He Who Stalks....

[D3athcag3]

He Who Stalks...

An Original Idea By D3athcag3

Storyline

You and 7 other work colleagues were traveling to a mine site together. Mining is very large in your area and mine sites have been gratuitously spotted across the area, some even as old as 100 years.

On your way to the site a terrible and menacing hole appears as the soil and asphalt underneath you gives way and reveals the darkness of an old mine. You and your companions are now stuck in the mine and cannot find any means of escaping the way you came and on top of that it is pitch dark.

Some mines were built to maximize profits and as a result cut corners on safety and supports much like this mine. Often the case was mine workers were trapped underneath and due to starvation were even forced into cannibalism!

The consumption of human flesh although immoral has its benifits, it metamorphosizes the cannibal into an ancient myth; the Wendigo. A Wendigo is such a monster that was once human but due to its prolonged solitary life away from civilzation and its traumatic decision to eat its workmates it is driven only by its urge to feast.

You and your colleagues, now plunged into a realm of darkness must try and survive in the damp domain of the beast. One thing is for sure, sacrifices need be made.

Gameplay

As the Wendigo:

As the Wendigo your slumber has been abruptly disturbed, now hungry you must devour the survivors. The Wendigo is stronger than an average human but cannot take them all on at once and must utilize his stealth in order to stalk and silence his prey, one by one. The wendigo can walk in the shadows to keep hidden or can be completely camouflaged if standing still. This provides good advantages over the human trespassers.
The wendigo can also carry his dead to the unholy altar in the hopes that the devil may have the mercy of converting the corpse into an ally or if the wendigo feels a little peckish can goble down that corpse to cure his ailments.
Although the wendigo was once human this is no longer apparent and as time passed so did his past memories and now his logic is frayed and is unable to use anything but the most simple items. The wendigo carries a net with him in order to halt fleeing prey, making his hunt a quicker one. The wendigo can also screech loudly, striking fear into the hearts of the prey and making the nearby ones attempt to defend themselves. If the wendigo uses this well he can send humans astray from the group making them easier to pick off.
Finally the wendigo's claws and teeth are coated in potent bacteria causing almost fatal infections on its victims, slowing them and bringing down their overall health.

As one of the Humans:

As one of the human survivors you must try to out smarten the beast that stalks you. You can utilize many of the items in the mine to help you see, defend from and eradicate the wendigo.
The surviving humans must take care in the skills they learn in the forsaken mine as they may be their last! Each survivor can learn a maximum of 12 skill, which can be spent on 5 different spheres of knoledge, these spheres are:
- Molotov Cocktail making
- Evasive Manuevering
- Headshot Proficiency
- Morale Rallying
- Medical Training
(Skills are currently being completely REDONE)

The humans can learn all of these at anytime (no 'ulti's') but must spend their skill points wisely as they only get 12 out of a possible 30 skills from 5 spheres. The survivor can learn all from one specific sphere and will be granted a mastery for that skill meaning it is much more effective than normally.

Project Team

- D3athcag3, Director, Terrainer, Unit Creator, Triggers
- Caedrus, Game-play Designer/Writer

Other Notes

- The humans can place barricades to funnel or slow the Wendigo's movements.
- In the cave it is very dark, not pitch black but without the use of flares and other light sources its difficult to see the Wendigo coming.
- If a human bumps into a wendigo while he is hidden he will be revealed
- The Wendigo's greatest weakness is fire, not only does it damage him greatly it is bright and makes it difficult for him to keep hidden.
- I plan on making several traps available for the humans to find and use to their advantage.
- As far as completion, all units and terrain are finished triggers aren't far from completion.

Volunteer/Forum Notes

- Help may be needed so if you can please comment below!
- Beta Testers too, I play Lordaeron so that server is preferred.
- I tried my best to make this as readable as possible, any tips and I will try to neaten it up some more.
- Please make suggestions and improvements! I will be glad to read them and am very open minded.
- Criticism is much appreciated too, this doesn't mean hate.[/ATTACH]

 

[Caedrus]

The core concept is solid, and I think introduces a lot of potential for gameplay and atmosphere. However, just seeing what you actually have for the gameplay plans so far is discouraging.

I don't know the actual abilities, so I can't say too much, but things like "Headshot proficiency" are setting off red lights for me. And I think the Wendigo could use a coupla more active tricks in his toolbox (though I definitely like some of the ideas you have for him already, such as the cannibalization/altar choice). You also seem to be running the risk of having the game get significantly easier for the Wendigo as the survivors dwindle, what with old allies turning against them and such, and you should definitely counter that factor. There should be rising action, not falling action!

Anyways, think something like Left 4 Dead as a cat and mouse game in the dark (with the dark being a really active element of the gameplay) with one particularly versatile zombie instead of a multifaceted team, and I think you could go a lot farther. In my mind, this game should be about feeling like a predator in the dark trying to snatch people away from the herd before the herd for the Wendigo, and should be about paranoia in the dark, trying to foresee and counter the wendigo's attacks, and watching each other's asses for the humans. And lots of mind games for everyone. Very little direct brawling.

It's a fun idea, but I can see a lot of ways you could refine it. Anyways, if you want a gameplay designer / writer (Edit: I trigger, too), the core concept of "Wendigo in an ancient mine" is cool enough to grab my interest.