The Pirates of the Crimson Cutlass

Game Design Presentation:By Pete Kinnunen

The Concept

• What is this game supposed to be?– A Pirate Themed First Person Shooter (fps).

• Using pistol, musket, blunderbuss, and trusty cutlass the player will shoot and slash his/her way to plunder and riches.

• The player’s Role?– You play as the Captain of the pirate ship The

Crimson Cutlass, Bartholomew Scythe.• His intention is to “acquire” pieces of a map to lead

him and his crew to untold riches.

Overall Feel

• Attempt to go with a more realistic view of pirating, but with a minor folklore/fantasy feel as well.– Movie Examples:

• Pirates of the Caribbean• Cutthroat Island

– A semi romanticized look at pirating, but it should feel realistic in a sense.

The Viewpoint

• As mentioned before, this will be a fps so the majority of the action will be seen through Bartholomew’s eyes.– The only exception will be in the case of

fighting with the cutlass.• To make it easier on the player to see his

surroundings and attack accordingly, the melee weapon will be used in a third person adjustable perspective.

• This is similar to what was provided in the Jedi Knight games by Lucasarts.

The Player’s Role

• Again, the player will be controlling the captain of The Crimson Cutlass, Bartholomew Scythe.– This means that the player will be in the thick

of the fighting and also be responsible for certain actions.

• ex: In the sea battle, before boarding the player will have to guide the shots from the cannons aboard the ship.

The Weapons• Musket:

– This weapon will have the longest range, but to offset this it will take the longest to reload.

– Fairly accurate and very good damage.

• Blunderbuss:– This would be considered

an earlier version of the shotgun, firing a spread of lead shot.

– Accuracy will be an issue so it will only be good against multiple enemies.

The Weapons• Pistols:

– These will be only useful in close range, but due to their size Bartholomew will be able to hold several on his person at once.

– There might be an option of dual wielding for them.

• Cutlass:– This is going to be your

mainstay for combat since it requires no ammo.

– Taking the idea from Jedi Outcast, your character and mouse movement will dictate attacks.

The Story

• Captain Bartholomew Scythe has heard of a rumor of a lost Treasure Galleon that had run ashore a remote island, and in turn has been hidden by the native populous.

• There exists a map to the island and the treasure, but not one person holds the whole map.

• So, Captain Scythe has taken it upon himself to liberate those map pieces and rescue the treasure from those backwards natives.

Potential Levels

• So far, two separate levels have come to mind.– Prison Escape:

• One piece of the map is being held by a Spanish Captain within the fort of Santo Domingo, and the easiest way is in shackles…

– Rival Pirate:• Another piece is being held by another Captain of

the seas, so perhaps the sword and the cannon could convince him to part with it…

Prison Escape

• Prior to the level starting, Captain Scythe has let himself be captured by the Spaniards and be thrown in a cell.– From there, Scythe picks the lock and retrieves his

effects.– Then Captain Scythe must sneak/fight his way to the

courtyard to raise his flag, signaling his nearby ship to commence the attack.

• From here there will be some scripted explosions from the cannon fire.

– With the distraction being made, Scythe now fights his way to the Captain’s quarters and is forced to fight to “acquire” the map piece.

– Finally, with map in hand Scythe makes a run for the fort wall and takes a dive into the sea below.

Rival Pirate

• This level starts off with Captain Scythe upon the Crimson Cutlass and closing in on his rivals ship.– From here the player will be stationary and

looking through a spyglass, guiding the cannon fire.

• The intention will be to disable the other ship by knocking out the other ship’s mats/sails

Rival Pirate

• Once the other ship is disabled, The Crimson Cutlass moves alongside to board her.– Captain Scythe leads the swing across, but

his rope gets hit by a stray shot and he goes plummeting down.

• Luckily, he ends up hitting an open gun port and is able to climb in.

– From there, the player fights his way up through the decks of the ship to the Captain, defeats him and recovers the piece of the map.

• Be there any questions?