Propaganda

One of the major decorations throughout the game is propaganda posters that serve three major purposes:

1. (Primary) Environmental Storytelling.

   These posters will contain nods to characters or lore within the game world that help reinforce the idea that C30 has complete control over the media and effectively the thoughts of the population. These posters could say things like:

   • Reject The Evidence of Your Transmission Devices
   • Keep The Springs Clean: Report Haywire Activity
   • Spot Signs of Going Haywire [pictures of robots participating in any recreational activity, like feeding robot birds or playing basketball]

2. (Secondary) Tutorialization.

   In some areas, propaganda posters are used to teach the player how to interact with some objects that are not immediately intuitive. These could look like:

   • Do Not Overcharge [diagram of an Impulse Drone receiving too much energy and exploding]
   • Vending Machines Kill [a vending machine firing a can at a drone]

3. (Tertiary) Wayfinding.

   One thing we thought could be interesting is if the posters also serve as a tool for navigation. For example, there are a few places in our demo in which the player must travel upwards, but it can be a bit hard to get them to look up. Sometimes games have yellow painted arrows that direct the player, but we were thinking we could put our own spin on that by using propaganda posters to accomplish a similar goal. This could look like:

   • LOOK UP: C30 is Watching [cool up arrow graphic that has C30’s tower in negative space]
   • Always Make Forward Progress | Don’t Go Haywire [Right arrow graphic with some other cool stuff going on, you get the picture]

Lore Reference

Cog Springs

Cog Springs is the setting of the game; it is a society of all robots who seem to exist to serve human life, but do not ever reference or acknowledge humans. This is a sci-fi retro futuristic city, in which the general vibe is that it is too good to be true.

C30

C30 is a powerful ruler of Cog Springs. This is the main bad guy who owns all media and uses it to keep everyone in line and distract them from his dark secrets. (We do not currently have a design for him. As of right now, we are thinking that he will only be actually featured in the game as a voice from the sky via PA system, so if you want to take a stab at giving him an appearance, go for it.)

Drones

Drones are C30’s minion army. They are a specific type of robot that does not contain a ‘sentience chip’ and are thus a mindless swarm. If you ever want to picture an enemy in the posters, these are what you would want to depict:

Impulse Drone (basic enemy)

Linking Guys (they are small)

Alpha Linking Guys (they are healed by linking guys)

There are a few more enemy types in the game, but the ones that we have models done for.

“Going Haywire”

‘Going Haywire’ is C30’s version of being ’woke’. It is this sort of amorphous virus that he claims plagues the city, and any robot that does not do the task that they were designed for is a sign of imminent danger. This is how he justifies the elimination of anyone who poses a threat to his mighty rule.