Titan Shell Backer Document

The Titan Shell Backer Document is a document given to people who backed at designer tiers on the **Kickstarter.** The document isn't canon and is subject to change and it's just an overview to give backers a sense of the world.

**The Document**

Hello! This document will help you learn a little bit more about the world of Titan Shell and give you some advice on how to design your backer reward! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us by replying to our email. Keep in mind that the final design for your creation will be decided by us and may be changed in order for it to fit in with our world. That said, we’ll make sure to work with you throughout the process of the design being implemented into the game.

**Lore**

Sonder

Sonder is a sprawling nation built upon a giant mountain. Its inhabitants live in large transparent domes that have existed longer than anyone can remember. Order is strictly maintained by the Church of Sonder, who work closely with the Sonder Police to create and enforce their laws. According to the Church, these laws come down from the Gods themselves. Titan Shell takes place during a very turbulent time for the people of Sonder. For decades the Church was guided by Lord Minister Alaric. Towards the end of his reign, Alaric wanted to expand the reach of the Church and explore what lies beyond the mountain. He ordered the construction of a new dome, the first to ever be built in modern history. This dome sat at the bottom of the mountain to act as a hub for exploration beyond Sonder. However, during a trip to inspect the settlement town inhabiting the dome, Alaric and his convoy disappeared somewhere in the wilderness and were presumed to have perished. With his absence, a new Lord Minister was elected by the Church, Marek. Within a few years of Marek’s reign, the Church began to pass extremely strict laws, some of which seemed completely nonsensical. Wearing black shoes to work, smiling at people older than you, even yawning in public all became arrestable offenses. The Sonder Police Force has received an extreme increase in funding under Marek, and a new prison larger than ever seen before has been constructed in the same dome that was built down at the bottom of the mountain. A symbol that once stood for Sonder’s expansion and ingenuity has been turned into a weapon to use against its very own people. If found guilty by the church, a person can absolve their sins by offering up Indulgences. Indulgences are digital contracts between a person and the Church that allow them to be absolved of future sins. Over time, indulgences have taken over as the de facto currency in Sonder, with the wealthy members of society having stockpiled Indulgences for themselves. For those that can’t afford Indulgences, they fall into largely three groups. First, there are Domers. These are people who choose to live in the cities and risk being arrested by the droves of police units walking the streets. Those who choose to leave the cities are called Roamers. These brave souls make do in the wilderness, often traveling in packs and staying close to Mole Trains. The final type of citizen residing in Sonder are convicts, people who have been found guilty by the church of wrongdoing, and thus been packed into the Sonder Prison for their “crimes”. This is the category our main characters fall into.

Other Groups

● Freedom Rat Alliance - An organization hidden deep under the Sonder Prison where convicts can move freely and do business with one another under the watchful eye of their leader Rat-Dude.

● Mole Train Company - In the wilderness of Sonder, a black market of smugglers, bootleggers, and other entrepreneurs has begun to flourish. By selling goods and services to the Roamers as well as escaped convicts.

● Bandits - Numerous small groups of outlaws roam through Sonder, picking off easy targets for a nice payday. They have been known to ambush Mole Trains and take off with valuables and sometimes even entire moles.

● Carriers - Giant predatory birds fly through the skies of Sonder, but an elite group of highly trained tamers have managed to form bonds with these creatures. They can help our heroes quickly travel across Sonder, allowing them to skip certain areas if desired. The practice of bird taming is strictly prohibited by the church, and tamers are generally distrusted by most people.

● The Veil - The Veil are a mysterious group within the Church of Sonder, supposedly acting as an intermediate between the Lord Minister and the device used to communicate with the Gods.

Areas

There will be seven levels in Titan Shell set in various unique environments spanning the mountain as our heroes rush towards the top of the Bureau of the Holy Affairs. Each area will have unique NPCs, enemies, and bosses. Although some enemies and NPCs can show up in multiple areas.

Sonder Prison

The Sonder Prison is the main hub world where players will begin their runs of Titan Shell. A large system of tunnels exists under the prison, carved out by members of the Freedom Rat Alliance. A secret marketplace has flourished down here with many characters offering helpful services to our heroes.

Prison Forest

Outside of the dome of the Sonder Prison rests a large forest, crawling with police units and fortified with giant walls and electrified barriers. There are even hints at the old settlement town that used to inhabit the land surrounding this dome.

Desert Ruins

In the deserts of Sonder rests an ancient temple built by a group of people who long ago left life within the domes, but have since vanished from the world. The Church now uses this ancient temple as a station for their vast train network. These trains mainly carry resources and materials, as inter-dome travel is forbidden by the Church.

Sonder Mines

Hidden within the mountain are vast deposits of bismuth, an integral component to the development of shell technology in Sonder. Seemingly endless tunnels and mineshafts make navigation difficult but some industrious Roamers still make their way here to harvest their own bismuth when the church isn't looking.

Platis Forge

The Forge is a colloquial name given to a massive complex of factories that produce much of the advanced tech found throughout Sonder. Giant crucibles heat metal to the extreme temperatures needed to manufacture pico-tech, turning the whole factory into one giant oven. In order to keep up with demand, the Forge has been running at full speed mass producing shells and weapons for the Sonder Police. While extremely dangerous, and well-guarded, the Forge attracts many bandits and looters looking to get their hands on the hottest goods in the land.

Verris Research and Development

Verris Research and Development commonly just called “The Lab”, is the premier center for technological innovation in Sonder. Their greatest success is the creation of a strange substance capable of transporting objects and even people across space almost instantly. This Church has made great efforts to control the use of this substance, but that hasn’t stopped determined individuals from creating their own tiny teleportation devices.

Principle City Lito

If the player chooses not to go to the lab, they will have to storm Principle City Lito directly. Lito appears on its surface to be a technological utopia, as citizens travel between highrises on levitating shuttles, and “enjoy” a “comfortable” “life” in the heart of The Sonder Police’s domain. At the city’s center past several security checkpoints, the Bureau rises above everything, watching over all of Sonder.

Bureau of Holy Affairs

The Bureau of Holy Affairs is a mix between an office building and a pristine church. Office desks line the halls like pews. There are opulent water coolers on every floor. The Bureau is the heart of the church, and it’s where all the real work gets done. But the building is also full of many secret rooms hidden to many of those who work there. These rooms hide secret artifacts, covert operatives for the Church, and even highly classified political prisoners.

Other Cities

There are other cities found throughout Titan Shell that the player will hear about through conversations with other wanderers. There are small and medium sized cities dotted across the mountain, most of which are under the complete control of the Church. Here are a few of the other cities.

Verris - Verris is the second highest city on the mountain, and the closest to Principal City Lito. The city's greatest claim to fame is The Lab. However, the denizens don’t seem to think it’s that great. Those who work for The Lab are very secretive, and seem to enjoy a privileged status outside of the Church’s scrutiny. Even the police in the city have been heard describing them as “weirdos”.

Platis - Platis is the second most populous city in Sonder, and has a deep seated rivalry and resentment towards Verris. The people of Platis have worked hard for generations building, operating, and maintaining the Forge. Growing resentment towards rushed production and increased police intervention has caused Platis to lead Sonder in number of arrests per capita.

Drangen - Drangen is a smaller city towards the base of the mountain. When the Neo-Dome project was canceled, the settlement disbanded, with many former members taking refuge in Dragen. Due to Drangen’s small population and distance from the capital, it has become a popular destination with passing Roamers and Mole Trains.

Beyond The Mountain

Beyond the mountain Sonder resides on is a vast wilderness full of strange and dangerous creatures. Despite this, travelers from far off lands occasionally arrive in Sonder, looking for adventure, treasures or perhaps just a warm bed to sleep in. If you want your character to be from beyond Sonder’s borders, make sure not to go into too much detail about where they are from exactly.

**Technology**

The civilization of Titan Shell is quite advanced in the field of technology. The biggest breakthrough in this field is the creation of pico-technology. Pico-tech are small programmable bits of machinery that can change shape and function quickly and easily. This is the technology that allows people to easily change the design of the shells and even swap out guns almost instantaneously. Another important technological innovation in Titan Shell is portal technology. It is possible to move matter across large distances instantly using portals made from blue liquidy goop. Development of this technology has mainly been kept secret from the public, hidden away in a strange laboratory near the capitol. Body augmentation is also a fairly common phenomenon, although recently outlawed by the church if occurring above the waist. Robotic limbs and robotic attachments are not uncommon among the citizens of Sonder. There is a merging between animals and technology in Titan Shell. There are some animals that have been experimented on in order to increase their intelligence, such as Mr. Bagel. However, Mr. Bagel still requires a visor to help him identify human faces. Of course, the single most important piece of technology in Titan Shell is the Shell, a powerful mech that has been a part of Sonder’s history for as long as anyone can remember. The designs for the Shell are believed to have been handed down directly from the Gods at the beginning of time. Shells helped Sonder explore the wilderness, giving them the power and agility to fight back against the beasts of the natural world. There are plenty of other technological advancements as well, so don’t feel constrained just to what is described here. That said, no time travel, space travel or multiverse stuff.

**Designing Your Reward**

Design an attack for the Worm Lord

The Worm Lord is an interdimensional shapeshifting being capable of manifesting any sort of object, weapon or attack imaginable. Crazy bullet patterns, a train rushing through the room, sharks jumping out of the floor, the crazier the better! Here are some tips for creating your attack:

● You can make a sketch of the attack or just describe it to us. The Worm Lord is capable of manifesting any kind of object to use as a weapon (as long as it doesn’t infringe copyright or is inappropriate)

● Longer attacks are okay, but no extremely long attacks (longer than 15 seconds)

● It has to be dodgeable in some way (players have iFrames when dashing, dodging, so you can make lasers that go across the screen, as long as it doesn’t happen too quickly in succession or is too large of a hitbox)

● Worm Lord can take a humanoid shape but its true form takes on a more goopy appearance.

Design a Prisoner

Inside the Sonder Prison, players will be able to encounter and listen to various convicts. If you backed at the Inmate tier, you’ll be able to design a prisoner to appear in this part of the game! When sending us your design, consider the following:

● What does the character look like? You can send us artwork or just give us a description. They’ll be displayed as an ingame sprite and will have a single portrait of their upper body during dialogue sequences.

● What is the character’s name? You can use your own name or a unique character name if you want.

● Give us some dialogue for your character to say. Where are they from? How did they wind up in this prison? Do they have any advice for our heroes? Make sure not to use offensive language or make explicit references to copyrighted materials. Otherwise, they can say whatever you want! If your character says something that doesn’t really make sense in the world of Titan Shell, then they might appear in a different part of the prison reserved for inmates not considered sound of mind. Max 100 words.

Design a Wanderer

Wanderers will appear throughout the various levels of Titan Shell, doing their best to make their own way in this dangerous world. If you backed at the Hermit tier, you can design a wanderer for players to meet during their journey! Here are a few guidelines to help us design your character:

● How will this character appear ingame? You can send us artwork, or just describe your character to us. They’ll be displayed as an ingame sprite and will have various expressive portraits during dialogue sequences.

● Give us some backstory on your character. What is their name? Are they from the cities, or an explorer from a far off land? What is their current goal? What kind of personality do they have? Are they more calm or do they get excited easily? What do they value? This information will help us write dialogue between your character and the player characters.

● What would your character say to Mr. Bagel? Since Mr. Bagel is a monkey incapable of speech, we need you to tell us what they would say to the little guy. They might tell him how cute he is, or even spill their entire backstory to him for some reason. We’ll review the dialogue to make sure nothing is too outlandish. Max 150 words.

Design a Gun

Guns are an integral part of Titan Shell’s gameplay, giving an extra layer of variety and strategy to combat. If you backed at the Inquisitor tier, you will be able to design a gun for Titan Shell! Here’s what we need from you:

● Provide an image or description of your gun.

● How does your gun work? Does it use physical bullets, energy based projectiles, or something else entirely? How quickly does it fire? How often does it need to be reloaded? How much damage does it do?

● Give a short description of your weapon that will appear in the menu as an item description. Here you can provide backstory and lore for who owned the gun previously, why it was made, or what it was used for. 150 words max.

Design a Costume

Shell customization is very common among the wealthy elite of Sonder. But if backed at the Couturier tier, you’ll be able to design a costume set for players to unlock in Titan Shell.

● Provide us with a drawing, sketch or description for each of the different Shell types (light, rammer, crawler, wing).

● Are there any special effects you want on your costume? Ie: smoke coming from exhaust ports, unique flame sprites for the dash. We’ll work with you to figure out what is possible.

● Write a description for your costume that will appear in the menu as an item description. Here you can provide backstory and lore for who designed the costume previously, or what it was used for. 150 words max.

Design a Miniboss

Sonder is crawling with dangerous enemies ready to cut our heroes down. If you backed at the War Priest tier, you’ll be able to design a miniboss who can appear throughout a run of Titan Shell. Your miniboss can be a member of the Sonder Police force, a mysterious wanderer roaming the wilderness, or even just a giant animal. Below are a list of guidelines to get your brain working:

● What is the design of your miniboss? Provide us with artwork or give us a description of them.

● Give us some backstory. What is this miniboss’s name? What is their motivation for attacking the player? Do they have anything to say to our heroes? You can give a 150 word introduction if this boss is capable of speech. Otherwise, you can have the player say something.

● Does this boss have a special weapon of some kind?

● Do they use physical attacks or bullet hell moves?

● Is this boss more offensive or defensive?

● Is this boss medium sized or small?

● Is this boss quick or slow?

● What kind of attacks do you envision this boss having?

● Will this boss say anything upon defeat?

Design a Boss

For those that backed at the Paladin tier, you’ll be designing an entire boss fight for us to implement into Titan Shell! This boss can be any size and contain multiple phases. We want to give you a lot of freedom at this tier, so please let us know your ideas and we’ll work to put them in the game!

Design a Quest

Your quest can involve any of the areas or factions we have mentioned so far, or you can even create a new subarea for your quest as well! Your quest can have multiple NPCs, a boss fight and a unique reward given to the player upon completion. Just tell us what you want to do! We’ll work very closely with you on this one!

Thank you for your support

Thank you again for supporting the project! We’re excited to hear your ideas! We’ll do our best to keep lines of communication open as we work on getting your contributions into the game.