About

Story

Ten years ago, energy resources began to dry up. Treaties were broken as nations fought for what few resources were left. Borders are strictly enforced and even citizens traveling internationally are forced to scrutiny and endless security checks. To put it simply, it is a quiet, constant resource war.

The main group of characters are a mercenary group nicknamed The Hounds. Some have military experience while others are just superb at what they do. The Hounds have been hired by a group of scientists  to bring back an item from a crash site in another country’s territory, Aotearoa, to be specific. The crashed ship is a craft of unknown origins; no one knows to which country it belongs nor if it is even of this world. The item that the team is tasked with finding is an energy core with potentially unlimited power. The scientists have also sent one of their own, Julia Haney, to accompany the team to ensure that the item is handled properly.

The target landed on top of Angel’s Breath Mountain, one of the highest peaks in Aotearoa; so tall, in fact, that it was unadvisable to take an aircraft up so high. Instead, the team proceeds on foot, planning on obtaining the resource as quickly as possible and then making a quiet exit.

However, the mountain is crawling with Aotearoa soldiers. The Hounds split up into smaller groups to avoid detection and make their way up the mountain. Eventually, they all reach the rally point and Julia goes inside the wreckage to find the energy core, a black case in hand to transport the device. She soon returns, struggling with the much heavier case. One of the team takes it off her hands so they can retreat more quickly. On the way back, the character carrying the device will complain of having a bad feeling.

The Hounds reach a forest and decide to rest until nightfall. Louis McKinny takes watch and tells his people to rest while they can. The party awakes to shouts and gunfire. They see McKinny a few feet away from the campsite, shot through the head. The team searches the immediate area, unsure if it was an attack by Aotearoa soldiers or if it was another party.

Without their leader, The Hounds have no idea where their extraction point is. Julia has an idea of the general direction but does not know the specific point. They resolve to go forward, hoping that they will get their bearings as they get closer.

A few days pass, each making the team more certain that something followed them from the ship. At night, the foliage rustles with unseen animals, and the wind sounds more like the cries of the damned than a force of nature. Soon, The Hounds see creatures darting in and out of sight, appearing like shadows but moving as swiftly as cats.

It isn’t until the party camps in a swamp that these apparitions attack the group. Each person sees something different, based on their own personal fears. Julia is captured by the creatures and dragged deep into the swamp. The Hounds chase after her, attacking the apparitions as they proceed through the swamp.  They reach Julia and a large monster made of plants. Once the monster is defeated, Julia screams at the team that there is nothing there.

She tells them to stay where they are, away from the power source. They have been passing the case back and forth between team members, never letting it stray too far. As they wait under Julia’s watchful eye, they see the bodies of the creatures they slew disappear. She explains that there is a possibility that the power source affects people around it, through radiation or some other type of affecting agent. The longer they are around the power source, the more their sanity will erode.

The Hounds are split between those who want to destroy it and those who wish to preserve it. Depending on the player’s choices in interacting with the group as well as the number of characters left alive determine how events will play out.

The party will be split completely in two. The characters that the player has cultivated friendship with will agree with the player while the characters that do not have a good relationship with the player character will want to do the opposite of what the player chooses

If all character slots are full and there are more characters sided with the player, then the reformed party can act without resistance from the other half of the party. If the party is split 50-50 then a fight will ensue unless if the player successfully uses diplomacy to resolve the conflict. If the player’s party is fewer in number, then a fight will ensue unless if the player reverses their decision to coincide with the majority.

If the player decides to keep the power core:

(If most of the squad stays together) Path 1: The remaining Hounds continue to the supposed extraction point along with the scientist. Continued exposure to the power core causes more hallucinations, some have even begun to lose coherency. Everything looks like a monster to the Hounds, the only thing keeping them sane is the banter and conversations between the members. The team successfully locates the extraction point and board the carrier there. They place the power source into another crate, bringing an end to the insanity. The carrier lifts off, leaving the island nation behind.

(If most of the squad leaves) Path 2: As their sanity unravels, the Hounds trudge onwards  to the extraction point. The remaining members begin to lash out at one another in escalating violence. Julia administers tranquilizing drugs to help keep the violence to a minimum, but this only makes the hallucinations more vivid. They reach the extraction point, half-stumbling and raving. The character carrying the power source stops and lays the case on the ground, trying to force it open. The others also try to pry the case open and succeed after several minutes of squabbling over it. The case opens and twists the world into shapes to macabre to consider. Julia hurries to the carrier, leaving the mercenaries to their madness.

If the player decides to destroy the power core:

(If most of the squad stays together) Path 1: The Hounds force a protesting Julia to help them destroy the device. She suggests overpowering the device in order to completely destroy it. The Hounds must drastically veer off course to reach a hydro-electric power plant. Once the guards are dispatched, Julia takes the power source out of the case, causing more shadow creatures to appear. The Hounds must keep the creatures at bay while the device is hooked up and overloaded. Once the device is overloaded, the creatures disappear.

(If most of the squad has left) Path 2: The Hounds take the case key from Julia and set out to find a settlement that has the right equipment to destroy the power source. The opposing team members alerted the Aotearoa soldiers and are pursuing the party. The team has to fight their way to the settlement. The party finds an engineering lab and uses a laser cutter there to cut through the device. When the laser hits the power source for the device, it triggers a worse string of hallucinations. One of the characters suggest that they use a grenade. The party must then flee the lab. If they do not, then the entire party is killed. If they are successful, then they escape in time to see the lab explode, the Aotearoa soldiers, Julia, and the other characters just catching up to them.

True ending (only available after achieving every ending): Hallucinations or no, the Hounds are always dedicated to completing the mission. They put away their differences in order to see it through. Julia tells the remaining Hounds that there is another, closer extraction point that was set up by the scientists in case of an emergency. However, based on some intel that they stole earlier, the area is being watched closely. The best option would be to travel through a ravine. The team is beset on all sides by enemies and must fight their way to the goal. One by one, the characters are picked off until only the player character is left. The player character struggles with the case, shoving Julia ahead to the vehicle that’s waiting for them. The player character shoves the case into the car and stays behind to hold off the soldiers.

Game Overview

Salvage is a third-person squad based role-playing game in which the player’s choices affect the outcome of the game. Players can expect to alter the course of the game through which paths they take, which characters are in their party, how they interact with other characters, and how they choose to handle situations, either peaceful or combative. The overall tone of the game is very tense; the player will be uncertain about what unseen enemy is pursuing them and then experience fear once the player character’s sanity begins to degrade. The player will also have to keep an eye on and switch between squad mates to ensure that they remain healthy, as death is permanent. While other games focus solely on the action and neglect to develop human empathy, Salvage will feature dynamic levels and explore the boundary between insanity and reality.
At its core, Salvage is a game in which players control and switch between characters on the fly as they try to get the power core back to their country while being driven insane. People will want to play it because it offers a different experience than other, similar games. Salvage offers non-linearity and the ability to shape future situations within the game. There are also real consequences for failing; if a character dies during gameplay, then they will be unavailable for the rest of the game. In addition, the game focuses heavily on psychosis and figuring out what is real and what is not, touching on human nature and engaging the player emotionally.

Role

I acted as Team Lead for this project. I facilitated and scheduled meetings, made sure everyone was on point for their work, and complied the GDD together while also writing the story section and making environmental concept art.

Teammates

Wendi Kirker, Patrick Brown, Jesse Salcedo , Ryan Miczynski