Shooter

First page of Shooter design document version 3 dated October 21, 1997

Shooter was a precursor of Deus Ex during the early part of its preproduction in 1997, following the earlier 1994 concept Troubleshooter. The name "Shooter" served as the working title for the game during preproduction.

Development history

Shooter was described by Warren Spector in his Deus Ex postmortem published by Gamasutra in December 2000, several months after the release of Deus Ex. The article states that Deus Ex was in preproduction in late 1997 and that "Shooter" was its working title. The title was meant to be ironic, because the game was not just a shooter. The article also included an executive summary of the project with an early plot concept.

In the plot concept, the player takes the role of an augmented agent in the 2050s. The antagonist is "Adam," described as the most ambitious, most manipulative, and most dangerous member of a shadowy cabal. While the plot concept changed significantly over time, Spector wrote: "the original Shooter doc does a pretty good job of describing the game that eventually became Deus Ex. Details changed. System specs definitely changed, but overall I don't think anyone can say we didn't deliver the game we said we would."

A later document, Shooter design document version 3 dated October 21, 1997, shows the alternative titles "Revelation" and "Operation: Majestic." By November 8, 1997, the working title had been revised to "Shooter: Majestic Revelations." The plot concept was also revised under the new title. For the subsequent development history, please see the article on Shooter: Majestic Revelations.

Shooter executive summary version 1.0

The following text appeared in Warren Spector's postmortem article.

Shooter
Roleplaying in a World of Secrets, Lies and Conspiracies
Executive Summary
v. 1.0

Delivery Date
Target is Christmas 1998.

Genre
Modern Day plus about 50 years (to allow us to fudge reality, where necessary).

Category
RPG Adventure

Similar Titles
Half-Life (Sierra), Fallout (Interplay), The Dark Project (LookingGlass) Goldeneye (N64).

Setting
Several unique, real-world locations in the U.S., Europe and Far East.

Look
1st-person 3D with external camera views available as player option.

Plot Concept
The world of the 2050's is a dangerous and chaotic place. Terrorists operate openly, espousing a hundred beliefs and killing thousands of innocents to call attention to their causes. The world's economies are close to ruin on a scale not seen for over 100 years. The media openly encourage the worst in mankind. Governments seem powerless to deal with the situation.

In hidden meeting places around the world, a cabal of men and women confer. These are the leaders of societies so ancient and yet so secret, most people refuse to believe they exist. For hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years, they have controlled the world's finances, information flow, weapon production, medicine, religions… Now, as the world descends into chaos, they meet to determine if the time has come to emerge from the shadows, to take overt control of a world they have run from behind the scenes for so long. But, unable to reach agreement, they begin instead an internecine war that brings civilization even closer to the brink of destruction.

At the same time, in several major cities around the globe, another group of men and women -- the deadliest the world has ever known -- lie in wait. Enhanced senses, increased intelligence, biomechanically supercharged muscles and fantastic weaponry make these augmented agents all but unstoppable. And each is implanted with a tiny, high-tech brainwashing device which, activated, can turn its host into a helpless buffoon or a remorseless, conscienceless, killing machine -- whatever the controller wishes.

You are one of these agents.

Recruited from among the elite of the world's intelligence agencies, and endowed with nearly superhuman abilities, you await a signal from the most ambitious, most manipulative and most dangerous member of the shadowy cabal, a man known only as "Adam." Horrified at the chaos he sees all around him, he has concocted a plan to end the secret war and restore order to the world -- at his signal, you and your fellow augmented agents, will emerge to cripple or destroy each of the ancient and secret societies, in turn, clearing the way for a savior (Adam, of course) to take his rightful place as leader of all the societies. Once in control of the societies, he will offer mankind a simple choice: Obey and live in an orderly world free of pain and suffering, a world of Adam's creation; refuse and die.

Adam wants only to save the world from itself -- it's up to you to stop him.

The question is, can you assemble enough clues to figure all this out? Can you find and recruit the allies you'll need to survive, including the other augmented agents? Can you free yourself and the others from the grip of Adam's brainwashing device and put a stop to the secret society cabalists and the master manipulator, Adam. himself?

Each mission leads the PC deeper into a morass of suspicion, false motives, paranoia and conspiracy involving the highest levels of government, the media and the military-industrial complex. The missions stand alone but, taken together, they add up to a big story, with the player at the heart of earth-shattering yet believable events.

Set in a world very much like our own (if the conspiracy buffs are right), Shooter combines the best of The Manchurian Candidate, Robocop and Colossus: The Forbin Project in a world inspired by The X-Files and Men in Black.

Competitive Analysis

• Exciting, first-person, 3D roleplaying in a world that teeters on the brink of madness.
• True six degrees of freedom 3D engine, polygonal figures, killer AI and an innovative conversation system put you right in the thick of things.
• In-depth world simulation allows players to solve problems in a variety of ways.
• More than 30 core missions, and plenty of optional adventures provide 40+ hours of gameplay.
• Plugs into two popular fantasies -- the millennial madness that's gripping the world, exemplified by The X-Files and Men in Black and a general fascination with conspiracy theories and the desire to play with high-tech espionage toys.
• Emphasis on character development ensures that every player character will be unique. This, combined with our deep world simulation, ensures that each player's experience of the story is different, without having to resort to brute force branching tree structures.
• Non-combat interaction with dozens of unique non-player characters. A simple, elegant conversation system results in non-player characters you really care about. Engage them in conversation, seek information from them, recruit them to your cause, decide for yourself who you can trust…
• Clear goals, constant rewards, varied interactions with people and places as well as varied mission types (including Sabotage, Infiltration, Extraction, Rescue, Intelligence-Gathering, Thievery, Reconnaissance, Assassination, and all-out Combat) keep players coming back for more.
• Goals can be accomplished through stealth, careful planning, undercover work or conversation, through the use of unbelievably high tech equipment or brute force combat tactics.
• No weird "game spaces" -- every map recreates either a real place or a place with an instantly recognizable real-world function. We hope to recreate places like Camp David, the Kremlin (and the tunnels beneath it), the bone-strewn catacombs beneath Paris, Hong Kong's junk-filled harbor, the London underground and more.
• Situations that evolve over time, influenced by player action (or inaction). The state of the world changes to reflect the impact of player choices. Game events and the passage of time turn familiar locations into strange and terrifying places; trusted friends become the most bitter of enemies.

Technology

• Engine: 3D 6-degrees of freedom
• Characters: Real time 3D models.
• Creatures: Real time 3D models.
• Surroundings: Real time 3D models, sprites.
• Structures: Real time 3D.
• Vehicles: Real time 3D models.
• Interface: 2D graphics.

System Requirements

• Operating System: Windows 95
• Processor: Pentium 133
• Memory: 16 Megs
• Format: 4X CD-ROM Drive, 2 CDs
• Hard Drive Space: 50/100/200 Megs
• Video: DirectX 5; 8- and 16-bit color (hardware only); All DirectX-supported resolutions; 3DFX, etc.
• Audio: DirectX 5
• Multiplayer Support: DirectX 5 (DirectConnect, Modem, Network, Internet)

See also

• Troubleshooter – earlier precursor concept of Deus Ex
• Shooter: Majestic Revelations – later precursor concept of Deus Ex