Project Storm:Game Design

Premise

The Opportunity Rover (also known as "Oppy") finds herself caught in a dangerous Martian storm. She finds a small temporary shelter, but due to a critical malfunction, she cannot engage her regular reboot functions. She is running out of battery, but if she turns herself off, she will be unable to turn herself on again.

There is a solution. Oppy has 128 megabytes of RAM and 256 megabytes of flash memory. If Oppy can overpopulate her RAM, she may be able to self-induce a buffer overflow attack and bypass her core system components. ^{No I have no idea what this means.}

Goal

Main Mission: Collect 256 MB of data.

To induce a buffer overflow attack, the player must store more than 128 megabytes of data into Oppy's volatile memory (RAM) at once. Oppy will need to induce two total buffer overflow attacks in order to access her core system components, so Oppy will need to collect 256 MB of data in total (the total size of her flash memory).

The player can collect data in the following ways:

• Traversal: travelling the map will automatically populate a small amount of data into Oppy's RAM.
• Gypsum Ores: scanning gypsum will populate a medium amount of data into Oppy's RAM. The amount of data depends on the size of the ore.
• Radio Signals: finding lost signals will populate a large amount of data into Oppy's RAM.

The amount of data gathered by type will vary depending on the run, but the player should generally expect the following ratios:

• 10% of total data will come from Traversal
• 60% of total data will come from Gypsum Ores
• 30% of total data will come from Radio Signal

Collecting Data

When collecting data, Oppy first stores it into her RAM, which must then be transferred to her flash memory. The transfer process leaves Oppy vulnerable, so she must be in a safe spot (i.e. the Spawn Point) before initiating it.

Diagram showing Oppy's RAM. At the start of the game, this will be empty.

Map

A rudimentary sketch of the map. The player must return to the center point after visiting one of the three outer areas.

Players will spawn in an open area and have the freedom to decide which direction they want to go.

The map contains four main elements: three explorable areas, and the center base that the player must return to between areas. Each area is distinct in visuals and have varying traversal foci.

Once the player exits one of the three explorable areas, they will be unable to return to that area.

Scanning

Players will scan objects by

Loop

• Explore the Next Area
• Find DATA