PLAN.txt

Project Asymptote Engine Design Document

1. Detection.
This section will define one of the core  mechanics  of  the  Asymptote
Engine and that is how NPCs  and Cameras detect  suspicious  activities
For the engine's  demo,  we  will  base  the  detection  mechanic  from
Operators.

 a. Detectable Entities. These are  objects  and  events  that  can  be
    detected by NPCs and Cameras. For the demo, this only includes,  in
    order of lower priority to higher priority:
      i. Suspicious sounds. This  includes  suppressed  gunshots  heard
         from afar;
     ii. Players with the Disguised status;
    iii. Players with the Minor Trespassing status;
     iv. Players with the Minor Suspicious status;
      v. Players with the Major Trespassing status;
     vi. Players with the Criminal Suspicious status;
    vii. Dead bodies;
     ix. Dangerous items. These include   Players  with  the  Dangerous
         Item status and placed C4 explosives; and
      x. Players with the Armed status, being shot at  or  damaged,  or
         alarming sounds which includes gunshots and explosions.
 b. Detection Priority. The   detection  priority  of  each  detectable
    entities  is  listed in subsection (a) of this section. Each  Agent
    can  only  detect  one entity and of the highest priority. When  an
    Agent  detected  an entity, any other detectable entity with  lower
    priority  from  the already detected entity will not get  detected.
    For  example, a Guard detected a Player with the Minor  Trespassing
    status.  The  Detection  value  of that Player is 1. Entities  with
    lower  priority  compared  to the current detected entity, such  as
    suspicious  sounds, are ignored. And higher priority entities  will
    only get detected.
 c. Detection Speed. This dictates the time expressed in seconds on how
    a detectable entity becomes fully detected. For this demo, the base
    detection  speed should be 1.25 seconds. When detecting  detectable
    entities,  that detected entity can multiply that detection  speed.
     i. Dead bodies have a detection speed multiplier of 2.
    ii. Players with the Armed status have a detetcion speed multiplier
        of 1.5.
   iii. Players with the Criminal Suspicious and the Major  Trespassing
        status have a detection speed multiplier of 1.25.
    iv. Players  with  the  Disguised  status  have  a detection  speed
        multiplier of 0.625.
 d. Detection Independence. Detection   value   are  unique  to   every
    detectable  entities  and to every Agent. For example, if an  Agent
    detects a Player with the Minor Trespassing status and reaches  90%
    from  getting detected, but notices another higher priority  entity
    or  event  such  as a Player with the Armed status, the Agent  will
    focus on said higher priority entity from 0%, while the  previously
    detected entity starts to decay.
      i. Disclaimer. This  does  not  mean  that Players with  changing
         statuses  are  detected  as  a completly seperate entity.  For
         example: If a Player is seen with a Minor Trespassing  status,
         detection  value  reaches  70%, and goes out of sight, and  no
         then the detection value decays. After some time, it drops  to
         65%, but  the Player gets spotted again with the same  status.
         Then  detection  will  continue from 65%. And when the  Player
         pulls  out a weapon, applying the Armed status to the  Player,
         then   it  will  start  using  that  status  detection   speed
         multiplier and raise the detection from 65%.
 e. Detection Decay. Detection progress decays 1% every 0.045  seconds.
 f. Detection Value Representation. Detection     value     shall    be
    represented from 0.0 to 1.0.
 g. Detection of Player Statuses. Despite Players can  perform numerous
    suspicious activities at the same time  and  thus  having different
    suspicious statuses, the detection priority still applies.
      i. For example, Players that is Trespassing  and  also  having  a
         weapon  visible,  they  will have both the  Minor  Trespassing
         status and the Armed  status.  If  within  an  NPC  or  Camera
         detection range, the detection Agent will  detect  the  Player
         with the highest priority status. So in  this  scenario,  that
         would be the Armed status. And if one or more Player have  the
         same priority, the Agent will choose the closest one.
 h. Player Status Visibility and Audibility. Guard are able  to  'hear'
    Players if they are trespassing, either Minor Trespassing or  Major
    Trespassing. And are the only Player Statuses that Guards are  able
    to hear. So if a Player has the Minor Trespassing status  and  also
    the Armed status, if the Player is not in view of a  Guard  but  is
    within said Guard hearing range, the Guard  will  only  detect  the
    hearable status, in this scenario is the Minor  Trespassing  status
    and not the Armed status.
 i. Quick Detection.

2. Actual Story.
The Player can choose between 2 characters or more  characters   chosen
by the Studio. For the tutorial  level,  the  Character  is  tasked  to
assassinate the equipment vendor  Dean.  With  the  mission coordinator
being one of the Trainers of Plasma Security Division,  chosen  by  the
Studio.

 a. Required components for this mission:
      i. Trespassing mechanics.
     ii. Doors, locked with keys and keycards.
    iii. Guard AI, patrols and propper reactions
         to events and Player actions. Which now
         should only include:
            1. Both minor and major trespasses;
            2. Gunshots;
            3. Getting hurt;
            4. Dead bodies; and
            5. Disguises.
     iv. Alert levels. Which raise from
            1. Calm
            2. Normal
            3. Alert
            4. Searching
            5. Lockdown

3. The Killhouse.
The Player is greeted by the Trainer with unspecified affiliation named
Alice.  Alice  will  guide  the  Player  through the already  developed
stealth mechanics of the engine.

 a. Chapter 1. Use More Guns.  Alice  guides  the  Player  through  the
    handling  of guns and ammunition. The Player  will be instructed to
    take the FB Beryl, get the ammunition from the nearby ammo box, and
    shoot the wooden targets.
 b. Chapter 2. The 'Asymptote' Part.  Alice  will  now guide the Player
    through  the  basic  detection  mechanics  of the engine. This will
    introduce the Player to:
      i. The player  status  bar.  Which  shows  the  Player's  current
         statuses in order of priority from left to right;
     ii. Trespassing zones.  Zones (internally  programmed  as 'Cells')
         can  give  you  the  minor  trespassing  status, and the major
         trespassing status;
    iii. Disguises.  A   disguise  can   make   you  not  have  certain
         trespassing  statuses  depending  on  the  zone's   configured
         penalties; and
     iv. Detection. A detection bar  will  show  pointing  towards  the
         detecting  Agent  and  will  fill  up  to show how close is to
         detecting  the Player. If the Player does get detected, simply
         allows them to try again.

4. Objective system.
For now, let's just make a simple objective system. For the dean
assasination mission, we will only have these simple objectives:
 a. "Find a way to get up stairs". Starting at the 3rd floor, The Player
    can steal a keycard from the guards, or shut off the power to get to
    the stairs.
 b. "Access the penthouse". The Player needs to access Dean's penthouse
    either via infiltrating using disguises or breaking in.
 c. "Kill the target". If the Player is on the 6th floor, they need to
    kill the target (Dean). After thats done...
 d. "Exfiltrate". The Player can now leave and finish the mission.

5. Philosphy.
Our objective system must be easily restartable. For development, it
must be declarative. For example, the developer puts in a Part or other
instances then set the attributes to dictate its functions.
 a. Established systems. We have an expression parser and states. Global
    and local respectively. For example, a `TriggerZone` can have an
    attribute named "EnabledCondition" which can be an expression. e.g.
    "!Mission_AlarmRaised && Mission_AlertLevel >= 1", an attribute named
    "Variable" that sets a global or client state that is set to `true` when
    an entity enters.