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In Hood: Outlaws and Legends<\/em><\/strong>, you play as an outlaw, decided to undermine the oppressive state by stealing its wealth and returning it to the folks. The state retains treasure chests in huge buildings, safe inside locked vaults.<\/p>\nThe state is an organized and highly effective ruling physique. The three sorts of treasure constructing symbolize its three arms: the church represents the state\u2019s management of faith, the garrison its army, and the towering hold represents its oppression of the folks.<\/p>\n
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To indicate this, we included brutalist parts and took inspiration from fashionable regimes and blended them into the design of medieval buildings. Every constructing has its personal distinct character and gameplay, from the towering spires and claustrophobic catacombs of the church, to the purposeful but opulent halls of the garrison.<\/p>\n
The treasure buildings dominate the skyline and are landmarks that assist you navigate. That is essential, as a result of your first goal is to seek out the sheriff and pickpocket his vault key. Every of the maps are a lot bigger than the treasure buildings alone, and the sheriff might be patrolling someplace outdoors \u2014 however you gained\u2019t know the place. Beware although! One other group of outlaws have the identical purpose.<\/p>\n
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As soon as the important thing has been stolen, the constructing turns into your vacation spot. The treasure vault is inside someplace, a special place every time you play. Not solely that, however some maps comprise a couple of treasure constructing. Citadel \u2013 the state\u2019s capital metropolis \u2013 comprises all three! Looking for a treasure vault can generally be like in search of a needle in a haystack. Fortuitously, in case your staff will get maintain of the sheriff\u2019s key you\u2019ll additionally study the placement of the vault it belongs to.<\/p>\n
We needed to present gamers purpose to discover the buildings for the vault, however we didn\u2019t need the them to be a maze. Your goal is usually proven as an icon on display, however you\u2019re not proven the way to get there.<\/p>\n
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With the variations that happen every sport, there\u2019s no right path by means of the constructing. And whereas a church might function on a couple of map, there are other ways to get out and in of the constructing, in addition to completely different accessible flooring and completely different locations the place treasure rooms could possibly be. We would have liked gamers to have the ability to enter a constructing from any course, get to wherever the treasure vault is, and out once more to one of many extraction factors on this planet. We needed gamers to \u201chave religion\u201d that probably the most intuitive route would take them the place they wanted to go, in order that even new gamers can discover their goal whereas avoiding guards and ambushing different gamers.<\/p>\n
Systematically, we went spherical each facet of the constructing and inside every room asking, \u201cIf I\u2019m right here<\/em>, how do I get there?<\/em>\u201d We pointed the digicam in direction of every vacation spot and located locations to place a brand new doorway in view, making an attempt to ensure there was at all times an apparent path that may take you nearer to your purpose, wherever it is likely to be. We sealed some up too, as an excessive amount of alternative might be as unhealthy as too little.<\/p>\n\n
By way of playtesting, we noticed that giant rooms had been higher for gameplay than slim corridors. An open house lets gamers see extra of the environment and it\u2019s simpler to identify the distinctive vault door from afar. They\u2019re higher for stealth, with the ability to ambush enemies whereas crouched behind tables or statues, and for melee fight, which requires house to place and dodge.<\/p>\n
We determined {that a} constructing\u2019s inside ought to comprise only some massive rooms and every room ought to look distinctive. The hold, for instance, was designed round three huge atriums: an entrance corridor, a eating room and a storeroom. Balconies and staircases encompass them in such a method you can see landmarks within the room, such because the golden face of the king\u2019s statue that dominates the doorway corridor, in addition to guards and less-stealthy opponents.<\/p>\n
Verticality is a powerful theme in our sport, however it may be complicated. You realize the treasure vault is on a flooring above you \u2013 however what doorway or passage must you take to succeed in it?<\/p>\n
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Once more, we needed gamers to belief that apparent routes will take them the place they wish to go. We made a rule: if you might want to go up, any staircase up will take you in direction of your purpose. If you might want to take the chest to an exit on the bottom flooring, any staircase down is right. It is best to by no means be led additional out of your purpose by doing that.<\/p>\n
Staircases shouldn\u2019t be exhausting to seek out, both\u2014it ought to solely take a couple of seconds to identify a method out when you’ve the chest. This sounds apparent in hindsight, however it required cautious planning. It\u2019s very simple to position staircases on the finish of lengthy corridors or round corners. After all, skilled gamers might study higher routes, corresponding to ropes to slip down or a ladder to climb.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/p>\n
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