The Firm Design Overview The Firm will be a computer game, in 3D graphics, which will be based on the following formats PC, Xbox and Playstation 2. The game will be an action/adventure which will include fighting, puzzles and driving. Set in London, 1994. The game is about a group of football hooligans which follow the football team Herrington A.F.C who are one of the leading firms in Britain and one of the best teams in Europe. Every football team has a firm and Herrington Daggers are one of the best firms in the world, a firm which every other firm fears. However, the firm went down and so did the team, languishing in the relegation battle. When the game begins it is your job to get the firm back up and running and follow your team and hope for the glory Herrington A.F.C has seen in the previous three years. The Firms’ old leader, Jones, has left and fled to the US after he was banned from football for several years. When the ban had expired he decided to return and form Herrington Daggers again. When the game begins you have to gather, train and build the firm back up and get Herrington Daggers back the most feared firm they once were. The gameplay is 3rd person and you control several gang members for different missions and sometimes multiple characters. The gameplay is smooth and enables climbing, jumping, trashing (certain objects like boxes, windows and cars), fighting, killing, raiding (on certain missions), stealing and using weapons such as bricks, bottles, chairs, snooker cues and crowbars. No guns are in this game but knifes and knuckle dusters are included as the heavyweight weapons. You can sometimes drive vehicles to get around, you own a firm car or you can lend other firm cars but you can also steal a car (‘bust a ride’) to ride about, but that may spark a passenger to call the cops if there is a nearby phone box or they may attack you. The gameplay enables you to instruct your gang and recruit new members and ask them to join you on your latest quest/mission. You will be able to ask them to: • Cause Havoc – Makes your fellow gang members hit any rival or law enforcement • Help – If you have been handcuffed, taken hostage, doing a job that needs protecting or you are being beaten up your fellow hooligans will help you by force • Raid – Will make your fellow hooligans charge into a place before you, taking the notice away from you so you can sneak in with a cheeky shot • Be cautious – If you are sneaking up on an enemy or the police, you can warm your gang to be cautious so they won’t go charging in • Go psycho – Your firm will go in rage mode and will pick any object up and wont let go, but be warned they will get tired a lot quicker • Split up – If a group is after you, make it harder and split up, you can even choose a meeting place, be there and you will reform, if you don’t you will have to go round individually and pick each member up The game will have an interface with a health bar of 100% and also an armor bar, if applicable. You will have a psycho meter, which will build up the more adrenaline you get. You can build this up by trashing stuff and beating up enemies, it works better with police though. You also have a fear meter, the more you get beaten up, the more this increases. Also how this meter starts is determined by how well you did in a previous mission. The more this bar increases the worse you perform and you become weak. The more the adrenaline bar increases the harder you become and you become less prone to pain. You will also have a fatigue bar, the more you fight the more tired you become to watch how much you run about, if the adrenaline bar is above the threshold then fatigue will not affect your character. Don’t’ forget your money meter which of course will be in UK Pound Sterling. Your character information will be also on the screen with the character name and a picture of the characters face at that particular time, so if you have been on the receiving end of some smashing punches then watch the blood roll down his face. Your weapon will also be on the screen along with a radar/map. Your radar/map shows you a small area of the surrounding streets, roads, highways and landmarks. It also shows you enemies with red, destinations orange and police with blue. Any missions will be displayed with a fist, any firm leaders will be displayed with a dollar sign, the firms’ hangouts will be displayed with a football and the firms’ colour around the ball and stadiums are displayed with a mini stadium, a train station or underground will be displayed as a red circle with a blue centre, with a ‘T’ inside it. Other jobs are represented with a cell phone. Other places of interest/need will be displayed with the corresponding icon. The game will transfer from night to day but there will not be a clock. However, you will know what day it is so you know when it is match day. You will also know it is match day as you will get a message on the day of a match. There will also be a weather system. The city which you are in will be separated into small areas around each stadium, you can get to each area via the underground and some cities out of London can be accessed by the train. You will obviously have to pay your hard earned cash to get around, you can earn this by extra jobs, doing missions and stealing it. You can spend this in the pub; you can buy beer and become drunk which makes playing harder but will also will prove fun. You can also purchase drugs and sell them on for profit, but you have to sell and buy it to the right people, otherwise you could make crippling losses. You can spend the money on underground and train tickets as said before. The money can be spent on changing your registration plate, changing your kit and other things needed later in missions. When you are driving in a car you can listen to a radio station which will give you all the latest news on the football industry. The station will be called ‘Match Day FM. 198’ which will play a selection of tracks, play you updated news on the footballing world and will include some quirky commercials. In between missions, you will be automatically taken to the firms’ pub. Each firm has its own area and pub which is normally situated next to the firms’ associated football clubs’ stadium. In the pub you can choose to ‘Continue Missions’, you can choose to go on ‘Free Roam’ which let’s you explore the city and earn some extra cash. You can ‘Change Kit’; you can also go on ‘Riot Mode’ where you can just go on a random brawl, choosing the location, clubs and many other features. The further you progress in the game, the more kit, weapons, vehicles, moves etc you unlock. You can also unlock some videos of the great footballing past! Your player also has an inventory, where you can hold extra weapons, other than the one other in the hand, but the more you carry the slower you are. You can also carry other things you may need in later missions. You will also be monitored by the police, so the more missions you do the more the wanted bar will rise. The wanted bar will be a shape which begins thin and gets fatter and is a vertical shape with 4 thresholds inside it. The bar will fill up, as it passes a threshold, it is a new level of wanted. The first stage is ‘Patrol Police’ where you are slightly noticed by police walking about. The second is ‘Vigilant Police’ most of the time you will be spotted if you are wearing the kit they know and the car they know. The next threshold is ‘Riot Police’ you are noticed all the time, so the cops will always be on your back. The final threshold is ‘Armed Police’ they will actually shoot at you as you are a big threat. You can increase this meter in short-term missions and long-term. If by the end of a mission this meter is high, it will raise the bar at the start of the next mission a little higher, but if it is low at the end of a mission, the next mission will see the bar lower than before. Obviously, the more killings and damage the more it will increase; this will not follow onto the riot mode or free roam, only the storyline missions. You also have a ‘Rep Meter’ which works in the same way, but the levels are ‘Minor Hooligan’ then ‘Up for it’ then ‘established’ and then ‘Hard nut’. In the game your character can change kits, so you can wear another team’s kit, your teams’ kit or some casual kit. This can fool police and rival firms, but the more your rep and wanted meters, the less it will disguise. You can see the life of other gang members, through a bar which hovers over them; if green they are in no danger if red they are in danger. This is so you can monitor what instructions to give and also so you know how much more damage you need to give to the enemy. The tone changes, from bright green, to dark green, to orange, to light red, to dark red and then they are dead or unconscious. You can also sneak up on enemies or the law, by walking up to them lightly and then tapping the action button. In a fight whenever a good shot has connected it goes slow motion and there is a new view available to see the damage given to the opposition. In this overview I have attached some art which includes; screenshots, characters art, weapons art, building art, logo art, kit art and other miscellaneous art needed to show what the game is all about. (Not Complete Yet) Game Spec The Role Playing Element When the game begins your character is already created for you, the only changes you can make is the kit he wears, and you have a selection of 3 kits to choose from. The team which he supports’ home and away kits and a casual shirt. The characters name is ‘Stoner’. Each character and firm member has stats, which consist of; • Brutal-ness – What extent they will go to in order to defeat the opponent, the more this stat is, the better they are at making this get a bit gory • Weaponry use – The more this stat is, the better they are at using weapons • Speed – Hooligans need speed to run from enemies and the police, so the high this stat the faster they are at climbing, fighting and running. • Strength - Someone with high amounts of strength will be more damaging to opponents when fighting • Intelligence – When a hooligan has more intelligence he knows what to do it situations and can also outwit the opponents • Driving – Driving will be a lot easier when this stat is high, handling and speed will be improved if the stat is high for this character • Psychotic-ness – The higher the less amounts of limits the hooligan will have, so smashing someone’s face into a brick wall won’t prove squeamish. These stats can be increased and decreased, through the game; each character will improve at these skills every time they use them. You can access these stats using the start menu. It will notify you when you have made improvements as a plus symbol will appear on the screen with a number next to it. The number represents how much the skill has improved. Each skill has a threshold, when the skill bar increases above the threshold then that character unlocks/learns new special moves, which will decrease your enemies health a lot more than a standard attack. The special attacks are as follows: Kneebuster – Your character will punch the opponent in the face then grab their head and smash It into their uprising knee. In the privates – The name explains it all really, your character points in another direction to distract the opponents attention and then kicks the opponent in the ‘privates’. Trip and Stamp – Your character will trip the opponent up, and then stamp on their head once. Cheeky Left – Your character will pretend to hit the opponent with his left hand and will be blocked, only to hit the opponent with the right hand El-blow – Your character will turn his back to the opponent, the opponent will attempt to attack, your character will block it and elbow him to the face. On t‘head! – Your character will execute a very powerful head butt, and will bust the opponent’s head open. Ultra-combo – Your character will carry out a few alternate punches (left, right, left, right) kick the opponent in the ‘privates’ and then uppercut the opponent to knock them out. If you use one attack too much the opponent will work it out and will stop the attack frequently, and will sometimes turn the attack around onto you, so be variable. Your character will have an inventory, which will contain extra weapons and other equipment needed for missions. The inventory only holds 3 extra weapons and 5 items. You can ditch items to make way for other items, and the same with weapons. Also if you have the maximum amount of weapons and item this will slow your character down in fighting, climbing and running. When you drive this does not count as the things are auto stored in the car boot. You can buy and sell things such as health packs, weapons, drugs and kit. To sell drugs to a customer , simply use the left and right buttons to navigate a price and then press the action button to offer, they will either decline or accept the offer for different reasons which they will state, don’t get caught by the police doing this though. To buy health packs, weapons and kit, you will just simply have to press the action button. There is a set price shown on the screen for these products. Here is a list shown below; Weapons • Hammer - $25 • Glass Bottles (6) - $8 • Crowbar - $75 • Screwdriver - $15 • Knife - $150 • Baseball Bat - $90 • Bricks (5) - $29 • Coins (These are not purchased but can be thrown, each time this is done it knocks $1 off of your budget) • Petrol Bombs (3) - $230 Health Packs • Minor Pack - $100 • Major Pack - $150 • Critical Pack - $250 • Medicine - $50 Kit • Herrington Home - $75 • Herrington Away - $80 • West Ham Home - $100 • West Ham Away - $105 • Chelsea Home - $260 • Chelsea Away - $290 • Arsenal Home - $200 • Arsenal Away - $180 • Fulham Home - $90 • Fulham Away - $85 • Charlton Home - $125 • Charlton Away - $127 • Spurs Home - $160 • Spurs Away - $167 • Millwall Home - $50 • Millwall Away - $55 • Celtic Home - $180 • Celtic Away - $150 • Rangers Home - $120 • Rangers Away - $120 • Manchester United Home - $300 • Manchester United Away - $250 • Manchester City Home - $120 • Manchester City Away - $110 • Casual 1 - $45 • Casual 2 - $50 • Casual 3 - $60 • Journalist Suit - $500 • Thug 1 - $15 • Thug 2 - $20 • Thug 3 - $5 • Rich Casual - $200 • V.I.P - $1000 These will be unlocked at certain stages in the game; some will be available at the start. The further you get in the game the more things you can buy, the better you will look, perform in fighting and healthier you will get. You can also purchase registrations plates on your vehicle to distract the police away from you. You can also get new body paint from any garage. Here is a list of shops and what they sell; • Hools’ Tools – Weapons and Health • Patch Up Parlour – Health • Kit Up – Kits • Herrington Merchandise – Kits • Your Reg – Car Shop Shops cannot be entered, just simply stand at the door and press the action button, scroll through the items and if it’s what your looking for then buy it, just make sure the character has the right amount of money. Fighting Element This is just an idea, an example of what the fighting system would be like… Fighting will play a big part of ‘The Firm’ and the moves will be damaging to yourself or an opponent. There will be levels of strength unknown to the player which will be programmed in the game. They are as follows; Civialian – The fighter will have barely any fighting skills and their defence is useless Beginner – The fighter has a few moves which have limited damage and their defence is limited Moderate – The fighter has a range of moves which are fairly damaging. Their defence is fairly good, they can block obvious moves. Thug – Knows how to smash a face in or two. They are a tough match and are pretty well defended Warlord – Have a big range of moves which are very damaging to you. Their defence is amazing and it takes a lot to kill them off Police – Have a large range of moves and are very damaging, brilliantly defended but not as hard to beat up as warlord level. These levels will make it more realistic, so when taking on a civilian, it will not be impossible to do, and taking on a warlord wont only take a few punches. Each move takes off a certain amount of life from the opponent and you. There are loads of possibilities so they are all sub-headed

This might sound a wee bit nasty, but I'm really trying to help you with this.

That was really difficult to read and keep track of. You need to seperate those pages of text into several (or more) groups, with bolded headings seperating ideas or something. For example, you explain the bits and pieces of the interface in many different parts of your post; keep your explanation of the UI to one section. More people will read it if it's well organized, and they'll understand it better.

There's a few things I don't understand here: Is this a sort of wide open sandbox game, like Grand Theft Auto, or is it more linear with each mission being a seperate level?

You really don't need to rip the bleeding face idea from Doom. It doesn't sound like it would add anything amazing to the game, and it's just going to take up valuable screen real estate.

You mentioned that you'll be including puzzels to the game; you should throw in a few examples of these in your writing.

Is your inventory limited by how many total items you can carry, or by a total weight?

Woot.

Quote:Original post by Defunker
This might sound a wee bit nasty, but I'm really trying to help you with this.

That was really difficult to read and keep track of. You need to seperate those pages of text into several (or more) groups, with bolded headings seperating ideas or something. For example, you explain the bits and pieces of the interface in many different parts of your post; keep your explanation of the UI to one section. More people will read it if it's well organized, and they'll understand it better.

I'll try and get that sorted out in a short while. Maybe within the next few days. It has been a project I have been working on for a few months and I have just reignited my interest.

Quote:Original post by DefunkerThere's a few things I don't understand here: Is this a sort of wide open sandbox game, like Grand Theft Auto, or is it more linear with each mission being a seperate level?

In between missions, you will be automatically taken to the firms’ pub. Each firm has its own area and pub which is normally situated next to the firms’ associated football clubs’ stadium. In the pub you can choose to ‘Continue Missions’, you can choose to go on ‘Free Roam’ which let’s you explore the city and earn some extra cash. You can ‘Change Kit’; you can also go on ‘Riot Mode’ where you can just go on a random brawl, choosing the location, clubs and many other features. The further you progress in the game, the more kit, weapons, vehicles, moves etc you unlock. You can also unlock some videos of the great footballing past!

It is set our linear and sandbox style. Kinda like The Warriors, if you've ever been on it.

Quote:Original post by DefunkerYou really don't need to rip the bleeding face idea from Doom. It doesn't sound like it would add anything amazing to the game, and it's just going to take up valuable screen real estate.

I haven't been on any of the new DOOM's not since the old one for the SEGA so I wouldn't know what it is to rip it from. It was a mere co-incidence.

Quote:Original post by DefunkerYou mentioned that you'll be including puzzels to the game; you should throw in a few examples of these in your writing.

Is your inventory limited by how many total items you can carry, or by a total weight?

I'll try to squeeze a few puzzle examples in.

The inventory will be limited to a certain amount of weapons. This will be done like this:

Each weapon has a mass (weight) in points, the more points the heavier. Your inventory will be allowed a certain mass, but this can increased through the purchase of luggage bags.

Your non weaponry inventory will be allowed to include no more then 5 items.

Hope all that helps and thanks for the feedback :)

I like it, sounds nice a gritty but my fundamental question is 'why would i buy it?' GTA3 hands down revolutionised a way of gaming and no offence but this sounds like another one of those titles living a long ways down in the shadows. Can I ask what exactly does this product offer over any other product eg. gta. I know you cant compete directly with that but what is somthing new this product brings to the table? Sure you have more brutal fighting, more realism but thats not what actually sells in volume, its a more an aquired taste somewhat like the getaway franchise, this seems to be taking it one step further but im not sure the market will follow in bulk.

-People love GTA because its not realistic, its just damn fun and the player is given massive freedom to do it their way.
-The driver series could only offer graphics so flop.
-The getaway series offered more realism but the difficulty was nuts and reality often proved offensive to many so limited sucess.
-The warriors offered lots of close combat fighting. Short term money milcher feeding on Rockstars name. Got old fast.

So what can you offer the player that will keep them entertained and feeling satisfied with spending their money? Im sorry if I sound harsh but there is a lot of crap on the market and I, as a gamer am very picky especially when it comes to console. Like it or not you will be competing for interest so you need to spark somthing new if you want sucess.