User:Jean.l.spear/sandbox

Bioshock 2: Minerva’s Den
"Bioshock 2: Minerva’s Den" is a DLC (downloadable content) for "Bioshock 2". The game was developed by 2K Marin and published by 2K Games on the Unreal Engine 2.5. The game is a single player first-person shooter where the player goes into the role of the protagonist who is a Alpha Series Big Daddy with the alias Sigma, who must go through Raptures main security station, Minerva’s Den, to download a copy of Rapture’s main computer which is located in Minerva's Den.

Setting
Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den Logo

"Bioshock 2:Minerva’s Den" takes place in the fictional underwater city of Rapture in the year 1968 after the events of the Bioshock. The games do not reveal where the city of Rapture is, nor the approximate size of the city, but the creator does say the city is enormous.

Plot
The story of Minerva’s Den follows a Bigdaddy called Sigma. With both Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum and Charles Milton Potter guiding him, Sigma makes his way to the Thinker. The Thinker is a supercomputer that, at the time, is used a Raptures main security and timekeeper. In the development of the Thinker, Potter began to pursue the Thinker’s personality capabilities in hopes of giving the Thinker a personality that resembles his deceased wife Pearl. Reed Wahl found this to be a waste of time, seeing the statistical advantage in predictions that could result in a profitable outcome. To take total control of the Thinker, Reed Wahl framed potter for treason against Andrew Ryan, thus resulting in Potter’s arrest. In the game, Potter instructs Sigma to travel through Minerva's Den (where the Thinkers is located) and retrieve the computer out of Rapture or to at least get the blueprints of it. As Sigma goes through the area of Minerva’s Den, The environment becomes increasingly more threatening due to the Thinker’s defense system. Throughout the game, Sigma’s real identity remains a mystery that is not touched upon until the final moments of the game. When Sigma reaches the Thinker and begins to download its program, the Thinker recognizes Sigma as Charles Milton Potter, thus revealing his identity. It is later explained by Dr. Tenenbaum that what Sigma was hearing in his intercom through the duration of the game was recordings of Potter that he made in anticipation of the events before he was made into a Big Daddy.

The Thinker
The Thinker is the main computer of the city of Rapture. The Tinker or Rapture Operational Data Intraparietal Network (R.O.D.I.N) was created by Charles Milton Potter and his associate Reed Wahl. When the Thinker became operational, it was used to run many Raptures systems such as the trains, automatic doors, phone networks, and many other of Rapture's rudimentary systems. Over time Potter developed the Thinkers ability to calculate problems, equations, and possibilities. This made the public more aware of the Thinker's presents and gave rise to the Thinker being advertised. After the Thinker became Rapture's main computer, Potter began to explore the Thinker' personality capabilities, with hopes of giving his creation the personality of his deceased wife, Pearl. Wahl found this development to be a wast of time, believing that the Thinker's prediction would more profitable. This lead to Wahl framing Potter to gain full ownership over the Thinker. During the game, the Thinker is used against the player as a means of defense, by predicting the player actions and motives and then reacting to those predictions.

Game Mechanics
True to the other Bioshock titles, "Bioshock 2: Minerva’s Den" is a first person shooter. The player has to collect all their own supplies throughout the game, limiting the amount of ammo, health, and Adam a player can have though the duration of the game. The player also has a limited carrying capacity meaning that the player can only carry a certain maximum of items at one time.

The player and NPCs have the ability to slightly change the environment around then. If a wall, ceiling, or floor is hit or shot, a hole will appear in that spot.

Many items and parts of the environment of the game are affected by physics. Smaller items can be kicked, thrown, and knocked over by the player and some of the NPCs (non-playable character). Water dynamics also affects the player's movements, being that when underwater, the player will have longer steps and a slower fall time. Specific to Bioshock 2: Minerva’s Den are the mechanics of the Gravity Well plasmid. The Gravity Well plasmid allowed the player to through a black hole anywhere in a certain range,in which, small items and NPC will be sucked in until the black hole dies and expels the matter. Though a stable black hole would be more catastrophic, the behavior pattern seen in the game is accurate.

Additions
In the "Bioshock 2: Minerva’s Den", there were some additions that were made, differentiating the two titles.

As said above, the new plasmid, Gravity Well was introduced. Gravity Well allows the player to throw a black hole anywhere within a certain range. The outcome is, small items and NPCs get pulled in to the black hole until the black hole expels the matter. Gravity Well does not affect the player or larger objects in the area.

Minerva’s den introduces the player to a new weapon as well, the ion laser. The ion laser shoots a continues beam of the selected ammunition; laser cell, thermal cell, and burst cell. The mechanics of the ion laser are reminiscent of the flame thrower of the first game, but with a longer range.

Electromagnetic locks were added to the DLC to act as a barrier for the player. The locks would hold the door the lock is attached to shut, on the opposite side of the player.

Characters

 * The main protagonist of the DLC is an Alpha Bigdaddy who goes by the allies of Sigma. Sigma’s goal is to reach the Thinker to copy its program and destroy the original that is connected to Rapture.
 * The main antagonist of the DLC is Reed Wahl. Reed Wahl assisted in the creation of the Thinker. His goal is to protect the Thinker from Sigma and dispose of him. Reed Wahl gained full control over the Thinker by framing Potter. After the arrest of Potter, Wahl’s physiological state through the use of Adam.
 * Though most of the characters in the DLC are new, Bioshock 2:Minerva's Den oversees the return of Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum. Dr.Brigid Tenenbaum made appersis in the two prior games, and acted as one of the guides to the player. Dr. Tenenbaum also saves some of the little sisters from enslavement and protects them in many hidden places around Rapture.
 * Charles Milton Potter was the scientist responsible for the creation of the Thinker. After the Death of his wife Pearl, Potter began to work on the Thinker’s personality subroutines, with the intentions of giving the Thinker a personality similar to his wife's. Potter was later framed for treason against Ryan Adams. In the events of Minerva’s Den, Potter helps guide Sigma to the Thinker.