Arc 1 Seq 1 | Lockdown
Narrative Purpose
Transition from the prologue’s catastrophe to active survival.
- Establish tone: silence → chaos → tense alliance.
- Clarify short-term objective: get out of the shop and reach the docked hauler.
- Deepen the cultist’s mystery while making him a temporary ally.
- Teach the player environmental interaction under pressure (doors, breakers, emergency locks).
Narrative Breakdown
Beat 1 | Impact and Recovery
The player regains control on the floor amid sparking lights and muffled alarms, slowly recovering orientation as systems flicker back online.
- Camera: Ground‑level, free camera control as the player comes to.
- Audio: Low rumble under debris settling; muffled alarms. The emergency klaxon gradually rises.
- Environmental Cues: Emergency red wash lighting flickers erratically; grit and metallic dust fill the air.
- Objective / Task: Reorient and assess surroundings after the blast.
- Player Feedback: Heavy ear‑ringing filter fades as balance returns.
Actions:
- Visual and auditory cues guide the player’s attention toward possible exits.
Dialogue:
Cultist (breathing heavily) "What—what in the hell was that? The station just—"
Cultist (He looks toward the sealed storefront window, then back) "I need to move. I can't stay here."
Cultist (transactionally) "If you can get us out of here, I have a ship in the hangar."
Triggers:
- Player regains input control.
- Next beat unlocks once player takes a few steps.
Notes:
- This exchange grounds both characters in confusion and realism.
- No exposition dump, just shared survival urgency.
Beat 2 | Manual Lockdown Mini-Game
Mini‑Puzzle: The player improvises an emergency power reroute to unseal the storefront gate while the cultist anxiously watches the collapsing corridor.
- Camera: Full Control.
- Audio: Emergency siren echoes; flickering lights buzz. Each successful input restores a short burst of power. Distant groans of stressed metal underscore urgency.
- Environmental Cues: Terminal sparks intermittently; indicator lights shift from red → amber → green as power stabilizes. Air tremors with each failed input or delay.
- Objective / Task: Restore emergency control and lift the emergency shutters.
- Player Feedback: Increasing tremor and audio distortion if the player stalls too long; visual flicker calms on success.
Actions:
- Mini-Game: Arc 1 Seq 1 | Mini-Game
Notes:
- Introduces environmental interaction under pressure without breaking flow.
- Dialogue emphasis on mutual dependency: cultist urges the player but offers no actual mechanical help.
- Keep rhythm of interaction fast — each switch flip and breaker pull feels like buying seconds of survival.
Beat 3 | Mechanical Success
The lockdown clears with grinding metal and vibration as the shutters lift, granting the first view beyond the confined storefront.
- Camera: Full Control.
- Audio: Heavy vibration and motor grind as the steel shutters lift. Faint emergency voice repeats over the loudspeaker: “Containment protocol active. Sections C through H sealed. Await instruction.”
- Environmental Cues: Corridor lighting floods in, flashing yellow strobes through drifting particulates.
- Objective / Task: Objective marker set: “Reach Dock 3A.”
- Player Feedback: Player regains full motion control; objective marker appears: “Reach Dock 3A.”
Actions:
- Cultist moves first, scanning the hall.
Dialogue:
Cultist (Cultist gestures to follow) "My ship’s in the hangar 3A."
Triggers:
- Beat completion triggers Title Reveal cinematic.
Notes:
- Marks clear transition from contained panic to action forward momentum.
- Opportunity for brief performance pause before cinematic begins.
Narrative Intent
This scene frames the forced partnership — player and cultist bound by circumstance but driven by different motives.
- The cultist’s dialogue should mix rational fear with quiet reverence, hinting that he understands more about what’s happening but can’t admit it yet.
- The player’s role remains grounded — focused on procedures, solving tangible problems.
- The tonal contrast between pragmatism (player) and fervent secrecy (cultist) is the emotional lever for the first act.
Mechanical Lessons Embedded
Seq End Hook | Title Reveal
Tone Reference: Think of it as an “inverse establishing shot” — instead of beginning wide then narrowing to the personal, you start intimate and pull out to cosmic, reinforcing that the player’s small crisis sits within something incomprehensibly larger.
Cinematic Transition
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Loss of Control
- As the player passes the threshold, camera subtly detaches from first‑person perspective and begins to ascend.
- Player input fades; audio slows into low atmospheric reverb.
- The Cultist still moving below, calling out briefly (“Come on—stay with me!”) before his voice is drowned out by the rising hum.
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Camera Escalation
- The view tilts upward through breached decking and tangled conduit.
- You clip seamlessly through the station hull, transitioning from red interior light to stark exterior contrast.
- The framing reveals the catastrophic scope of the explosion: shattered modules tumbling in slow drift, shards reflecting harsh sunlight, coolant and plasma venting into vacuum.
- Station debris rotates gracefully, casting long shadows across the curvature of the ring.
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Title Reveal
- As particles drift past the camera, the sun flares — lens edge bloom silhouettes the wreckage.
- Game title fades up in white or pale ochre, static‑flickered edges matching the station’s emergency lighting rhythm.
- Hold for two beats — long enough for the player to absorb silence and scope.
- Distant comm chatter fades in under the hum, hinting that life still persists somewhere.
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Return to Player
- Fade‑to‑black for a half‑second.
- Cross‑fade back to first‑person view following directly behind the Cultist as he moves down the corridor.
- Audio re‑normalizes to enclosed acoustics; UI reappears.
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Objective text materializes mid‑screen:
“Reach Dock 3A. Assist survivor to escape craft.”
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