Airtime Story mode
A single-player campaign that teaches every mechanic through a story in the frozen city (setting.md).
The story in one paragraph#
You are a new runner in the frozen city. A crew of runners takes you in, teaches you to move on ice, and gives you deliveries. One delivery is something the authority wants back: a recorder with the traces (recorded runs) of every runner in the city. The authority wants them, because a trace shows every secret line. Now its Wardens hunt you across the ice. Speed is your best weapon.
Characters#
| Who | Role |
|---|---|
| You | a new runner, never seen, only heard breathing; your body and blades are what you see |
| The crew lead | a veteran runner, your voice on the radio, teaches the lines; their trace is the ghost you chase in early chapters |
| The rival | a runner from another crew, faster than you; you race their trace all game and meet them live at the end |
| The builder | builds lines (the map editor in the world); unlocks the editor in the story |
| The Warden captain | leads the pursuers; heard on their radio, seen in chases |
How the story is told#
- Radio voices while you run (the crew lead talks you through a line).
- Places and graffiti: tags with records, posters of the authority, notes at checkpoints.
- Short scenes between chapters (seconds, skippable), never during a run.
- Traces as story: some chapters let you replay a character's run as a ghost, and the ghost tells the story (where they went, where they fell).
Chapters#
Each chapter teaches one thing, then tests it. Every chapter has a timer, medals and its own board, so the story is also a speedrun.
| # | Chapter | Place | Teaches | Beat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First ice | the canal district | running, sprint, jumping, the feel of ice | the crew finds you; first delivery |
| 2 | Lines | the rooftops | strafe jumping, air strafing | race the crew lead's trace |
| 3 | Walls | between the towers | walljumps, ledges | a delivery to the top of a tower |
| 4 | Drop-in | the reservoir | drop-ins, bowls, curves | the reservoir's legendary line |
| 5 | The recorder | the heated core | crouching, power slide, quiet routes | you pick up the recorder; the alarm goes off |
| 6 | Run (chase) | the frozen highway | everything, at full speed, under fire | the Wardens chase you on skates, shooting |
| 7 | Underground | stormwater tunnels | pipes and tubes in the dark | hiding in the tunnels; the builder's workshop |
| 8 | Build | the builder's yard | the map editor: build the line you need | build a ramp to cross a gap no one can jump |
| 9 | The rival | the old Olympic park | leets: the fast exits | race the rival live (a bot from their trace) |
| 10 | Whiteout (chase) | the glacier edge | the hardest ice, a storm, the captain's chase | the final chase; you take a Warden's rifle and shoot out the drones blinding your crew; release the traces to every runner |
| Epilogue | Open city | everywhere | — | the city is open: free roam, all lines, the online world |
Side chapters bring more moves into their places, each with its own board: a gravity lab in the authority's tower (gravity flip), a jetpack stolen from the Wardens, wall-run walls in a parking garage.
Chases with armed pursuers#
Enemies with guns. The Wardens shoot, and in some sections you have a gun too: you can shoot back at Wardens and drones, shoot a lock, or knock out a spotlight. Gunplay is always secondary to movement: the chase is about speed and lines.
The Wardens#
- The authority's pursuers. Armoured, helmeted, on powered skates (blades on ice, wheels on concrete). Built for ice, so they're dangerous on the flats and in straight lines.
- Armed: stun rifles and net launchers in the early chases, real weapons in the late ones.
- Drones: spotlights and markers from above, calling the skaters to where you are.
How a chase plays#
- The Wardens follow you along the line. On straights and flats they are as fast as you, so you lose them where the movement is hard: walljumps, ledges, drop-ins, leets, gaps.
- They shoot when they have line of sight: a laser sight sweeps toward you, a warning tone, then the shot. Telegraphed, fair, dodgeable by changing direction or breaking line of sight.
- Getting hit drains stamina. Low stamina means tired jumps (UrT's own rule): you feel the hits in your jumps. No new physics, no knockback.
- Caught: a Warden reaches you on the ground. Back to the last checkpoint.
- Shooting back (in sections where you're armed): a hit slows a Warden down or knocks a drone's light out. It buys you seconds; your movement wins the chase.
- Escape: reach the exit (a tunnel, a gap they can't jump, a door your crew holds), or out-distance them until they lose you.
Exact, even under fire#
- Your movement is untouched: exact UrT physics in every chase.
- Wardens are simulated in the same game, with the same movement (they skate on the same ice), driven by a bot that follows a recorded trace with a speed limit and rubber-banding. The game is deterministic, so a chase replays exactly and chapter runs are verified like any other.
- Shots are deterministic: the seed, the bot state and your position decide every shot, yours and theirs. A replay of a chase shows the same shots.
- Chase chapters have their own boards and never mix with race boards.
Chase set pieces#
- The highway: Wardens on both sides of a frozen highway, you on the central barrier. Drop into the lanes, jump the gaps between bridges.
- The bowl: Wardens circle the reservoir rim. Drop in, carry speed through the bowl, exit over the dam where they can't follow.
- The tunnel: darkness, only the drones' spotlights, the sound of blades behind you.
- The rooftop gap: a gap only a walljump chain gets you across. They stop at the edge.
- Whiteout: a snowstorm at the glacier, little visibility, the captain hunting you personally.
Open questions#
- Can you be caught at all on the easiest setting, or only slowed?
- Do chases also exist online (a "tag" mode with players as Wardens)?