Mechanic Document

Game Mechanic Document

Capture and Hold Mechanic - Skyrim

The capture and hold mechanic gives the player the ability to capture cities, towns and settlements within Skyrim. This mechanic would build upon the storyline in the Civil war quest line by making the civil war between the Stormcloak Rebellion and the Imperial Legion affect the player more while exploring. One of the major plots in Skyrim is the struggle for power over the province of Skyrim, the player can choose to join either the Stormcloak or Legion faction in game and begin the quest line. The quests are the same on both sides and revolve around the player securing dominance over Skyrim for their chosen faction. During this quest line there are a few missions to capture and defend certain forts and cities. The only time that the player is able to do this is when the quest is active, greatly reducing immersion into the story line as it doesn’t ever feel that both sides are struggling for power. The mechanic would allow players to capture locations without certain quests being active, adding to the immersion of the story. One of the biggest problems with Skyrim is the massive world to explore with seemingly very little going on, it never gives the feeling that there’s a civil war going on. To capture a location, the player must first of all speak to a high ranking soldier of their faction where they can choose the date, time and location as well as the number of soldiers to accompany them. This gives the player the opportunity to capture a town with a group if they choose. The player captures a location by killing all of the enemy soldiers there. Currently there are campsites belonging to both factions scattered around the world and occasionally the player may encounter soldiers of the opposing faction in the wilderness but they aren’t often hostile towards the player unless attacked. This mechanic makes the world more diverse and full of activity. If the player decides to kill all the enemies in a camp this is how it will remain, they do not respawn. The capture and hold mechanic will repopulate any camps with soldiers when they are wiped out over a period of time alternatively new camps can arise in the wilderness of Skyrim which the player can discover through exploration or clues from neutral NPCs in settlements. The mechanic would add many more patrolling Stormcloak and Imperial soldiers into the wilds of Skyrim, presenting more danger to the player while they are exploring. Adding more patrolling soldiers to the world of Skyrim will further add to the civil war that is meant to be raging. Enemy soldiers encountered whilst exploring should be more hostile than they are currently to further emphasise the feel of a civil war.

Locations are captured or defended by defeating all of the enemy soldiers in a location. When the player dies in Skyrim they must load a previous saved game therefore any changes made to the game after the save will be lost. This will cause problems to arise if a player is defending one of the captured locations and dies in the process . The player can’t lose a location if they die in the process of defending it as they have to reload a save .  The mechanic shouldn’t come into use until the player has started the quest line relating to the civil war and has chosen which faction they want to join. The player should require a faction to capture a location as this  compliments the story.

Specifications

Ability to capture Cities, Towns and settlements outside of storyline

Locations are captured by defeating all of the soldiers and the leader of that location.

Capturing a city, town or settlement makes buying items from shops cheaper. Items can also be sold to shops for a higher price

Capturing a location will make the players reputation in the town much higher and thus the player is treated better by the inhabitants with lower shop prices.

Captured locations will be attacked by the opposing faction.

The player must be able to lose locations to give the sense of a struggle for power in a civil war.  If a player loses a location, their reputation will be much lower there making shop prices higher with the player’s items being worth much less.

Have the ability to capture a town alone. Player can speak to a friendly, high ranking

Solider to organise a raid on a town. The player can set the time, date, and location of the raid and can choose how many soldiers to bring along.

The player should be able to orchestrate an attack on a location, but should also have the choice of how to do it as to not take control away from the player.

Camps belonging to the opposing faction will respawn over time, new camps can generate elsewhere when one has been destroyed.

The player should feel like there is a civil war going on, new campsites appearing will make the player feel like the world is active.

Soldiers of the opposing faction will roam Skyrim in larger and more hostile groups         making the game more challenging and interesting by adding another element of danger to the wilds of Skyrim.

Job Roles

To make this mechanic a reality, a UI designer would be needed to create an interface for when the player is organising a raid on a town. A programmer would have the largest task. The programmer would be needed to raise or lower the player’s reputation based on which faction is holding the town. The programmer would be needed to make the organised raids work, camps respawn, and new camps arising, making the opposing faction attack captured towns and also the programmer would need to give the player the ability to capture location. A sound designer would be needed to record new voice acting for some of the new NPCs such as the high ranking soldiers of the faction. An artist would not be required to create this mechanic, all of the models and textures are already in the game. The pre-set models would suffice for this mechanic