing games often contain
very little of the role-playing aspect of traditional RPGs, instead choosing to concen-
trate on the combat mechanics and fantasy setting.
RPG: See Role-Playing Game.
RT3D: See Real-Time 3D.
RTS: See Real-Time Strategy.
Scripted: In terms of a game, scripted typically refers to AI behaviors that are
planned in advance to allow the AI agents to look clever in specific situations in a level.
Glossary 669
Scripted events play the same way every time a player plays a level. Half-Life used
scripted events, sometimes combined with dynamic AI, to produce very impressive
gameplay effects that gave the illusion of a very smart AI system.
Sim: Short for simulator or simulation. See Simulation.
Simulation: Typically, in games that are described as simulations, the primary goal of
the game’s designer is to model a real-life system accurately and realistically, instead of
simply making the game as fun as possible. This system could be anything, such as an
aircraft of some kind, a race car, or a city. Simulation can also refer to a type of game pro-
gramming where, instead of hard-coding different outcomes to player input, various
systems are created out of which responses emerge. For example, System Shock and
Deus Ex are systems- or simulation-based action/RPGs.
Simulator: See Simulation.
Skeletal Animation: An alternative to vertex deformation for 3D animations. With a
skeletal animation system, the game keeps track of an animating character’s skeleton.
The animation then controls this skeleton, moving the animating character’s mesh to
match the skeleton properly. A skeletal animation system has the advantage of causing
animations to take up much less space than when they are animated using a technique
such as vertex deformation, and often leads to superior looking animations. Further-
more, the skeleton can be controlled procedurally for inverse kinematics effects of
various types. See also Vertex Deformation and Inverse Kinematics.
Skin: In gaming, skin refers to the texture set being used on a 3D player character in
a game like Quake III Arena, Unreal Tournament, or The Sims. Players will get to
choose what skin they play the game with, either from the default collection that comes
with the game or by making their own and importing it into the game.
SKU: Stands for stock keeping unit or shelf keeping unit. It is the unique number
associated with every bar code and used by stores to track their inventory. Each unique
version of a game is sometimes referred to as a different SKU. If one game ships for dif-
ferent platforms, say Macintosh and PC, then each version is a separate SKU. Similarly,
Thief and Thief Gold are two different SKUs, though they are practically the same game.
Software Toy: A term coined by Will Wright of Maxis to describe that company’s
first product, SimCity. A software toy is quite similar to a game, except that it defines no
criterion for success. Players are just left to play with the game as they wish without
ever “winning” or “losing.” Yet players may make a software toy into a game by defin-
ing their own personal conditions for success. See also Game.
Split-Screen: A technique whereby multiple players are allowed to play and/or com-
pete on a single computer or console because the screen is split into (typically) two or
four sections. Each section then displays the portion of the game-world relevant to
each player playing the game. The disadvantage to split-screen gaming over online
gaming is that all the players can see the screens of the other players. The advantage to
split-screen gaming is that all the players play in close proximity to each other, allowing
for a significantly more social experience.
State-Based AI: A type of AI that uses states for each of its agents. States include
actions such as idle, walking, attacking, and so forth. The AI then switches the agent
from one state to another depending on the conditions of the game-world. May also be
670 Glossary
referred to as a finite state machine or FSM.

State Machine: See State-Based AI.
Story Bible: A document that contains all the information available about the story
elements of the game-world. Story bibles can be quite large, especially when working
with properties with established histories, such as the Star Trek or Ultima universes.
These documents are usually used as reference works for the developers during the
game’s creation. Described in detail in Chapter 17, “Game Development
Documentation.”
Surrogate: A term used to describe the entity that the player controls in the game,
also known as the player character or the player’s avatar. See also Avatar and Player
Character.
Suspension of Disbelief: A mental state that players achieve when they are fully
immersed in the game-world and briefly forget that they are playing a game at all. Natu-
rally players will disbelieve what is happening on the screen, since it is projected on a
flat screen, it does not look exactly like the real world, and players control their actions
in it with a keyboard and mouse or a controller instead of their normal body movements.
However, as with movies, the time comes when players make the subconscious deci-
sion to forget the inherent fake-ness of the presentation, to suspend their disbelief, and
to start to believe that they really are great heroes or they really are in outer space or
what have you. Maintaining players in that state for as long as possible is one of the pri-
mary goals of immersive games.
TDD: See Technical Design Document.
Technical Design Document: This document takes the gameplay as described in
the design document and explains how that gameplay will be implemented in more
technical, code-centered terms. As a result, this document is often used primarily by
the programming team. This can take the form of one massive document that covers
the whole project, or it can be a number of smaller documents about specific features.
Described in detail in Chapter 17, “Game Development Documentation.”
Technical Specification: Another name for the technical design document. See
Technical Design Document.
Text Adventure: Text adventures are devoid of graphics and describe the game-
world to the player exclusively through text. Players are then able to interact with the
game-world by typing in natural language sentences in the imperative form, stating
what they want their character to do next. The form was made extremely popular by
Infocom in the early 1980s. See also Interactive Fiction.
Three-Quarters View: Typically refers to games that have an isometric viewpoint.
This view can be in any rendering system with an overhead view of the ground where
the camera is oriented at a 45-degree angle from the plane of the ground. See also
Isometric.
Turn-Based: Any game where the computer waits for the player to act before pro-
ceeding with its own actions. Civilization, for instance, is a turn-based strategy game,
while WarCraft is a real-time strategy game. For some non-computer game examples,
chess is a turn-based game while football (soccer) is real-time. American football is a
Glossary 671
bizarre hybrid of real-time and turn-based gameplay.

Turn-Based Strategy: See Turn-Based.
Vertex Deformation: A 3D animation system where the individual vertices of a
model are moved one by one to new positions for each frame of the animation. This is
the simplest 3D animation method to code for, but has many disadvantages over a skel-
etal animation system. Sometimes also called keyframe animation. See also Skeletal
Animation.
Virtual Reality: Technically, virtual reality, or VR, refers to advanced world-simula-
tion systems at a minimum involving the user wearing a set of goggles with a small
monitor or display device in each eyepiece. This allows players to get a truly 3D, ste-
reo-vision experience. Also, the VR headset allows the players to turn their heads and
have their view of the virtual world change accordingly to match the new location at
which they are “looking.” VR systems may also involve wearing gloves or full-body
suits that detect the user’s motion and translate that into motion in the virtual world.
Because of this, VR allows for some of the most immersive virtual environments possi-
ble. Virtual reality is one of the most commonly misused terms in all of computer game
parlance. Many game developers with inflated senses of what they are doing will refer
to their RT3D first-person games as VR when, since they do not involve headsets, they
are really nothing of the kind. Marketing people are particularly fond of misusing and
abusing this term.
VR: See Virtual Reality.
Wargame: When used in reference to computer games, wargame typically refers to
strategy-oriented games that employ gameplay based on pen and paper or board
wargames such as those made by Avalon Hill. Computer wargames almost always sim-
ulate historic battles, typically feature hexagon-based play-fields, and use turn-based
gameplay. Games that are set in historical wars but are not strategic in nature are not
generally referred to as wargames. Classic examples of computer wargames include
Kampfgruppe and Eastern Front (1941), while more modern examples include Panzer
General and Close Combat.
Selected
Bibliography
The following references have been a great help to me in solidifying my ideas about
computer games. I list them here as a sort of “recommended reading” list for those who
wish to continue to learn about game design outside the confines of this book.
Books
Bogdanovich, Peter. Who The Devil Made It. New York: Knopf, 1997.
A fascinating collection of interviews with classic film directors. Bogdanovich’s
interview style was my model for the interviews conducted in this book.
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New York: Bollingen Foundation
Inc., 1949; reprint Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972.
Campbell’s book is the definitive text on understanding the nature of myths, leg-
ends, and heroic stories from throughout the ages.
Crawford, Chris. The Art of Computer Game Design. Berkeley, CA:
Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 1984.
___________. The Art of Interactive Design: A Euphonious Guide to Building Successful
Software. San Francisco, CA: No Starch Press, 2002.
___________. Chris Crawford on Game Design. Boston, MA: New Riders Publishing,
2003.
Crawford’s seminal The Art of Computer Game Design was the first book about
computer game design and was the inspiration for this book. Despite its age in
computer game industry terms, it remains largely relevant today. Long out of print,
it can currently be read in a number of locations on the Internet, including
www.erasmatazz.com. Recently, Crawford has published two new books that will
be of interest to game designers. Originally self-published as Understanding
Interactivity, Crawford’s The Art of Interactive Design deals not specifically with
games but with interactive design in general. A reworking of sorts of The Art of
Computer Game Design, Chris Crawford on Game Design sees Crawford focusing
once again specifically on games, with his unique style and acerbic wit sure to
entertain as it enlightens.
DeMaria, Rusel and Johnny L. Wilson. High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic
Games. Berkeley, CA: Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 2002.
Long-time game journalists, DeMaria and Wilson’s book is a deluxe package, with
more gorgeous images of gaming’s history than one would have thought existed.
The facts and first-hand accounts of computer and video game history are also
672
Selected Bibliography 673
fantastic. Though not specifically about game design, the book will be a joy to read
for anyone who wants to learn more about the fascinating history of computer
games.
Kent, Stephen L. The Ultimate History of Video Games. Roseville, CA: Prima Publishing,
2001.
This is the most exhaustive and definitive book about the history of video and com-
puter games written to date. Though it is lighter on images than High Score!, it
goes into much more detail about the history of computer gaming, both creatively
and from a business standpoint. It is not specifically about game design issues, but
its insights into game history are riveting for anyone interested in the form.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, Inc.,
1993.
________. Reinventing Comics. New York: Paradox Press, 2000.
Though these books are technically about comics, they both provide tremendous
insight about media and art of all kinds. It is fair to say that Understanding Comics
fundamentally changed the way I think about art.
McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1964.
reprint Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994.
The definitive book on media of all kinds, a work that takes on new meaning in the
age of the Internet. McLuhan may be a bit obtuse in his writing style, but his
insights are without peer.
Strunk, William and E.B. White. The Elements of Style. New York: Macmillan Pub-
lishing, 1959; reprint 4th Ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
The Elements of Style remains the last word on clear and concise writing. It is a book
that anyone writing a design document, script, or book about game design would
do well to read.
Periodicals
Computer Gaming World (Ziff Davis Media)
Still the best monthly magazine about computer games.
Develop (MCV Media)
The UK counterpart to Game Developer, Develop has a more sarcastic take on the
game industry and is somewhat more business-oriented, while still covering real
development issues from all angles.
Edge (Future Publishing, Inc.)
This unique magazine is equally interested in reviewing games and looking under
the hood of how they are developed. In many ways, this was the UK counterpart to
Next Generation, and with that magazine’s demise is now the only magazine of its
class.
Game Developer (CMP Media, Inc.)
The closest the gaming industry has to a trade magazine, Game Developer covers all
aspects of game development, including articles on game design.
674 Selected Bibliography
Next Generation (Imagine Media, Inc.)

Sadly no longer being published, Next Generation was a unique hybrid com-
puter/console game magazine with an emphasis on cutting-edge game technology
and, sometimes, the theory and people behind the games. Back issues are worth
attempting to track down.
Surge (Bedford Communications, Inc.)
In many ways Surge is staking claim to some of the space left by the demise of Next
Generation, looking deeper into the world of games than any of the other
non-development gaming magazines.
Web Sites
www.anticlockwise.com/dani
A tribute page to the late Dani Bunten Berry, the tremendously gifted designer of
the classic M.U.L.E. and Seven Cities of Gold, and one of the pioneers of
multi-player gaming. Includes many of Berry’s writings about game design and
reflections on her career. Note: the URL for this site has changed numerous times
since the first edition of this book came out. If the above link does not work, do a
Google search for “Dani Bunten Berry” to find the most up-to-date location.
www.costik.com
Greg Costikyan is best known for his pencil and paper game designs, including the
classic games Toon and Paranoia, though he has also done a number of computer
games. His web site includes an array of articles he has written, including the very
interesting screed, “I Have No Words & I Must Design.”
www.dadgum.com/halcyon
Originally published as an e-book, James Hague’s book is now available for free on
the Internet and is an invaluable source of information about what it was like to
work in the gaming industry just as it was starting to establish itself. All informa-
tion comes straight from the source through a series of interviews with a broad
range of subjects, including many whose work is discussed in this book: Eugene
Jarvis, Dani Bunten Berry, Dan Gorlin, Brian Moriarty, Ed Rotberg, Chris
Crawford, and so on.
www.8kindsoffun.com
One-time Looking Glass Studios programmer Marc LeBlanc understands the
more fundamental concepts of game design better than most game designers, as is
evidenced by his numerous lectures on game design at the Game Developers Con-
ference and other venues. Most of his works are collected here.
www.erasmatazz.com
Chris Crawford’s current home on the web, centered on his interactive storytelling
engine, the Erasmatron. Also includes a vast library of Crawford’s writings about
game design, including everything he ever wrote for the Journal of Computer Game
Design and links to the full text of The Art of Computer Game Design. Required
reading.
Selected Bibliography 675
www.gamasutra.com
Gamasutra is the sister web site of Game Developer magazine. The site runs origi-
nal content as well as some reprints from the magazine. Within its pages, a vast
wealth of information is archived and searchable.
www.gamedev.net
One of the definitive sites about game development on the web and one of
Gamasutra’s primary rivals. GameDev.net is a much more active site in general,
with a broad wealth of knowledge that will be a boon to professionals and hobbyists
alike.
www.legendmud.org/raph
Raph Koster’s home page on the web, with tons of articles about MMP game
design issues. Before becoming lead designer on the original Ultima Underworld,
Koster had been involved with the MUD community for some time, and his writ-
ings reflect his diverse knowledge of the subject.
www.ludix.com/moriarty
A collection of Brian Moriarty’s lectures on games. Moriarty is surely one of the
most inspirational speakers the community has ever had, and though his lectures
may not tell you specific things to do on your next game project, they will force you
to reflect on the nature of games and their often challenging development.
www.mobygames.com
This massive site serves the game industry much like the Internet Movie Data-
base does the film industry; though not quite complete, it contains a searchable
index of games released for most of the major systems over the last twenty years.
Want to know what else the lead designer of your current favorite game worked on
previously? Look it up on MobyGames.
www.theinspiracy.com
The home page for Noah Falstein’s game consulting company, The Inspiracy. In
addition to being kind enough to comment on and write the foreword for this book,
Falstein is the game design columnist for Game Developer magazine, where he has
been working on what he calls “The 400 Project,” an effort to record some 400
rules that apply to game design. The site includes a discussion of The 400 Project,
as well as other writings by Falstein and transcripts of some of his talks at the
Game Developers Conference.
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Index
Page numbers in bold indicate an image of that particular game.
1830, 24 addictive quality of games, 26-27, 58
2D, Advanced Squirrel Hunting, 294
adapting to 3D, 299-300, 344-345 Adventure, 187
game engine, 43, 469 adventure games, 47, 191, 194, 198, 200,
games, 107 227-228, 229-230, 233, 235-236, 326,
game-world, 108, 395-396 339, 470
vs. 3D, 42, 83-84, 107, 298, 365 aesthetics, 459-460, 471
3D, Age of Empires, 125, 253
adapting from 2D, 299-300, 344-345 AI, see artificial intelligence
camera, 423, 430 Air Warrior, 241
game engine, 43, 84, 102, 298-299, 430, Alexander, Christopher, 425-426
469 Alice in Wonderland, 188
games, 107, 421-423, 430-431 alpha, 490
game-world, 81, 100, 107, 133, 137, Alpha Centauri, 151, 155, 365
298-299, 344-345, 395, 399-400 alpha testing, 185
graphics vs. 2D graphics, 298 alternate realities, 239
vs. 2D, 42, 83-84, 365 ambient life, 162
3D Studio MAX, 399 Amiga, 263
7th Guest, The, 208 Amos, Scot, 104, 106
Anderson, Tim, 180
A Angell, Carol, 507
abstraction, 274 anticipatory game design, 10, 116-117,
vs. reality, 126-127 205-206, 481
in game-world, 125 antisocial nature of games, 5, 237-238
Abyss, The, 189 Ants, The, 419
accessibility, 523-524 AOL, 413, 440
Accolade, 192 Apple II, 260
accomplishment, sense of, 148 Apple Invaders, 321
action, 455-456 Arabian Nights, 323
action games, 51, 142-144, 250, 455-456 arcade games, 103, 108, 216, 239 see also
action/adventure games, 200, 456-457 classic arcade games
action/exploration games, 457, 460 vs. home market, 103-104, 111-112, 113
actions, branching, 460 arcades, 58, 102-103, 104, 144
Activision, 179-180, 189, 194 Archer, Cate, 219
actors, casting, 332-333 architecture, 426, 469
Adams, Douglas, 175-176 designer, 473
Adams, Scott, 326 modifying, 471
adaptation refining, 469-470
of 2D games, 299-300, 344-345 Area 51, 103
of fiction, 175 Arkanoid, 107
of games, 26 art bible, 315-316
of non-computer games, 142 art form, games as, 532
677
678 Index
Art Nouveau, 334 avatar, customizing, 244

Art of Computer Game Design, The, 71, Avellar, Norm, 101
257, 264 Avid editing system, 331
art style, 315-316
artificial intelligence, 5, 93-94, 112, B
147-148, 151-171, 239, 258, 278, 288, babel fish puzzle, 176
332, 516, 520-521 back-story, 216, 222, 311-312, 376
agents, 153, 244-245 Back-Story Tome, 375-376
challenging, 155 backtracking, 465
collaborative, 155, 368 Bailey, Donna, 57, 94
describing in design document, 366-368 balance, 99, 150, 267, 401-402, 442, 459,
equal vs. unequal, 154-156, 162-163, 368 460
goals of, 153-162, 163 Balance of Power, 257, 263, 266-267
irrational, 158 Balance of Power II: The 1990 Edition, 266,
logic of, 158-159 268-269, 269
player expectations of, 153-154 Balance of the Planet, 270, 271
programming, 152-153 balancing, 34, 96, 245, 253, 254, 289, 377,
providing challenge for player, 154-156 493-497
scripted, 168-171 Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, 239
simple, 153-154 Barbie, 413
sophistication of, 163-164, 166-167, Bard’s Tale, The, 137, 505, 533
167-168 Bard’s Tale II, The, 533
stupidity of, 156-157 Barthelet, Luc, 436
unpredictability of, 157-159 basketball, 413, 462
vs. gameplay, 163-164 Bates, Bob, 189
artificial stupidity, 171 Battlefield 1942, 241, 245, 246, 250
artistic license, 385 Battlezone, 61
artists, 109, 370, 473 behavioral model, 427
Asheron’s Call, 248 behaviors, 213, 214, 366-367, 389-390,
assets, throwing away, 284-285, 287, 290, 400-403
471 believability, of setting, 477-478
assumptions in design document, 366 Berez, Joel, 178-179
Asteroids, 87, 88, 91, 91-93, 92, 108, 109, Berry, Dani Bunten, 237, 248, 446-447
321 beta, 490
saucer in, 91, 95 beta testing, 185
Asteroids Deluxe, 92 Better Red than Undead, 516-517
Atari, 80, 87-88, 95, 98, 100-101, 102, 103, Beyond Zork, 180, 228
107, 258-264, 321 Big Sleep, The, 222
Atari 2600, 93, 259-260 big-picture view, 504
Atari 800, 259-260 biological simulations vs. economic
Atari Program Exchange, 261 simulations, 416
Atari Research Division, 261, 264 Bjornson, Edith, 273
audience, 193, 205, 222, 294, 302, 418-419, Blackley, Seamus, 515
488 Blank, Marc, 173, 178-179, 180, 186
audio, 208, 336-337, 417 see also sound blank-slate character, 13
output, 139-140 Bleszinski, Cliff, 459
August, John, 350 blind-play, 240, 241, 258
authorship, abdicating, 124, 383-384, 451, Blitzkrieg, 258
529-530 Blizzard Entertainment, 404
auto-mapping, 507 blob strategy, 118
autonomous behavior, 389-390 “Blowin’ in the Wind,” 266
Avalon Hill, 258 Blue, 353
Index 679
Blue Sky, 503 Castles of Doctor Creep, The, 323

Blue Sky Research, 515 casual game players, 83-84, 193, 198,
board games, 26, 38, 245, 248, 250, 258 302-303, 423, 430, 440, 479
vs. computer games, 26 casual gaming experience, 106
Boffo Games, 173, 195 Caterson, Steve, 105
Bond, James, 163-164, 219 CD-ROM games, 208
Bone, 234 cell phone games, 106
Bora-Bora, 294 cellular automata, 410-411
boundaries, game-world, 9-10, 126 censorship, 482
bragging rights, 5, 60, 238-239 Centipede, xx, 50, 54, 57-68, 62, 64, 66, 67,
brainstorming, 77, 88, 94-95, 110 80-82, 87, 88, 93-96, 94, 95, 107, 118,
branching 126, 137, 143, 145, 152, 153, 154, 202,
actions, 460, 462 213, 285, 373, 450
dialog, 37, 229-230, 314, 507 blob strategy, 118
paths, 465 “Bug Shooter” idea, 88, 93
stories, 223-224 focus statement, 81
storyboards, 317 mushrooms in, 54, 63-64, 65-66, 88, 95,
tree, 337 118
branding, 36 Centipede (3D version), 50-51, 51, 54,
Braun, Jeff, 411 80-82, 81, 157, 208, 240, 251-252, 253,
breadth vs. depth, 387, 525-526 285, 290, 304, 396, 399, 404, 496
Breakout, 88, 89, 107 focus statement, 82
Broderbund Software, 321, 322, 411 level editor, 399-400
Bruckheimer, Jerry, 350 Cerny, Mark, 96, 379, 497
BSP engines, 298 challenges, 2-3, 14, 120, 123-124, 238, 303
BTZ engine, 182 Champions, 248
budgets, 55, 108, 110, 122-123, 195, 200, changes, importance of documenting, 378
263-264, 318, 335, 341-342, 530 characters, 174, 222, 310, 311-312 see also
bug-free software, 406 player characters
bugs, 406, 490-491, 506 behavior of, 376-377
builder games, 25, 386-387, 408, 451 creating, 387
builds, playable, 288 describing, 362-363
Bungie Software, 49, 252, 253, 303 iconic representation of, 221
Bunten, Dan, 269 personality of, 13
Bushnell, Nolan, 88 chat, 3-4, 249-251, 440
buttons, 132 Chavez Ravine, 352
icons for, 139 checkpoint saving, 15-16
checkpoints, 463
C chess, 119, 238, 248
Call of Duty, 12, 457, 529 children game players, 234
camera, choice trees, 328
controlling, 299-300, 303, 304 choices,
following, 344 giving to players, 119-120, 203, 274, 386,
in level editor, 394 509, 510, 511-512, 521-522, 529, 530
view, 476 in levels, 466
Captain Hero, 421 interesting, 466, 480
Car & Driver, 501 making, 56, 480, 482, 500
Carlston, Doug, 321 meaningful, 482, 500
Carlyle, Thomas, 392 Choplifter, 321-322
Carmack, John, 53, 513 Choose Your Own Adventure, 337
cartoon imagery, 221 Chris Crawford on Game Design, 257
cartoons, 334 chrome, 459
680 Index
Chuck Yeager, 501, 515 complex systems, 25, 116-117, 117-118

Church, Doug, xvii, 383, 500-531 balancing, 270
cinema, see film tracking, 136
Civil War, 21, 27-30 complexity
Civilization, xxi, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25-27, 26, of game, 149-150
33, 37, 118, 226, 236, 282, 373, 384, 387, of programming tasks, 406
393, 408, 451, 460-461 CompuServe, 413
end-game, 16-17 computer games
rush strategy, 118 vs. board games, 26
Civilization II, 117, 151 vs. video games, 263, 271
Civilization III, 243 concept document, 308
Civilization board game, 25-26 concept sketches, 315
classic arcade games, 51, 57-59, 144-145, consistency, 8-9, 117, 312
146 see also arcade games console games, 134, 348-349, 451-452, 477,
characteristics of, 58-61 524
click-and-drag, 28-29, 134, 429 controls in, 132-133
clone games, 2, 297, 321, 342-343 console market, 108
Close Combat, 153 constellation, 168, 222
closure moments, 521 constraints,
Cmiral, Elia, 336 dramatic, 275
Cobb, Ron, 195 working with, 58
“code like hell,” 393 consumer games, see home market
coin-op games, 95, 99, 102-103, 112-113, controls, 62, 83, 95, 100, 102, 103-104, 127,
321 131-136, 231, 303, 325, 329, 348-349,
coin-op market, 87, 96, 100-101, 102-103 352, 362, 479
vs. home market, 97, 103-104, 108, click-and-drag, 28-29, 429
111-112, 113 intuitive, 62, 131-134, 136, 387-388
Cold War, 516 learning, 129-130
collaboration, 506 mouse, 507
between designer and player, 427, 500 simplifying, 132-133, 248
in game development/level creation, 474 testing, 490
in storytelling, 383-384 conversations, 431, 515-516
collaborative play, 253 branching, 314, 507
Colonization, 192 canned, 428
color games, 93 with NPCs, 46, 83, 213, 268, 301-302,
comic books, 271, 334 313
Command & Conquer, 131, 140, 202, conversions, 97, 100-101, 103-104, 268,
203-204, 206, 208, 231, 297, 300 310, 401
commercial cooperative games, 242, 245-246, 251-252,
games, 200 253
success, 513-514, 523-524 Coppola, Francis Ford, 533
viability, 278-280, 530 copy protection, 186-187, 216
Commodore 64, 409 core game, 362
communal activities, 3-5 Cosmic Encounter, 238, 245
communication, 376 Counter-Strike, 241, 245
with development team, 75, 109, 291, Covert Action, 20, 22-23, 23, 24
436, 473, 505-506 Cranford, Michael, 533
with player, 387-388, 417 Crash Bandicoot, 134, 137
community, online, 255, 413 Crawford, Chris, xvii, 71, 205, 257-280,
comparisons of games, 358-359 307, 384
competition in games, 243 creative freedom, 134, 177, 259
competitive analysis document, 309 creativity of player, 116, 325, 414
Index 681
Criterion, 43, 53 Game Mechanics section, 361-366

critical path, 456-457, 465, 480 Game Progression section, 371-373
cross-cutting, 322, 328 importance of keeping up to date, 380
cross-marketing, 353 inconsistency in, 358
Cruisin’ World, 462 Introduction/Overview, 360-361
cult of personality, 36 poor, 374-379
cut-scenes, 17-18, 37, 207-212, 217, 301, repetition in, 357-358
313, 317, 328, 329, 334, 350, 481-482 sections of, 359-373
non-interactivity of, 209-211 Story Overview section, 371
playback, 209-210 System Menus section, 373
Cyberball, 102 Table of Contents, 360
cyberspace mode, 513 tools for writing, 357
version number, 380
D weight of, 379
Damage Incorporated, 49, 49-50, 125, writing style of, 357-359
156-157, 160, 166, 167, 167-168, 210, designer’s story, 37, 203-206, 220, 235
214, 224-225, 225, 289 vs. player’s story, 383-384
Dane, Warrel, 69 designers, see game designers
Daniels, Bruce, 180 Deus Ex, 129, 315, 525, 525-526
Dark Age of Camelot, 241 development, xxi, 89
Dark Camelot, 516-517, 518 collaboration in, 474
Dark Crystal, The, 234 community, 531
Dark Forces, 208 cycle, 285-286, 489-490
Das Boot, 271 documentation, 306-319
data, environments, 31
audio output of, 139-140 limitations of, 53
visual representation of, 137-139 process, xx, 69-70, 110-111, 184-185,
data mining, 255 197, 282-287
Dave Lebling, 172 using scripting languages in, 400-403
Deadline, 172, 173, 186 development team, xxiii, 69-70, 77, 79, 110,
Deathbounce, 321 285-286, 307, 339, 519
death-match, 3, 248, 249, 250-251, 254, as playtesters, 485
461, 462 communicating with, 436, 473
debugging, 90, 484 morale, 252
in level editor, 396 size of, 31-32, 436
scripting language, 401 Diablo, 131, 191, 231, 363, 370
decision trees, 311 Diablo II, 132, 363, 370
Deep Space, 501 dialog
Defender, 61, 393 in-game, 99, 160, 213, 214, 313, 314
demos, 283, 504-505 irritating, 219
depth dice, 147, 508
of gameplay, 33-34, 386-387, 478-479, differentiation, points of, 70-71
524 difficulty, 59-60, 83, 120, 197, 198, 233,
vs. breadth, 387, 525-526 290, 303, 465, 495-497
design, see game design ramping up, 14, 67, 143, 148, 453
design document, 78, 79, 98, 110, 284-285, dinosaur game (Sid Meier), 30
293-294, 295, 308, 309-311, 356-381 Diplomacy, 243, 245
Artificial Intelligence section, 366-368 Dirt Bike, 89
assumptions in, 366 Disney, 322, 335, 350
Executive Summary, 360-361 dissolves, 331
format of, 356, 373-374 distancing effect, 482
Game Elements section, 369-371 distribution, 177-178
682 Index
DMA Design, 478 empowerment, 123, 383-384, 475

documentation for development, 306-319 Enchanter, 177, 180
Doom, xx, 9-10, 49, 126, 139, 148, 154, end-games, 16-17, 243
213, 219, 282, 344, 367, 451, 455, 460, endings,
462, 463, 514 determining through gameplay, 161-162
engine, 469 multiple, 121-122
head interface in, 139 enemies, outnumbering players, 154-155
Doom II, 9, 367 engines, see game engines
Doornbos, Jamie, 425 Ensemble, 253
Dornbrook, Mike, 173, 179 entertainment media, 38
Dr. Muto, 87, 104-106, 105, 106, 111 entity editors, 399
Dragon Speech, 272 environment, see game-world and setting
Drakan series, 208, 402 Erasmatron, 257, 272-280, 276
Drakan: Order of the Flame, 246, 364-365, commercial viability of, 273
404 creating story-worlds with, 273
Drakan: The Ancients’ Gates, xvii, 134 predetermined endings, 274-275
Driver, 7 story-world options, 276-277
driving games, 103 Erasmatron 2, 273
drop outs in multi-player games, 244 escape, impossibility of, 16
Dub Media, 195 event-based, 512
Duke Nukem 3D, 219, 470 EverQuest, 241, 243, 248
Dungeon Master, 99, 205, 245 evolution of games, 38, 108
Dungeon Master, 503 expectations of player, 8-18, 63, 126-127
Dungeon Siege, 452-453 experimentation, 234, 291, 386
Dungeons & Dragons, 205, 238, 245, 248, experienced game players, 247
477 exploits, 118, 254, 442
dying, 148, 218, 228, 233, 266, 323 exploration, 6, 15, 223, 228, 234, 414,
456-457, 460-461, 462, 491
E external materials, storytelling through, 206,
Earth Day, 270 216-217
Eastern Front (1941), 257, 260-261, 267
easy-to-learn games, 33, 58, 60 F
easy-to-play games, 33 F-15 Strike Eagle, 20, 36
eBay, 196 F-19 Stealth Fighter, 20, 21
economic simulations, 24, 25 facial expressions, 276
vs. biological simulations, 416 factions in games, 516-517
ecosystems, 416-420 Fairbanks, Douglas, 347
Edith, 421, 433-434 fairness of game-world, 14
Egyptian Rumba, 73 Fallout, 451, 455
Eidos, 517, 518 Falstein, Noah, xvi, 124, 215-216
Electric Ladyland, 533 familiarity with game’s subject matter,
Electronic Arts, 103, 174, 269, 436, 501, 384-386
530 family gaming, 193
Elements of Style, The, 306 fans, 421
Elliot, Lauren, 324 fantasy fulfillment, 7-8
Ellipsis Special Documents, 374-375 feature thin games, 254
Ellison, Harlan, 40-41 features,
emergence, 117-118, 253, 442-443 adding to level editor, 405
emoticons, 249 player-requested, 254
Emotion Engine, 279 unique, 361
emotions in games, 6, 239, 522, 523-524
Empire, 21, 269
Index 683
feedback, 12, 18, 33, 62-63, 135-140, 243, food in games, 125, 136-137
253-255, 292, 440-441, 444, 446, 464, Football, 95
484-485, 487, 492 Football (four-player), 92, 93
female game players, 94, 129, 241-242, 248 Forester, Jay, 410
feng shui, 425 Forge level editor, 397
field testing, 88, 92, 102, 111 Fossilized Document, 378-379
fighting games, 8-9, 103, 239 franchises, 421
film, 322, 329, 353 freedom, creative, 96
conventions, 327-328 freedom of player, 95, 124, 275, 384, 480
techniques, 322 Freeman, Gordon, 212, 219
using in game, 330-331 Frequency, 526-527
film industry vs. game industry, 342, 343 Frogger, 50, 58
filmmaking, 217-218, 327-328, 353 front-end GUIs, 366
process, 281-282 frustration of player, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 126,
Filshie, Craig, 475 134, 183, 199, 243-244, 465-466
Final Fantasy, 31-32 full-motion video, 208, 329, 331-332
Final Fantasy series, 219 fun,
Firaxis, 20 assessing, 1
FireTeam, 254 as sine qua non, 271
first impressions, 291, 456 vs. reality, 446, 525
first-person perspective, 527, 528 functional specification, 309 see also design
vs. third-person perspective, 528-529 document
first-person shooters, 241, 248, 332, 457, funding, 286
469, 470, 479, 529 fuzzy logic, 158-159
and scripted behavior, 169
controls, 135 G
game-world, 126 Gaia hypothesis, 416
first-person view, 328 Galaga, 58, 145
Flanagan, Bob, 92, 99 game design, xix, xxi, 42, 47, 78-79, 108,
Flight Simulator, 409 115-116, 132, 140, 429
flight simulators, 21, 35, 36 anticipatory, 10, 116-117, 205-206, 481
Flight Unlimited, 511, 515, 517 artificial intelligence, 152-153
flow, 69 by committee, 498
of levels, 460-462, 480 cohesion of, 518-519
flowcharts, 311 copying, 321
Floyd (Planetfall), 174 creativity in, 134
FMV, see full-motion video evolution of, 30-31, 476
focus, 70, 285, 361, 386-387, 424 experimenting with, 343
as development tool, 85-86 focused, 228-230, 300-301
changing, 79-82, 426-427 for multi-player games, 242-251
communicating to team, 77 modifying, 290-291, 294, 340, 350-351,
establishing, 70-77 412
example of creating, 72-74 modular, 324-325
fleshing out, 78-79 open-ended, 242, 428
function of, 74-77 original, 321, 390
maintaining, 77-82 philosophy, 228, 512
on game design process, 519 process, 199, 259-260, 340, 447, 505-506
using, 85-86 rules, 19, 115-116, 228
focus groups, 18, 111, 382, 424-425, simplifying, 24
497-499 systems-based, 475-476, 480, 521-523
focused game design, 300-301 theory, xxii
focusing, 512-513 unconventional, 267-268
684 Index
vision, 32, 56, 70-71, 73, 77, 111, “just one more thing,” 387
497-499 open-ended, 431-433
working with limitations of, 224-225 refining, 471
game designers, xxi-xxii, 1-2, 109, 124, 217, starting with, 42-43, 50-51, 51-52
224, 239, 244, 291-293, 299, 380-381, styles/genres, 42
384, 387, 398, 405-406 technology considerations, 42-45, 50-51
and collaboration with player, 427, 500 transparent, 508
and non-linearity, 123 understanding, 292-293
and storytelling, 202, 203-204 variation in classic arcade games, 58-59
as playtesters, 486 vs. artificial intelligence, 163-164
designer/programmers, 32, 109, 198, vs. realism, 34-35, 267
291-293, 299, 339, 505 vs. story, 224-225
dream of, 534 gamers, see players and players, types of
focusing design, 78-79, 429 games, 275-276, 413
limiting player options, 338 addictive quality of, 26-27
motivations of, 534 analyzing, 2, 59, 75
personal preferences of, 140 antisocial nature of, 5
understanding source of idea, 52-53 appeal of, 94
vs. programmers, 403-406 builder, 408
Game Developers Conference, 124, 168, categories of, 37
178, 243, 257, 265, 272, 383, 413 collaborative nature of, 245-246, 340
game engines, 41-45, 50, 83, 137, 182-183, comparing, 74-75, 85, 358-359
273, 286-287, 292, 304, 397-398, 469 complex, 271
game industry, 30-32, 108 consequences in, 337-338, 480
state of, 272, 278-279, 343-344, 530 consistent tone of, 508
vs. film industry, 342, 343 creating, 286-291
game mechanics, 310, 467-468 designing, 259-260
changing to suit story, 48 difficulty level, 465
focus on, 228-230 drawing players into, 128
teaching player, 127-128, 130-131 dynamic nature of, 5
testing, 484 ease of entry, 34
understanding, 10 educational, 445-446
using to emphasize storytelling, 233-235 elements of, 314
game minute, 316, 507, 508-509, 519 experimental, 177-178
“game sense,” 96 feel of, 294-295, 469-470
Gamebryo, 287 formulaic, 282
GameFX, 192-193, 195 historical, 7, 28, 34, 458
gameographies, 39, 114, 201, 280, 354, 448, ideas for, 18, 41-47, 88, 447-448
531 implementing, 53-54
gameplay, xx-xxi, 41, 42, 143, 145, 242, interactivity of, 5, 38
294-295, 316, 349, 361, 393, 462, learning from, 2-3
467-468, 470 length of, 242-243, 322
analyzing, 18 missions in, 480
and story, 42-43, 45-46 modes, 364-365
balancing, 401-402 multi-player, 237-256, 303-304, 437-438
consistency of, 474 naming, 73, 179
continuous, 461 online, 437-444
depth of, 33-34, 386-387, 478-479, 524 original, 191, 282-283
feel of, 286, 397 pace of, 242
focus of, 386-387 pausing, 242
goal of, 225 personal, 32
integrated, 508 player’s expectations of, 8-18
Index 685
player’s understanding of, 414-415 GenPlay Games, 106

playing during development process, 283 genres, 21, 103, 510
providing learning period in, 127-131 Getaway, The, 138, 462
reacting to players, 235 Gettysburg!, 20, 23, 27, 28, 27-30, 29,
reasons for playing, 2-8 34-35, 35, 134, 458
refocusing, 80 Gilbert, Ron, 229
repetitive, 15 Global Conquest, 269
rewinding, 335-336, 347 glory/shame, 238, 250, 256
saving, 15-16, 335-336, 451-452 goal-less game, 11, 72
setbacks in, 14 goals, 10-11, 71, 304, 384, 414, 463, 465
simplifying, 495-497 accomplishing incrementally, 11-12
single-player, 237, 238-239 of multi-player artificial intelligence, 245
social aspect of, 238, 437-438 of story, 458
stages in, 372-373 god games, 42
taking break from, 242-243 Godfather, The, 533
unforgiving, 246-247 gold master, 282
unique approaches to, 414-415 Goldberg, Rube, 323
unwinnable, 6, 59-60 Gollop, Julian, 115
vs. other media, 2 Gone With the Wind, 188
vs. other solitary experiences, 5 “good artists borrow, great artists steal,” 140
vs. software toy, 413 Gordon, Bing, 530
waves in, 372-373 Gorlin, Dan, 321
writing, 173-174, 221-225 Gossip, 262, 267, 268
game-world, xxi, 371, 450-451 see also Graduate, The, 324
setting Grand Theft Auto, 106, 162, 462, 476, 478,
3D, 344-345 522
abstract, 125 radio stations, 477, 481-482
behavior in, 366-367 Grand Theft Auto 2, 476
boundaries, 9-10, 126, 199 Grand Theft Auto III, xvii, 212, 220, 464,
building, 393 465, 475-482
consistency in, 8-9 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, 212, 220, 476,
constraints, 224, 326 477, 479, 482
editing, 398-400 “Grand Unified Game Theory, A,” 124
fairness of, 14 graphic adventures, 181-182, 231
familiarity with, 125-126 graphical games, 190, 197
fantasy, 157 graphical HUD, 138-139
feedback from, 136-140 graphics, 35, 54, 83-84, 181-182, 190-191,
introducing, 127 412
landmarks in, 464 Greek mythology, 41-42
navigating, 218, 397-398, 466, 477-478 green-light committee, 308
real-world, 157 griefers, 442-443
rules of, 333, 347 Griffith, D.W., 322
seamless, 452 Grim Fandango, 143, 200, 231, 294
unpredictability of, 9-10 Grossman, Austin, 506-507
view of, 72, 137, 299, 365 GUI, 132, 137-139, 231-232, 366 see also
gaming press, 531 interface
gamma testing, 185 front-end, 366
Garage Games, 178 games without, 137-138
Garriott, Richard, 254, 355, 505, 511 poorly designed, 13
Gauntlet, 87, 97, 98, 98-99, 107, 239 testing, 490
Gauntlet II, 87, 92, 100 Guns & Butter, 269, 269-270
Gauntlet Legends, 107 Gunslinger, xvii, 45
686 Index
H using text in, 139

hacker, 513 human opponents, 5
Half-Life, 44, 45, 128, 129, 169, 207, 212, hybrid games, 191, 192, 502, 505, 510
219, 369, 395, 400, 402, 452, 458 hyperlinks, 358
Half-Life 2, 460, 529 hypertext, 509
Halo, 4, 129, 130, 202, 214, 240, 249, 252,
I
253, 297, 303, 374, 460
I Love Lucy, 188
Halo 2, 529
Ico, 203, 348
Hard Drivin’, 102
icons, using on buttons, 139
hard-core fans, as playtesters, 489
id Software, 53, 298, 406, 510-511, 513-514
hard-core game players, 83, 193, 197, 247,
ideas, 40-41, 110, 199
254, 294, 302-303, 486
brainstorming, 56
hardware, 90, 93, 98, 102, 109-110, 452
game, 18, 41-47, 88, 447-448
hardwiring, 116-117
limitations of, 56
Harmonix, 526
imagination, 190
Hasbro Interactive, 50
imbalance, 154-155
Haslam, Fred, 420
imitation vs. innovation, 136
Hawks, Howard, 222
immersion, 12-13, 15-16, 51-52, 131, 136,
heads up display, see HUD
137-138, 241, 516, 528-529
headsets for multi-player games, 250
Imp Lunches, 184-185, 487
health display, 139
impossible to master games, 60
height-maps, editing, 399-400
improvisation, player, 481
“hell truly is other people,” 256
inconsistency in design document, 358
help, 130, 388, 429
Independent Games Festival, 178
Henry V, 278
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine,
hex checksums, 506
453
hex-grid, 258
Indie Game Jam, 530
hidden movement, 258
indoor vs. outdoor environments, 44, 50
high-score table, 5, 60, 93, 145
infinite play, 59-60, 145
Hindenburg, 424
Infocom, 47, 137, 172, 173-191, 207, 217,
hint books, 197
228, 230, 263, 487
historical games, 7, 28, 34, 458
authoring tool, 47
history vs. reality, 29-30, 34-35
development system, 184, 187-188
Hitchcock, Alfred, 125, 328, 532
Implementors’ Lunches, 184-185, 487
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The, 172,
Infocom/Activision, 180-181
175-176, 199
information,
hit-driven business, 264
communicating to player, 136-138
hobbies, 413, 434
concealing from player, 137
Hobbit, The, 234
innovative controls, 135-136
Hobbs, Ed, 323
input, 62-63, 131, 140, 231
Hodj ‘n’ Podj, 193, 198
input/output, 131-140, 387-388
Hollywood system, 281-282
Inside Mac Games magazine, 320
home market, 105
Insomniac, 452
vs. coin-op market, 97, 103-104, 108,
integrated gameplay, 508
111-112, 113
intellectual property, 261
horror games, 51-52
interaction, between player and game’s
hot keys, 134, 190, 393
creator, 533
hot seat play, 239-240
interactive
hub levels, 460
experience, 210-211, 239
HUD, 137-139, 481
fiction, 172, 175
graphical, 138-139
movies, 17, 208, 217, 220, 328
overlays, 507
Index 687
nature of games, 5 Karateka, 208, 209, 320, 321-323, 322, 323,

storytelling, 203-206, 226, 277-278 328, 340, 352, 353
writing, 218 Kassar, Ray, 261, 264
Interactive Fiction Plus, 177, 182-183 Kawasaki, Guy, 260
interactivity, xx, 18, 38, 119, 143, 215, 236, Kay, Alan, 261
482, 500, 529 keyboard, 62, 132-133, 303, 314
interconnectedness, 63-64 Kieslowski, Krzysztof, 353, 534
interesting decisions, 27 kill-or-be-killed games, 248
interface, 33, 132, 230-231, 267, 303, 329, King Arthur, 273, 516-517
352, 366, 387-389, 429-430 see also GUI King’s Quest, 200
click-and-drag, 28-29, 134, 429 kleenex testers, 446, 486
describing, 373 Knights of the Old Republic, 453
game, 28-29 Koble, Dennis, 89, 259
iconic, 429 Koster, Raph, 242
importance of, 387-388
keyboard, 132-133, 303 L
language as, 268 LAN, 249
mouse, 189-190, 230-231, 303, 329, 388, LAN-fests, 3
412, 429 landmarks in game, 464
point-and-click, 183, 230-231, 329, 388, language as interface element, 268
412 Lanning, Lorne, 137-138
simplicity, 133-134, 388, 479 laser disk games, 98
standard, 231, 388 Last Express, The, 210, 320, 326-339, 326,
typing as, 47 328, 330, 332, 334, 337, 343
verbs, 229, 231 Le Morte D’Arthur, 274-275
Internet, 3, 4, 251, 279, 413, 435 Leaping Lizard Software, 50
connection for multi-player games, 244 learning, 2-3, 127-128, 424
distribution, 178 Leather Goddesses of Phobos, 178-180, 187
games, 196 LeBlanc, Marc, 243
terms of service, 443 Lebling, Dave, 180, 181, 184
interpersonal relationships, 262 Legend Entertainment, 172, 189, 192
interpreters, 184 Legend of Zelda, The, 414, 415, 428,
intuitive controls, 136 434-435
inventories, 229, 507 Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The, 130,
inverse parser, 268, 277 208
isometric, 423, 430 Legionnaire, 259
LegoLand, xx
J Lemmings, 363, 367
Jak & Daxter, 220, 452-453 length of game, 242-243, 322
Jarvis, Eugene, 202 Leonard, Tom, 520
jigsaw puzzles, 142 Lerner, Ned, 501, 515, 524
Jimi Hendrix Experience, The, 533 “less is more,” 132
Jones, Chuck, 97-98 level components,
Jones, David, 478 action, 455-456
Jones, Jason, 296-297, 497 aesthetics, 459-460
Journal of Computer Game Design, 257, balance, 460
265 exploration, 456-457
Joust, 246, 451 puzzle solving, 457
Jung, Carl, 351 storytelling, 458
level data, loading, 452
K level design, 164-167, 285, 371-373,
Kapor, Mitch, 186 449-474, 480-481
688 Index
incorporating artificial intelligence in, writing, 217-222

164-167 linearity, 119, 123, 462
incorporating scripted behaviors in, 169 vs. non-linearity, 175
“one designer, one level” approach, 473 linguistic comprehension, 276
process, 467-473 Lisa, The, 412
rules of, 463-467 living worlds, 162
team approach, 473-474 Loch Ness Monster, 421
level designers, 165, 371, 393, 398, Logg, Ed, 57, 67, 80, 81, 87-114, 118, 261
403-404, 449-450, 453, 455-456, 459, logical behavior, 152
467, 473-474 lone wolf developer, xxiii, 53, 55, 77-78,
level development, collaboration, in, 474 189, 266, 339
level editors, 392-407, 410 Looking Glass Studios, 500, 503, 513-514,
auto-transitioning, 404-405 515, 524-525, 525-526
debugging, 396 Loom, 227-236, 229, 230, 232, 234, 235
flight mode, 394, 397 LoPiccolo, Greg, 517, 526-527
gameplay mode, 397 lottery, 86
releasing, 406 lottery ticket, 341
test mode, 398 LucasArts, 181-182, 227, 228, 229, 233, 234
views, 394-395 SCUMM system, 46-47
visual mode, 397-398 luck, 147-148
level playing field, 162-164 Lunar Lander, 87
levels, 59, 393, 450-451, 459-460, Lurking Horror, 187
auto-generated, 393 lurking strategy, 91-92
balancing, 459, 460, 493
building, 288-290, 450, 454, 469 M
components of, 454-460 Macintosh, 182, 188, 263
constructed by players, 451 Macro-Economic Conquest, 270
elements of, 463-467 macro-economics simulation, 270
faking effects in, 459 MacSoft, 49, 50
flow of, 453, 456-457, 460-462, 480 Mad Libs, 520
loading, 452 Magic: The Gathering, 238, 304
offering players choices in, 466 Mallat, Yannis, 345
order of, 453-454 Maniac Mansion, 46, 208, 229, 231, 451
reworking, 454-455 manuals, 127, 186-187, 216-217, 366
scenarios as, 461 Marathon, 49, 126, 213-214, 244, 296-297,
separation of, 451-453 303, 397, 497
unpredictability of, 461 engine, 49-50
using to establish setting, 458 Marathon 2, 49, 50, 156, 157, 214, 296-297,
Levy, Jim, 179-180 298, 496
licensing, 108, 191, 287, 503 Marathon Infinity, 397
life algorithm, 96 Mario Bros., 239
life, simulating, 382-383 Mario Kart, 240, 243, 248
“life with the dull bits cut out,” 125, 386 Mario Kart: Double Dash, 243, 249
limitations, 42-45, 55 marketing, 104-105, 150, 226, 309, 318,
embracing, 44-45, 52-55, 452 339, 424-425, 488
in games, 58, 338, 428-429, 479 marketplace, 513-514
of hardware, 50, 299-300, 423, 452 Markle Foundation, 273, 274
working with, 47 mass market, 294
linear massively multi-player games, 4, 241-242,
fiction, 175 248, 249, 253-254
form, 353 Max Payne, 206, 207, 208, 219
setting, 328, 338 Maxis, 411, 412, 421-422, 436, 445, 486
Index 689
Maze Invaders, 97 Monkey Island, 219

Maze Wars, 173 Monopoly, 213, 238, 243
McCarthy, Pat, 98 Moore, Rich, 87
McCloud, Scott, 221, 271, 274, 427, 532 morals, 176-177
McLuhan, Marshall, 533 Moriarty, Brian, 168, 180, 190, 222, 227,
“meat on the bones,” 185-186, 191, 194, 228-230, 479
197 motivations, for working in game
Mechner, Jordan, 320-354 development, 85, 534
MechWarrior 2, 208 mouse, 62, 131-132, 133-134, 230-231, 303,
Medal of Honor, 522 329, 388, 412, 429, 507
media, 217-218, 482 movement system, 363
games as, 533-534 Mucha, Alphonse, 334
mixing, 211 MUDs, 3, 4, 241, 248, 256
vs. games, 2 M.U.L.E., 239-240, 269
Meier, Sid, xvii, 20-39, 118, 134, 269, 408 multi-player, 38, 98-99, 101, 102, 157, 171,
mentoring, 248 237-256
menus, 189-190, 277, 311, 352, 373, multi-player games, 3, 4-5, 210, 244-245,
388-389 303-304, 437-438, 461
Meretzky, Steve, 487, 172-201 adding support for, 251-252
metagame, 461 converting single-player game to, 239
Metal Gear Solid, 455 design considerations, 242-251
metrics, 255, 441-442, 443-444 designing, 252-253
Metroid Prime, 17 development issues, 251-255
micro-goals, 12 drop outs in, 244
micro-management, 24 goals in, 304
Microprose, 20, 36 headset support in, 250
Midway, 51 motivations for playing, 238-239
Midway Games West, 95 networked, 241-242
Millipede, 87, 96, 96-97, 97 online games, 238, 241-242
Mills, William, 475 potential of, 244-245
Min, Art, 254 single-screen, 239-241
Mind Forever Voyaging, A, 172, 176-177, single-system, 239-241
197, 198, 199, 203 team vs. team, 246
mini-games, 22-23 types of, 239-242
Minotaur, 296, 298 voice support in, 250
mirror world, 247 multi-player gaming,
Missile Command, 58, 393 future of, 256
mission briefings, 301, 315 strengths and weaknesses of, 242
mission statement, 70 multiple
missions, 203-204, 304, 480 endings, 121-122
mistakes, player, 127-128 lives, 60, 145
MIT Lab for Computer Science, 173 paths, 466
Mixon, Laura, 273, 274 solutions, 116-117, 120, 121-122
Miyamoto, Shigeru, 1, 457, 529 Multi User Dungeons, see MUDs
Mizuguchi, Tetsuya, 449 music, 336-337, 526-527
mock-ups, 317 as part of gameplay, 232
model railroads, 24 “My Mind is Numb, My Throat is Dry,” 289
modeling (simulations), 410-411 Myst, 141-142, 143, 203, 229, 424, 479
mods, 406 Myth: The Fallen Lords, 296-305, 298, 300,
modular game design, 324-325 302, 305, 458
Molyneux, Peter, 483
690 Index
N non-transitivity, 268
name above the title, 36 Notes on the Synthesis of Form, 426
National Center for Atmospheric Research, novice game players, 9, 14, 83, 130, 197,
416 246-248
natural language, 183-184, 230 NPCs, see non-player characters
Naughty Dog, 220 nuance, implementing, 277
navigation, 234, 288, 466, 469-470 see also
O
pathfinding
Oddworld series, 219
consistency of, 477-478
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, 137-138, 138
NBA Street, 531
Odyssey: The Legend of Nemesis, 48-49, 49,
Need for Speed: Underground, 455
76, 76-77, 121, 131, 223, 284-285, 284,
negative feedback, 62-63, 243
395, 404
negotiation between players, 245
focus statement, 76-77
Net Hack, 503
on a rail, 124
networked games, 289, 296
one person, one game, 67-68
balancing, 289
one-handed play, 131-132
multi-player, 241-242
online community, 248, 251, 413
Neurath, Paul, 501, 502, 503-504, 506-507,
online forums, 251
515, 517, 524
online games, 38, 237-238, 239, 245, 249,
Neverwinter Nights, 245
437-444
New York Times Review of Books, 172
maintaining, 254
New York Times, The, 194
multi-player, 238, 241-242
New Zork Times, The, 194
on-screen help, 130
newbies, protecting, 246-248
open beta, 253-254
Next Generation magazine, 38
open-ended game design, 242, 428
Next Tetris, The, 143, 144, 147, 149, 158,
open-ended gameplay, 431-433
498
opposition, 147
Nintendo, 100-101
options, for player, 276-277
Nintendo 64, 103-104
order of story components, 224
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES),
Orient Express, 326-327
100-101
Origin, 264, 501-502, 504, 511
Nintendo GameBoy, 145
original designs, 109, 110, 321, 390
No One Lives Forever, 219
original games, 191, 282-283
non-default responses, 199
Othello, 93
non-electronic games, 238
outcome,
non-gamers, as playtesters, 487
player’s effect on, 223-224
non-interactivity, 209-211
predetermined, 384
non-linear, 314, 328
outdoor vs. indoor environments, 44, 50
environments, 521-522
out-of-game storytelling, 206, 207-212
gameplay, 337-338
output, 131, 136-140
medium, 509
Overkill Document, 376-377
storytelling, 353
over-the-shoulder view, 344
non-linearity, 119-124, 162, 223-224,
337-338, 460, 462, 465 P
implementing, 121-123 pacing, 242
purpose of, 123-124 emotional, 523-524
vs. linearity, 175 packaging, 182, 186-187
non-player characters, 161, 170, 205, 478 Pac-Man, 58, 97, 145, 208, 450, 451
artificial intelligence for, 367 paint programs, 410
behaviors of, 213, 214 Pajitnov, Alexey, 141, 142, 146, 149
conversations with, 9-10, 46, 183, 213, panic/tension, 95
268, 301-302, 313 parser interface, 183-184, 199
Index 691
particle system, 292-293 capabilities of, 362-363

passion, 483 controlling, 212, 383
patches, 254, 282 creating, 383
pathfinding, 218 see also navigation customizing, 244
problems with, 167 dying, 218
paths, 396, 462 moving, 127
alternate, 462 mute, 220, 482
branching, 465 personality of, 13, 218-222, 234-235
critical, 456-457, 465, 480 reactions to, 367
multiple, 466 player disconnect, 528
Pathways into Darkness, 296, 297 player freedom, 95, 124, 275, 384, 480
Pattern Language, A, 425-426 player-killers, 247
PC games, 477 player’s story, 10, 37, 203-206
controls in, 132-133, 135 vs. designer’s story, 383-384
vs. video games, 188 players, 1-2, 14, 34, 154-155
Peart, Neil, 281 alienating, 130
pen-and-paper games, 205 allowing for experimentation, 128
pentomino, 142, 146, 149, 150 and collaboration with designer, 427
“people not things,” 262, 268, 278, 384 as experts on subject matter, 428
performance, 53-54, 525 choices, 203, 274, 276-277, 386, 509,
issues, 45 510, 511-512, 521-522, 529, 530
persistent games, 254 confusing, 134, 465
persistent worlds, 4, 241-242 cooperation between, 242, 245-246
personal games, 32 creativity of, 116, 325, 414
Personal Software, 186 decisions of, 37-38
personalities, 332 desires of, 238-239
of players, 245 direction, 10-11
of player character, 13, 218-222, 234-235 distancing from game, 51
perspective, drawing into game, 128
first-person, 527, 528 empowering, 59, 225, 529-530
first-person vs. third-person, 528-529 expectations of, 8-18, 63, 126, 127
third-person, 234-235 experiences, 120-123, 481
Persson, Johan, 245 failure in game, 14, 465, 466
philosophy of design, 512 feedback, 135-136, 440-441, 444, 464
physics system, 43-44, 298-299, 301, 363, frustration, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 126, 134,
457, 476, 477-478, 481 183, 199, 243-244, 465-466
Pie-in-the-Sky Document, 377-378 ganging up on, 245
Pierce, Tomi, 327 getting stuck, 16-17, 463
pinball games, 9, 60, 90-91 giving a fair chance to, 14
pinball thumper, 102 goals, 10-12
piracy, 186-187, 409 guiding, 124
Pirates!, 20, 22, 23, 24, 36 improvisation, 481
pitch document, 308 involvement, 35-36, 203, 523, 529
placeholder art, 284-285 leading, 275
Planetfall, 6, 174, 180, 185, 198 learning styles of, 127-128
platformers, 12, 105-106 learning, 28, 424
playable builds, 288 losing, 22
player behaviors, anticipating, 254 mistakes, 127-128
player characters, 13, 219-222, 325 see also motivations for playing multiplayer
characters games, 238-239
anonymity of, 235 negotiation between, 245
behavior, 389-390 personalities of, 245
692 Index
punishing, 128, 149 point-and-click interface, 183, 230-231, 329,

ranking, 248 388, 412
repeating accomplishments, 15-16 Pokemon, 1
responsibility of, 215 Pole Position, 462
rewarding, 128, 459, 464 polygon count, 54
success of, 465 Pong, 93, 97, 239
taking risks, 60 pop-up menus, 277, 389
teaching, 127-131 ports, see conversions
trying game mechanics, 127-128 Portwood, Gene, 324
understanding of game, 414-415 positive feedback, 33, 243
unique approaches of, 414-415 predetermined outcome, 384
what they want, 1-2, 238 preproduction, 519
players, types of, 83 prequel, 180
casual, 83-84, 193, 198, 302-303, 423, press, 141-142, 178, 226
430, 440, 479 Prime Target, 50
children, 234 primrose path games, 338
experienced, 247 Prince of Persia, 128, 137, 320, 323-326,
expert, 9 324, 325, 339, 346-347, 350, 351,
female, 94, 129, 241-242, 248 351-353, 364
hard-core, 83, 193, 197, 247, 254, 294, Prince of Persia 2, 329
302-303, 486 Prince of Persia 3D, 344-345, 346
inexperienced, 9 Prince of Persia (movie), 350, 352
male, 127-128 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,
novice, 9, 14, 83, 130, 197, 246-248 219-220, 220, 320, 345-350, 345, 346,
“playing it in my mind,” 92 349, 350, 352, 527
playing styles, 491 production cycle, 168
PlayStation 2, 279, 526 profitability, 177-178
playtesters, 472, 473, 484-489, 491-492, 497 programmer/designer, 32, 435
appropriate, 485-487 programmers, 109, 165, 291-293, 299, 317,
feedback from, 446 368, 370, 405-406
first-impression, 486, 490 vs. designers, 403-406
game designers as, 486 programming, 90, 93, 317, 409-410
hard-core fans as, 489 complexity of, 406
inappropriate, 487-489 Project Gotham Racing, 462
kleenex testers, 446, 486 proof-of-concept, 283
non-gamers as, 487 proposal document, 308
traditional, 485-486 prototype, 283-285, 288, 294-295, 518
playtesting, 18, 34, 132, 134-136, 173-174, prototyping, 32-34, 110-111, 285
176, 185-186, 246, 253-255, 291, 388, publishers, 319, 518
398, 429, 441-442, 446-447, 472, 473, Puzo, Mario, 533
483-499 puzzle elements, 332
coaching during, 491 puzzle games, 142-144
early, 489 puzzles, 116-117, 117-118, 121, 122, 124,
guided vs. unguided, 492-493 143, 190, 198, 232-233, 235, 364, 457,
methods for, 491-492 463
scheduling, 489-491 arbitrary, 457
pleasing everyone, 498 solving, 120, 457
plot, 121-122, 222, 274
adapting, 218 Q
developing, 275 Quake, 139, 241, 244, 304, 452, 461
simplicity of, 348 engine, 44, 45
twists, 523 engine editing tool, 395
Index 693
head interface in, 139 Reynolds, Brian, 151

Quake II, 44, 304 Riot Engine Level Editor, 401-402, 402, 404
Quake III Arena engine, 469 Risk, 243
quality games, 187 risk-taking, 518
Rivera, Greg, 101
R Road Runner, 97-98
racing games, 243, 451, 462, 470, 476 Roberts, Chris, 263-264, 511
Raid Over Bungeling Bay, 409, 410 Robot Rascals, 240
Raid Over Bungeling Bay II, 445 Robotron: 2084, 154, 369
Raider engine, 50-51 Rocket Science Games, 194-195
Raiders of the Lost Ark, 323, 346 rock-paper-scissors, 268
Railroad Tycoon, 20, 21, 23, 24, 24-25, 25, role-playing, 13, 23
33, 363 role-playing games, 4, 125, 153-154,
Rains, Lyle, 88, 91 191-192, 205, 250, 251, 460, 470, 502,
randomness, 146, 147-148, 149, 152, 529
157-158, 168 RollerCoaster Tycoon, 30, 32
Ratchet & Clank, 12, 464 Ronin, 336
ratings, 531 Rotberg, Ed, 102
Ray, Sheri Graner, 127-128, 129 Rothwell, Chris, 475
realism, 27-28, 34-35, 163-164, 267, 333, rotoscoping, 322, 335, 341
386, 479 Royce, Wanda, 261
vs. fun, 446 RPG, see role-playing games
vs. gameplay, 34-35, 267 RT3D, see real-time 3D
reality, 34, 125, 157, 476-477 RTS, see real-time strategy games
modeling, 10, 11, 125-127 Rubin, Jason, 220
using as basis for game, 125-126 Rubin, Owen, 88
vs. abstraction, 126-127 rules of game design, 19, 115-116, 228
vs. fun, 525 rules of game-world, 333, 347
vs. history, 29-30 rush strategy, 118
real-time, 27, 327 Russia, 142, 145, 150
vs. turn-based, 461
real-time 3D, 126, 133, 344 S
real-time strategy games, 28, 155, 332, 470 Sakaguchi, Hironobu, 31
and scripted behavior, 169 sales, 318
designing artificial intelligence for, San Francisco Rush, xx, 87, 104, 202, 384,
367-368 463
interface, 28-29 San Francisco Rush 2049, 113
Rear Window, 328 San Francisco Rush: The Rock-Alcatraz
red herrings, 236 Edition, 464
Red Planet, 174 sandbox style games, 462
relationships, of players, 251 Santa Fe Research Institute, 417
remakes, 80, 82, 107-108 satire, 482
Renderware, 43, 287 save-game feature, 210, 335-336
repetition in game design documents, save-games, 15-16
357-358 Saving Private Ryan, 271
repetitive gameplay, 15 scale of game, 29
replayability, 124, 162, 197, 232, 460 scenarios, levels as, 461
Resident Evil, 51 scents, 187
responses to input, 199 schedules, 55, 108, 168, 318, 490
revolutionary ideas, 408 Schenectady, 40
rewards for player, 459, 464 Schindler’s List, 271
rewinding game, 347 schlack, 459
694 Index
Schmidt, Dan, 502, 526 Sierra, 181-182

Science Fiction Authors of America, 172 Silent Hill, 51
scoring, 60, 96 silent movies, 348
Scrabble, 238 Silicon Valley, 272
scratch ‘n’ sniff, 187 Sim games, 137, 416, 445
screenwriting, 324, 352-353 SimAnt, 418, 418-420, 420
script, 313-315, 401 disasters in, 420
Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion, mystery button, 419-420
see SCUMM Story System SimCity, xx, 11, 21, 25, 33, 226, 270, 363,
scripted 369, 373, 384, 390, 393, 408, 410,
behavior, 168-171, 213 410-416, 412, 414, 420-421, 421-422,
events, 46, 402 428, 446, 451
scripted games vs. systems-based games, disasters in, 415-416
522-524 SimCity 2000, 372, 420, 420-421
scripting, 520-521 SimCity 3000, 11, 422-423, 423, 430,
language, 400-403, 433-434 436-437
system, 401 SimCopter, 421-422, 422, 445
scriptwriter, 222 SimEarth, 270-271, 385, 416, 416-418, 417,
scrolling, 260, 261, 409 446
SCUMM Story System, 46-47, 229 SimGolf, 20, 30
Seastalker, 177 Simon, Mark, 105
Secret of Monkey Island, The, 229-230, 234 simplicity in game design, 149-150
self-censoring, 72 Sims Online, The, 255, 437, 439, 441,
self-delusion, 341-342 437-444, 444
self-publishing, 515 Sims, The, xvii, 30, 125, 131, 139-140, 153,
Sente, 102 154, 277-278, 279, 282, 382-391, 383,
sequels, 37, 80, 82, 108, 180, 220, 269, 312, 385, 388, 389, 408, 420-421, 424-436,
346, 362, 369, 421, 444, 476-477 425, 427, 430, 431, 434, 444, 445, 446,
serious themes, 126 448, 486, 497
serious works, 177-178 conversations in, 431
setting, 22, 34, 61, 162, 199, 213, 310, 326, guinea pig object, 434
458 see also game-world social aspects of, 383, 426-427, 433
balancing, 401-402 simulations, 83, 117, 277-278, 382-383,
believable, 125-126, 477-479 384-385, 390-391, 410, 414, 416, 478,
lack of, 145 509
realistic, 125-126 ability to experiment with, 386
real-world, 476-477 limitations of, 428-429, 479
starting with, 45-47, 51-52 modeling, 410-411
settings, configurable, 393 simulators, 11, 102
Settlers of Catan, The, 238, 245 simultaneous systems, 24-25, 25-26, 521
Seven Samurai, The, 322 single-button interface, 230
Shakespeare, William, 188, 278 single-player games, 2, 3, 38, 210, 237,
shareware, 178 238-239, 251
Shattertown Sky, 273 adding multi-player support, 251-252
Shaw, Carol, 93 converted to multi-player, 239
Shelley, Bruce, 24 vs. multi-player games, 246
Sheppard, Dave, 92 single-screen play, 59, 144, 239-241
Shogun, 181 single-system multi-player gaming, 239-241
shooters, see first-person shooters Sinistar, 61
shooting games, 103 Sir Tech, 501
show, don’t tell, 159, 215-216 sixth sense, 116
side view, 344 skeletal plot, 275
Index 695
sliding number puzzles, 142 stage directions, 313

Smash TV, 239, 240 stage plays, 217
Smoking Car Productions, 341 standard documentation, 319,
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 322, 334 standard format for design document, 356,
Snyder, Doug, 88 373-374
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, 175 standard interfaces, 28-29, 134-135
social aspect of games, 157, 238, 433 Stanford, 93
social experience, 3-4, 5, 239, 250-251, 256 Star Raiders, 261
social interaction, 4, 240, 242, 248-251, 383, Star Trek, 222
437-438 Star Wars, 174, 271
socially unacceptable behavior, 7 Star Wars Galaxies, 242
SOCOM, 240 StarCraft, xx-xxi, 133, 133-134, 155, 169,
software toy, 11, 384, 412-413 369-370, 395, 450, 451, 454, 462
solitaire, 238 Campaign Editor, 395-396, 402-403, 403,
solitaire games, 147, 171 404
solitary experiences, 5, 237 StarCross, 173, 187
solo game development, xxiii, 108, 307, state-based, 512
339-340, 409 Stationfall, 180, 198
solutions, statistics, 363, 370-371, 507
alternate, 10 Statue of Liberty, 526
multiple, 116-117, 120, 121-122 Status Line, The, 194
reasonable, 10, 13 Stealey, Bill, 36
to puzzles, 143 stealth games, 517, 519
Sorcerer, 180, 185, 199 Steel Talons, 101-102, 112
Soul Calibur, 8-9 Stewart, James, 329
sound, 417-418 see also audio Stigmata, 336
sound designer, 473 STOMP editor, 402
source code, 377 story, 25, 37, 41, 48, 112, 202-203, 221-225,
releasing, 261 233-234, 236, 301-302, 310, 311-312,
Space Bar, The, 173, 194, 194-195, 195 326-327, 332, 349, 361, 383-384, 453,
Space Invaders, xx, 58, 62, 173, 393, 450 458, 459, 507-508
Space Lords, 102-103 adapting to audience, 205
Space Marine, 219 and technology, 45-46
Space Rogue, 501, 502 branching, 223-224
Space War, 93, 108 communicating to player, 45
spatial exploration, 6 discovering, 219-220, 434
Spector, Warren, 501-502, 503-504, 505, dynamically changing, 205-206
506-507, 511, 525, 528 exploring, 510
Spectrum Holobyte, 145 flow, 22
Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All the furthering through artificial intelligence,
Girls, 189 159-162
Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer’s Appliance, gameplay considerations, 42-43, 45-46,
190 224-225
Spellcasting series interface, 189-191 goals, 458
Spiegelman, Art, 271 lack of, 61, 145
Splinter Cell, 527 limitations on, 44-45
split-screen gaming, 240-242, 248-249 missing, 215
sports games, 239, 393, 451, 470 order of components, 224
Sprint, 89 player’s role in, 223-224, 434
Spyro the Dragon, 130, 452 starting with, 45-47, 48-49
S.S.I., 260 story bible, 311-313
SSX, 462
696 Index
storyboards, 317, 519 SweeTARTS, 186

branching, 317 symmetry in game design, 149-150
storytelling, 7, 37, 119-120, 121-122, Synapse Software, 182
159-162, 202-226, 236, 279, 301-302, synergies, 194, 458
311, 434-435, 458, 481-482, 509-510 Syphon Filter, 240
and game designers, 202 system dynamics, 410-411
collaborative, 383-384 System Shock, 137, 500, 503, 506, 506-513,
devices, 206-217, 301-302 508, 509, 511, 513, 515, 519-520,
dynamic, 160-161 525-526
experience, 274 systems, 478, 493-494, 518
exploration of plot, 121-122 balancing, 520
goal of, 204-205, 223 complex, 446
in-game, 206, 212-216 controlling in sim games, 416
interactive, 203-206, 226 simultaneous, 507, 521
out-of-game, 206, 207-212, 216-217 systems-based design, 24-25, 116-117,
parent to child, 205 475-476, 480, 481, 521-523
through game mechanics, 233-235 systems-based games vs. scripted games,
strategies, 95 522-524
strategy games, 21, 462
campaigns in, 451 T
designing artificial intelligence for, taboo activities, 7, 476
367-368 tactical combat, 300-301
Street Fighter II, 103 Tajiri, Satoshi, 1
strong design vision, 67-68 Tank 8, 99
Strunk, William, 306 Tanktics, 258-259
Stubben, Dave, 90 target audience, 488
sub-focuses, 82-85 team, see development team
sub-games, 22-23, 24-25 team vs. team multi-player games, 246
sub-goals, 11-12, 463-464 teammates, in game, 214, 224-225
subscription fee, 254 technical design document, 110, 310, 316,
success of player, 465 317-318
Suffering, The, xvii, 51-52, 52, 121-122, technical specification, see technical design
123, 125-126, 126, 135, 161, 161-162, document
166-168, 169, 211, 211-212, 215, 216, technological limitations, 58
217, 221, 223, 225, 289-290, 402, 453, technology, 21, 23, 35, 41, 43, 53-54, 54-55,
454, 457, 458, 493, 494, 495 90, 109-110, 137, 146, 177, 181, 184,
and scripted behavior, 169-171 188, 196, 200, 205-206, 217-218, 261,
control system in, 135-136 273, 278, 279-280, 282, 283, 286-287,
introducing mechanics in, 130-131 292, 297-300, 301, 304, 352, 365, 409,
morality system, 121-122 423, 452, 476, 477, 505-506, 513, 528
Summers, Larry, 261 compatibility with story, 45
Super Breakout, 87, 88, 89 gameplay considerations of, 42, 43-45
Super Mario 64, 13, 206, 218, 344, 359, matching to gameplay, 50-51
451, 455, 460, 462, 465, 514 matching to story, 46
Super Mario Bros., 333, 456, 456-457 modifying, 52
Super Mario Sunshine, 218, 219 starting with, 43-45, 49-50
Superhero League of Hoboken, 191-192 understanding, 292
Surreal Software, 51-52, 246, 401-402 Tekken, 207, 523
surrogate, see character and player character teleconferencing, 249-250
Suspended, 197 telephones, 238
suspension of disbelief, 12-13, 130, 208, Tempest, 58, 59, 93, 96, 393
256, 334, 385-386, 477 Tenchu, 517
Index 697
Tengen, 100-101 Trameil, Jack, 101

tension, transparent gameplay, 508
creating, 452 trial and error, 14, 465, 466, 470
escalating, 65-67, 148-149 Trinity, 228
Terra Nova, 511, 515, 526 True Crime, 462
testers, see playtesters Trust & Betrayal: The Legacy of Siboot,
testing, see playtesting 270, 257, 267, 267-268, 277
Tetris, 100-101, 126, 141-150, 152, 153, Turing test, 151-152
157-158, 202, 340, 353, 367, 369, 479 Turman, Larry, 324
clones, 146 turn-based, 27, 33
elegance of, 146 vs. real-time, 461
gameplay, 142 turn-based strategy games, 155, 367-368
mechanics of, 143 tutorials, 128-131
“next” feature, 147 typing as an interface, 47
Texas Instruments, 268
text, 12, 207-208, 213-214, 250-251 U
text adventures, 181-182, 188-190, 228, Ubisoft, 345, 346, 350
230, 326 Ultima, 203, 501, 502, 504, 505
text parsers, 230-231 Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, 355
Theurer, Dave, 93, 97 Ultima Online, 241, 242, 247
Thief, 202, 362, 500, 515, 515-524, 518, Ultima Underworld, 500, 501, 501-513,
519, 521, 523, 525, 526 521, 524, 527
Thief II, 362 Ultima Underworld II, 502, 503, 504,
Thief 3, 527-528 506-507, 514, 526
Thief: Deadly Shadows, 528 unconventionality, 267-268
third-person perspective, 234-235 Understanding Comics, 221, 274, 427, 532
vs. first-person perspective, 528-529 Understanding Interactivity/The Art of
third-person view, 137, 328, 527-528 Interactive Design, 257
THQ, 195 Understanding Media, 533
Threadbare, Bobbin, 231, 233-234 unique experience, 143-144
Thurman, Bob, 177 unique solutions, 116-118
Thurman, Uma, 177 unpredictability of artificial intelligence,
Tibet, 177 157-159
Time Warner, 97, 101 Unreal, 241, 453, 459
Titanic, 180 engine, 287
Tomb Raider, 74, 74-75, 218, 344, 346, 451, Unreal Tournament, 152
456, 460, 467 Unreal Tournament 2004, 287, 455
tool tips, 267 unwinnable games, 59-60
tools, 392-407 urban dynamics, 411
commercial, 399-400 user interface, see GUI and interface
developing, 341 U.S.S.R., 150
for writing documentation, 357 V
proprietary, 399-400 Valve Software, 44, 452
releasing, 406, 433-434 Van Elderen, Dan, 88, 95
Toontown Online, 249 vector hardware, 91, 93
top-down view, 399, 476 Vezza, Al, 179
topics, 21, 33 Vice City, see Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri, 334 video game industry, 108
toys, 11, 413 crash, 188, 262-263
trackball, 62, 95 video games vs. computer games, 188, 263,
trailers, 517 271
training levels, 128-131, 247-248 Video Pinball, 90-91
698 Index
Vietnam, 266 Wilmunder, Aric, 229

view, Wilson, Edward, 419
camera, 476 win/lose conditions, 384, 411
first-person, 328 Wing Commander, 263-264
in level editor, 394-395 Winter Carnival Whirlwind, 72-74
isometric, 423 focus, 74
of game-world, 137, 299, 365, 476 sub-focuses of, 83-85
over-the-shoulder, 344 wire-frame view, 396
side, 344 Wishbringer, 177, 228
third-person, 328, 527-528 Wizard, 260
top-down, 399, 476 Wizardry I, 505
visually authentic, 397 Wolfenstein 3D, 298, 510-511, 513-514
wire-frame, 396 Wood, Dennis, 100-101
violence, 432, 445 world creation tools, 392-407
virtual worlds, 4, 241-242 Worldcraft, 395
Visicalc, 186 WorldWinner.com, 173, 195
Visicorp, 186 Worrall, James, 475
vision for game design, 380-381, 479-499 Wright, Frank Lloyd, 390
communicating, 373, 519 Wright, Will, 11, 270, 277-278, 382, 384,
visual information, 139-140 386, 388, 390, 408-448, 486, 497
visual output, 137 Wrigley Field, 451
voice support in multi-player games, 250 writing, 306, 353
voice-over, 507-508, 510 for games, 196, 201, 221-225
Voltarr, 74 style, 312, 357-359
Vulcan editor, 397-398 WYSIWYG, 394
Vulcan mind meld, 506
X
W Xbox Live, 241
wackiness, in games, 421 X-Com: UFO Defense, 115
Wafer-Thin Documents, 374-375 X-Trek, 503
Waiting for Dark, 327, 352 Xybots, 87, 88, 99-100, 100
War and Peace, 376
Y
War of the Monsters, 240
Yankee Stadium, 451
WarCraft, 28, 139, 297, 300-301, 460-461,
“you can’t do that,” 191
461, 465
“your game is too hard,” 495-497
WarCraft II, 368
WarCraft III, 309 Z
World Editor, 404 Zeuch, David, 258
wargames, 28, 258, 266, 458 ZIL engine, 182-183
artificial intelligence in, 159-160 zombies, 435, 516
Warhammer, 508 Zoner level editor, 395
Warner Bros., 97-98 Zork, 143, 173, 176, 177, 180
Wasteland, 216 Zork I, 173, 186, 190, 197, 199
Watcom, 512 Zork II, 173, 174
Wayne Gretzky 3D Hockey, 103-104 Zork III, 173, 187
Welltris, 146 Zork V, 180
Wheatley, Dennis, 186 Zork Zero, 180-181, 187, 198
whiners, 485
Who Killed Marshall Robner?, 186
Wike, Doug, 507
Wiki system, 319, 358, 379
Wile E. Coyote, 97-98

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576 Appendix A: Sample Design Document: Atomic Sam

Return to the Electric Priestess’ Bubble Home

Section II: Game Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588

Section III: Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617

Section IV: NPCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622

Section V: Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630

Section VI: Gameflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638

Section VII: Maps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646

The Beach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651

Section VIII: Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651

Section II: Game Mechanics

Aimed Weapon Mode

Thrown weapons will be differentiated by a number of variables:

Unknown: Should some items be randomized: ammo quantities/amounts, weapon

instance, blowing up a footlocker will cause its contents to be left behind.

Weapons section of this document for more information.

Blood & Amputation

L1: First Person (modifier)

Section III: Resources

Section IV: NPCs

NPC Base Mechanics

Killjoy is invulnerable to damage directly from the player. Though he is unable to

• Negative: We follow from Torque’s point of view as he enters his apartment.

Section VI: Gameflow

dark area where the Cartwheeler was, expecting to be killed.

Surrounding Area Outside Lighthouse

Section VII: Maps

Courtyard Outside Death House

Road to Docks & Docks

Section VIII: Menus

Options -> Goes to the Options Screen

Music Volume Slider

even if it has a number of different paths for the player to explore.

Focus: A brief, three- to five-sentence description of the most important concepts

PK, PKing: See Player Killer.

PSX: An abbreviation for Sony’s PlayStation console. Actually based on an early

referred to as a finite state machine or FSM.

bizarre hybrid of real-time and turn-based gameplay.

Next Generation (Imagine Media, Inc.)

Art Nouveau, 334 avatar, customizing, 244

Blue Sky, 503 Castles of Doctor Creep, The, 323

Chuck Yeager, 501, 515 complex systems, 25, 116-117, 117-118

Criterion, 43, 53 Game Mechanics section, 361-366

DMA Design, 478 empowerment, 123, 383-384, 475

player’s understanding of, 414-415 GenPlay Games, 106

H using text in, 139

nature of games, 5 Karateka, 208, 209, 320, 321-323, 322, 323,

incorporating artificial intelligence in, writing, 217-222

Maze Invaders, 97 Monkey Island, 219

particle system, 292-293 capabilities of, 362-363

punishing, 128, 149 point-and-click interface, 183, 230-231, 329,

head interface in, 139 Reynolds, Brian, 151

Schmidt, Dan, 502, 526 Sierra, 181-182

sliding number puzzles, 142 stage directions, 313

storyboards, 317, 519 SweeTARTS, 186

Tengen, 100-101 Trameil, Jack, 101

Vietnam, 266 Wilmunder, Aric, 229

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