TimeSplitters 4/Content Ideas

== Gamemodes and Challenges ==
=== Behead the Undead ===
Classic claustrophobic zombie action. Mainstay of Timesplitter challenges. TS3 behead the undead series suffered from a plateauing of difficulty which made the challenge more attritional based, whereas the TS2 versions continuing ramping up the difficulty (desirable). Improvements could include more imaginative spawning. Using detached zombie limbs to kill zombies. One off smart bomb. Challenge recording only the last wave of action. Loads of zombies on screen. Chainsaw action? (Chainsaw overheating). Carcass and dartgun was a very satisfying combination.
=== Cat Driving ===
In many quarters this was the favourite challenge. The first race course, though the simplest was by far the best. The silly physics added to the fun aspect of the game and would have to be recreated! Ghost cats and split times as well as the whole cat modding experience. A simple controllable jump/ramp would be fun. Weaving in and out of cones.
=== Cut Out Shoot Out ===
A popular set of challenges that never quite managed to fulfil its potential. A general criticism was that there was not enough factors like speed of hit, accuracy of hit and bullets fired to make hit, taken into account of score. Also it would be much more satisfying to have the cut outs highly destructible; perhaps one of the challenges in the set has the objective to completely obliterate the cut out.
=== Super Smashing Great ===
Quite old skool but still good fun. The best ones had shortcut methods for power use. A version of this could be that the player has a set time in the building site to try and destroy as many destructible objects (background and props) as possible. Different objects, not all obvious, would require many hits to destroy but yield high points etc. Part of the skill would be finding out what you can destroy and how efficient it is to destroy for the points gained. This would make a really good demo level. Mini gun destruction! Smoke. Debris
=== Monkeying Around ===
A must have series. However the TS2 versions were actually much better conceived than the TS3 versions. Likely candidates to return would be the clay pigeon shooting, although the targeting needs to be improved. The monkeys could also be fired out of cannon, al la human cannon ball fashion. Melon thief always looked pretty but suffered from having to use the sniper scope, so the suggestion is that it is pistol based (pistol can have a small amount of zoom or dartgun).The jury is out on monkey curling.
=== TimeSplitters Classic ===
Divided opinion on this. Some really liked this. Only concern was that a lot of its fun came from exploiting the ai. I would prefer it if you had to kill all enemy to progress from room to room. Strategically placed explosive barrels/scenery etc could then be used as part of the skill to complete as fast as possible.
=== Zombie Wheelchair Classic ===
Zombies who have lost their legs in battles with Cortez get bored and so fit their chairs with fire extinguisher propulsion units and go racing!  Each extinguisher is controlled by one stick so press both sticks forward to accelerate, one stick forward to turn. Pulling back on a stick brakes that wheel (engages zombie hand on wheel) but do it too much at once and the friction ignites the zombies hand which then gets shaken off.  You can’t brake that side anymore….  They are armed with some kind of explosive catapult with variable range or projectile vomit slicks.  Opponents will be blown up, knocked onto one wheel or their extinguishers jammed on at 200% till they crash or the wheels fall off.
=== Rhythm Action Game Mode! ===
Shoot highlighted objects in the background or enemies in time with tune. It will need advance warning mechanism for which target to aim for, otherwise it will be just too hard/random.
Elite 8 Agents – growing circles could indicate the target order. Hit on a beat to kill zombie or else it will just take a flesh wound/lose a limb.
Tap dancing zombies in a cheesey musical. Thriller. Saturday Night Fever. Score multipliers for successive beat kills.
=== Super Puzzle Turbo Fighter Zombie Challenge ===
Shoot coloured grenades. Zombies only die if grenade colour matches zombie colour code. Multiple zombie kills accelerates opponent players zombie spawns and reduces your spawns. Therefore herding zombies is a good way of eliminating opponent. Set number of colours, 3? Possibly chains of zombies killed just appear on opponents side with temporarily no colour coding. Spearing multiple zombies. This will work best as split screen. Possibly coop with one player as the cat doing the herding.
=== Brickaruga ===
All players have a light and dark side and can switch at will.  They throw bricks as weapons, light side bricks only harm dark side players and vice versa. Can pick up stripy bricks that hurt both or brick shield that repels bricks at thrower and switches their colour. Essentially a strong idea, however there could be issues with switching sides at will or that could just be what makes it fun. This game mode could equally work well with just normal weapons.
=== Zombie Herding ===
Use Strudel, zombies are scared of cats of course, to herd the zombies into the meat-locker. All really about the zombie behaviour, the longer they have not been in close proximity to strudel the more they veer off in a random direction. (CAN HERDING BE FUN !!)
=== Cratemod ===
Set within a warehouse full of crates, the players are also crates. If still, they are indistinguishable from background crates. Can move and shoot. Would require random flag for crate setup, so crate setup cannot be entirely memorised. Unique crate character. Animation for crate shuffling along. Flap reveals gun. Team version of this is crates versus barrels – A team of crates takes on a team of exploding barrels. R106? Limiting ammo, ricochet bullets could be used if the crates and barrels were destructible. Along a similar vein we would use the carcass character in a meat locker, which could hang itself up on the meat hooks along with the non-playable carcasses. (TURRET MAN)
=== Zombie Medley ===
Everyone is a zombie, attack by melee or throwing bits of yourself at opponents, can knock bits of them off.  Can pick up fallen bits and attach them to yourself. Possible to throw one arm and your head, better still pickup others limbs. Lots of humour. Could use chopping traps (half-life). Mix and match limbs (attach someone else’s). Zombie characters would have to be built from a template like in TSFP – very doable. Zombies with one leg would hop and with no legs crawl. You die when all removable limbs have been lost. Melee attacks with handbags.
In multiplayer if your head comes off – still have first person view (can rotate head) and must guide body to head. (INTERFACE)
=== Traps ===
An arena full of saw blade machines, iron maidens, acid pools etc. Players armed with exploding things and projectiles that can knock opponents into these machines as the only way to kill them. Could be props that we just drop into levels. Could introduce dynamics for kills without shooting. Mine-fields and mine detectors. Use the forum for ideas for trap props ? (READABILITY, FPS ISSUES)
=== Shootball ===
2 teams, no range weapons, members must propel a ball between each other and ultimately into a goal. Opponents can tackle if next to someone with the ball killing them.  If the ball is held for more than 3 seconds it explodes killing the holder.  When a goal is scored dead players respawn. More speedball than football. Suitable for any level.
=== Predator ===
1 player is very powerful and can cloak, all the others are out to get him/survive the longest… Essentially gladiator but with boosted abilities. Various methods for this. First to x number kills. Kill the predator and become the predator. Predator can stick to walls (has grapple). Could be team versus the predator, with no respawning with a random team member becoming the next predator. Simple to do.
A concept that could be used for this and any other game mode that has no respawning is air strikes / ghost modes that allow revenge kills for players who are out of the round. Spotlights could heighten tension for the intended victim.
=== Stationary Predators ===
Stand still and you fade into invisibility, shoot or move and you become visible. Chameleon. Any walls you touch, you adopt those textures.
=== Vampire versus Humans ===
2 teams, vampires have special powers – speed boost, super jump, no range attack – just bite. Humans have stake guns and daylight areas? Switching sides is problematic, so once killed you sit out the round. Various light traps. We like vampires and believe they could be used through out the game with their own set of rules like the zombies. (VAMPIRES?)
=== Invisible Men ===
Team based objective eg. plant bomb.  Both teams are invisible to their opponents but are revealed by footprints in mud/puddles or dust grenades/mines which show them up for a limited time. Also blood trails for a while when shot. Simple but fun. All about decent particles effects. (NPC TRAILS, VISION MODES)
=== 'Silly Bag Physics' ===
Essentially bag tag, with frictionless, physics based bag. Want silly but solid physics.
=== Character Transitions ===
Striptease, lose an item of clothing per death, think men in underpants and generation game where you age per death. Really about visuals and humour. Of course the character modelling will be the determining factor with this. (MALE / FEMALE STRIPPER)
=== Capture the Monkey ===
Monkey on your back rather than carry a bag.
=== Evolution ===
King of the hill set around the 2001 monolith on a hill. Start as monkeys, the longer you stay near the monolith the more you evolve. As you evolve you get better weapons – bananas, rocket bananas, homing rocket bananas. Knock your opponents down the hill. The monolith could move from time to time.
=== Football Game ===
(monkey in a ball ?). Shoot the ball into opponents goal. He shoots, he scores! Have a goal prop therefore could potentially sit in any level.
=== Assimilation ===
Like the Borg touching players causes them to morph into one of you. Something funny obviously… alternative to virus. Really just a visual difference to virus. Only considered if we keep/fix virus.
=== Power Rangers ===
Team deathmatch, 3 characters can combine into a big one. One steers and the other two become guns able to independently shoot. Very specific character designs. Robot fun. (BESPOKE, RETURN ON INVESTMENT)
=== It's Alive ===
In this multiplayer mode, teams must shoot off specific body parts of their enemies and carry them back to their lab to create a Frankenstein-style monster. While carrying a body part the player cannot use their weapon and if they are killed the body part is dropped and disappears. Once all of the required limbs and guts have been gathered, a switch is thrown and the monster is born. One player (or ai controlled) on the team then takes control of the monster, which is invulnerable but slow-moving and can be temporarily halted if shot in the head. The monster's goal is to destroy the opposing team's lab (only the monster can do this). (CAPTURE THE SCIENTIST AND BRING HIM TO YOUR LAB)
=== Add It Up ===
This is a deathmatch-style game. Every player has a number written on their forehead. The aim of the game is to kill your enemies in a specific order and killing the wrong one resets your score. However, the numbers are only visible at a short distance so players have to get up close and personal in order to verify the number and then kill them if necessary. (USE HATS FOR THE NUMBERS)
== Game Rules ==
=== Zombies ===
* Scared of cats!
* Takes ages to burn to death
* Lightning electrocutes can then fire lightning bolts -> zap robots
* Eat humans to regain health -> turn humans into zombies
* Slip over on ice
* Not accurate shooters (guns)
* Projectile vomit
* Kick Props at target
* Shoot all limbs off / attach random limbs / mix'n'match - > shoot head off = power kill!
=== Vampires ===
* Dynamic Movement, Fast Leaps!
* Have Chameleon Properties
* Wooden stakes 1 hit kill
* Can pull limbs off Robots
* Heightened Perception = "smell blood" (NOT ROBOTS)
* Distract with blood = "blood craze"
* Fire, lightning, ice no effect
* Melee Attack
* Damaged by direct sunlight
=== Robots ===
* Slip on ice, all over the show!
* Immune to fire
* Lightning power kill
* Freeze immobilizes = shatter? fall apart? fire extinguisher?
* Generally slow moving
* Scary to cats
* Limbs can come off (vampires) -> don't need heads -> can't target, shoot anything nearby
=== Humans ===
* As expected
== General ==
* Lots of death animations – especially high impact
* Explosions – bigger the better / flaming gibs / smoke
* Big brash guns
* Consistent prop behaviour – reinforcing game rules
* Fire
* Fire extinguisher
* Slow down
* Ice
* Lightening
* gravity
* Booby traps
* Shitty stick
* Arcade sniping
* Mini games – SteveEllisMinigames.co.uk
* Visual feedback for game modes / health / armour status etc - thumbnails
* Banners for the front end like in TS2
* Humorous announcers – main TS characters, Zombies, User selectable, Captain ash
* Taunts - animated
* Polite cheat
* Street fighter front end concept. Piss take of Tekken. Character stories. Facial animation.
* Pick animations
* 4 teams
* Shooting through wood (All wooden stuff background and props)
* Character parts interchangeable
* Deformable Wigs / Detachable Hats
== Locations ==
=== Past: ===
* Troy/Gladiator – BC!
** Set around a giant wooden Trojan Monkey within the walls of Troy
* Planet of the Apes – Prehistoric
** Suits the Evolution game mode – a jungle clearing with several hills and the 2001 monolith atop one of them
* Mayan Temple – BC!
** Stands alone or Goonies style pirate cave with pirate ship, Bruce Lee?
* Pirate Ship – 1650
** 2 Galleons separated by a small volcanic island, ideal for team games
* French Revolution – 1790
** The Bastille, guillotine square, palace of Versailles, 3 musketeers
* Frankenstein Castle – 1850
** Mad scientist lab, morgue, vampires, Suits “It’s Alive” game mode
* Carnival of Freaks – 1900
** Victorian Freak show, tents, sideshows, hall of mirrors?
=== Present ===
* Building Site
** Updated version. Concrete mixers, scaffolding – lots of destructible things
* Harry Tipper’s Ranch – 1970
** Incorporates the disco, suits the “wife swap” game mode, boogie nights, complete 70’s kitsch
* Moon set (Capricorn 1) – 1969
** The moon set with lander and planet earth on a string and the film studio laid out around it.  A few windows show you really are on the moon…
* Barbie’s Castle – 2007
** Big pink plastic castle, could face a fort full of toy soldiers, or be based around bratz attacking the wholesome Barbie experience
* Big Brother – 2007
** The house and garden plus Geordie announcer.  Cameras everywhere.
* Chinese reskinned as Curry House – 2000
** The Chinese was popular so
=== Future ===
* Robot Factory/Ultra Net
** Shiny futuristic
* Master Chef/Gears of War
** Some way of parodying Halo and Gears
* Lost in Space/Forbidden Planet/Flash Gordon
** Retro sci-fi/B-movies
* Dark Star – inside/outside battle
** A space ship that you can fight on the hull as well as inside
* Buck Rogers
** More tacky sci-fi
* Inner Space/Fantastic Voyage into Human Body
** Organic interior
* Ice Station
** Remake it with terrain
Ground Zero, Mercury, Nevada, circa 1952 
Small town America, white picket fences and all, lovingly re-created in the middle of the desert for the purposes of being atomised in the name of getting one over on the other guy. Complete with quaint wooden housing, reinforced bunkers, balsa wood silhouettes of townsfolk and glowing craters. 50's “Populuxe” architecture mixed with utilitarian military structures in the middle of a desert. 
Rosse Buurt, Amsterdam, planet of the Apes, circa 1973 
Rain swept canals and narrow streets bursting with lurid neon strip lighting, proffering the dubious pleasures of simian flesh. Lingerie-clad primates stir listlessly behind grime covered windows, set in walls bedecked with rotting posters of iniquity and sexual degradation. And round every corner, the orifice to yet another filth-encrusted peep show parlour waits. 
Promenade Deck, Titanic II, decaying orbit, Saturn, circa 2912 
HMS SS Titanic II has struck an asteroid from Saturn's belts and is tumbling slowly down to a fiery conclusion. Art Deco meets future-tech, complete with a robot orchestra dutifully playing gentle waltzes. As the bio-dome energy field surrounding the ship begins to crack and gravity drives slowly fail furniture spins into the air. Still the view couldn't be better, as long as you don't mind dodging the asteroids that are slamming into the deck. 
Santa's Workshop, North Pole, Arctic Circle, present day 
A military-industrial complex hidden in the blizzards of the north, where the rosie-cheeked tyrant rules with an iron candy-bar rod. On the factory floor, row upon row of dirty benches are festooned with presents (and manacles to keep the workforce in place), whilst in the manufacturing plant, the layout is similar to the rowing deck of a war galley, with giant handles of infernal machines in place of oars, whilst a drum endlessly beats a sonorous rhythm. Above all, suspended by spiked girders and chains (and illuminated by fairly lights) resides the pulpit of evil, where the fat-bellied monster can gaze down upon his unfortunate slaves without pity. 
Houses of Parliament, London Tropical Floodplain, circa 3000 
Global warming has taken it's toll, and now the sun-bleached bricks of a deserted parliament jut out of the floodplain at an odd angle, with much of the structure in ruin. Tropical vegetation is energetically trying to devour the area, with some success; the wreck of Big Ben is wreathed in creepers and vines. Where once the hurly-burly of civilisation could be heard, now the only noises are weird animal cries and the buzzing of mosquitoes. 
== Guns ==
* The donkey fixed gun
* Monkey gun
* Remote ‘exploding’ cats
* Animal guns – piranha gun, kitten grenades, homing bats, monkey face hugging gun etc
* Impulse gun to rocket jump around
* Thrown copies of TSFP – 1 hit kill!
* Monkey assistance gun – target your monkey helpers on a victim
* The brick
* Punching
* Handbags – wind up power-up
* Magnet gun
* Homing Rocket Launcher (multiple lock on must come back)
* Anti-vampire stake gun
* Boomerang – particularly effective against zombies
Using TS2/TS3 as a template the following are existing guns that would make a comeback, leaving space for new guns. (TS3 had 34 different guns)
* Brick
* Pistol
* Tactical 12 gauge
* Shotgun
* Sniper rifle
* Flamer thrower – a decent one this time
* Rocket launcher
* Homing rocket launcher (TS2) – multiple lock on
* Minigun
* Flare gun
* Proximity mines
* Remote mines
* Timed mines
* Grenades
* Sticky plasma grenades
== Vehicles ==
* Wheel chairs – racing – fire extinguisher wheel chair drag racing
* Shopping trolleys
* Cat modding – essentially just a parody on Need for Speed.
** Go faster whiskers
** Blue under lighting
** Go faster strips
** Kitty cat stickers
** Change you horn/mi-ow
** Fat exhaust
** Wheels/alloys
** Tail upgrades
** Furry dice
** Music system
** Coats
** Low rider + bonnet raising
** Plastic mascots eg. Jockeys/monkeys
== References ==
* ideas_content.doc (21/03/2007)