Concept design

How Airtime looks, in the frozen city (setting.md). The central idea: **slick surfaces are something you skate on.**

Blades on ice#

In the physics, a slick surface has no friction (ice). In the world, the runner wears blade boots: running shoes with retractable blades.

On normal ground the blades are folded in: you run, with footsteps.
Touch a slick surface and the blades snap out (a metallic click). The runner's legs switch from a running stride to skating strokes, the sound becomes the carve of steel on ice, and fine ice spray kicks up in turns.
Leave the ice, and they snap back.

Visual only: the physics stays exactly UrT's slick. The skating animation follows the movement, never the other way around. Holding sprint on ice (acceleration 4.05) shows strong pushing strokes; gliding (no keys) shows a still, low skating pose; air-strafing on ice shows the edge carving.

Variants by place#

Place	Slick surface looks like	Gear
Frozen city (default)	ice: clear, white, cracked, frosted	ice blades
Heated core, indoors	polished steel, wet glass, oiled floors	inline wheels that pop out instead of blades
Old Olympic park	real rinks and luge tracks	ice blades, rink markings
Glacier edge	blue glacier ice, wind-polished	ice blades, crampon spikes on normal ground
Abstract maps	glowing glass	the player's choice of skin

Ice skates on ice, roller wheels on polished metal: the player sees what they're on and how it feels.

Reading the surface (most important)#

Players must see at a glance where they can stand and where they will slide. Beauty must never hide that.

Ice always reads as ice: gloss, a faint blue tint, frost at the edges, reflections of the sky and lights, scratches from earlier skaters.
Normal ground reads as rough: concrete, rubber, grit, snow (snow is grippy, not slick).
Walls you can walljump look rough. Icy walls look glazed (no walljump).
Readability mode (like Mirror's Edge's runner vision) tints slick surfaces, for learning and accessibility. The map editor's slick view shows the same.

The runner (first person)#

Your body: arms, legs, blade boots visible when you look down. Gloves with frost on the knuckles. A scarf that flutters with speed.
On ice: the camera sits a bit lower and leans gently into turns (visual only, the view never lies about where you aim). The blades are visible at the bottom edge when you crouch.
In the air: arms out for balance. A walljump shows a hand slapping the wall, a ledge grab shows both hands catching.
Landing: a roll on hard landings, a crouch on drop-ins, the blades biting into the ice with a spray.
Speed: wind in the sound, frost particles streaming past, the scarf, a slight FOV widening. Each one adjustable.

The Wardens (pursuers, story mode)#

Armoured skaters in the authority's colours: dark navy and white with orange warning lights (so you see them against ice and snow).
Powered skates: heavier blades than yours, with a motor whine. Sparks on concrete.
Helmets with a single light strip (no faces), radio chatter in short phrases.
Weapons: compact rifles with a visible laser sight (it tells you you're targeted). The same rifle is the one you pick up in the late chapters.
Drones: a spotlight cone in the dark, a red marker on you when spotted.
Silhouette rule: you must recognise a Warden from the shape alone at 100 metres.

Effects#

Effect	When
Ice spray	turning on ice, landing on ice, braking (power slide)
Carve marks	blades leave thin scratches on ice that fade slowly (they can show the path line too)
Frost breath	standing still, after a hard run
Snow puffs	landing on snow-covered normal ground
Steam	heater vents in the heated core, thawing edges
Sparks	Warden skates on concrete, shots hitting metal
Cracks	thin ice that cracks when you land (visual; in some story maps it collapses on a timer)

Sound#

Footsteps on concrete, snow and metal: every surface has its sound.
The click of blades deploying, the carve (pitch and volume with speed), the scrape when braking, the thud and hiss of a drop-in landing.
Wind rising with speed. The city's hum in the distance. Radio voices.
Wardens: motor whine, radio chatter, the laser sight's warning tone.

Colour#

Base: ice white, shadow blue, night navy.
Warm accents: sodium orange lamps, heater glow, the low sun.
Signals: crew graffiti in warm colours (red, yellow), the authority in cold white and navy with orange warning lights.
UI: the accent blue (#6ec6ff) of the ice.

Concept art briefs#

Key scenes of the game. Each one answers: can you see what's slick, where the line goes, and how it feels?

First ice. First-person view looking down: running shoes, blades snapping out as the foot touches a frozen canal. The canal stretches ahead between old brick buildings, low orange sun, blue shadows, breath in the air.
The reservoir. A huge frozen reservoir bowl seen from the dam rim. Tiny figures of other runners (ghost traces, translucent with coloured trails) carving arcs inside. The city skyline frozen behind.
The chase. A frozen highway at dusk. You (first person, arms forward) skating fast down the central lane. Two Wardens behind on powered skates, laser sights sweeping, a drone's spotlight from above. Sparks where a shot hits the guard rail.
Stormwater tunnel. A dark round tunnel, ice on the floor and up the walls (a half pipe), lit only by your head lamp and a far-off drone light. Carve marks of earlier runners glow faintly.
The heated core. Glass towers steaming in the cold. Polished steel plazas (slick, with wheels instead of blades). Authority posters. A runner tag with a time painted over one.
The builder's yard. Scavenged ramps, rails and ice sheets bolted onto an old parking structure. A half-built line. A ghost runner testing it.
Whiteout. The glacier edge in a storm. Blue ice cliffs, snow blowing sideways, the Warden captain's light strip in the white.
Tags. A wall at the start of a famous line, covered in painted records: names, times, crew symbols. The current record freshly painted, still dripping.

Style#

Stylised realism: real materials (ice, steel, concrete, snow), simple strong shapes, a strong colour palette. Skins: blades are the default; wheels, magnetic boots and others are cosmetic skins for the same slick physics.