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Design Document Overview/Story Pandora's key ambience and attitude can be described as dark, fantastical, grim, exotic, wondrous, shadowy, dangerous, and huge in scope. Pandora's style is sleek, smooth, action-packed, story-oriented, and character driven. High production values are paramount, along with unique setting and character designs. The world as we know it now has been changed forever. In the year 2002, the Cerberus Corporation began experimentation in temporal and trans-dimensional technology after its discovery of alien artifacts left over from an ancient but highly evolved civilization that had died out millennia ago. Hoping to tap into other planes of reality in a bid for economic gain and political influence within the American government, Cerberus used these wondrous relics to form a gateway between our world and the Veil, an alternate reality of Earth where magic, not technology, reigns supreme as the ultimate force of power. Headed by ambitious President Janus Couvier, the Cerberus Corporation soon began to siphon off the essence known as magic using the very artifacts believed to have originated from the Veil, combining it with the advanced arms technology they had previously developed for the United States military. However, at Cerberus' secret underground testing facility hidden from public view beneath the concrete streets of Manhattan, a freak accident caused a cataclysmic chain reaction. In the year 2007, the people of New York awoke one fateful morning to find fearsome dragons soaring through the clouds above the city's skyscrapers, vicious orcs roaming the streets, and strange plant formations appearing all over the city (in place of the site where the Twin Towers that made up the World Trade Center once stood are now two giant trees that dwarf even the mighty redwoods of California, their leafy boughs rising even above Manhattan's skyline). But the effects of Cerberus' experiment gone horribly wrong were not confined to New York City. Magic has been released in one catastrophic stroke, spreading outward like ripples in a pond caused by a thrown stone and invading every part of the world. As a result, Earth has been changed virtually overnight. Two worlds, our own and the Veil, are now one. It is year 2037, and mankind has been forced to live side by side with creatures both beautiful and wondrous as well as those strange and monstrous, the stuff of nightmares. Anarchy rules the world save for small, scattered pockets of civilization in the form of various militant and religious factions, most of which are warring with one another in fierce tribal rivalries stemming from long-held blood feuds. Amidst the chaos and violence arose Janus Couvier, once the head of the Cerberus Corporation, now self-proclaimed master of New York. Wielding the awesome force known as magic, the warlord has seized Manhattan Island for himself and from there he can expand his ever-growing empire, using fear and threat of force to maintain his power and to destroy anyone who opposes his rule. Each of the great city's outlying boroughs have become the personal domains of Janus' four most loyal lieutenants, all of who serve him without question and possess terrible powers themselves to enforce his will upon the citizens of New York. It is a time of darkness and despair. The world cries out for a hero, someone to stand up to Cerberus' private army, a legion of both humans and monsters, and help end Janus' iron-fisted tyranny before he can bring upon total apocalypse. Answering the call is a lone figure summoned by the Arcanum, one of the few martial factions to openly oppose Janus. She is a woman who possesses magic at her command, impressive skill in combat and weaponry, and the will to fight against impossible odds: Pandora. The members of the development team consist of the following: Jennifer Acosta as lead researcher, Stephen Cange as lead 3D artist and programmer, Tim Lui as lead art director and character designer. Production art consists of character designs, environment concepts, level designs, storyboard and setting sketches, and preliminary 3D models. Characters/Units Pandora: The main playable character and the heroine of the game, Pandora is one of the ancient Kithrah, a lethal elven warrior. Born of both our Earth and that of the Veil, she was trained by the Arcanum and is highly skilled in weaponry, martial arts, and the power to wield magic. Deadly as she is beautiful, Pandora has no love for Janus, and seeks to destroy the Cerberus faction by any means necessary. Her past and true origins are unknown, shrouded in mystery. In battle she wields a powerful sword and modern firearms as well as various magical spells in her fight against Cerberus. What little is known about Pandora is that she has a personal vendetta against Janus Couvier, and will stop at nothing until he lies dead by her own hand. Controlled by the player, Pandora must run, shoot, slash, thrust, jump, roll, kick, punch, use magic, drive, save innocents, help certain NPCs with mission objectives, explore, solve puzzles, sneak and use stealth to go undetected in some areas of the game, defeat numerous enemies and bosses, evade and hide from overwhelming numbers to avoid capture and death, and pick up health, ammo, and power-up items to win the game, all in 3rd person 3D perspective view with some limited 1st person perspective view for more accurate targeting and shooting. Ramses: Originally an inhabitant from the Veil, Ramses is an unusual half-man and half-ram hybrid, residing in a personal underground lair beneath what remains of the Statue of Liberty. He is a powerful techno-mage, a wizard who combines both magic and high technology. An ally of the Arcanum, he agrees to help Pandora in her fight against the Cerberus faction, acting as her advisor as well as her eyes and ears within the city. Despite his chosen profession, he is also strongly built and can hold his own in combat, easily crushing enemies with both arcane magic and brute force. Ramses supports Pandora throughout the game as a recurring NPC by providing clues, advice, magical aid, and at times help in battle. At the end of the game, it is revealed that Janus had been working for Ramses from the very beginning of Cerberus' inception. Hungering to conquer both our Earth and the Veil, Ramses was the mastermind who orchestrated the cataclysmic merging of both worlds into one so that he may more easily carry out his ruthless plan for ultimate power by biding his time while reveling in the chaos and destruction he has sown. Deceived and betrayed, Pandora hunts after her former friend in the next installment of the game series following the defeat of Janus. Xin: A mysterious martial artist and spiritual warrior, Xin has walked the earth for hundreds of years and thought nothing else save for perfecting his combat skill. A half-breed, being part human and part Kithrah dark elf, he was shunned from his people and lived only for battle, defeating all who challenged him and leaving behind in his wake an endless trail of dead opponents. Xin's power grew to such a degree that even he began to fear its use. After countless centuries, he tired of the bloodshed and death that he wrought so easily wherever he went, and eventually joined the Brotherhood of the Arcanum in an effort to seek peace and tranquility. He renounced his former life of violence, walking instead the path of serenity and spirtual meditation. However, with the rise of Cerberus, he feels he can no longer sit idly by while the battle to decide the fate of the world is fought. Xin was exiled from the Arcanum when he chose to fight alongside Pandora, breaking his vows of non-interference and oath to do no more harm. As a recurring NPC throughout the game, Xin provides help and support at various points and the player can even unlock his half of the story by playing as his character after beating the game with Pandora. Janus Couvier: The main villain of the game, Janus is a powerful warrior and sorceror in his own right. As the leader of the Cerberus Corporation and the catalyst which sparks the merging of both our Earth and the Veil, he has seized control of all Manhattan Island and the outlying boroughs of New York City with four of his most loyal lieutenants as the lord of each territory: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Janus has many magical powers at his disposal, and wields Cinneroth, a demonic sword that he has quenched in the blood of the great dragon, Demaskus, whom serves him personally. Pandora must fight her way through the outlying boroughs of New York and penetrate the heavy fortifications of Manhattan itself if she is to confront and defeat Janus, who killed her family when he released magic back into the world. Toward the end with his fall at Cerberus' stronghold in Downtown Manhattan, it is revealed that Janus was merely a loyal servant to Ramses, the real mastermind behind the merging of both realms. Alexander: A powerful psychic who became infused with magic and went mad when the two realms merged, the human boy child Alexander may appear young and innocent but his frightening mental abilities make him a dangerous opponent. He controls the borough of Queens, the third stage of the game, and operates out of an abandoned mental institution at the heart of Flushing. With his psychic power Alexander has risen the dead from the surrounding area, bending them to his will and populating the dilapidated hospital with spirits, zombies, and other dread creatures born from his twisted imagination and hellish nightmares. Pandora must be careful when she confronts Alexander since appearances are deceiving. He will do everything in his power to stop the dark elf, even delving into her mind in an effort to trick her into believing that all of the events leading up to this point have only been in her head, and that she is actually a mental patient confined to the institution. Should the player overcome Alexander's mental barriers as well as his ghoulish minions and play things, Alexander will unleash the full force of his power. With his defeat, it is learned that Cerberus experimented on Alexander to test of effects of magic upon children still in the mother's womb, and then killed his parents when they finally served their purpose and outlived their usefulness. With his dying breath, Alexander provides Pandora with a way of reaching the Bronx and therefore extract final vengeance against Janus for what he has done. Lilith: Dark, silent, and deadly are words that describe Lilith, dread spider queen of the Bronx. She controls the northern borough and fourth stage of the game with utter ruthlessness, turning Yankee Stadium into her personal lair and plunging it into inpenetrable shadows with a huge web dome of her own creation. Half-woman and half-black-widow, Lilith is a creature of pure evil, having originated from beyond the Veil and earned her dark reputation as a seducer of men and devourer of souls to feed her great hunger. Krennag: To be announced . . . Ravanos: To be announced . . . Demaskus: An ancient black dragon that makes its lair in what remains of Central Park at the heart of Manhattan, Demaskus dwarfs all other dragons of the world and is an awesome predator of untold age and power. Little is known about this fierce beast, though it is rumored that Demaskus serves Janus as his personal mount and protector of Cerberus' main stronghold on Manhattan Island. Depending on how brave the player is, Pandora is able to encounter this deadly dragon but to defeat it is a risky matter that requires intelligence, thinking, and tactics rather than blind Rambo-style shooting on the part of the player. Cerberus: To be announced . . . Arcanum: To be announced . . . Level Descriptions Statue of Liberty: Liberty Island serves as Ramses' base of operations and the starting point of Pandora's adventure. Here, he will brief Pandora of her mission objectives and provide tutorial training operations so that the player can get some practice with Pandora's various moves and attacks. From Ramses' fortified underground sanctum, Pandora must make her way to Staten Island by hang-glider, evading the dragons that constantly plague the skies like locusts around New York City as well as Cerberus' armored harbor patrols. Manhattan Island has been shielded from entry by harbor, so that only leaves Staten Island and from there, crossing the Verrazano Bridge over to Brooklyn where she will hopefully gain access to Manhattan Island by either the Brooklyn Bridge or the Manhattan Bridge. Staten Island: This is the first main level of the game. Brooklyn: To be announced . . . Queens: To be announced . . . The Bronx: To be announced . . . Manhattan Island: To be announced . . . Bonus Levels (Ellis Island, Governor's Island, Roosevelt Island): To be announced . . . 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