Dream Game: White Death

I've mentioned before on this blog how even when I was a preteen, I used to spend hours imagining different kinds of interesting ideas for videogames I would one day like to see become reality. After all, that is what ultimately inspired me to make this blog and start this Dream Game series of posts. 

There is one specific concept that I came up with as a young Finnish boy probably over ten years ago that has stuck with me, as I even invented a name for it that soon evolved into my PlayStation username (which hasn't changed to this day). The name of that game, Frozen Assault. 

Essentially my little kid brain, after playing countless first-person shooters like Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and Battlefield, grew frustrated that while there were hundreds of titles focused on the European campaign of World War II and more modern conflicts in the Middle East, not a single major title ever highlighted the Winter War that the Soviet Union and Finland fought between 1939 - 1940. In hindsight, it's easier to see why. While the conflict left a major mark in my country's history, along with the later Continuation War of 1941 - 1944, it is relatively easy to ignore among the more major wars between larger powers that occurred in those years. (Not to mention that despite the later Cold War animosity against the Soviets and the fact that they were the obvious aggressors in the Winter War, they were ultimately on the Allies' side against the Axis powers. And as Finland did later ally with Germany against them for the Continuation War, although mostly out of necessity, it's understandable why that could be problematic for most Western game studios trying to depict the conflict fairly. It's certainly a detail that even most of us Finns are ashamed to talk about in retrospect.) 

Finnish soldiers in the Winter War. Source: SA-Kuva

But really what interested me was not only the specific historical setting being underused, but the concept of fighting a war in the middle of a harsh winter that was at times as much of a threat as the enemy. Part of the reason the Winter War has had such a legacy, in addition to the currently topical story of a much smaller country holding off a major superpower, was the actual weather conditions the war was fought in. The cold of that specific winter fell down to -43 Celsius (-45 °F) at the worst, which is a lot colder than most people will ever experience. Hell, the coldest temperatures I remember ever being in are probably "only" around -30 degrees, and even that feels like death to be in just for a few minutes. 

In addition to freezing temperatures, winter introduces a whole set of other interesting environmental variables, most obviously snow and ice. Thick snow is tough to move through and running on ice can easily result in a fatal slip, making traversal on a battlefield a more complicated matter. And then there's cold water that can kill a man in moments if they fall through a frozen lake. Heavy snowfall reduces visibility and muffles sound, which can play an important part in staying undetected from enemies. It's also easy to get lost in a snowy forest, when everything is covered in a layer of white and falling snow covers old tracks. 

All of this made me wonder, what if there was a multiplayer shooter that truly used dynamic weather in a winter environment to create a unique, challenging and atmospheric combat experience that is about more than just shooting guns? 

Introducing, White Death, an asymmetrical multiplayer FPS where the harsh winter can be either your best ally or your worst nightmare. 

Source: Finnish Defence Forces

(Note: This post is not meant to be propaganda for any military force, and while unfortunately some alt-right clowns in Finland like to use our history and its imagery to promote their ideology, that's not my intention in any way either. As I will soon explain, the real life conflicts and people only serve to inspire some aspects of the fictional setting of this fictional game.)

Premise

Despite the name referencing a famous Finnish soldier from the Winter War, Simo Häyhä, who is often referred to as the deadliest sniper in history, the game wouldn't actually be about him or even any real war. Instead, White Death would be a game set in a fictional conflict in the near future, where four players would play as special operators with high tech gear on one side while the opposing force would consist out of 12 players with inferior equipment. 

Each map would be a different snowy environment, mostly inspired by the forests and lakes of Eastern Finland and the wilderness of Lapland, with dynamic time and weather conditions that alter the temperature, wind, amount of snow on the ground and the density of snowfall. The weather would be randomized at the start of each match and then slowly change throughout it, resulting in a slightly different playground every time. Even the thickness of ice on lakes and rivers would vary, all the way from a barely frozen sheet to a strong enough layer that you could drive a tank on. (Although the game would be entirely infantry focused with no vehicles.) 

The weather would not only be a cosmetic change but an actual gameplay factor that would affect how the player needs to engage with their surroundings.

Basic gameplay

As mentioned before, the game would be asymmetrical, meaning that the players wouldn't start the match on even footing. Inspired by movies like Predator and the old Source mod Hidden: Source, as well as more modern multiplayer games like Rainbow Six: Siege and Dead by Daylight, White Death would play with the concept of the hunters and the hunted, and how that dynamic could switch easily. 

The smaller defending team would consist out of only four players, but they would have the advantage of futuristic gear as well as a better awareness of their surroundings (I will get to that soon.) These special forces would be equipped with a cloaking technology capable of essentially turning them invisible if they remain still, as well as masking their heat signature from thermal vision. Speaking of, they would all wear glasses capable of enabling thermal and night vision, meaning that they can detect their enemies in the cold environments like glowing lights in the dark. 

Additionally, they would all have a real-time GPS map available where they could both see each others' positions at all times, but also where the match objectives are. This would be extremely useful, because just like the weather would be randomized, so would the locations of any objectives on the map be shuffled each round from a few different possible locations. 

On the other side, the more numerous attackers would have three 4-man squads that are thrown into each battle match with lesser gear and a poorer understanding of their environment as the defenders. For example, they would lack the cloaking technology the defenders have, making them easier to spot in the snowy environments. They could all get thermal sights for their guns after some time, but even those require you to aim down your sight, which in turn would limit the player's awareness of their surroundings. And even then, the defenders' camouflage would give them a lot of protection from thermal detection. 

When it comes to any objectives, such as capturing a strategic point or destroying an important asset, the attackers would have to find their location first. They could use scouting technology like drones to their advantage, but they would not have the same real-time map of the area as the defenders, only a suggestion of the general area. Although, there could be perhaps some way to momentarily hack into the defenders' devices to reveal their positions or in turn jam their devices to limit their enemies' tactical awareness. 

The speed of the game would be closer to a more methodical and tactical approach of something like Hunt: Showdown or even Siege, instead of the more chaotic and fast-paced action of other more mainstream games like Call of Duty or Battlefield. Patience and teamwork would be rewarded while running around mindlessly would quickly end up with the player getting a bullet to the head from an enemy they did not see. 

But how would the winter actually factor into the player experience?

Dynamic playground

In most videogames snow is mostly just cosmetic. There might be some cool snow deformation happening in more modern games like The Last of Us Part II or Red Dead Redemption 2, meaning that your character leaves tracks as they move, but it doesn't actually do much. In survival games like The Long Dark, a game all about the cold, temperature is obviously a key factor determining your odds of, well, survival, but it's mostly just one more meter to keep track of alongside hunger and thirst. Numbers to either increase or lower.

In the White Death, the winter environment could be both a hazard and an advantage. As I alluded to before, thick snow would obviously slow the player down, while frozen puddles or slopes could cause them to slip and damage themselves if they carelessly run over them, and both situations would leave the player vulnerable to getting shot. On the other hand, holes could be dug into the snow with field shovels or blown up with grenades, giving a player a nice little foxhole to lie in ambush or to take cover. Ice on frozen rivers or lakes could also be destroyed to either drown players standing on it or to simply create a watery obstacle to block off angles of attack. And as the thickness of the ice would be random each match, there could also just be a chance that a careless player running onto thin ice would just fall through it themselves. Crawling on the ice while prone would obviously reduce the chances of it breaking, and players could use sound as well as their sight to determine how strong the ice is, just like in real life.

The dynamic weather would of course be another obstacle. Heavy snowfall and fog would make matches more tense, as it would be more difficult to see enemies from afar even with thermal sights. Especially the attackers could even get lost if they run around by themselves instead of sticking together as a team, as they lack the real-time GPS location of the defenders. However, perhaps a snowstorm could even interfere with the defenders' signal and devices. Strong winds could also affect guns on longer distances, so snipers would have a harder time hitting their targets even with good visibility, which in turn could occasionally make close-quarters combat a more viable option. Perhaps before every match, there could be a forecast of the weather that the players could expect in each match, so they could prepare appropriately. 

But when it comes to actual combat, perhaps the most crucial aspect would be body temperature. There are games where the player can decide between heavier armor that gives more protection but also slows you down or light armor that does the opposite. I think something similar could also be implemented into White Death, but the amount of protection from bullets and shrapnel wouldn't be the only factor to consider. Warmth would be another. Heavy winter gear obviously keeps you warm, but it also makes you slower and if you're constantly moving, it can really tire you out. Meanwhile lighter clothing is easier to move in, but if you stay still for too long, you'll start to freeze unless you find a source of heat, like a campfire, burning wreckage or a hot water bottle to stuff inside your clothes. 

How that body temperature would actually affect the player in the game could be varied. For example, getting cold would start to give them shivers and eventually affect their breathing, making it harder to aim and hold their breath to steady it. It could also slowly drain their stamina and eventually even make them pass out, essentially killing them unless a teammate revives them before their heart stops. However, remember the thermal vision I mentioned earlier? Lower body temperature would obviously make it more difficult for the enemy to spot a player, while running around would make them warmer until even the defenders' cloaking technology could not hide them anymore. On the flipside, lying still in snow for a long time could be purposefully used to lower body temperature, but if the player character is not dressed for it, doing so would eventually have its aforementioned drawbacks. 

Source: The Shining by Stanley Kubrick

One last thing that I don't think is a strictly necessary feature but would be a cool one, is persistent snow deformation. In most games where players leave tracks on the ground, those footprints usually fade away after some time and might not even be visible for all players in a multiplayer environment. However, in White Death, the prints that people leave in the snow by moving, digging or with explosives could be handled by the server instead on each client's side, similar to how something like the upcoming The Finals game handles its dynamic destruction. This way every player sees the same tracks, and the initially untouched snow in the environment would slowly change according to player activity and weather, with fresh snowfall slowly covering up old tracks. 

While mostly a cosmetic and atmospheric feature, this persistent snow deformation could also be used to detect enemy movement. Especially early on in a match, say that as an attacker, you see mostly untouched snow near a possible location of an objective, but there are tracks coming from the opposite direction that lead inside a nearby house. A perceptive player could use those tracks to anticipate an enemy ambush and turn that knowledge against their opponent. 

Conclusion

I'm aware that this game would probably not be terribly appealing to a mass market, but I do think that it could find a dedicated niche community of people looking for more demanding multiplayer experiences. The PC market especially is already host to a lot of hardcore FPS titles like Hunt: Showdown, Squad and Rising Storm 2, and White Death would be surely be at home among them. With a mix of light survival elements, stealth and tactical teamplay, it would at least be a rewarding game for those who are not afraid of a steeper learning curve. 

In the cold winter of White Death, one must either adapt or stain the snow with their freezing blood.