Rooftop Lantern Run

1. What if this level had stairs and platforms starting on the roof?
2. This level is the beginning of act 3 and dialogue gave context in a natural way
3. The player collects sticks and lanterns for lighting mechanics
4. Bridges connect platforms
5. There are neon rooftops the player must follow
6. There's a leaning building that serves as the bridge to the next building
7. Vines can be used to climb on the sides of skyscrapers
8. Moss is bioluminescence when sunset turns to night
9. Must finish the game before nightfall
10. Altitude can kill the player if too high in the air
11. Poisonous plants kill you no matter what you do or if you win
12. Plants are irradiated and will kill you
13. Mist hinders your view, more likely to cause many falls to your death.
14. The player can die from lightning
15. Lightning is more likely to strike at nighttime
16. Snow is bioluminescence so they must be collected as the light source for lanterns
17. Lanterns don't have fire, but rather bioluminescent leaves and moss
18. A series of clouds that come toward the player can be walked on, serving as a bridge
19. Really large flowers grow on the sides of these buildings and can serve as a bridge
20. Neon lights had varied colors determining whether they'd kill you or not
21. The player can walk off the edge onto adjacent rooftops, if they are shorter than the preceding one
22. The player's brother leaves a not at the end of the game giving an open ending, saying where to meet up
23. A gating mechanic can be avoiding swarms of irradiated ravens
24. Neon lights have to be reconnected to get to the final level
25. The player must outrun cracks coming toward them as the roof caves in
26. The city is flooded and the water is frozen solid
27. The player can walk on ice to the next building
28. Ice can give out if the player stays in one place for too long.
29. The player is limited by a certain number of steps before the ice give out and the player dies.
30. The town is flooded and iced over, dinoflagellates showing through for bioluminescence

egingric Level_Intro
Background:  Throughout the years of expanding the newest town in France, the economy was booming. From best conditions for agriculture to advancements in technology, times were progressing at a satisfying rate. As time went on, science became the main focus whether it was biology, botany, astrology, the townsmen became more passionate for each new discovery was made.

     After the completion of the first GMO plant, scientists worked for days on in for breakthroughs. Five years later, the current project was to be announced to the general public for the biggest discovery yet. Two days before this could happen, however, the project went wrong in every possible way, resulting in the evacuation of the city. The nuclear meltdown deemed the entire town uninhabitable and strongly advised to stay away from certain death.  

Scene: French Rooftops that can be traversed from one roof to another. Poisonous clouds in distance, town’s flood frozen over and unlit lanterns that make out a trail.

Time: Dusk.

Conditions: Frozen Flood. Lethal clouds. Thin ice.

Characters:

Oliver Lost Brother. Mid-teens. Male

Zachary Playable character. Late teens. Male

egingric Level_A
SECTION A1: Intro to characters and setting scene. 

Upon level load, we are on top of the first roof top

ZACHARY

I wish my brother would break his habit of wandering off during life threatening situations. That’d be real nice.

We are free to explore the level. There is a railing on the rooftop we start on. Part of the railing right in front of us has broken off, prompting the direction to walk in. There are two lanterns on the roof’s floor, lit on each side of the broken railing. Out in the distance, there is another rooftop that stretches out horizontally, and two other rooftops in the z-axis. The rooftops gradually disappear in the distance, just above flood levels, currently frozen over. There are other rooftops however submerged in the ice, somewhat hard to see.  

OLIVER

Heyyyy, bro. Can you hear me? Y...Your headset is on, right? Wouldn’t want anything to happen, now would you?

The player character responds to brother

ZACHARY

You need to break your habit, it won’t be my fault if you die a predictable death.

OLIVER

Guess the lanterns didn’t light. Huh. Go and light em all up,

should find me by time you're done.

SET OBJECTIVE: Objective text pops up in the middle of the screen,

TEXT ONLY DIALOG

Light all the lanterns you see. You should start on your left, by the way.

The player walks over to edge of rooftop and walks over to next rooftop, lower elevation than the first. After he lands…

OLIVER

Ohhhh, right. Be sure to light everything fast, I should’ve mentioned that first. There’s a few glowing clouds that seems to be spreading everywhere 

and one whiff of that, then sayonara cruel world.

ZACHARY

...Oh my God.

SET OBJECTIVE: Objective text pops up in the middle of the screen,

TEXT ONLY DIALOG

Don’t take a whiff of any poisonous cloud

If the player doesn’t do anything for a while…

OLIVER

Seriously, though. Light those lanterns and come get me.

When on the first rooftop, there is a long path to get to the next roofs. The tiles are slanted, somewhat hard to keep balance when walking on them, but still manageable. Sun is starting to set, timing is essential. There will be hordes of ravens coming to intersect with your path. Any contact, and they’ll knock you over. Must hurry to the end of the rooftop. Waiting for them to pass will be detrimental to time limit.

When the player reaches the end of the first path of the rooftop, there will be an option to go left or right. There is a lantern on each side of the corner to the end of this path, both must be lit with your lantern. Rest of entire level can be seen at this point, where each path from left and right ends and where the ending is shown. A poisonous cloud is coming from the left, toward the player’s direction. Many unlit lanterns are shown as the sun continues to set.

If the player decides to walk on the ice, the ice will continue to crack, only allowing ten steps before breaking entirely and causing certain death.

GAME RESETS to beginning

If the player decides to stay in one spot, they have 10 seconds before the ice gives out and kills you.

GAME RESETS to beginning

If the player attempts to walk over to the center roof top, the end goal, they must reach the ladder if they wish to live, otherwise they must wait for the ice to break since they cannot jump back up to any surrounding rooftop.

GAME RESETS to beginning

If the player chooses to go right, the must light each passing lantern while keeping balance on the rooftops. This rooftop is the longest in the level, and you must avoid getting electrocuted from storm clouds lingering on the side of these roofs. By the end of this roof….

ZACHARY

Don’t worry, bro, just light all these lanterns, that's the answer to this situation. You and your fricken habits.

The player proceeds to walk on passing by clouds. Risk of death as clouds will move their own pace, the player is riding them as they drift along. Clouds are reasonable spaced from one another. Once the player reaches the next rooftop, the end goal is on the fourth rooftop, at a lower level than the one player is on now. Once the player reaches the final rooftop…

OLIVER

Oh, why didn’t you light all the lanterns?  

ZACHARY

Because I got here before some arbitrary clouds. 

OLIVER

They're poisnous clouds, and guess I shouldn’ta left that...uh... detai.l out. 

Uhaha, those lights were for the rescue team, sooooo

We’re deserted forever, and now you're slowly dying by poison.

I hope you’re real proud of yourself right now, because you're the reason mom died for nothing.

GAME RESETS to beginning

Player goes left and proceeds to light lanterns. Poisonous clouds coming over at alarming speeds. Sun continues to set. Once player reaches end of rooftop, player then backtracks to turn left and go to rooftop on right. Poisonous clouds are still approaching at constant speeds and the sun is still setting. If speedrunning, player should be out of poison cloud’s field and gains some distance as they run to far end of right side of rooftop. Player then proceeds to light remaining lanterns while still avoiding lightning and missing the normal, while clouds. Once the player makes it to the end goal and lights the last lanterns just before the sun goes down entirely…

If player misses any lanterns,

TEXT ONLY DIALOG

You must have missed a few lanterns, because this isn’t the ideal ending you were aiming for. Try again!

GAME RESETS to beginning

If player gets to the final roof after the sun has set,

TEXT ONLY DIALOG

You inhaled that poisonous cloud because that’s what it’s like in a world where you don't know what you're doing.

GAME RESETS to beginning.

If player gets to the final roof before the sun has set and lit all lanterns,

OLIVER

You know, I’m surprised you managed that, really.

As the scientist responsible for this whole thing, I figured,

may as well build a teleporter in case things go wrong. 

Oh, and also, thanks for lighting those lanterns, quite the view. 

They didn't have anything to do with the teleporter.
Nice aesthetic, tho. 

Screen fades to white, teleported activated.

ZACHARY

...Well aren't you so damn special.

THE END (FOR NOW)

Fallout 4 - Level Analysis by Julia Rolader

     While playing Fallout 4, I noticed how much the game guides you at the beginning of the game. When exiting Vault 111, you can see in the near distant ruins of Sanctuary, contrasting the pre-war version when first starting up the game. The core mechanics matter when going back to Sanctuary, which are the SPECIAL skills. If you run or while playing survival mode, merely walk, your stamina will deplete. Stamina is used for AP, or Action Points, used for VATS, another core mechanic that slows time down to give better aim against hostile AI. Stamina can be increased by investing points to your Endurance, the one of seven SPECIAL skills. The other stats are Strength, for carry weight and determining if you become over encumbered, Perception for investing AP and sighting enemies at ease when further in the distance, Charisma, to persuade others for your own benefit, Intelligence, to invest lock picking, crafting, and hacking skills in, Agility, to invest your stamina points in to run longer and use more AP at a time, and Luck. Investment in your skills will give you perks, balanced out by the level you're at. There are 70 perks in Fallout 4, and depending on your build, there can be satisfying results. The core gating mechanic is based on your supplies, ammo, and level. If you run out of ammo or supplies, you may have to change your strategy. If you lack specific skills, primarily lock picking and hacking skills, some areas will otherwise be blocked off.
     While at Sanctuary, there were additional supplies, ammo, the introduction to workshops to craft food, mod weapons and armor and how Settlements work. There were prompts at the top of the screen explaining how settlements worked such as affinity and resources. When first using the workshops, the entire screen is filled with text on how the gameplay mechanics worked, which I found mildly irritating, no matter how much I've played the game. Sanctuary officially debuts Codsworth, and if engaged in conversation, he'll mention activity in Concord, progressing the quest by investigating. This is when he can be recruited as a companion, one of many in the game. I noticed how when reaching Sanctuary, I saw the space rocket prop in the distance indicating where Red Rocket Gas Station is at. When following the main road, I am greeted by Dogmeat, another possible companion. If Red Rocket is explored, there is additional ammo, weapons, workshops, and can also be turned into a settlement. When continuing down the road leading to Concord, the game introduces raiders. When the road ends to the Museum of Freedom, you are asked by Preston Garvey on top of the balcony to help the settlers inside from raiders' attacks. This is when the first of four major factions are introduced into the game, the Minutemen. Regardless of helping them or not, the game's first Power Armor, T-45 and Gatling Gun is introduced. A new gating mechanic is now introduced, the mechanics of Fusion Cores, the main battery source of many nuclear based machinery, including Power Armor. When equipped with both, you're then prompted to clear out the remaining raiders of Concord while lastly introduced to the game's first Deathclaw, which can easily be defeated with the Gatling Gun. From there, the game continues to give you prompts to complete the quest, such as going back to the minutemen, following them back to Sanctuary, and given the duties of being General.
     Despite being an open world game, the main story line is still presented as an option. Regardless of this design choice, however, if you go literally anywhere high north or particularly south, stronger enemies will be more present and thus harder to play. Overall, Fallout 4 doesn't necessarily hand hold you at the beginning of the game and the first quest of the game is fairly relevant to the main storyline. Depending on your playthrough, the Minutemen faction will either be essential or completely useless to you and your version of the story.