Wednesday, April 4, 2012

MP9: OPT 1- Maze Backstory and Mechanics


 Backstory:
Ben Turi was late at work in the old hotel, cleaning and repairing anything that required it. He worked tirelessly, floor after floor, as he was the only remaining staff member at work besides the manager and security guard. After finishing his nightly duties, he made his way down the old worn steps to the basement. Putting away his gear in his leather tool belt amidst the lonely dark, he noticed a flicker of light emanating from a normally gloomy and nondescript corner of the room. He carefully approached the mysterious white aura leaking from the hairline cracks in the stone, and cautiously eyed the wall for any sudden movements. He reached the strange light striations at the rooms edge and slowly touched his hand to the wall. After a moments pause, there was a thud, and a distinct unlocking sound, as the wall receded two inches back into the room's side. It then slide back and left into the wall itself, and revealed the odd wonders behind. Ben stepped in through the light, and before him stood an immense room, littered with winding twisting corridors. He had arrived on an overlook, starring out at a bogglingly layered labyrinth of maze like masonry far below him. The platform lowered with a sudden jolt, and Ben slowly descended into the hallways of the stone trap, that laid sleeping below the grand hotel's ancient foundation. He panicked as he dropped lower, but with an unavoidable sense of awe as he watched the walls rise around him. As he reached his destination, he suddenly voices cry out; wavering towards him from the darkness ahead. They sounded forlorn and in pain. A shiver shot through Ben's quaking body as he took one first step off the platform. The moment he was on solid ground, the platform shot back up with high speed towards the top floor. Ben starred into the maze's maw as he heard the echoes of lost beings wailing from beyond. He didn't know if these were real people or just of his imagination. Or worse, a trick by the manic maze. All he knew was he suddenly felt compelled to progress. So he picked his tool belt up high on his waist, and proceeded into the unknown ahead of him.

Gameplay Mechanics:
The player controls Ben in a first person perspective, as they go through the series of mazes, spiraling downwards into the depths of the hotel. The player can jump, and move in eight cardinal directions with the arrow keys. The player can collect hidden tools in the game that are required to open the locked doors at the end of each maze. There are a certain number in the room, and a certain number required to open the door. There may be more than the required number in the room, leaving players options and not having to find them all. So finding the maze exit isn't enough; you need to collect the objects in order to open the door, so the player must search all corners of the maze to open the exit. Once they do, they descend to the next maze, where as each one gets harder, traps may appear. Some mazes may have gaps to leap over, or spikes that may drop on them that require timing to pass. Each level presents an increasing challenge beyond the layout of the maze itself.  

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