HACKING THE SYSTEM #2
> [NDL_LINK INTERFACE v0.2.1]
> jackin://ghostwire<.node//WIRE.ndl …. processing…
> Access… DENIED<<Granted.
Hello Operators.
As promised, here’s a second look into the world of DeadWire - and his companion Noodle - focusing on the creation of the world they inhabit and the deadly adversaries facing them…
A focus on World Building
When it comes to the city, its origins lie in some of my earlier efforts, interests and explorations. Cyberpunk is a genre I’ve always been drawn to; near future urban, cool, shiny and chrome.
I wanted the game to feel a little more grounded and visceral than some of the more hi-tech interpretations you can find. This also played nicely into DeadWire’s unique rewiring mechanic. Rewiring needed to feel like bleeding edge technology, something that set Wire apart from the riff-raff. It enabled Rewire mode to be the ‘special power’ that the player has and it being a flexible tool for solving or helping with many of the game’s puzzles. It is very cyberpunk and really extends the near future feel of the game. For more information on how the mechanic came into being, please have a read of my previous Dev Update.
Gang culture and criminal enterprise is a common trope in cyberpunk; the world of DeadWire is no different. The punk nature of lawlessness feeds into the game’s antagonists: The rival criminal gangs and the seedy underworld they inhabit. Each gang has a different approach to its activities, meaning the player needs to tackle different enemies in different ways. This enabled the game to offer evolving levels of threat that you need to learn how to handle.
The first gang - The Sluggers - are the street muscle of Uptown-City, a low-level group of grunts, more used to threatening customers than dealing with a well armed operative. Get enough of them together though and they can be dangerous. They are supplemented by their enforcers, often armed with heavy hitting shotguns. Combine this with the claustrophobic environs of an underground urban warren (and hackable system ripe for controlling) and the game’s level designs begin to take shape. With the game split into a number of acts, the gang threats and urban environs combine to present the player with an ever evolving and hardening challenge. The reward for exploration and progression is a steadily revealed story throughout the experience.
This was the most challenging aspect of the game to get right. Once the core mechanics were in place, the realisation of the plot arc - coupled with the need to present an ever engaging challenge - began to form the flow of the game. The Acts form logical aspects of the plot that DeadWire and Noodle begin to uncover. No spoilers here (of course), suffice to say I’m rather pleased with the flow of the game so far and I hope you enjoy exploring it as much as I enjoyed making it.
Another aspect I wanted to deliver was to get some degree of player progression, by giving DeadWire some additional tools with which to solve the challenges facing him. Again, no spoilers, but a few upgrades can make all the difference and open up additional opportunities for mischief and mayhem. This also has the benefit of rewarding experimentation; there is no optimum strategy and what I want is for players to find ways around the game’s challenges that I have never thought of. I really look forward to watching a stream or video of someone completing a level and thinking “How the hell did they do that?!”
🙂
Stay frosty, Operatives.
Shotgun Anaconda
> jackin://ghostwire.node//WIRE.ndl -- end