FoldSpace

1
FoldSpace

• Real-Time Strategy Game Concept
• Luke Parkes-Haskell

2
Modern Strategy Games

• Theyre all the same game, packaged and repacked
  with slightly differing media.
  
• Successive titles are just bigger and better
  than their predecessors.
  
• Cramming more objects into the game doesnt make
  a game better.
  
• In RTS terms, it can easily make it worse.
• Theres too much for the player to deal with, or
  the game just loses the strategic depth.

3
Break the Mould

• Lets construct a game that defies these
  conventions.
  
• We dont want to be yet another insert fantasy
  /historical /sci-fi setting duplicate.
  
• We want to stand out from the crowd and offer
  something that is new.
  
• But it still must be familiar enough to warrant
  player comfort with the genre.

4
Break the Mould

• Lets imagine a world where the conventional and
  foundational laws of physics simply do not
  apply.
  
• By breaking these fundamental conventions, we can
  explore new concepts and ideas.
  
• The possibilities are limited only by our
  capability to produce, and our imaginations.
  
• Lets see how FoldSpace breaks the mould

5
Escher Space or Relativity

• Escher was a dutch artist who explored the realms
  of advanced mathematics and paradoxical,
  impossible constructions.
  
• This lithograph print is a famous work known as
  Relativity.
  
• This is a paradoxical world in which the
  conventions of gravity do not apply.

6
Escher Space or Relativity

• Here there are three sources of gravity each
  orthogonal to the other.
  
• By depicting them in the same space, we create an
  intriguing situation where multiple objects
  inhabit the same space, but different gravity
  wells.
• An object inhabiting one gravity well cannot step
  into another so readily if they were to step
  into an area that does not correspond, theyd
  simply fall out.
• This is the most powerful feature of FoldSpace
  and enables an incredible depth of level design
  and player lateral thinking.

7
Teleportation and Portals

• Navigation in an Escher influenced bent-space
  world is almost impossible.
  
• To make it easier, we present the player with the
  means to move objects between the three
  gravitational planes teleportation and
  portals.
• Neither of these are really new. Portals have
  been used to optimise games since the days of
  Descent, and have been seen recently in games
  such as Prey.
• They make transit incredibly rapid, and can also
  further complicate level design, or even
  introduce further levels of strategy mechanics.

8
Manipulation is Key

• We give the player the ability to use static
  teleporters to move rapidly across our bent
  space.
  
• Portals can be created dynamically and used to
  allow objects to pass into practically any
  location.
  
• The player can also control doors, drawbridges
  and more esoteric constructs, such as moving
  platforms that can rotate to move between gravity
  planes.
• Such freedom of movement within a complex
  environment results in incredibly dynamic play.
  
• We need to be careful that we do not overload and
  frustrate the player by making things too
  complicated.

9
The Interface is Critical

• Such an esoteric setting will render a
  conventional user interface useless.
  
• It is not however redundant, but it needs
  significant tweaking to make it functional.
  
• We allow the player to move the camera freely in
  the game environment, but still control units in
  the same manner as a standard RTS.
  
• This means were actually looking at a control
  system that has more in common with flight
  orientated games like Blazing Angels or
  Freelancer.
• This is the most optimal way to control movement
  in a tri-axial space that has no definitive
  vertical planes.
  
• This isnt totally necessary, however as the
  three gravitational wells can actually be
  displayed without obstructing one another but
  it may prove useful for the player in some
  situations.

10
FoldSpace

• FoldSpace is an enormous space station that
  defies the natural laws of physics.
  
• It is the experimental creation of Zaibatsu - the
  largest mega corporation ever to have existed.
  
• Its elaborate monopolisation of the realms of
  bioengineering, advanced mechanics and warfare
  provide it incredible income, at the expense of
  its employees.
• With unlimited resources, the Zaibatsu mega
  corporation controls the most advanced technology
  the human race has ever seen.
  
• But even a mega corporation can still be
  threatened by enemies and rivals

11
The Underminers

• There are revolutionaries that seek to disrupt
  the awesome political, social and economical
  control of the corporation.
  
• There are rival companies that are failing in
  their desperate attempts to compete, and will do
  anything to gain an upper hand.
  
• There are the disgruntled and discontent
  employees of Zaibatsu itself, a constructed
  race of sub-human who exist only to work.
  
• The time has come for these groups to ally, and
  undermine the establishment.
  
• FoldSpace is the first target.
• Zaibatsu is unaware of this collaboration, and is
  ill prepared.

12
Redefining Guerilla Warfare

• With the Underminers seeking to steal the prize
  of the Zaibatsu corporation, bloody warfare
  breaks out aboard its decks.
  
• But the complex labyrinth of FoldSpace turns this
  into an elusive and mobile war.
  
• With both factions able to theoretically travel
  to any point that they wish to, an impossible
  struggle for control begins.
  
• With both sides hacking into consoles, manually
  destroying critical systems and using the
  technology to their whim, FoldSpace becomes a
  nightmarish mess of sealed doors, misdirecting
  lifts, teleportation, booby-traps and improvised
  portals.
• Zaibatsus armed control force vastly outnumber
  the Underminers, yet using their infinite
  mobility, they are able to remain one step ahead,
  constantly eluding their pursuers in the
  labyrinth that is FoldSpace.
• This is a new age of Guerilla warfare, unlike any
  that has previously been seen. The struggle for
  control of FoldSpaces critical systems has begun
  this is the entry point for the player, as
  either the commander of an elite group of
  underminers, or as the taskmaster of the control
  force who seek to clamp down on this revolution.

13
Gameplay is Everything
Fundamentals

• Unlike other RTS games, FoldSpace does not force
  the player to harvest resources, build structures
  or maintain any form of base.
  
• The game is dynamic and mobile, rendering common
  static RTS objects obsolete.
  
• Instead the player can seek out control panels
  and actively hack them to gain the upper hand.
  
• These may control certain things, such as doors
  or platforms as described before.
  
• But they might also be used to access storage
  lockers that contain potentially useful
  upgrades.
  
• They might be used to call in reinforcements from
  neighbouring sectors.
  
• Hacking things is risky. It takes time, and can
  be used to track the movement of your units
  through FoldSpace. Units that are hacking are
  very vulnerable to attack.

14
Gameplay is Everything
Victory Conditions

• The objective of the game is to prevent the enemy
  from securing control of the section of FoldSpace
  that you both occupy.
  
• This can be done in several ways.
• The first is to simply completely eliminate your
  enemy.
  
• The second is to control all of the critical
  systems in the section often security points
  and environmental systems.
  
• The third is to destroy all of the systems and
  objects that are important to the enemy.
  
• A draw may be forced by successfully controlling
  vital systems and initiating mutual destruction.

15
Gameplay is Everything
Control

• Units in the game are controlled in the familiar
  click and command style, giving them movement
  orders by clicking on empty spaces, attack orders
  by clicking on enemies, or special orders by
  clicking on objects.
• Many objects and units will also have a separate
  menu that allows them to perform special orders.
  
• The camera is moved via the mouse and wsad
  style key controls.
  
• Any unit may be jumped to at any time they each
  have an independent tab at the top of the screen.
  This is necessary due to the maze like nature of
  FoldSpace.

16
Gameplay is Everything
The Units

• There are only three units in the game, and they
  fulfill identical roles in both factions.
  
• The first is the fighter. Fighters are trained to
  operate weapons and are naturally combat
  inclined.
  
• The second is the hacker. Hackers are used to
  operate systems and gain control of FoldSpace.
  
• The last is the technician. Technicians are able
  to repair damaged systems and machinery, and rig
  booby-traps in certain systems or machines.
  
• These three unit types are formed into squads,
  that will move around in support of one another,
  and can fulfill practically any task.
  
• Lost squad members will reduce the effectiveness
  of that unit especially hackers and
  technicians, who are few in number.
  
• Losing entire teams can be extremely
  detrimental!
  
• It is however possible to call for reinforcements
  and replace lost squad members, or to replace
  lost squads.
  
• There is a limit to the number of squads in any
  sector at a given time per faction.

17
Gameplay is Everything
Upgrades

• Using hackers, certain control panels can be used
  to access storage containers.
  
• These will often contain a weapon or a piece of
  equipment.
  
• Squads may only carry one weapon and two pieces
  of equipment at any given time. Every squad
  member must be equipped identically.
  
• When an upgrade is found in a container, the
  player may choose to give the squad that upgrade.
  This may mean replacing an existing upgrade.
  
• These are spawned randomly in containers it is
  therefore impossible to remember the locations of
  the best upgrades and always use them.
  
• Some containers are harder to hack. They are more
  likely to contain the best upgrades.

18
Gameplay is Everything
Upgrades

• Squad members are initially equipped with a
  plasma rifle and light armour.
  
• The plasma rifles may be switched with EMP
  cannons, flechette guns or obliterators. Each of
  these weapons has different advantages and
  disadvantages.
• Light armour may be switched for heavy armour,
  grappling hooks, skeets (mobile portal
  generators), energy shields or stealth suits.
  Each of these may grant a squad different
  benefits and deficits in combat.
• Choosing the right equipment for the combat role
  of the squad is vital to success. Some equipment
  is simply superior to other pieces, but as a
  result is harder to find.

19
FoldSpace

• This was just a brief, sample overview of the
  game concept behind FoldSpace.
  
• It is naturally still flexible and much can be
  done to improve and add to the design.