Indiana Brown ✧ University Blog

Core Mechanics

The core mechanics of PARANOIA should be simple and intuitive through all phases. The actions in phase 1 and 3 should also remain consistant.

Difficulty:

PARANOIA will have traditional difficulty levels, such as Easy, Normal, and Hard. These settings alter the range of view a camera has (broad for phase 1, narrow for phase 2, broad again for phase 3), camera movement speed (fast, slow, fast), and how easy it is to escape from a trap/how fast the trap activates.

Phase 1 Actionables:

• Walk
  • Allows players to move and explore
• Run
  • Allows players to get from area to area quickly, minimizing chance to be seen
• Jump
  • Allows players to hurdle obstacles/reach cameras to destroy them
• Crouch
  • Allows players to hide behind large objects and minimise risk of being seen. Movement is allowed while crouched, but at half speed
• Peek
  • Allows players to peek around corners. Minimises risk of being seen, but does not eradicate it
• Hold object
  • Allows player to hold an object of interest.
• Inventory Object
  • Allows player to put a small object in their inventory. They may hold up to 3 small items.
• Swing
  • Allows player to strike an object. If the player is already holding an object that could be used as a weapon, this move is more effective. If the player is not holding an object, they may have to repeat the action a few times before the struck object breaks.
• Crawl
  • Automatic action that occurs when a player crouches into a vent. Puts player at 75% speed.

In the event of a death in Phase 1, the player will be sent back to the Solution Room and made to try again.

Phase 2 Actionables:

• Swivel seat
  • You will be allowed to pivot on your seat, but not get out of it. This is so you can see all the monitors around you.
• Sealing Doors/Shuffling Rooms
  • The electronic map of the facility, placed in the player’s lap, allows them to seal doors and change the route of corridors that are highlighted yellow and green. Yellow means the corridor is pointing in Path A, and green means its pointing Path B. Grey corridors cannot be changed.
• Incite traps
  • If the player thinks the target has moved into a trapped area (which are highlighted red), they are able to press the highlighted area to set off the trap. Traps can only be activated once per area. After the trap has been activated, the highlighted red will turn back to grey.
• Disengage from Control Panel
  • These set of actions must be done in order to remove yourself from the control panel
    • Unscrew
    • Remove yellow and green striped wire from your neck (disables switching corridors).
      • NOTE: The pieces you pull out may be put back in at any time, however all materials need to be disabled to remove yourself fully.

In the event of a death in Phase 2, the player will return to the state the control panel is in moments after the cutscene that transitions between Phase 1 and Phase 2.

Phase 3 Actionables:

• The same as Phase 1.

In the event of a death in Phase 3, the player will be sent back to the Control Panel having just disengaged themselves from it.

Continuity:

An action’s continuity is also very important in PARANOIA. All actions that require continuity are:

• Destroying cameras
  • If you have destroyed a camera during phase 1, then the camera will not be operational during phase 2.
• Inciting traps
  • If you have incited a trap in phase 1, you cannot use it again in phase 2.
  • If you have used a trap in phase 2, this trap cannot be used against you in phase 3.