Goonhub
06-12-2014, 02:48 PM
The general idea behind this game mode is that 3 or 4 people are picked at the start of the round to be "traitors". They are not traitors in the traditional blow stuff up and kill people sense. Instead, the objective of these antags, who Iv'e decided to call Survivors, is to kill every other Survivor. It's Highlander style, there can be only one. However, it's not so simple as to simply see someone and kill them. The other Survivors will be doing everything in their power to hide their antag-ness and search for you as well. It is the ultimate game of hunt or be hunted. Except the field of play isn't a forest or field, but inside a highly populated Space Station. The issue for the Survivors is that they can't cause too much commotion. While a normal traitor can detonate and bomb and escape without worrying about who finds out his identity, a Survivor whose identity is given away will find themselves attacked by 3 others with an equal match of traitor gear. Ultimately, the Survivors can kill whoever they want, but it'd almost always be a detriment to their operation unless that person is another Survivor.
There are also several other variables that make the gamemode unlike others. Each Survivor is assigned a number from 1 to however many Survivors there are total. Each Survivor will receive a hint on other living Survivors. These hints can be anything from "One of the Survivors is at home on the Southern half of the Station." to "One of the Survivors has blue facial hair." When one Survivor kills another, the Station will receive an announcement along the lines of "Survivor X was killed by Survivor Y." Each living Survivor will then receive a hint specifically about Survivor Y (something like, "Survivor Y's first name is longer than his last name."). All non-involved Survivors will gain 2 crystals, while Survivor Y will get 3. When the Station is down to just two living Survivors, they will both learn the other's identity, receive a picture of them, and their PDAs will both specify the location of the other Survivor's PDA every few minutes.
Secondly, each Survivor has a random physical aspect that is revealed if they are examined. For instance, one Survivor might be missing his left eye. If he is examined (and not wearing some sort of facial wear that conceals his eye) then a light-red message will show the examiner that his eye is missing (something akin to what is displayed when someone is examined and has a light injury). This gives Survivors a dead give away for finding each other and forces them to conceal themselves as soon as possible. In some cases, it'll be a birth mark on their arm or a scar on their cheek or something of that sort. It's not necessarily enough to identify a Survivor as soon as the game begins, but it's enough to allow you to prove they are not Survivors just by stripping and being conscious enough to examine them.
Thirdly, as I state earlier, each Survivor's PDA periodically gets tips about the other Survivors. However, it also gives the Survivors other small bonuses. For instance, it'll also periodically tell you that such and such a person is not a Survivor or give you an extra crystal. It is quite useful, but it also has several glaring downsides. If it is destroyed, the Survivor is gibbed. If the Survivor dies, the PDA explodes like a PDA bomb. If it touches the floor or any object it is destroyed. It is only safe in someone's hands, pocket, belt, or inventory. Lastly, it'll explode if it leaves the Station's Z-level. This forces the Survivor to hold onto and protect their PDA (and stay within the Z-level), which acts as a bit of a tell for Survivors. This also gives other Survivors a bit of an incentive to not actually kill Survivors. It's better for them to capture and incapacitate the Survivor and then use their PDA to find the other Survivors. Security would also have an incentive not to just executed, but use the Survivor to find more Survivors.
Ultimately, the idea is to create a sort of mad battle royal between the Survivors with Security and the rest of the crew trying to stop them. However, it needs to do this without destroying the Station every single round. Yet, it needs to not destroy the Station without causing Survivors to just hide and wait for the others to expose themselves. Thus, they are given hints about each other and given an incentive to find the others. In that, they are forced to fight but not to fight in a way that's too destructive. It's kind of similar to a Changeling being forced to feed on players, but not doing it too openly lest they get robusted by the crew.
There are also several other variables that make the gamemode unlike others. Each Survivor is assigned a number from 1 to however many Survivors there are total. Each Survivor will receive a hint on other living Survivors. These hints can be anything from "One of the Survivors is at home on the Southern half of the Station." to "One of the Survivors has blue facial hair." When one Survivor kills another, the Station will receive an announcement along the lines of "Survivor X was killed by Survivor Y." Each living Survivor will then receive a hint specifically about Survivor Y (something like, "Survivor Y's first name is longer than his last name."). All non-involved Survivors will gain 2 crystals, while Survivor Y will get 3. When the Station is down to just two living Survivors, they will both learn the other's identity, receive a picture of them, and their PDAs will both specify the location of the other Survivor's PDA every few minutes.
Secondly, each Survivor has a random physical aspect that is revealed if they are examined. For instance, one Survivor might be missing his left eye. If he is examined (and not wearing some sort of facial wear that conceals his eye) then a light-red message will show the examiner that his eye is missing (something akin to what is displayed when someone is examined and has a light injury). This gives Survivors a dead give away for finding each other and forces them to conceal themselves as soon as possible. In some cases, it'll be a birth mark on their arm or a scar on their cheek or something of that sort. It's not necessarily enough to identify a Survivor as soon as the game begins, but it's enough to allow you to prove they are not Survivors just by stripping and being conscious enough to examine them.
Thirdly, as I state earlier, each Survivor's PDA periodically gets tips about the other Survivors. However, it also gives the Survivors other small bonuses. For instance, it'll also periodically tell you that such and such a person is not a Survivor or give you an extra crystal. It is quite useful, but it also has several glaring downsides. If it is destroyed, the Survivor is gibbed. If the Survivor dies, the PDA explodes like a PDA bomb. If it touches the floor or any object it is destroyed. It is only safe in someone's hands, pocket, belt, or inventory. Lastly, it'll explode if it leaves the Station's Z-level. This forces the Survivor to hold onto and protect their PDA (and stay within the Z-level), which acts as a bit of a tell for Survivors. This also gives other Survivors a bit of an incentive to not actually kill Survivors. It's better for them to capture and incapacitate the Survivor and then use their PDA to find the other Survivors. Security would also have an incentive not to just executed, but use the Survivor to find more Survivors.
Ultimately, the idea is to create a sort of mad battle royal between the Survivors with Security and the rest of the crew trying to stop them. However, it needs to do this without destroying the Station every single round. Yet, it needs to not destroy the Station without causing Survivors to just hide and wait for the others to expose themselves. Thus, they are given hints about each other and given an incentive to find the others. In that, they are forced to fight but not to fight in a way that's too destructive. It's kind of similar to a Changeling being forced to feed on players, but not doing it too openly lest they get robusted by the crew.