Purpose and philosophy
The Auto-Soldier was the first of the enemies I designed when I rethought Pressure. The Auto-soldier, also called Igor or the “white blood cell” of the Philosopher is a combination of ideas both old and new. I drew inspiration from an idea for one of the “Sunken” enemies which would be blind but hunt down the player and could destroy anything in its way. The idea for Igor was similar, its simply a force of nature that cannot be stopped.
I was inspired by the character Skopos from the video game Rainbow Six: Siege. Her character controls a pair of remote controlled robots with very similar head designs. The idea for the head came from plane gimbal cameras, since I figured a robot soldier would require a wide variety of sensors and the ability to look anywhere. Pressure is set in the near future but in a timeline where the past had more advanced technology too. I wanted the Igor units to look slightly simple and have their design tie in with their philosophy.
The main philosophy I have for the Igors is that they serve as the defence mechanism for the Philosopher, the sentient submarine the game takes place on (hence the title “white blood cell”). Whenever one of the lesser robot enemies is destroyed, an Igor will be deployed if enough interested is generated. Being designed for use as a two-legged tank to go along with mobile infantry, the Igor is bullet-proof and practically invincible. The only way to kill the Igor is to blow a hole through its thick armour plating and destroy its computer-brain.
The limbs can have their armour plates broken to reveal muscle weak spots, disabling the limb. They would be much easier to destroy than the central armour plate, which covers the computer stuffed inside the torso. In game the Igor would do everything it can to stop the player from getting shots off on its chest and head, using the back of its hand which is reinforced with a metal plate to deflect mistimed bullets. I really wanted the inside of the Igor to look surreal too, just to make the experience of breaking one open to feel strange and unnatural.
The Igor is meant to serve the role of being a force of nature. It is never meant to actually be destroyed or fought, only to pressure the player into making different choices during critical moments of gameplay and act as a way to enforce the “rules of the game” without infringing on the player’s freedom and creativity.
I wanted the Igor units to be scary too, but in a way that’s the opposite of how the Ivan/auto-crewman robots are. The Ivans are gangly and make strange, inhuman noise, eliciting more of a “creature horror” kind of fear which will easily rub off once the player has slain enough of them and gotten to know them. Igor on the other hand is meant to be the antithesis to this kind of horror. Igor is sleek and cold, making electronic radio noises and speaking Russian when patrolling. It’s horror comes from the fact that its a giant, flat faced steel monster that will stop at no ends to kill the player in the quickest way possible and cannot be stopped, only barely avoided, eliciting fear through intimidation rather than creepiness.
