How I would design the “Drawbridge” from DS2
In the DS2 trailer shown at TGA 2022, we can see a sort of sci-fi submarine emerging out of the tar. This submarine, named Drawbridge, seems to be quite important for both the story and the gameplay. I wanted to try and design a concept of how the Drawbridge could work gameplay wise.
Please keep in mind that we have little information regarding the gameplay of DS2. I am assuming that the game will be relatively similar to the first one and much of my design decisions are in accordance with the first game.
What could be the Drawbridge ?
I would design the Drawbridge as a sort of Mother Base, similar to the one found in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and drawing inspirations from the Milano in the game Guardians Of The Galaxy. It would work as an improved version of the Private Rooms found in the first Death Stranding.
The Drawbridge would be a mobile base of operation for the player. It would allow them to navigate the world, rest and recuperate during the journey, inspect and upgrade gear and take care of the staff.
Base of operation
The player would spend a lot of time in it and they should have a lot of things to do while aboard the ship.
I would design a section of the ship to be where the player could craft new vehicles, weapons and gears. Crafting those equipment would cost resources. You would have to earn resources by completing deliveries and progressing throughout the game.
Something that I really like about the first game is that the gear that you carry with you is really useful, but you have to really think about how you want to use your equipment. If you have only one ladder left and you are miles away from the closest crafting station, you better carefully plan your path to reuse that ladder as much as possible.
This is something that I want to have with that system. I want the player to think about what they craft and why they craft it. There would be a very small selection of vehicles, weapons and gears but they would all have something unique.
I aimed at giving several options to the player, such as managing their means of transportation to adjust travel speed and carried loads. Faster travel speed means less cargo, but slower travel speed means easier access to large containers.
I want the player to make meaningful choices while crafting their equipment and not mindlessly pressing the craft button until they are out of resources.
I also want the Drawbridge to feel like a home. According to my design, it is a place where the player would spend a lot of time in, so it has to be a place where they enjoy spending time. The ship would be upgradable and customizable. The player would be able to make the Drawbridge their own. Upgrading it with resources would give access to better vehicles, weapons and gear. It would also modify the visual of the ship, giving a sense of progression and satisfaction to the player, helping in making it feel like a home. The ship would respond to the player’s actions and give instant feedback. The crew could comment on the fresh coat of paint the player just applied or dance and sing if the player decides to blast a song through the speakers of the Drawbridge.
Traveling the world
The Drawbridge would be where the player chooses what to do next in the game. They could choose their next location/mission from the cockpit of the vehicle and decide where to go in the world. The player would be the captain of the ship, the one who decides where the next stop is.
In the trailer, the Drawbridge is seen emerging out of the tar, and submarines are mobile vehicles. That is why I would use it as a way for the player to fast travel. The Drawbridge could harness the power of the tar to go back to locations previously visited by traveling through the tar.
THE CREW
The Crew would be a very important part of the Drawbridge. The player could recruit new crewmates during their journey and those crewmates would become an integral part of the ship. They would all have specific abilities and talents to make them unique. The Drawbridger would only have a limited number of seats so the player would have to choose very carefully who is a part of the crew at any given moment. They might need to swap them around depending on what they need throughout the game.
The player could recruit new crewmates and train them to be Porters. They could then send them on side deliveries to gain more resources. Porters would be able to receive different kinds of training, making each one of them good at a very special kind of delivery. Maybe one porter could be specialized in delivering heavy cargo while the other would have a military training, allowing him to deliver cargo in very dangerous areas.
The player could also assign vehicles, weapons and gears to their Porters before sending them on deliveries, adding another layer of choice and depth to the crafting mechanic seen earlier.
I really want the crew to be an important part of the Drawbridge. I want the player to feel a connection to them, to want to see them again after a long period away from the ship. Having a small crew size and having the player investing time and resources into crafting the perfect one would really connect them to the entire crew and the player would care about them.
Something bad could happen to the crew and the Porters you send on deliveries. They could die during the mission, losing the cargo and the gear you gave them alongside their life. Each crew member would be unique so losing one of them should hit hard, especially if the player is emotionally invested in the crew. The player would lose something from a pure systemic point of view but also from an emotional point of view. The player could even go and retrieve the body to burn it, allowing the player to say their final goodbye to an old friend.
But death is not the only thing that could happen to the crew and the Porters. They could also be captured by the enemies and turned into enemies themselves. The player would then have a long term ally becoming an enemy they will probably fight at one point in their journey. Once again, the player would lose something from a systemic point of view but it would also hurt them emotionally.
HOW IT WOULD LOOK
1. The cockpit. I have something similar to the Milano from GOTG in mind, where the player would be able to see where they are in the world from the cockpit and interact with the world and the crew.
2. The player would be able to interact with elements in the Drawbridge in a large variety of ways, similar to what is already possible in the Private Room in Death Stranding.
3. For the social aspect of the crew, I drew inspiration from Metro Exodus. The comradeship feeling really helps the player to connect to the NPC’s and it is towards that kind of experience that I would bring the crew part.
4. For the crafting system, I would use something similar to the first Death Stranding and improve the UI the best I can to ensure the best navigation in the menus for the player.
5. Overall vibe of the Drawbridge. Being able to explore the ship, interact with the crew and see the changes you make in real time.
To put it in a nutshell, I would design the Drawbridge as a living and breathing place. The ship would be used to travel the world of the game and progress throughout the story. The player would be able to customize the ship and make it its own. The crew of the ship would be very important and the players would have to carefully pick their crewmates and invest time and resources into them to progress and get better gear.