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For the idea for the level I've been leaning towards short open spaces along a linear path, similar to Batman: Arkham Asylum in which the player was pushed through a linear path, but was treated to small bursts of open game-play, in which the player was free to do as they please. I believe that a approach similar to this would give the player a large feel of freedom within the level, but also push the player through the story. I think that this approach would be easier for me personal to achieve than having a full open world level similar to the HUB cities in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, in which the player was given these huge immersive cities, that I got lost within for hours. From my experience with Deus Ex:HR I want to bring some elements I found interesting within the game, such as the amount of culture and believability within the level, that created an almost living world.
The theme I've been trying to focus on is differences between two different levels of society, the higher class and the lower class. I want to try and give the impression of the difference with the appearance of buildings and try and work this into how the actual level would be played out. While taking photographs this felt even more apparent due to the locations I decided to take on both outings. I looked at derelict and 'trashy' streets and found that these were great inspiration for how I wanted the level to look.
For the game-play this is most likely to played through the first person perspective, this is to try and add more immersion. I think giving the player a range of different methods to tackle enemies would give the player the freedom I spoke about within Batman, and this would hopefully give an incentive to explore the small 'open' sections. For the atmosphere I want to try and have a grimy feel to the sections that will be populated by the lower class, and then create a contrast in the higher class sections giving a more 'crisp and cleaner' feel. I intend on doing this by giving the lower sections more derelict buildings, and following with the steam punk theme adding more abstract and puzzling environments. In the higher class sections I want to still have a strong focus on the steam punk technology, but try and create a more sophisticated appearance and a more straight forward flow to these sections.
The location is very important into how the level will look like with appearance, how the citizens will act, what kind of wildlife will be within the city and finally what the climate will be like. For this location I think I will create a new location with a combination of Liverpool and Manchester, this is because the history of Liverpool would work great with the society differences (Liverpool was a huge part of the slave trade) and the fact that it has its own port is great for appearance. For this new city I'm going to use, I will have the port section dedicated towards the lower class, and will become a form of 'slums', this will be where the majority of the slaves and will live and work, they will be working in factories and this could possibly have child labor (this happened at the Victorian time period). The slums will have buildings that the player can explore, and citizens the player can interact with.
The city will be split a few different 'zones or sections' these each will have their own appearance and will each be home to the different class of citizens.
Slums
The cities slums will be home to the slaves, who will be classed as the lowest citizens. These will be forced into constant work, which can range from just machinery work in factories, to much more disturbing jobs such as prostitution. The luckier slaves will become servants within the second district, and will have easier lives but will still be subjected to hate and violence. The slums will be based around the industrial factories in which the technology that the higher class people use, some slaves will have 'created' their own variants of this technology for their own use.
Middle District
The middle district will be home to the majority of the cites citizens, these will have a much easier life than some of the salves but small sections will still be subject to poverty. The salves will be allowed within this district, however this will be 'frowned' upon, they will usually allow be within this district as a servant. The citizens who aren't slaves will be working, and have access to some of the lower levels technology, but will be inferior to the technology available to the highest level citizens.
Upper District
The upper district is the home to most wealthy and powerful people within the city, and this will have the most advanced technology. Slaves will not be allowed within this district, and there will be very tight and abusive security within the district.
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