Development:Prey (2006)/Preyweb

This is a sub-page of Development:Prey (2006).

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

On July 10th, 2016, duke4.net user Mr. Tibbs would make a thread discussing various development materials of Prey from 1997-1998. One such item was the "Preyweb", a series of HTML documents that contained various notes and ideas for Prey including the entire intended plot of the Talon Brave version of the game.

On March 30th, 2001, George Broussard would revise the document, mostly by changing mentions of "Talon Brave" with "Tommy Hawk" and all mentions of Prey with Dark Harvest. The documents were later "updated and condensed" on September 20th, later receiving a final clean-up on October 16th and being sent off to Human Head Studios as reference for the game when they resumed development.

Comments not a part of the documents or by Broussard are denoted in both brackets and italics.

To do: The Preyweb has stuff from various documents stitched together. Only focus on content original in it (like comments from Broussard) to avoid repeating information. Move stuff onto sub-pages to keep it tidy.

INDEX.HTM/FRMAIN.HTM

D A R K H A R V E S T
a Tommy Hawk Adventure

(Design Document)

Originally created: 1997-1998

Revised: 3/30/2001
Further updated and condensed: 9/20/2001
Final cleanup: 10/16/2001 - Handed off to Human Head

Sub-Pages

oldnews.htm An internal developer dairy with news from August-September 1998, revealing some fairly interesting things about development.

Images Various concept art and model renders of characters.

gb_notes.html

George's Notes

Things to make sure of:

• I don't think we should deviate from the idea of the Keepers or the 3 primary races (human, saurian, insect) that fight for control of planets to seed. The race types could be changed, but 3 is friendly for a game with bosses and variety etc.
• I would adhere to the original story (after massive reduction and cleanup I agree) as we can. It should be easy to fill in plot holes and gaps with what's here. IMO what's already here is more than good enough for a game.
• The critical thing to do now is to organize the plot/story structure into a movie style plotline with proper turning points, mid points, intro hooks etc. If the plot/story is laid out like a movie script (ala Max Payne) then it's easy to use that as a blueprint for building the rest of the game.
• Mary Thunder rescue attempt should be probably be the mid-point of game. She should/could be killed. Up to now Tommy's motivation has been in getting to her. Now he's focused on revenge (back half of game) - and payback.
• Later Mary should return as a final boss.
• It's crucial for the grandfather to be a shaman/spell caster and to provide Tommy with some object (ala The Medicine Cord) so we can account for his powers. If the Cherokee don't have enough lore, then we need to flip back to Tommy as an Apache.
• HH can have full design on the monsters/guns/items/races etc. 3DR is mainly interested in nailing the story, and Tommy's powers and the Grandfather relationship and ensuring it's all authentic as it can be.
• I'd recommend sticking with the general level flow, but that's up to you as we structure the story. My feeling is the less we have to do design wise, the faster we can ship the game. There are a couple years invested into the mess contained within and it would be a shame to scrap it all and start over.

music.htm

Music

George: Updated info below. I feel very strongly that there shouldn't be constant music playing while you play.

As with Half-Life and Rune and Max Payne, there should be no music while you play. Instead there should be a large about of ambient sound effects appropriate to the area you are in at the moment. This is far more imersive than having a radio going in your face.

When there is music (menus, titles, cinematic's etc) it should be Native American in nature to support the theme.

You could/should have music on boss fights and very, very key sequences in the game where it will increase the mood/tension.

misc ideas.htm

(misc ideas.html contains various design documents from the "idea_docs" folders rolled into one page. All documents were last modified on September 17th, 1998 except ninety8A.html.)

Misc. Ideas

George: Many, many random team comments and ideas. I just copied them all into one place. Read through and grab what you can or think worthy.

Many, many ideas from the team while brainstorming the game.

rockful.htm A document with random ideas submitted by members of the team from circa August 1997 to March 1998.

septembe.htm Various game ideas from September 1997.

october.htm Various game ideas from October 1997.

november.htm Various game ideas from November 1997.

december.htm Various game ideas from December 1997.

teamidea.htm Another document featuring random ideas and suggestions from the developers from July-September 1998. Last updated on September 16th.

ninety8A.htm Random ideas from Late 1998

standard.htm Games, media and moments that the team hoped to top in Prey.

mission.htm A mission statement about Prey and its goals.

nuggets.htm Document outlining the "golden nuggets" of design that would make Prey a standout game.