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Subterfuge is a modification in development for Half Life 2 Source Engine.
Anyone interested in being involved in any capacity with Subterfuge should contact me at [email protected], and be sure to include samples of your work.
Story
East Berlin, December 19, 1951.
During the Early 1950's, East Berlin represented the front line of the intelligence battle bettween the United States and Russia. At the height of this period of unprecedented espionage, some estimated six thousand spies battled for information on the streets of Berlin. There was no better time in history to be a spook.
Our story begins in the middle of a harsh winter in mid-december. At about 11:30 PM, East Berlin's central power generator suffers complete failure, cloaking the snow-packed city in penetrating darkness. Under cover of darkness, the touted spy population jumps into frenzied activity. One of the focal points of all of this activity, is the headquarters of the East German Ministry for State Security, or the Stasi, as they were affectionately known. To the spy elements in Berlin, The Stasi Headquarters represented the holy grail of intelligence gathering.
Started in 1934, The Stasi featured probably the most comprehensive internal security operation of the Cold War. The Stasi built an astonishingly widespread network of informants -- researchers estimate that out of a population of 16 million, 400,000 people actively cooperated. The Stasi kept files on up to 6 million East German citizens -- one-third of the entire population.
Every member of the intelligence community sought after the treasure trove of information contained within the Stasi Headquarters' walls. Using the power outage, an undeterminate number of spooks from varying organizations infiltrated the building. Two key events followed. First, the lights came back on without warning, and second, the city was plunged into a violent blizzard, trapping all of the interlopers inside.
Each operative trapped inside is faced with a dilemma. Knowing that only spies would be in a powerless building in the middle of a blizzard, each individual is faced with the task of ascertaining who is a friend, and who is a foe, while at the same time, carrying out the objectives that had set to achieve in the first place.
Factions
East German Ministry for State Security(Stisa)
Objectives: Prevent either CIA or KGB operatives from acheiving their objectives.
Constraints: Use of Lethal force against KGB or Stisa operatives will result in mission failure.
Weapons: Czech CZ52 9mm Service Pistol w/Silencer, Bowey Knife
Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti(KGB)
Objectives:Locate and Destory evidence acquired via Stisa wiretaps regarding corruption of high-ranking KGB officials.
Contraints: Use of Lethal force against KGB or Stisa operatives will result in mission failure.
Weapons:Soviet Makarov PM/ Izh-71, Soviet Survival Knife.
Reference Link: http://world.guns***/handguns/hg21-e.htm
Central Intelligence Agency(CIA)
Objectives: Locate the neccesary components and documentation to construct and operate a Soviet Model M-125-MN Fialka(A soviet code machine)
Constraints: Use of Lethal force against CIA operatives will result in mission failure.
Weapons: Smith & Wesson mod. 3913 - 3rd generation compact 9mm, Butterfly Knife.
(Note: Objectives are still tentative, Faction list may still expand)
Pre-Round Mechanics:
Step 1: Team Assignment:
Upon entering a server, and waiting for a new round to begin, players will be randomly assigned a faction. The ratio of faction members is going to be as close as possible to 2:2:1. For instance, a server with ten players will have 4 KGB, 4 CIA and 2 Stisa. If teams have to be uneven, the extra member will be added to the CIA faction(due to the fact that the KGB and Stisa are allied to an extent, an extra member on the CIA will go the furthest to maintaining play balance)
Step 2: Model Assignment:
After being assigned a team, players will then be assigned a random model. Models will be selected out of a possible pool of about 20 models. This pool of models will be generated from 3 core Russian men models, and one core Russian female model with variations being created by varying key characteristics such as hair and eye color, location of tatoo and scars, hand preference, and facial hair.
Example:
Russian Man in Trench coat with Fedora core model:
Variation1, Brown hair/Brown Eyes/Mustache
Variation2, Blonde hair/Blue Eyes/Left Handed
Variation3, Tatoo on right arm/Blue Eyes/Goatee.
(Note to modellers, this system is being created with sole purpose of being able to create a large number of visually distinct models without having to do a large amount of modelling. These variations should take very little time to create, but will allow for a wide range of different looks.)
Step 3: Intel Assignment
After being assigned a model, a placard will pop up on the players screen displaying a physical characteristic of an opposing operative, and a physical characteristic of an allied operative.
Example: "We have strong intel that a local KGB operative has a tatoo on his right arm, further information is unknown at this time"
On their own, these bits of intel will be useless. It will be ensured during the model selection process that no one, or two physical characteristics will pinpoint an opposing operative, only after combining three characteristics will it be possible to eliminate all but one operative. For instance, out of ten players, 5 will have a tatoo on their right arm, out of those 5 only 2 will have blonde hair, and out those 2 only one will be left handed.
Step 4: Begin Round.
Basic Gameplay Systems
1. Killing With Consequences
The first, and most important element of subterfuge's gameplay, stems from the idea of having no clue who is on your team, and who isn't. While you are able to kill anyone from the outset, if that person turns out to be your ally, you and the entire rest of your team are eliminated for the remainder of the round. This ensures that a player must be positive of the allegiances of his opponent before acting.
2. Intention Interpretation Based Gameplay
The central goal of a Subterfuge player should be to figure out who is their friend and who is their enemy, without giving away his/her own allegiances. The skill of Subterfuge player lies not in the ability to shoot accurately, or dodge well, but in the ability to manipulate, control, and decieve others in such a way as he or she can learn as much as possible about their enemy without their enemy learning anything about them. The way that this will take place is through something called the Intentional Interpretation system. Every action is Subterfuge will have an implied faction allegiance behind it. For instance, stealing documents from a particular room will imply allegiance with KGB, while using a certain ability or item will imply allegiance with CIA. Knowing that, skilled Subterfuge spies can manipulate other people's expectations to get the results they desire. It is the job of the player to interpret the intentions of the other players in the environment and try to decide if they are a friend or foe.
(Note: A major advantage of this play mechanic from a technical stand point, is the fact that it occurs almost exclusively in the mind of the player. The only coding required is to set up the "If you kill your ally you lose system" and everything else can occur naturally without any influence from the game designers. Basically, you create the system, and the tools, and the players will create the gameplay themselves)
3. The Wallet System.
Upon killing an enemy, the victorious player will immediately search the defeated player for his wallet(This will occur automatically, eliminating the need for unneccesary coding involving searching for the wallet)
This will be represented visually by a placard on the players screen. The wallet placard will reveal key bits of information about the defeated player, first of which, is their allegiance. If, upon killing another player, the wallet placard reveals that he or she was an ally, it is at this point that you will lose the round.
(Note: I concede that the idea of spies carrying identification is somewhat ludicrous, but its a neccesary concession to make to allow the gameplay to function)
If the placard reveals that the defeated player was an enemy, you will be notified of this, and additionally you will received the intel that the defeated player received at the beginning of the round(It will be added automatically to running in game intel list, elminating the need for unneccesary note-taking).
This system continues onward through successive player defeats.
Example: Player A kills Player B and recieves Intel piece 2 from player B in addition to intel piece 1 that they recieved at the beginning of the round. If Player C kills player A then Player C will recieved not only intel piece 1 from Player A, but also Intel piece 2 from player B. In this way, the information starts to trickle down from the hands of the many, to the hands of the few.
4. Parranoia Based Communication System
In a game based so heavily on the idea of deception and intrigue, certain modifications will need to be made to the communication system in game. First, text chat is eliminated entirely. Voice communicators will be required to play Subterfuge. This is because its just too easy to lie through text, when it has to be your voice, it makes things alot more interesting. Second, the effective range of the voice chat will decreased signficantly, requiring you to be within a few feet of a person to communicate with them. This will allow players to isolate each other to have private conversations if neccesary(or possibly prevent a target from being able to yell out for help)
5. Locational Sound System.
In real life, if you hear a gunshot or scream, you immediately have a good idea of where around you it came from. This is neccesary part of the Subterfuge experience. When a gunshot rings out, everyone in the area should immediately rush in to see what happened. While advancements in surround technology have brought us closer to allowing this to happen from a purely auditory standpoint, were not quite there yet, thus neccessitating at gameplay mechanic to bring out this element further. Anytime a loud sound rings out in Subterfuge, a temporary locational marker will be created that can be seen in the huds of the players within a certain radius around the sound, thus allowing anyone within earshot to immediately navigate to the source of the sound. This will increase the need for silence, tenfold.
Factions
East German Ministry for State Security(Stisa)
Objectives: Prevent either CIA or KGB operatives from acheiving their objectives.
Constraints: Use of Lethal force against KGB or Stisa operatives will result in mission failure.
Weapons: Czech CZ52 9mm Service Pistol w/Silencer, Bowey Knife
Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti(KGB)
Objectives:Locate and Destory evidence acquired via Stisa wiretaps regarding corruption of high-ranking KGB officials.
Contraints: Use of Lethal force against KGB or Stisa operatives will result in mission failure.
Weapons:Soviet Makarov PM/ Izh-71, Soviet Survival Knife.
Reference Link: http://world.guns***/handguns/hg21-e.htm
Central Intelligence Agency(CIA)
Objectives: Locate the neccesary components and documentation to construct and operate a Soviet Model M-125-MN Fialka(A soviet code machine)
Constraints: Use of Lethal force against CIA operatives will result in mission failure.
Weapons: Smith & Wesson mod. 3913 - 3rd generation compact 9mm, Butterfly Knife.
(Note: Objectives are still tentative, Faction list may still expand)
Faction Items and Abilities
Stisa: Listening Devices.
The Stisa have the ability to place a finite number of small recording devices in strategic locations around the map. Any conversation had within range of the listening device will be heard by the operator. For the operator to hear anything howeve, a pair of headphones must be worn, headphones that are immediately apparent to anyone in the area.
KGB: Nightvision
Fairly self-explanatory, however, those doubting the existence of nightvision in the 1950's go here, http://www.morovision.com/hownightvisionworks.htm
CIA: Signal sweeper/ Fingerprint Kit.
Allows CIA operatives to detect any Stisa Listening Devices in the area(and possibly put that knowledge to good use)
Allows CIA operatives to dust for fingerprints on bodies or objectives to gather information.
(This is a significantly shortened list, as this is the main element of the gameplay still being ironed out)
Anyone interested in being involved in any capacity with Subterfuge should contact me at [email protected], and be sure to include samples of your work.
Story
East Berlin, December 19, 1951.
During the Early 1950's, East Berlin represented the front line of the intelligence battle bettween the United States and Russia. At the height of this period of unprecedented espionage, some estimated six thousand spies battled for information on the streets of Berlin. There was no better time in history to be a spook.
Our story begins in the middle of a harsh winter in mid-december. At about 11:30 PM, East Berlin's central power generator suffers complete failure, cloaking the snow-packed city in penetrating darkness. Under cover of darkness, the touted spy population jumps into frenzied activity. One of the focal points of all of this activity, is the headquarters of the East German Ministry for State Security, or the Stasi, as they were affectionately known. To the spy elements in Berlin, The Stasi Headquarters represented the holy grail of intelligence gathering.
Started in 1934, The Stasi featured probably the most comprehensive internal security operation of the Cold War. The Stasi built an astonishingly widespread network of informants -- researchers estimate that out of a population of 16 million, 400,000 people actively cooperated. The Stasi kept files on up to 6 million East German citizens -- one-third of the entire population.
Every member of the intelligence community sought after the treasure trove of information contained within the Stasi Headquarters' walls. Using the power outage, an undeterminate number of spooks from varying organizations infiltrated the building. Two key events followed. First, the lights came back on without warning, and second, the city was plunged into a violent blizzard, trapping all of the interlopers inside.
Each operative trapped inside is faced with a dilemma. Knowing that only spies would be in a powerless building in the middle of a blizzard, each individual is faced with the task of ascertaining who is a friend, and who is a foe, while at the same time, carrying out the objectives that had set to achieve in the first place.
Factions
East German Ministry for State Security(Stisa)
Objectives: Prevent either CIA or KGB operatives from acheiving their objectives.
Constraints: Use of Lethal force against KGB or Stisa operatives will result in mission failure.
Weapons: Czech CZ52 9mm Service Pistol w/Silencer, Bowey Knife
Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti(KGB)
Objectives:Locate and Destory evidence acquired via Stisa wiretaps regarding corruption of high-ranking KGB officials.
Contraints: Use of Lethal force against KGB or Stisa operatives will result in mission failure.
Weapons:Soviet Makarov PM/ Izh-71, Soviet Survival Knife.
Reference Link: http://world.guns***/handguns/hg21-e.htm
Central Intelligence Agency(CIA)
Objectives: Locate the neccesary components and documentation to construct and operate a Soviet Model M-125-MN Fialka(A soviet code machine)
Constraints: Use of Lethal force against CIA operatives will result in mission failure.
Weapons: Smith & Wesson mod. 3913 - 3rd generation compact 9mm, Butterfly Knife.
(Note: Objectives are still tentative, Faction list may still expand)
Pre-Round Mechanics:
Step 1: Team Assignment:
Upon entering a server, and waiting for a new round to begin, players will be randomly assigned a faction. The ratio of faction members is going to be as close as possible to 2:2:1. For instance, a server with ten players will have 4 KGB, 4 CIA and 2 Stisa. If teams have to be uneven, the extra member will be added to the CIA faction(due to the fact that the KGB and Stisa are allied to an extent, an extra member on the CIA will go the furthest to maintaining play balance)
Step 2: Model Assignment:
After being assigned a team, players will then be assigned a random model. Models will be selected out of a possible pool of about 20 models. This pool of models will be generated from 3 core Russian men models, and one core Russian female model with variations being created by varying key characteristics such as hair and eye color, location of tatoo and scars, hand preference, and facial hair.
Example:
Russian Man in Trench coat with Fedora core model:
Variation1, Brown hair/Brown Eyes/Mustache
Variation2, Blonde hair/Blue Eyes/Left Handed
Variation3, Tatoo on right arm/Blue Eyes/Goatee.
(Note to modellers, this system is being created with sole purpose of being able to create a large number of visually distinct models without having to do a large amount of modelling. These variations should take very little time to create, but will allow for a wide range of different looks.)
Step 3: Intel Assignment
After being assigned a model, a placard will pop up on the players screen displaying a physical characteristic of an opposing operative, and a physical characteristic of an allied operative.
Example: "We have strong intel that a local KGB operative has a tatoo on his right arm, further information is unknown at this time"
On their own, these bits of intel will be useless. It will be ensured during the model selection process that no one, or two physical characteristics will pinpoint an opposing operative, only after combining three characteristics will it be possible to eliminate all but one operative. For instance, out of ten players, 5 will have a tatoo on their right arm, out of those 5 only 2 will have blonde hair, and out those 2 only one will be left handed.
Step 4: Begin Round.
Basic Gameplay Systems
1. Killing With Consequences
The first, and most important element of subterfuge's gameplay, stems from the idea of having no clue who is on your team, and who isn't. While you are able to kill anyone from the outset, if that person turns out to be your ally, you and the entire rest of your team are eliminated for the remainder of the round. This ensures that a player must be positive of the allegiances of his opponent before acting.
2. Intention Interpretation Based Gameplay
The central goal of a Subterfuge player should be to figure out who is their friend and who is their enemy, without giving away his/her own allegiances. The skill of Subterfuge player lies not in the ability to shoot accurately, or dodge well, but in the ability to manipulate, control, and decieve others in such a way as he or she can learn as much as possible about their enemy without their enemy learning anything about them. The way that this will take place is through something called the Intentional Interpretation system. Every action is Subterfuge will have an implied faction allegiance behind it. For instance, stealing documents from a particular room will imply allegiance with KGB, while using a certain ability or item will imply allegiance with CIA. Knowing that, skilled Subterfuge spies can manipulate other people's expectations to get the results they desire. It is the job of the player to interpret the intentions of the other players in the environment and try to decide if they are a friend or foe.
(Note: A major advantage of this play mechanic from a technical stand point, is the fact that it occurs almost exclusively in the mind of the player. The only coding required is to set up the "If you kill your ally you lose system" and everything else can occur naturally without any influence from the game designers. Basically, you create the system, and the tools, and the players will create the gameplay themselves)
3. The Wallet System.
Upon killing an enemy, the victorious player will immediately search the defeated player for his wallet(This will occur automatically, eliminating the need for unneccesary coding involving searching for the wallet)
This will be represented visually by a placard on the players screen. The wallet placard will reveal key bits of information about the defeated player, first of which, is their allegiance. If, upon killing another player, the wallet placard reveals that he or she was an ally, it is at this point that you will lose the round.
(Note: I concede that the idea of spies carrying identification is somewhat ludicrous, but its a neccesary concession to make to allow the gameplay to function)
If the placard reveals that the defeated player was an enemy, you will be notified of this, and additionally you will received the intel that the defeated player received at the beginning of the round(It will be added automatically to running in game intel list, elminating the need for unneccesary note-taking).
This system continues onward through successive player defeats.
Example: Player A kills Player B and recieves Intel piece 2 from player B in addition to intel piece 1 that they recieved at the beginning of the round. If Player C kills player A then Player C will recieved not only intel piece 1 from Player A, but also Intel piece 2 from player B. In this way, the information starts to trickle down from the hands of the many, to the hands of the few.
4. Parranoia Based Communication System
In a game based so heavily on the idea of deception and intrigue, certain modifications will need to be made to the communication system in game. First, text chat is eliminated entirely. Voice communicators will be required to play Subterfuge. This is because its just too easy to lie through text, when it has to be your voice, it makes things alot more interesting. Second, the effective range of the voice chat will decreased signficantly, requiring you to be within a few feet of a person to communicate with them. This will allow players to isolate each other to have private conversations if neccesary(or possibly prevent a target from being able to yell out for help)
5. Locational Sound System.
In real life, if you hear a gunshot or scream, you immediately have a good idea of where around you it came from. This is neccesary part of the Subterfuge experience. When a gunshot rings out, everyone in the area should immediately rush in to see what happened. While advancements in surround technology have brought us closer to allowing this to happen from a purely auditory standpoint, were not quite there yet, thus neccessitating at gameplay mechanic to bring out this element further. Anytime a loud sound rings out in Subterfuge, a temporary locational marker will be created that can be seen in the huds of the players within a certain radius around the sound, thus allowing anyone within earshot to immediately navigate to the source of the sound. This will increase the need for silence, tenfold.
Factions
East German Ministry for State Security(Stisa)
Objectives: Prevent either CIA or KGB operatives from acheiving their objectives.
Constraints: Use of Lethal force against KGB or Stisa operatives will result in mission failure.
Weapons: Czech CZ52 9mm Service Pistol w/Silencer, Bowey Knife
Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti(KGB)
Objectives:Locate and Destory evidence acquired via Stisa wiretaps regarding corruption of high-ranking KGB officials.
Contraints: Use of Lethal force against KGB or Stisa operatives will result in mission failure.
Weapons:Soviet Makarov PM/ Izh-71, Soviet Survival Knife.
Reference Link: http://world.guns***/handguns/hg21-e.htm
Central Intelligence Agency(CIA)
Objectives: Locate the neccesary components and documentation to construct and operate a Soviet Model M-125-MN Fialka(A soviet code machine)
Constraints: Use of Lethal force against CIA operatives will result in mission failure.
Weapons: Smith & Wesson mod. 3913 - 3rd generation compact 9mm, Butterfly Knife.
(Note: Objectives are still tentative, Faction list may still expand)
Faction Items and Abilities
Stisa: Listening Devices.
The Stisa have the ability to place a finite number of small recording devices in strategic locations around the map. Any conversation had within range of the listening device will be heard by the operator. For the operator to hear anything howeve, a pair of headphones must be worn, headphones that are immediately apparent to anyone in the area.
KGB: Nightvision
Fairly self-explanatory, however, those doubting the existence of nightvision in the 1950's go here, http://www.morovision.com/hownightvisionworks.htm
CIA: Signal sweeper/ Fingerprint Kit.
Allows CIA operatives to detect any Stisa Listening Devices in the area(and possibly put that knowledge to good use)
Allows CIA operatives to dust for fingerprints on bodies or objectives to gather information.
(This is a significantly shortened list, as this is the main element of the gameplay still being ironed out)
