The Wharf of Guns

7/30/2019 The Wharf of Guns

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The Wharf of Guns

(Based loosely around the key structures and layout of Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth were it

converted into a floating space fortress).


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How Gunwharf Quays has Changed

The Spinnaker Tower and the Lipstick Tower have been modelled around their real-world counter

parts. I have used these buildings to give a sense of vertigo similar to that experienced in the old UnrealTournament level The Crane.

(Real-world photos)

In keeping with some of the layout in Gunwharf Quays I have createdzones based around the following (all of which contain some clues as to

their real-world purposes):

Courtyard

River

Flat balconies

Shop corridors

Vue Cinema

These zones are described in more detail on the next page.


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The river is

now a flow

of toxic

waste

he balconies

re still here but

ave been

tered so that

ayers can

avigate them

a jump pads.

lthough

aversing them

aves a player

ulnerable to all

orts of fire

ealth,

rmoured vests

nd a Rocket

auncher await

nyone skilful

r lucky enough

successfully

ay jump the

alconies

These

buildings now

provide cover

from vehicles

and snipers as

well as the

occasional

useful item

Bunker

The shop corridors are now

polluted and bare. They contain

many useful weaponry, other than

guns, that cannot be found

elsewhere on the map as well as a

couple of Viper Craft on the

second floor. The clues as to what

this area represents from the real

Gunwharf are the Statues

(representing mannequins) and

the toxic barrels (representingdustbins).

Smoke

Corridor

entrances

Viper Runways have been put in

place where the Vue Cinema used

to be. The clue as to what the area

is used for in reality are the

monitors and terminals

throughout the zone.

Monitor

screens

Shock Turret at lower

level of Viper Runway

Viper

Runway

The courtyard is still at the

centre of the area, the

flowerpots are still there,

serving as cover and two

bunkers have been added to

provide shelter cover from

vehicles and also contain health

B38 building

gives access

to a rooftop,

the Lipstick

Tower and

has an Avril

weapon

resting on top.


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Gun Balancing

The gun placement throughout the level has been based around where they will be most effective.

Due to the power of the three types of Rocket Launcher they have been spread out over

different corners of the map.

Sniper Rifles have been placed where they will be most advantageous at the tops of the two

towers, as well as in Port Gore.

Flack cannons and Bio Rifles have been places in areas where close combat is required such

as the smoke corridors and rooftop maze.

Stingers, Link Guns and Shock Rifles have been scattered around in close proximity to player

start locations. The Link Guns have also been placed in racks near the Main Viper Station.

The layout of the guns has been pictured on the next page.

Health, armour and excess ammo pickups havebeen spread out at regular intervals, generallywithin some cover.

The Smoke Corridors contain further weaponry inthe form of mines as well as defences such as

Slow Field and Force Field Generators.

Facing one of the jump pad zones within

the Smoke Corridors, which allow the

player to access the second floor where a

couple of Vipers are kept.

A Spider Mine has been picked up from

the corridors as well.

Coming up to one

of the Vipers

vehicles on the

Smoke Corridor

second floor, where

a Slow Field has

been placed.


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Sniping from the Towers

The two towers are designed to be best sniping spots in the level due to the great view of the playingfield they offer. At the very top of the towers the U-damage power up can also be found giving any

sniper even more power.

Due to the great advantage of the towers I have made sure they are sufficiently hard to get to and that it

is possible to counter a sniper. The only way to get to the top of a tower is to follow the winding pathsshown below. All four pathways have health vials resting on them and the harder paths have shield

belts waiting at the start, reducing the risk of a lethal fall. Nonetheless the paths are thin and anysuccessful shot from a Shock Rifle or explosive could spell an early demise for any prospective sniper.

Once in position there are still several ways to counter a sniper.

1. A Darkwalker can be found at the start of the river, which should have no trouble turning asniper to ash or forcing them away from the prime locations.

2. I have also created an area called Port Gore, which contains the Redeemer and a ground-based

sniper location from which to try and shoot down tower snipers.3. Then, of course, there is the other tower to consider.

Port gore is another prime location due to holding the Redeemer and another sniping location but is

vulnerable from three locations and anyone defending the sphere has a high chance of falling off intospace.

Sniping from

Port Gore

Shield belts

Vulnerable

locations

The Redeemer spawns

here, on a floating disk,with nothing but space

around and beneath.


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Vehicles and Counters

Vehicles also offer advantages throughout the level. With Viper Crafts in the Smoke Corridors and atthe Viper Runways the use of the inherent cover provided by the static objects I created is essential.

The greatest deterrent against Vipers are EMPmines and the Avril Longbow.

Due to there being only one Darkwalker on the level its spawning time after destruction has beenincreased. The best counters for the Darkwalker are as follows:

1. The Redeemer, but this takes a long time to generate.2. Surrounding the walker from the cover of the buildings and balconies nearby can overhwhelm

it.3. An Avril Longbower can be found on the B38 building to the right of where the walker

spawns.4. Should the Darkwalker venture too far along the riverbank a Rocket Turret is in position to do

some damage.

The Rooftop Bonuses and Further Powerups

There are several powerups and bonuses that can be found on the level, which can only be discovered

through exploration. Most of these can be found on the rooftops. The rooftop areas were added as anafter thought to make the top down view more aesthetically pleasing. Now they serve as bonus areas of

sorts. No one can automatically spawns on the rooftops but there are several ways to gain access. Thefavoured method is to grab some High Jump Boots and simply jump onto the rooftops from the third

floor balconies.

Once on the rooftops, if there is still some jump left in

the boots the player can locate one of the Invisibilitypowerups.

The rooftops act like very simple mazes and it

is quite easy to get cornered against a wall ortrapped in one of the longer sections.


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As well as the Invisibility powerups the

Berserk pickup is located on the largerrooftop maze (Spinnaker side). Whoever gets

this gains a great advantage within the mazeand will also find it useful to increase their

frag count if they can hold on to it longenough to return to the main battleground.

The last two powerups are the Keg of Health and theInvulnerability. Both of these can be found within the

main battleground. The Keg is located in the ViperRunway zone. Once it has generated players are alerted

to its existence by the flashing light coming off the mainmonitor screen shown in the right picture.

Players are alerted to the

Invulnerability pickups generation in a

similar way, as a red light startsflashing from one of the gaps in the

building along the toxic riverbank.

Due to the importance of this

particular powerup it is harder to get to and

can only be obtained by falling downfrom the rooftop above or byjumping into the opening using High Jump

Boots.

The Wharf of Guns

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