Overview

Stalemate, a single player Gears of War mission, places the player in a large standoff between COG forces and a horde of Locust Drones, Wretches, Boomers, and a Seeder. The player must navigate between enemy lines and destroy the Seeder allowing the COG resistance to call in an air strike and destroy the remaining forces. The player navigates the buildings along the street where both forces have entrenched themselves, encountering Drones, Boomers, and Wretches. After crossing the ally and entering the second building, the player can access the roof allowing a clear shot at the Seeder.

Design Goals

• Trench warfare in urban setting
• Ongoing battle in background
• Short Range, Medium Range, Long Range Combat

Development Time: 4 weeks (20 hours a week)

Safe in the rear sandbag trench, the player can see allies and Locust forces exchange volleys. Bullets and random explosions are deafening on the street level.

An above view of the streets shows the layout of the “urban trench warfare”, the layout is pretty simplistic, but with dozens of Drones and friendlies trading volleys at each other, the field appears extremely hectic.  A bright directional light and sharp shadows help sell the feeling of early dawn.  Random explosions and sounds of near bullet misses add to the tense setting.  Heavy scripting of both the COG and Locust forces keep the sides balanced.

Most Gears of War levels are dark, a design goal was to create a very bright level, sharp shadows and light volumes help the brightness theme.

Dead bodies litter the roofs as a warning of sniper fire.  Before the player can take out the seeder, they must take cover behind the HVAC units and do a bit of counter sniping.  Stalemate provides all ranges of combat, from close range-shotgun to long range counter snipe opportunity to the heavy fire of the Hammer of Dawn.

Downstairs, a Boomer provides an extreme threat as the interior space is cramped and small.  A player can either duke it out with the Boomer or quickly take cover and attempt to sneak around the Boomer and skip the encounter completely.

Reaching the second floor gives a small opportunity to watch enemies interact with the battle down below.  Once the player is discovered, the Drones will stop shooting the COG forces on the ground and will attack the player.  Desks provide poor cover for both the Drones and Marcus.  A well placed grenade, before being discovered, can simplify this encounter.

Scripting

Air Strike Script

Air strike kismet. Upon defeating the seeder, the last level loads in starting the final camera cinematic. During the matinee, multiple rounds of dummy fire, firing boomer shoots, towards the Horde side of the level. During this air strike, multiple particles spawn creating the cinematic explosions.  During the last few moments of the air strike, a command fires killing all remaining Horde forces.

Urban Trench War Script

Urban Trench Warfare. Sandbags and Vehicles provide makeshift cover for both the COG and Horde forces. The COG soldiers spawn on the notes seen in the image above. With no viable path nodes other than advancing cover, the soldiers cannot follow the player through the flank. A blocking volume divides the Horde/COG sides preventing any “over zealous” NPCs from advancing too far ahead. Poor lines of sight in the trenches keeps both forces fighting and the body count low.