Level Design Document

GAD412

LEVEL DESIGN DOCUMENT

The Factions

The Trajnai – The Trajnai culture originates from the forest, building their dwellings within the oldest trees of the forest. The ancient trees have massive diameter sometime reaching up to 50ft.  The Trajnai have mastered a technique for keeping the trees alive as they burrow their dwellings into the dense trunks.  By building upwards in a spiral form, the tree can keep water flowing from its roots through its massive trunk and into the upper foliage.  A combination of ladders and balconies made of wood make the outside of the trees as livable as the inside.  Canopies overhang the balconies to protect it from falling debris from the tree tops above.   Massive boulders litter the floor of the valley and the Trajnai have created an elaborate trail system that winds among the huge trees and giant boulders. They have also built a complex transit system made from a series of thick steel bridges. Extra wide bridges follow the main roads high above the dangers of the forest floor and have other bridges linking to them that span out to different dwellings. Any enemy coming into this place could be surprised from many different directions.

The Rakites – The Rakites have made their habitat within the valley cliffs of the surrounding forest.  Their culture began in some of the massive cave openings that occur naturally in the cliff sides.  As their culture continued to evolve, the Rakites learned ways to burrow deeper into the rock and create a series of interconnected cave tunnels, which work in a similar fashion to ant tunnels.  There are separate chambers for residence, commercial and industry. Auxiliary tunnels are used to station guards, who would make piercing this tunnel complex a costly undertaking. Large air shafts have been burrowed out of the ceiling for air circulation, and additional tunnels take the Rakites to the mesa top above the valley.  A large water source exists in a well-guarded underground well.

The Conflict

Climate change and drought have begun to take a toll on the inhabitants of the valley.  The trees of the forest have begun to dry out, and with that the Trajnai lose their main water source.  The Rakites’ well is likewise running dry. For many years they lived peacefully together as neighbors.  But now, as resources begin to dwindle, the two groups have begun to raid each other’s homelands in search of precious resources, such as food and water. 

The Environment

The environment is The Great Canyon Valley, connecting the Trajnai Forest with the Rakites’ Rock Temple. This is a steep-walled valley, much longer than it is wide—creating the shape of a large scar on the land. The part of the valley around the Trajnai homeland is filled with an ancient forest of enormous trees, similar to Redwoods, except even larger. Mixed among the giant tree trunks are huge boulders that were left in the valley when the glaciers departed after the last Ice Age. Little light filters down though the high tree canopy, so there is some vegetation, but nothing too dense.

Toward the Rakites’ Rock Temple, the trees fall away, replaced by more desert-looking vegetation, although the huge boulders remain as imposing as ever. The Rakites have built an infrastructure within the cliff sides, but it has become rusted in the harsh desert conditions.  Pipes run in different directions along and across the canyon cliffs far above the basin.  Old metal bridges rise up above the cliffs and boulders to reach the old generators that keep the last of the water pumping through the Rakites’ rocky labyrinth. A constant blowing of dust has created a yellow haze that seems to choke anybody who breathes it in. Smokestacks billow out dark soot horizontally from the cliff sides, adding to the post-apocalyptic feel. The Rakites’ end of the valley has the feel of an industrial wasteland. 

The main path through the valley is well worn, but tangles of tree roots, rock slides and other dangers await those who leave the path, which is variously decorated with Trajnai totems and Rakite runes. Halfway between the respective territories of Trajnai and Rakites, in an area controlled by neither, lies a deep pool of clear water – the Pool of Silence. This pool reputedly connects to the Springs of Life, beyond the valley, although no one who has gone down, seeking that connection, has ever come back.

Level Objectives

You can play as a Trajnai, or as a Rakite. There will be different objectives, depending on which faction you choose. There is also one objective that is the same for both factions – taking control of the central Pool of Silence.

For all objectives: There is much ammo and weaponry scattered throughout the valley due to the ongoing battle between the warring factions.  The fighting has been going on for weeks and many soldiers have fallen, leaving behind weapons for others to collect.  Also, medics have sporadically dropped health packs and adrenaline in the chaos of battle.  These will aid those who continue on the resistance and assault.