Game Design: Theory and Practice (2nd Edition) (Wordware Game Developers Library)
Section VIII: Menus
All menus (except the Main Menus and the Save Game Screen) can be accessed when no game is running as well as while a game is paused in the background. When no game is running, a custom-build 3D prison environment will be displayed behind the menus, while when the game is paused the game-world will be shown behind the current screen.
Main Menu Screen (No Saved Game Available)
New Game -> Immediately starts a new game
Options -> Goes to the Options Screen
Main Menu Screen (Saved Game Available)
Continue -> Immediately loads the last created/used saved game
Load -> Goes to the Load Game Screen
New Game -> Immediately starts a new game
Options -> Goes to the Options Screen
The Archives -> Goes to the Archives Screen
Game Paused Menu Screen
Resume -> Unpauses the game and closes the menu
Save -> Goes to the Saved Game Screen
Revert -> Goes to Confirm Dialog, then ends current game and loads last used save-game
Load -> Goes to the Load Game Screen
Options -> Goes to the Options Screen
Quit -> Goes to Confirm Dialog, then ends current game and goes to the Main Menu
Load Game Screen
Lists all currently saved games. If the player selects one, that game is loaded and the game is started. Player is also able to delete old saved games .
Save Game Screen
Shows all available save slots, including those with saves already in them. If the player selects one, the current game state is saved there and gameplay is resumed.
Options Screen
Controller Settings -> Goes to the Controller Settings Screen
Screen Alignment Settings -> Goes to the Screen Alignment Settings Screen
Audio Settings -> Goes to the Audio Settings Screen
Return to Main Menu -> Goes to the Main Menu
Controller Settings Screen
Controller Configuration Selection (Player selects from three presets)
Customize Controller -> Goes to the Customize Buttons Screen
Checkpoint Save -> Save to Memory/Prompt/Save to Memory Card
Help Text On/Off
Look Sensitivity Slider
Invert Pitch Toggle Box
Vibration On/Off Toggle Box
AutoTargeting On/Off Toggle Box
Auto Pitch Correction On/Off
Return to the Options Screen -> Goes to the Options Screen
Customize Controller Screen
Allows player to remap functionality of buttons as they desire , including analog sticks.
Screen Alignment Settings Screen
Player is able to adjust the alignment of the screen to fit their display device.
Return to the Options Screen -> Goes to the Options Screen
Audio Settings Screen
Sound Effects Volume Slider
Dialog Volume Slider
Music Volume Slider
Stereo On/Off Toggle Box
Return to the Options Screen -> Goes to the Options Screen
The Archives Screen
Selection for Creature Archive/Clem s Diary
Selection for Location Archive/Consuela s Scrapbook
The Archives
The Archives is a unique feature of Unspeakable that allows players to learn more about the game-world without intruding unduly on the game experience itself. The Archives is accessible only from the Main Menu of the game. As the player uncovers each creature or special environment in the game, the game will unlock another section of the Archives, allowing the player to read an informative text section accompanied by an illustration/image. Before the player plays the game, the Archive will be empty, except for an overview of Carnate Island. The player will always be able tell how many elements he has yet to uncover (for example, blank entries will appear in the notebook), which will encourage the player to keep playing to unlock more information or to go back and replay to unlock elements he may have missed. A player may successfully complete the game without unlocking all the elements in the Archive.
Creature Archive/Clem s Journal
For each creature the player encounters, the player will unlock a new page in Clem s Journal. This is a diary-like book with yellowed and worn pages that was written by Clem, the prisoner that the player will meet in the game. Clem writes in an educated manner, almost as if a naturalist writing about new species he discovers. Clem s knowledge of Carnate s past will play into the descriptions he writes of the characters , allowing him to reveal facts only hinted at in the game itself. Accompanying Clem s text will be an illustration of the creature in question that he appears to have drawn himself. Fortunately, Clem is an accomplished illustrator. All seven of the main creatures in the game will be featured, in addition to the four bosses, and interesting sections on prisoners and C.O.s.
Location Archive/Consuela s Scrapbook
For each historically relevant location on the island the player uncovers, the player will unlock a new page out of Consuela s Scrapbook. Consuela is the wife of Ernesto, the ornery guard who leads the player in at the beginning of the game and who the player will battle alongside later on. Consuela lived on the island in the town area, and filled her ample free time by researching the history of the island, exploring its terrain, and taking photographs of various locations. Thus her scrapbook will include a page on numerous key locations she has found, including the prison itself, the prison cemetery, the quarry, the quarry cave-in, the asylum , the native village, the shipwreck, the airplane crash, the execution site on the bluff, the lighthouse, the witch cemetery and burning site, the town, and the docks. Since the player may not find all these locations when playing through the game, the Scrapbook section may contain several empty pages when the player finishes the game. Consuela s book looks much like a well- maintained photo album, with black corner picture holders and little typed-up sheets describing each image.
Interface
Main Menu
From the main menu, the player is given the option of going to the Archives menu.
Archives Selection Menu
This screen comes up from the main menu, and the player is presented with a picture of two books on the left and right of the screen. On the left is Clem s Journal, and on the right is Consuela s Scrapbook. They appear on top of a table in the style of Medal of Honor: Frontline . The player is able to select them by pressing left and right to select the one he wants. When selected, an item glows and pulsates to indicate it is selected. When the player presses the Select button on either of these texts , he is taken to one of the two Book screens.
Book Screens
Both Clem s Journal and Consuela s Scrapbook function identically, though they look somewhat different. Both present an open book to the player, viewed from a top-down view, with only the right page visible. The player can then flip through the pages using the left and right buttons. On each page an image appears in the upper right, with text wrapping around it. For both books, each page will at first appear blank, with a To Be Discovered text appearing at the bottom of the page. Then, as the player unlocks a given creature or location, the page text and image will show up. A text message will appear in the game indicating that some piece of content has been unlocked, so players will know to go to look for it.
Clem s Journal
Clem s Journal appears to be a worn leather book with various pieces of paper and odd scraps stuck into it. It is very much a journal Clem was able to keep with him through his adventures around the island, scribbling in it with his pen whenever he had a chance. After a brief introduction, each page of Clem s Journal shows a different creature on the island and presents an uncolored illustration of the creature in question, with text that wraps around the illustration. The text in Clem s journal is a readable handwriting, in longhand. The text describes, in a few sentences, what Clem has seen of the creature and how it is tied into the execution theme (something Clem will remark on with curiosity ). The text is simultaneously read aloud in Clem s voice.
Consuela s Scrapbook
In contrast to Clem s Journal, Consuela s Scrapbook looks significantly nicer, the product of an intelligent and skilled woman with a lot of time on her hands. Following an introductory page, each page of her scrapbook features a photo of a given location, with text that wraps around it. This text appears to have been created with a typewriter and then cut out and pasted into the scrapbook. The pictures are of 3D renderings of the various locations, and are in black and white, and are held into the book by black photo corners. The text describes the area that is seen in the picture and its historical relevance, and while on the page the player will hear Consuela reading the text aloud.