Team      

Development Plan 
Table of Contents  
Introduction   
Editor   
Graphics   
Hardware  
Architecture   
Data  
Code  
Demo  
Motion Capture   
Scoring   
Team   
Behavior   
3D 
Task List   
Milestones   
 

This document is the companion to the Vertigo Game Design document. It specifies how the project is being implemented. The main body of this Technical Design document is divided into the broadest categories for easy reference: Architecture, Code Components, Data Structures, and Development Plan. This introduction provides information useful primarily to newcomers to the project.   

Data Structures and function names are underlined. Ex.: elementInfo.  

The Game  

A complete description of the game can be found in the companion document: Vertigo Game Design. This section provides a brief overview of the game for readers who wish to evaluate the technical design only. Readers familiar with the Vertigo Game Design document may wish to go directly to the section entitled, User Hardware.  

Synopsis  

Vertigo is an alternate reality of thrashing skateboard action. By firing up the game, players enter into a real-time 3D realm of street and ramp skating so compelling that many literally begin to experience vertigo. High frame rates, motion-capture movements, and precise game physics conspire to deliver the most immersive skate-boarding experience on any platform.   

In Vertigo, players can perform nosegrinds, bluntslides, varials and catch giant air. Against a backdrop of city streets and skateboard parks, they grind their boards across rails and up ramps. They compete with tribes of local skaters for the right to skate and ultimately enter the tournament to claim title as skateboarding legends.  

Screen Display  

Vertigo displays a real-time 3D display in either first-person point-of-view or a removed POV in which a flying camera follows the player.  

Superimposed on the 3D screen are two-dimensional status indicators. Bars indicate status and health and numbers indicate score, rank, and time elapsed.  

Sample Game Play  

It is the final round of the tournament. You are performing a timed medley of your hottest moves in the skateboard park arena. You glance at the scoreboard. You are in 2nd place -- only two hundred points behind. You’ve grabbed a water power-up and your stamina’s at an all-time high. A couple of near-impossible moves at this point will push you over the top… Damn! The clock. It’s ticking down the last fifteen seconds. Time to walk on air.  

You push hard toward the tall ramp. Only by moving fast and catching big air can you make the points you need. There are some barrels and a rail between you and the ramp. You ollie over the barrels and make it a kick-flip just for good measure. The audience murmurs appreciatively. Your score vaults up by ninety points.  

Taking the rails means one less push, but this angle of attack is too perfect to resist. You reverse kick-flip launch onto the rails and ride a perfect gritty railslide all ten feet. The crowd cheers as you push hard at the big ramp. Seven seconds remaining.  
   

Time slows to a crawl. The crowd noise fades as if it is coming from a cheap clock radio at the bottom of a well. The other skaters have evaporated. It is you and the ramp. You carve up the side at maximum velocity. The ramp peels away into the sky like a tower. Moving straight up, you graze the side edge with measured grace. The top edge flies under your feet. Silence. You are airborne. Your hand reaches instinctively for the board. You lean back into an inverted Indy. For a thirtieth of a second the meaning of life is clear.  

Game World  

Vertigo takes place in a world of five basic arenas connected by city streets. The artistic style is gritty, urban and realistic. With the exception of the underground storm drains, the arenas are in open air in broad daylight.  

Game Play Modes  

Vertigo is played in one of two modes: Exhibition and Tournament.  

In exhibition mode, players can skateboard as they like, moving freely from one arena to the next and performing tricks in no particular order. Players may challenge each other to reach certain goals, but there is no defined beginning and end to game play.  

In tournament mode, play progresses through each of the arenas in turn. Time limits and marked goals define how the player must earn points and complete each arena. Players may reach the end of the tournament by performing well in every arena a certain number of times. Tournament play earns players pennant marks, free rein of the arenas, and the respect of other skaters.  

Multiple-Player Play  

Vertigo allows multiple players to join the same virtual space via networking, Internet or direct modem connection. One player must first establish a session by issuing the command to ‘Host a Network Game.’ Once this is done, up to fifteen other players (PC constraint) may join that session by selecting the name of the game in play. This allows for multiple multiple-player games running concurrently over the same network.  

The three different protocols allow players to connect across a Novell network, a Microsoft network, or via a direct modem connection. On a Novell network, the IPX protocol allows players to connect locally. Using Kali or similar software, the IPX protocol allows players to connect across the Internet. On a Microsoft LAN, the TCP protocol allows players to connect locally or to connect remotely via a WAN bridge or the Internet. The direct modem connection option allows players to play head-to-head via modem.  

Scoring  

Scoring consists of three components, obstacle points, maneuver points and style points. Clearing an object such as a ramp, rail, or block, generates a base point value. The maneuver performed to clear the object adds an additional score. Style points are awarded for a particularly smooth or high move, depending on the arena.  

Player Input and Control  

The Vertigo controls are modal; in different modes the same controls will induce different results. For instance, when the player is moving at moderate speed on a relatively level surface, the up arrow provides forward thrust. When the player is airborne in the middle of a jump, the same key-press will cause the skater to pitch forward. In the Moves section of the Vertigo Game Design document the results of applying the controls under different circumstances are described in depth.   

Skating Maneuvers   

Much of the focus of Vertigo is directed toward the player’s avatar’s motion. By applying different forces at different times, the player can invoke a wide variety of skating maneuvers:   

• Banking Turn
• Kick Turn
• Push
• Jump
• Ollie
• Bluntslide
• Nosegrind
• Tailgrind
• Noseslide
• Tailslide
• Railslide
• Kick Flip (Barrel Roll)
• Inverted Indy
• Powerslide
• Five-Oh
• Fifty-Fifty
• Fakie

Objects   

Many immobile objects are features of the arenas. They are launching points for many maneuvers. Clearing an object such as a ramp, rail, or block, generates a base point value. The maneuver performed to clear the object adds an additional score.  

• Ramp
• Stairs
• Curb
• Hand-Rail
• Block

• Pylon
• Barrel
• Skateboard
• Skater on Skateboard
• Rat 

Scattered throughout the Vertigo world are small objects which can be retrieved and used by skaters. These objects are represented by iconic animated graphics which give the skater some indication of their nature from a distance. Not all power-ups provide unadulterated benefit. Some, like coffee, have side-effects in addition to their immediate boost to performance.  

• Protective Gear
• Helmet
• Kneepads
• Elbowpads
• Wrist Guards

• Food and Water
• Bananas, Apples, Grapes, Bottled Water, and Bread

• Miscellaneous Consumables
• Soft Drink, Hamburger
• Coffee

• Ethereal Imagery
• Skull, Mushroom, Flaming Maple Leaf, Ankh , Heart and Dagger Tattoo

Arenas   

The world of Vertigo is divided into distinct arenas. Each arena has its own set of challenges. Skaters in each arena have their own styles and skills, in accord with the arena they frequent. Each arena has at least one hidden area which is revealed to skaters after they have mastered the regular challenges of the arena during tournament play.  

• City Streets
• Skateboard Park
• Storm Drain
• City Park
• Construction Site