Half-Life Rally 2

1. Overview

HL-Rally was originally designed to be a rally enthusiasts game, with a distinct flavor of seriousness. Although its gameplay had an arcade feel to it, the maps were constrained to realism, and the cars were based entirely on the WRC and similar rally series cars.

HL-Rally:Source (referred to as HLR:S) will vary in that many of these constraints are lifted. There is an emphasis on fun and deeper more involved gameplay, strategy, team play, and being able to beat your opponent by teamwork and tactics, not just by sheer driving skill. Due to license restrictions, no trademarks will be used.

Modes of gameplay will be plug-innable to allow for additions to, and modifications of HLRally: Source.

2. Gameplay summary

The point of HLR:S is to select a vehicle, and to race in a brutal fight to win spectacularly with your car just barely holding together as it passes the finish line.

During the race you may employ a number of weapons, ranging from handguns to mines and some HL2 features like the Phys-Gun (Zero gravity gun). While the guns will indeed be useful, they will take quite some time to destroy an opponent. Ammunition will also be in short supply, however you will be able to get pick-ups during the race. (car can auto pick-up weapons) Co-ordinating a team effort to slow down an opponent hot-rod would be a good strategy.

If your car is destroyed, your character will have to abandon the vehicle, a passing team mate may pick you up, although if you are hit by an opponent car you will be eliminated from the round, and will have to pay a penalty for hospital fees! While you are out of your vehicle you will have the phys-gun, and can use it on your car to flip it over, or to annoy passers by, make barricades etc. At the mapper's discretion, mannable gun-turrets and emplacements may be used, As well as teleports to other areas of the map.

Some types of cars have a secondary gunner position, which you may use while your teammate races.

On completion of the race, you are awarded credits, which you may spend on upgrading, repairing or replacing your vehicle. In teamplay modes you may share credits and resources like weaponry and upgrades, and team-awarded credits which team members can use. The goal of a central funding is to have a sufficient buffer of funds to retaliate from some heavy ass-kicking.

3. Vehicles

For the main modes of play in HLRally: Source, there will be three categories of vehicles.

Small Vehicles (Size of small rally cars)

Handling: Easy (Light, 4WD)
Top Speed: Medium
Acceleration: High
Weaponry: Light
Medium Vehicles (Slightly Larger cars, muscle cars)

Handling: Moderate (Medium, RWD)
Top Speed: High
Acceleration: Medium
Weaponry: Medium + Light Secondary gunner
Large Vehicles (Large 4x4 sized cars)

Handling: Heavy (Very heavy, slippery, 4WD)
Top Speed: Medium
Acceleration: Low
Weaponry: Heavy + Secondary Gunner with heavy firepower

The Large vehicles have heavy weaponry capabilities, and can easily overpower the medium sized vehicles. However they are too slow to keep pace with, or lock onto the small racing vehicles. The small vehicles on the other hand are poorly armored. They are easily damaged by the chasing medium vehicles, which can often keep pace with them. The medium vehicles are however vulnerable to the large vehicles.

Even though the vehicles have different performance capabilities, the game will enforce considerable auto-balancing/catch-up. Cars which are leading the race by a certain distance will have a subtle slow-down applied to keep the racing field together, and more action packed.

4. Weapons

Weapons will vary from vehicle to vehicle, larger vehicles can hold larger weapons and more ammunition.

Hand guns
Mounted Physgun (only on Larger cars)
Mounted mini-gun (only allows aiming forward with the car)
Homing Rockets (although takes time to lock, and rockets are fairly easy to dodge)
Secondary gunner (some large vehicles only)
Droppable Mines, oil-slicks and caltrops (punctures wheels)

5. Upgrades

Performance increasing upgrades
Handling (wheels, aides etc)
Weaponry, mount points, etc
Bling and Rice upgrades (vehicle personalisation, decals, lights, body kits)

6. Map Design, Locations

Design notes.

For team orientated game play, separate start areas will be required, which converge after a turn or 2, and the battle begins.
During the early parts of tracks, and lapping tracks, the track should divert to different paths, to divide up the number of cars on screen, which should improve frame rates a bit, and hopefully help the strategy of racing battles.
Jumps, loops, map cross-over areas, and hazards are all widely encouraged to add to the craziness.

Locations.

Realistic places:
Heavy Urban areas, city-scape
Highway systems, bridges etc
Country/Rural areas, farms, towns.
Industrial areas, factories,
Desert, baja
Mine-site
Airports
Military bases

Fantasy/Futuristic:

Places from the HL2 universe, d2_coast, city17 etc.
Ruins, Armageddon
Volcanic
Floating world
Futuristic Military bases

Notes added by Level Designer: Brian Durar

1. Small Car Advantages

Safety tunnels allowing them to take the safer, but longer route. Entrances to the tunnel could be small openings or jumps that slower cars won't be able to make.
Short cuts for the smaller cars to take, so they can set up a trap using the gravity gun.

2. Bigger Car Advantages

Destructible walls that only rockets or other weapons can destroy, giving them a shorter route to the finish.
Destructible structures that knock over debris to slow the smaller cars down. Things like towers, rockslides, signs and billboards, etc.

3. Dynamic tracks

Bridges, Gates, Doors that open or close, giving many different routes to the finish line.
Jumps that raise, for either separate routes, or rare weapons like rockets.
Trains that travel around the track, possibly hitting players or blocking them.