Spillet baserer seg på H.P. Lovecrafts (en amerikansk forfatter kjent for sine fantasy- og eventyrfortellinger) verk, i likhet med skrekkspillet Eternal Darkness. Spillet tar også i bruk Sanity Effects, noe det også deler med skrekkspillet på GameCube. Spillet begynner ved at du, hovedpersonen, prøver å ta selvmord. Det er mislykket, og du blir plassert på en mental-institusjon i mange år. Når du slipper ut skal du finne ut hva som egentlig skjedde med deg, da historien virker alt annet enn rett frem. Spillet, som er satt i 1920-årene, blir alt annet enn koselig etter dette.
Alt ses i førsteperson. Og bare glem statistikker på skjermen, for det får du ikke. Alt er helt klart, men regner det vil du se dråper på skjermen. Blir du slått vil blodflekker dekke til synet ditt. Sanity-systemet står sentralt, og utviklerne presiserer til Gamer.no at det faktisk mye bredere enn det vi så i Eternal Darkness. Figuren din blir paranoid, synet svikter og andre illusjoner trer frem. Blir han altfor skremt, vil han plutselig bli narret til å tro at fiendene hans er venner. Plutselig kan du se en av vennene dine i spillet komme mot deg med øks - og da er det vanskelig å vite om det faktisk er ekte. Utviklerne byr på hele femti forskjellige av disse effektene. Spillet kombinerer skriptede sekvenser med selve gameplayet. Noen av mellomsekvensene er faktisk interaktive.
Av og til vil du høre barnestemmer eller merkelige lyder, og du må finne ut hvor det kommer fra. Kanskje er det bare frykten som roter med hodet ditt? Av og til er likevel trusselen ekte. I demoen var vi ombord på en båt som reiste over havet til ukjent land. Plutselig ser vi en av seilerne bli dratt ut i havet. Sekunder etterpå kommer det monstre ombord, men etter mye skyting ble de terminert. Men det var bare begynnelsen. Plutselig ser vi en enorm hundreårs-bølge komme veltende mot skipet, og vår guide, Gareth Clarke, finner raskt noe å holde seg fast i. Kort etterpå stiger det opp et gigantisk sjøuhyre som vifter med armene og prøver å fange spilleren. Skremmende, ikke sant? Det er bare begynnelsen. Historien i spillet kommer til å sjokkere deg, og pågrunn av den svært velillustrerte volden er dette absolutt ikke for yngre øyne.
Health with No HUD?
The absence of any sort of HUD in Call of Cthulhu makes for a completely unique and immersive gameplay experience, unlike anything seen in a title of this kind before. This decision did, of course, mean that the team had to come up with unique ideas for getting the same information back to the player that would normally be communicated by numbers in boxes, or colourful gauges. In a previous sneak peek, I covered how the combat system was created without the need for a cross-hair, and, more importantly, the fact that the player would not miss it or feel the need to stick a blob of blu-tac to their screen; not that this cheat would help them much anyway.
In this peek, I will be going over some of the basics of how health is handled - specifically, the intuitive features we have adopted for getting feedback to the player on the damage they are taking, and the extent of their injuries.
In Cthulhu, every time Jack Walters (the player character) takes damage, be it from combat situations, the environment, or falling too far, his health is reduced by a certain amount. In addition, there is the chance of other complications developing in the form of injuries. If these are not treated, they will cause a continual drop in health through the loss of blood. If Jack's health gets too low, then it will start to impact his performance and ultimately can prove fatal.
To make the system even more interesting Jack's body is divided into different damage zones, and each of these zones can take one or more injuries (e.g., the player may have heavy bleeding on his right leg, a broken bone in his left arm, and a poisoned gut). Each of the types of injuries that can be sustained are treated by using real world health items, such as bandages, sutures and splints. As Jack travels though the game, he will find health boxes for restocking his medical supplies. If, for some reason, the player is unable to treat an injury due to specific supplies running low, then they will be able to inject Jack with drugs to temporarily eliminate any performance restrictions. Unfortunately there are side effects to abusing these drugs too often, and Jack's mental health will begin to suffer.
As the player receives damage, blood splats appear on the screen, with the quantity and location of the blood being utilized to provide immediate feedback. For instance, if a large amount of blood is splattered onto the right side of the screen then the player will know that they are taking heavy damage to their right side. If the player is losing blood, the color is drained out of the environment; the more grey this becomes, the lower Jack's health. As the situation approaches fatal, then the sounds will also deaden and everything will start to slow down.
In addition to these visual effects, the movement of the camera accentuates Jack's damage. For instance, if the player has a broken right leg, then the camera bob will reflect a weakness on this side as they move. The lower Jack's health, the more strained the bob will appear to become, by emphasizing certain motions.
If Jack has no injuries, and his stamina level is reasonably high, his health will naturally recover over time. In order to maintain playability, all treatments provide almost immediate cures (i.e., you don't have to wait several months for the bones to heal when you break a leg).
Needless to say, the lower Jack's health, the more significant the impact of certain game penalties, such as slower movement speeds and increased wavering on weapons. These restrictions, in unison with the visual and camera effects discussed above, provide comprehensive and realistic feedback to the player on their health situation - without the need for resorting to numbers in boxes.
Alt ses i førsteperson. Og bare glem statistikker på skjermen, for det får du ikke. Alt er helt klart, men regner det vil du se dråper på skjermen. Blir du slått vil blodflekker dekke til synet ditt. Sanity-systemet står sentralt, og utviklerne presiserer til Gamer.no at det faktisk mye bredere enn det vi så i Eternal Darkness. Figuren din blir paranoid, synet svikter og andre illusjoner trer frem. Blir han altfor skremt, vil han plutselig bli narret til å tro at fiendene hans er venner. Plutselig kan du se en av vennene dine i spillet komme mot deg med øks - og da er det vanskelig å vite om det faktisk er ekte. Utviklerne byr på hele femti forskjellige av disse effektene. Spillet kombinerer skriptede sekvenser med selve gameplayet. Noen av mellomsekvensene er faktisk interaktive.
Av og til vil du høre barnestemmer eller merkelige lyder, og du må finne ut hvor det kommer fra. Kanskje er det bare frykten som roter med hodet ditt? Av og til er likevel trusselen ekte. I demoen var vi ombord på en båt som reiste over havet til ukjent land. Plutselig ser vi en av seilerne bli dratt ut i havet. Sekunder etterpå kommer det monstre ombord, men etter mye skyting ble de terminert. Men det var bare begynnelsen. Plutselig ser vi en enorm hundreårs-bølge komme veltende mot skipet, og vår guide, Gareth Clarke, finner raskt noe å holde seg fast i. Kort etterpå stiger det opp et gigantisk sjøuhyre som vifter med armene og prøver å fange spilleren. Skremmende, ikke sant? Det er bare begynnelsen. Historien i spillet kommer til å sjokkere deg, og pågrunn av den svært velillustrerte volden er dette absolutt ikke for yngre øyne.
Health with No HUD?
The absence of any sort of HUD in Call of Cthulhu makes for a completely unique and immersive gameplay experience, unlike anything seen in a title of this kind before. This decision did, of course, mean that the team had to come up with unique ideas for getting the same information back to the player that would normally be communicated by numbers in boxes, or colourful gauges. In a previous sneak peek, I covered how the combat system was created without the need for a cross-hair, and, more importantly, the fact that the player would not miss it or feel the need to stick a blob of blu-tac to their screen; not that this cheat would help them much anyway.
In this peek, I will be going over some of the basics of how health is handled - specifically, the intuitive features we have adopted for getting feedback to the player on the damage they are taking, and the extent of their injuries.In Cthulhu, every time Jack Walters (the player character) takes damage, be it from combat situations, the environment, or falling too far, his health is reduced by a certain amount. In addition, there is the chance of other complications developing in the form of injuries. If these are not treated, they will cause a continual drop in health through the loss of blood. If Jack's health gets too low, then it will start to impact his performance and ultimately can prove fatal.
To make the system even more interesting Jack's body is divided into different damage zones, and each of these zones can take one or more injuries (e.g., the player may have heavy bleeding on his right leg, a broken bone in his left arm, and a poisoned gut). Each of the types of injuries that can be sustained are treated by using real world health items, such as bandages, sutures and splints. As Jack travels though the game, he will find health boxes for restocking his medical supplies. If, for some reason, the player is unable to treat an injury due to specific supplies running low, then they will be able to inject Jack with drugs to temporarily eliminate any performance restrictions. Unfortunately there are side effects to abusing these drugs too often, and Jack's mental health will begin to suffer.
As the player receives damage, blood splats appear on the screen, with the quantity and location of the blood being utilized to provide immediate feedback. For instance, if a large amount of blood is splattered onto the right side of the screen then the player will know that they are taking heavy damage to their right side. If the player is losing blood, the color is drained out of the environment; the more grey this becomes, the lower Jack's health. As the situation approaches fatal, then the sounds will also deaden and everything will start to slow down.
In addition to these visual effects, the movement of the camera accentuates Jack's damage. For instance, if the player has a broken right leg, then the camera bob will reflect a weakness on this side as they move. The lower Jack's health, the more strained the bob will appear to become, by emphasizing certain motions.
If Jack has no injuries, and his stamina level is reasonably high, his health will naturally recover over time. In order to maintain playability, all treatments provide almost immediate cures (i.e., you don't have to wait several months for the bones to heal when you break a leg).
Needless to say, the lower Jack's health, the more significant the impact of certain game penalties, such as slower movement speeds and increased wavering on weapons. These restrictions, in unison with the visual and camera effects discussed above, provide comprehensive and realistic feedback to the player on their health situation - without the need for resorting to numbers in boxes.
