LE Spirit Walking ala Prey

[AfroRyan]

So Prey 2 still isn't out, and it made me start to hate Bethesda for halting its progress. However, it did make a simple idea pop into my head: "What if the Spirit Walking mechanic from the original Prey was incorporated into Skyrim?" And so here I am requesting that exact mechanic be modded into the game. Here's how it works: When in spirit walking mode, the player's real body is left where it originally cast the spell. The player takes control of a ghost form of themselves directly in front of their body, which is now slightly hovering above the ground. The player only has the use of their bow and arrow, and shooting the arrow depletes the magic bar, and while in spirit walking mode the magic bar doesn't regenerate unless enemies are killed. After the magic bar depletes (or the spirit takes any damage), the spirit dissipates and the player is put back in control of their original body. The player's body is still vulnerable during this time, and if it takes damage during spirit walking mode, it simply is allowed to happen. If the player loses all their health, they die like normal (the spirit mode doesn't help them recover). This ability was one of a few nifty game mechanics in Prey, and I feel it would make a great addition to the array of powers in Skyrim. It allows players a way to scout ahead, as well as having a little low-risk fun by shooting people with spirit arrows. If any modder is willing to take this on, that would be pretty danged awesome. Custom sound effects that resemble the ones heard in Prey would be most satisfactory. Also, adding a Talon the Eagle summon would be super cool.

The modder could go above an beyond the call of duty should they so choose; Prey also featured no game overs. Instead, it featured a mechanic called "death walking." Whenever players died, they were sent to the spirit realm to shoot at weird creatures that granted health and magic whenever they were hit with the player's spirit arrows (which were unlimited while this mode was in effect). It lasted for roughly 15 seconds and however much health and magic the player earned in this mode before they were transported back to the living world was how much they got to keep (until they died again and it all started over). They would respawn exactly where they died (unless they died via bottemless pit, in which case they would spawn on land near their fatal fall). It would certainly put a new twist on Skyrim, that's for sure.

Youtube video of Spirit Walking (starts at 1:23):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woNFfci6rYE

Youtube video of death walking: (starts at 7:49)

Note that this is the first time the player had died, and death walking is explained in detail. Normal death walking only lasts about 10-15 seconds.

Bethesda is the current IP owner of Prey, and has stalled Prey 2 for about 2 years now, despite many people within the industry claiming it was near completion and was apparently really cool. Sure, Prey 2 wasn't similar to Prey 1 in any way besides it taking place in the same universe and being in first person, but both games introduced new gameplay mechanics ahead of their time (portals in Prey predate portals in Portal by more than a year), and Prey 2 apparently had some nifty combat mechanics that have since shown up in other games like Mass Effect and Dishonored (that second one being more than a little fishy considering Bethesda's slightly murky history with the game). Let's hope that Human Head eventually brings Prey 2 to the masses, despite Bethesda's medling.

Note that when I say Bethesda, I actually mean the publishing side of the company and its parent company ZeniMax. Bethesda the developers are AWESOME.

[ltknight88]

I LOVED Prey. They had so many cool things in that game.

[AfroRyan]

Yeah, it was really ahead of its time. Of course, it had a super long development cycle that almost saw it canceled, but I feel like the finished product came out really solid.