Enshrouded World

[brndx]

Enshrouded World is a vehicular combat experience that features non-linear progression and survival elements not seen in the genre until now. These features complement each other and work to build a strong relationship between player and hovercraft that must be maintained in order to survive.

 

The Story So Far

The 21st century saw the dwindling of resources, large scale extinction and an overpopulation crisis that led to a desperate final effort to prevent further destruction to Earth‘s ecosystem. Rapid progression in the field of virtual reality offered the opportunity to escape from the increasingly dire conditions on Earth; an attractive proposition that saw millions migrate to a series of underground facilities. These facilities were provided with an independent oxygen supply generated by artificial environments housing a wide range of flourishing fauna and flora.

Tensions rose between the limited law enforcement institutions on the surface and the disgruntled masses leading to the establishment of an autocratic entity known as the Watchdog. The Watchdog erected small police states that ensured the safety and security of the underground facilities providing them with the most sophisticated and lethal security devices available. As time passed and the Earth began to heal more rapidly habitable zones were established and now the time has come for everyone to return to the surface.

Players assume the role of Jill, a botanist who has been plucked from a Watchdog police state and placed within a team overlooking the exodus from an oxygen production facility. The Watchdog’s intentions with Jill aren’t as simple or innocent as they may seem and while Jill’s life prior to Watchdog subsumption has been buried it’s beginning to catch up with her.

 

Gameplay Outline

• Enshrouded World breathes new life into vehicular combat, a genre consisting mostly of action orientated racing games by incorporating survival elements and a unique approach to the way in which the player progresses through the world.

 

• The key components of Enshrouded World’s gameplay are combat, exploration, survival and management which are intertwined by a central relationship between the player and their hovercraft. Resources important to the player’s survival are scattered throughout environments that may only be scavenged outside the safety of the hovercraft. In this vulnerable state the player must manage their time wisely as a finite amount of oxygen and dramatically decreased defense against enemies await the player.

 

• The player always has a number of options when it comes to survival, confrontations with enemies can be evaded and focusing on obtaining certain items will offer more paths that lead to a greater amount of supplies in the long term. Since each environment in the game is connected to another in a web as opposed to a straight line there are many branching paths the player can take to progress in a non-linear way at the pace they want.

[Roland]

Looks really fantastic

[Josh]

Looks awesome, but what's going on with the constant graininess and flickering on everything?

[brndx]

The flickering and graininess comes from a shader I used to convey a current of electricity passing through the geodesic domes so there's a strong feeling of artificiality in the environment and repulsion. It's much less noticeable in the actual game as the fog conceals most of it.

[cassius]

Very impressive. You can tell that terrain is not based on uk terrain. Looks very Australian.

[SpEcIeS]

Nicely done.