A colony ship (Herdstar) is transporting livestock to a new colony planet “Taweret”. It is the 7th ship to go to the new planet and is most of the way through it’s journey and as such the crew of the ship have been woken from cryostasis in preparation for their arrival, though they are still several weeks away from their destination.
What seems to be an asteroid strike delivers a stone-like egg onboard and begins the panic.
The egg hatches an alien and many difficult situations, the player must attempt to solve the issues by any means available, but will they make the right choices?
- GAME QUESTLINE
Complete General Tasks Based On Career Choice
Navigation
Redirect Ship Away From Asteroids
Security
Cryogenics
Laboratory
Naturalist
Medical
Engineer
Asteroid Strike Help Clear-up
Continue General Tasks Alert Of Escaped Unidentified Life-form Alert Of Escaped Unidentified Life-form Alert Of Escaped Unidentified Life-form
Continue General Tasks And Survive Alien Encounters Search For Alien Study Behaviour Of Alien
Hunt Alien Add Tracker Hunt
Add Tracker Fight And Protect Capture Or Kill Or Lose
This double page spread shows my initial inspiration for the game. I wanted the game to have a Sci-fi/ Horror inspiration. Some of my first inspirations were the 1998 game HalfLife and the 2014 game The Forest. The game also draws inspiration from Ridley Scott’s Alien.
I collected a large selection of images that were reminiscent of the atmosphere of the game concept.
Much of the style inspirations are examples of retrofuturism, retro visions of future technology. Advanced science in regards to space travel but classically designed computing devices and electronics.
Herdstar is not of a particularly aerodynamic design, using fins and jets instead of a sleek shape to ensure smooth movement through space, though this was a compromise made to ensure that the ship would be large and robust enough to safely transport the cryogenic cargo. The design is purposefully not dissimilar from a modern lorry, also used for safe and protective transport, in order to use that sense of familiarity to quickly convey the function of the ship.
These are further renders of Herdstar. I designed the ship to have windows only in the living spaces of the ship, theoretically this is to ensure the structural integrity of the containment areas of the ship.
The entire back segment [3] is dedicated to store the cryogenically frozen livestock for the colony, along with storage spaces and ship systems within the central segment [2]. The front of Herdstar [1] contains the living spaces, ensuring views out of the ship to support the crew who would spend much of their time working within the enclosed segments of the ship
- SHIP BLUEPRINTS
Herdstar has seven levels, these blueprints would be used as the players’ map in game. This would be ideal later in playthrough when the player has the ability to attach some form of locator to the alien. The hashed out spaces on the ship would be available to access via ventilation systems throughout the game dependent on the players’ choice of department. Though access comes at a risk as the alien is likely to be found hiding within these uninhabited spaces.
- SHIP LOCATIONS
All locations in the map serve a purpose. The sketches alongside the layout here show aspects of the ship that would be interacted with throughout the playthrough. Each department would have their own tasks to complete, these could be considered as side quests or minigames. Not all areas of the ship would be accessible initially, the player would be required to gain permission for areas that are non-specific to their department. The alien will damage areas and items on-board but as it gains intelligence it will begin to deliberately sabotage systems like the cryochambers and medical technology.
Systems
Hydroponic Planters Laboratory
Herdstar contains several communal living spaces in segment 1. These are primarily used during work breaks to relax and eat. In game these areas would be mostly avoided by the alien due to the high density of crew members present. This area would be useful to the player when they are required to find any specific non-player character throughout the game. All living spaces are used by all crew members including the captain, to encourage familiarity and pleasantness among the crew as they are all confined to the ship. Sometimes there will be social issues in the shared spaces simply due to close proximity of all staff, if the player chooses the security career path they will sometimes be required to resolve scuffles between crew [This could boost or reduce NPC amiability dependent on the player’s approach].
The Fight Desk is where the captain and Navigation crew would work. Given the rank of the crew working here, this would be an important location within the game. Due to the importance it would not be immediately accessible to all crew [except navigation] and the player would have to gain permission to enter from the captain.
These are further test renders of locations onboard the ship.
The Laboratory would naturally also have restricted access due to potentially harmful substances.
The plant lab would have hydroponic planting systems, these would have several career specific tasks for the naturalists onboard. The naturalists would also have tasks involving the maintenance of the other natural life on board, including any other plants and the animals within the cryogenic chamber.
The Observation room is also a shared space, allowing crew members a peaceful respite from the enclosed areas of the ship.
The Cryogenic chamber is perhaps the most important part of the ship. The safe transport of the livestock is vital to the development of the new colony.
The primary cargo is livestock of multiple uses: cows [meat, milk, leather], chickens [meat, eggs] and sheep [meat, wool], though there are also other livestock such as pigs onboard.
The animals remain cryogenically frozen the entire journey, unlike the crew, but this makes them the initial targets for the alien as an easy source of food.
There would be tasks regarding the maintenance of the chambers and the wellbeing of the animals. As shown on the next page.
- OBJECT INTERACTION
The player would be able to interact with many items on the ship. Be it computing systems, weapons [though limited and initially only accessible to security staff until further permissions are gained] and the functions of the ship itself [in the server room]. The alien, once more intelligent, is able to damage these items and areas of the ship, making further issues for the player to resolve.
Engineer: Maintains And Repairs The Major Systems Within The Ship Captain: Non-Player Character Commands The Ship Leads Navigation
Cryogenics: Maintains And Repairs The Cryogenic Systems On The Ship Laboratory: Aids The Medical And Naturalist Teams By Analysing And Testing Samples
Security: Maintains Order And Civility On Board For Safety On The Ship
Naturalist: Grows Plants for Crew’s Consumption Maintains Livestock Welfare
Navigation: Works With Captain Ensures Ship Is On A Safe And Correct Course
Medical: Maintains Health And Wellbeing Of All Crew Members
- CHARACTER CREATION: IMPORTANCE TO THE STORY
The Player would be able to customise the character to their liking, though the avatar’s outfit would only have a slight variance as there would be a set uniform on board.
The Player would be required to choose a set career path, this would heavily influence initial gameplay, determining the general tasks that the player would complete and deciding the ability to enter each location on the ship map. It would also determine the player’s ranking among staff, the crew’s opinions of the player may be varied based on their respective positions onboard [for example: the crew might be more respectful to the player if they are security, but less so if the player is part of the naturalist crew].
The Alien arrives in a stone-like egg during an asteroid strike on the ship. The egg is initially discovered during the clear-up of the damages caused by the asteroids and is brought to the laboratory to by analysed when staff realise that the stone is different from the rest. The alien hatches in the containment area of the laboratory and escapes when it is not being observed.
The hatchling alien is unintelligent and has only one goal, to grow larger by eating anything that will fit in it’s mouth.
The hatchling is relatively small but grows quickly as the game progresses.
In it’s young state it is quick and hides easily making the player’s initial attempts to locate it all the more difficult.
These sketches show various stages of the alien’s development. The alien gains attributes of the things it eats, as shown by the development of sheep, cow and human faces in the images. The alien’s intelligence grows as it eats large more intelligent foods. Eating humans takes the alien’s intelligence further, giving it the ability to think logically and plan towards the game’s finale.
The alien’s internal anatomy remains mostly the same as it grows. It has a soft, unfused skull, allowing it to expand it’s mouth to eat larger prey. This also allows space for the brain to develop as it gains intelligence. The alien has backwards facing teeth in its throat to stop prey escaping. It does not have any eyes or nasal capacity, meaning it relies primarily on its thermal receptors, touch and sound. The player may be able to occasionally sneak past the alien if they are quiet enough.
The alien’s anatomy can be studied if the player is able to scan it from a distance. It’s anatomy can be used to create plans with NPC’s or potentially co-op players if the game were to have a multiplayer mode.
- JUVENILE
The alien also grows in strength as it eats. Once it has eaten cows on the ship it’s strength develops to a similar level to that of a cow. In most of its developmental stages the alien has claws but gains hooves on its back feet after consuming livestock. The mouths of the additional heads are not functional in regards to eating but do still retain the ability to produce some noise. The alien does not understand this ability until it gains further intelligence from its human victims.
Upon consuming human prey, the alien becomes clever. Its intelligence is still incomparable to a human, but provides it with the ability to rely on more than just instinct. The creature begins to understand its vocal abilities and can use these to its advantage, setting traps and ambushing the player by pretending to be a fellow crewmate in trouble.
The alien will be able to copy voice lines of the NPCs to confuse the player. It is at this stage of development that the alien begins to have genuine ambitions to further it’s development by hunting the human crew, no longer interested in the less intelligent prey in the cryogenic chambers. The alien also changes to have more human skin which makes it more disturbing for the player.
-PLAYTHROUGH
The game would be played from a 1st person perspective, though the player’s avatar would be visible in any ingame cutscenes or to any additional players in multiplayer.
All players would wear a wrist device, this allows then to access the ship map and gain entry to different areas of the ship. The player would have to be given a chip from the captain to allow the wristband to unlock more secure areas. This band would also allow for a tracking marker when the player is able to locate the alien.
The game would also provide items that allow the player different abilities in-game, such as: thermal imaging and night-vision goggles. The player would also be able to pick-up a torch, for exploring the ventilation systems and other areas of the ship if the alien is able to sabotage the lighting
