Swanee is a side-scrolling cover shooter, set in a distant future rendition of San Francisco.

The year is 4019 in the Common Era. Cato Swanee, a freelancing guard for the prison-industrial complex is sent in to quell a massive riot on the secluded prison island of Alcatraz, just off the coast of the independent island republic known as Saint Bohemia, a sprawling metropolis built from the ruins of post-apocolyptic San Francisco. At the behest of his employer, Warden “Crawfish” Chang, Swanee, along with his friend and former partner, must brave a fetid industrial labrynth filled with triad gangsters, mobsters, and cyborg serial killers. Whether the riot is peacefully resolved or turns into a massacre is up to Swanee, his friend Kaspar Mueller, and their small squad of policemen and prison guards. Throughout the complex, explore flashbacks to Swanee's and Mueller's time as soldiers for anti-union mercenary companies, as hitmen for the mob, and fugitives from the law. Swanee places an emphasis on a compact, minimalistic narrative, optional but layered world-building, and tight, glass-cannon shooting mechanics.

Core gameplay revolves around clearing of "nodes", locked down sectors of Alcatraz prison. Vicariously put in charge of a crack team of lawmen, the player will need to use rudimentary commands to organize his/her squad throughout each level, coordinating movement, tactics, advances, retreats, and combat behavior. The player his/herself can control either Swanee or Mueller, with each having a distinct playstyle and loadout that affect both gameplay progression and narrative events.

Characters:

Swanee Portrait:

Description

Mueller Portrait:

Description

Moonface (The Man in the Moon) Portrait:

Warden “Crawfish” Chang (AKA Moonface, The Man in the Moon): Gives you instructions: is also final boss (he will ask you to give up right as you reach the mob boss, and that it is all under control. Several endings. You kill him and the mob boss, you kill him and join the mob, you kill the boss and are fired/arrested, you comply and everything goes back to normal (noir/canon ending)…

• All a plot to free Don, while allowing the warden to save face for his mayoral run (put down huge riot); The Don will vote rig/intimidate in exchange  (mask) Prisoners:   Bald, yellow hair (uses cover, advances cautiously, melee), Irish-pride Tattoo (Mick, melee charger), Blue Baltic Tattoo (Greek, Uses cover, has guns), Armored prisoner (has guns, uses cover, high health) -Gang members (The 49’ers, triads)  Bosses
• The cook w/ apron (Mountain Master) *
• the chinaman w/pony tail (Red Pole)
• Gasser Grey (Kaspar’s former underling w/ gas mask (Vanguard)
• Macheath cyborg rogue prisoner 
• The Dragon Head (Qiang Du)  

Headshot are OHKO EXCEPT for robots/Macheath; no jumping

Swanee: 40’s retrofuture, mobsters; Alcatraz (with robots)

Get to choose squad, permadeath for squad but can vary builds: i.e. 5 riot police, or 4 guards 1 dog handler, or 1 android and 4 beat cops

Regardless: always have Cato Swanee and Kaspar Mueller (cyborg friend)

Cato Swanee: Private security consultant put in charge of crack team of justiciars/guards to quell prison riot; hired as guard due to labor shortage. Former union buster/employee of the Finks. Blackleg turned company man for Gold Mining company.
Fought against Bakunists in the battle of St. Louis. Now works out of San Francisco. -possibly have Swanee become more and more disheveled every now and then, from suit and tie at first day of work to grizzled His apartment is on Treasure Island 

• Swanee’s pistol is a decommissioned arbiter’s laser; it can switch between weaker/lethal silenced, lethal and loud mode, & stun (silenced) mode
• Can switch between controlling Kaspar/Cato Swanee.
• Give orders like go to nearest cover, advance to next closest cover in direction that player is facing (no advance will be made if no cover is past the NPC)
  • Retreat is opposite of advance cover
• Suppress fire will cause NPCs to pop out of cover and unload their ammo, then pop out periodically regardless of enemy fire
• Take Cover: Will cause NPCS to stay behind cover completely and not pop out
• Stay Frosty: Will cause NPCS to NEVER pop out if there is firing or has been firing in last 1 second.
  • Hostiles will have a one of the above as its COMMANDING prerogatives, at random.
• Split up: will cause NPCS to be assigned y levels at random. Some will go up floors/ladders, and there will be a max 2 NPC per cover (so NPCS will default advance if this is the group prerogative)
• Stick together: will cause NPCS to crowd around one cover source; when firing, like a firing squad (good for bosses/bullet sponges?)
• Unleash the hounds
• Call back the hounds
• Heal
  • Healer in team goes to heal team mate, regardless of fire/danger
• Default AI:
  • Very simple. Will seek out nearest cover. Will peak out when there is no NPC fire at its y, and then it will fire in direction of enemy NPCS (small overlap, i.e. will occasionally pop up if only 1-2 shots fired in last few seconds)    

Swanee brings along friend: Cyborg muscle, former gang member

KASPAR MUELLER carries real weapons: Kaspar Mueller(Former Vanguard of the 49’ers; still has gang coat)    -at end of level, if you get into Kaspar and really kill a lot of people, cut scene: “Swanee” will say “Kaspar… this is just St. Louis all over again.”

If a member of team dies on a nonlethal play through, Kaspar will say, “Swannee… you’ve gone soft. His death is on you.”

If no members die on non lethal play through (level), Kaspar to swanee: “I guess your way works… sometimes.” OR Swanee to Kaspar: “Now… We do this my way.”

Guard/Justiciar has: (e.g. swanee, Kaspar)

• One laser pistol
• one baton (Kaspar has machete/knife)
• one taser
• Riot shotgun (Kaspar has real shotgun)
• Wire tie (can be released) 



 Heavy guard has: (Higher health, armor)

• Baton
• Rubber bullet pistol
• Shield (always equipped)
  • Too bulky to take cover, but has shield and can use it as cover; cover vaulting is slower
• Tear Gas    Dog Handler has: (lower health)
• Laser pistol
• Single shot lethal pistol
• Dog leash
• Dog
  • High health
  • regenerates
  • Runs past cover (drawn over top)
  • Can knock over several enemies before returning to handler
  • If handler killed, dog goes berserk, does not discriminate friend/foe



Support Android has: (silent run, but slower run)

• Stun gun arm
• Recon sensors
• tourniquet/med kits
• Can help bypass prison security



Copper/BeatCops:

• 6 shooter
  • Lots of extra lethal ammo for himself and team
• Can handcuff (cannot be released)



Arbiter: (cyber enhanced; new game+ unlock, w/ mix of high health, speed, stealth)

• Death laser pistol
• Takes no prisoners. Ai will kill all wiretied/knocked out enemies   Elite Justiciar: (cyber enhanced; new game+ unlock, w/ mix of high health, speed, stealth)
• Stun laser pistol
• Baton
• Tolerates no excess violence; will go rogue if a team mate kills a prisoner