Project description

[kanunikov-denys]

I'd like that someone describe the project more exactly: The world, actors, who play, describe the idea, communication, etc. It's better to create a file something like documentation. Also we need to describe tasks of each sub-team, may be globally and then more exactly.

[adhusson]

Hi! Here's a short summary of what we had in mind and a minimal gameplay example. I'll put that one on the wiki so we can discuss it.

It's a multiplayer game with two teams :

• Team P is a single player: the Police Chief. He has a SimCity-like view of the city and has to stop team T's plans.
• Team T is 2-8 players with a Diablo2-like view of the city. They must coordinate to attack the city.

Here is a minimal gameplay example. There are 2 team T members, a 15mn round time, limited options on both sides. Team T members have to manage a tradeoff between speed and safety while the team P member has to a) be lucky in how he allocates surveillance resources and b) notice weird behavior on the street.

1. The city is small and has 7 potential targets - some big buildings.
2. When the game starts, a building is randomly selected as target (say the Library) for team T. Team P doesn't now what the target is.
3. There are 2 team T members and they have 15mn to succeed
   • Member A must spend time near the Library to get to know the building. He can:
     • Stay 13mn near the Library
     • Talk to people near the building. This goes faster, but increases chances of being caught by Team P.
   • Member B must buy equipment for the bomb. He can:
     • Use household items. He must acquire that knowledge online. Then, if he wants to go fast, he can be caught, or he can wait 13mn (using something like Tor) and safely get the instructions.
     • Get explosive material on the street. He has to rely on luck, because gang members may kill him, or he may be talking to an undercover cop (see later).
4. Team P member has, say, 100 surveillance points he has to allocate between:

   • of on-the-ground policemen and their location (useful after bomb explodes)

   • Video surveillance (more eyes for Team P player)
   • Undercover cops in gangs (chance of being caught when purchasing a bomb)
   • Police-friendly propaganda (policemen move faster in crowds)
   • Online surveillance (chance of being caught online)
5. Team P member then can:
   • Watch video feeds and look for suspect behavior. He can arrest anyone he deems suspect, but false positives make him lose allocated points.
   • Respond to alerts from his resources. An alert can
     • Give him the identity of a terrorist (low chance)
     • Need reallocation of more points to find the terrorist (but might be a false positive)
     • Give him a video of the event. The sooner he watches, the more likely he will get the suspect arrested (if he decides to).
6. Then, team T members can bomb either:
   • The target. They should run to their safehouse afterwards.
   • If they made/purchased 2 bombs (more risk) and there is too much police around the target, they can bomb some other building, with very little police around, so all police forces go to fake target. Then they make real target explode, but this time they can safely escape.

This should be rather simple to implement (on top of the simulation, networks, graphics, UI, music, city generation etc.):

• Getting to know the building is just a loading bar that increases with proximity, and accelerates when talking to a set of people.
• Video feeds are random zoomed-in locations around potential targets.
• Every interaction team T members have with their environment results in a chance of being caught or at least deemed suspect depending on allocation resources. For instance:
  • Internet usage has a secure and an insecure mode, insecure is faster, but activates a chance of being caught proportional to amount of resources team P has put into online surveillance
  • Every interaction has a chance of being deemed suspect, depending on location and job of the NPC being talked to.