Stolen Fire
by John Doppler Schiff · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 07/09/2006 (1:10 am) · 20 replies
OK, this is a storyline idea that's been rattling around in my head for years. I submit it for your feedback.
In Greek mythology, the knowledge of fire was possessed only by the gods. The giant Prometheus felt sorry for humanity as they shivered in the winter cold. He stole the secret of fire and, hiding it in a stalk of fennel, gifted humanity with it to alleviate their suffering. For defying the gods, he was chained to a rock, where a gigantic animal (an eagle) would torment him eternally.
In Native American folklore, the trickster god Coyote takes pity on humanity as they suffer during the long, cold winter. He steals the secret of fire from the Fire Beings and hides it within a piece of Wood. Later, he shows humanity how to coax fire from Wood.
In Norse mythology, the giant Loki -- a god of trickery and fire -- killed one of his kind with a shaft of mistletoe. For defying the gods, he was bound to a rock and tormented by a gigantic animal (a snake) until the end of the world.
In Judeo-Christian mythology, the angel Lucifer -- the "light bringer" -- defies God and is punished by being cast out of Heaven. In the guise of an animal (a snake), he tempts Eve with fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, which holds secrets known only to God, secrets forbidden to humanity.
The great stories evolve over the millenia. Names and places change, details are lost or confused, but the essence of the story carries on. Each of these disparate cultures bears the remnants of a common tale, the story of the "bringer of fire" who gifts humanity with knowledge stolen from the gods.
In their own naive way, these myths tell the tale of an extraterrestrial. They tell the story of a being -- a giant by Earth standards -- a lone rebel who violated the rules of his society to ease the suffering of humanity.
He bears the fiery secrets of the "gods", but before he can deliver the gift, he is cast down to Earth, exiled, bound. Perhaps there is no giant eagle to devour him, no giant serpent dripping venom onto his face. Nonetheless, he is tormented, his secrets entombed with him, out of reach of the prying curiosity of mortal humans...
But what if you stumbled across this tomb of the light-bringer?
What if you unearthed its secrets, decoding the messages hidden in the scrolling spirals of a plant's DNA?
What if those secrets held limitless power, power that could elevate mankind from its suffering -- or annihilate it in a single fiery instant?
And what if the guardians of that secret returned to reclaim it from you?
What would you do?
In Greek mythology, the knowledge of fire was possessed only by the gods. The giant Prometheus felt sorry for humanity as they shivered in the winter cold. He stole the secret of fire and, hiding it in a stalk of fennel, gifted humanity with it to alleviate their suffering. For defying the gods, he was chained to a rock, where a gigantic animal (an eagle) would torment him eternally.
In Native American folklore, the trickster god Coyote takes pity on humanity as they suffer during the long, cold winter. He steals the secret of fire from the Fire Beings and hides it within a piece of Wood. Later, he shows humanity how to coax fire from Wood.
In Norse mythology, the giant Loki -- a god of trickery and fire -- killed one of his kind with a shaft of mistletoe. For defying the gods, he was bound to a rock and tormented by a gigantic animal (a snake) until the end of the world.
In Judeo-Christian mythology, the angel Lucifer -- the "light bringer" -- defies God and is punished by being cast out of Heaven. In the guise of an animal (a snake), he tempts Eve with fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, which holds secrets known only to God, secrets forbidden to humanity.
The great stories evolve over the millenia. Names and places change, details are lost or confused, but the essence of the story carries on. Each of these disparate cultures bears the remnants of a common tale, the story of the "bringer of fire" who gifts humanity with knowledge stolen from the gods.
In their own naive way, these myths tell the tale of an extraterrestrial. They tell the story of a being -- a giant by Earth standards -- a lone rebel who violated the rules of his society to ease the suffering of humanity.
He bears the fiery secrets of the "gods", but before he can deliver the gift, he is cast down to Earth, exiled, bound. Perhaps there is no giant eagle to devour him, no giant serpent dripping venom onto his face. Nonetheless, he is tormented, his secrets entombed with him, out of reach of the prying curiosity of mortal humans...
But what if you stumbled across this tomb of the light-bringer?
What if you unearthed its secrets, decoding the messages hidden in the scrolling spirals of a plant's DNA?
What if those secrets held limitless power, power that could elevate mankind from its suffering -- or annihilate it in a single fiery instant?
And what if the guardians of that secret returned to reclaim it from you?
What would you do?
#2
07/09/2006 (2:09 am)
I like the idea. The thought is intriguing to say the least.
#3
I'm envisioning a mix of first-person shooter, puzzles, and RPG, with multiple means of accomplishing a goal. For example, if you can't solve the puzzle to disarm the security system, you could jump in with guns blazing. If you can't defeat the guardian of a particular area, you can arrange objects in a chain reaction that ultimately kills the critter.
Hopefully, by the time my current game is ready, I'll still have the sanity to implement Stolen Fire. =D
07/12/2006 (8:44 pm)
Thanks for the feedback, guys! This one has to wait until my current project is rolling on its own power, but it's definitely something I want to pursue.I'm envisioning a mix of first-person shooter, puzzles, and RPG, with multiple means of accomplishing a goal. For example, if you can't solve the puzzle to disarm the security system, you could jump in with guns blazing. If you can't defeat the guardian of a particular area, you can arrange objects in a chain reaction that ultimately kills the critter.
Hopefully, by the time my current game is ready, I'll still have the sanity to implement Stolen Fire. =D
#4
Interesting idea. I am not sure how it would translate into gameplay (though it could in many variations as noted by "Doppler"), but it would be interesting to see.
07/12/2006 (9:32 pm)
Practical research: Quest for FireInteresting idea. I am not sure how it would translate into gameplay (though it could in many variations as noted by "Doppler"), but it would be interesting to see.
#5
07/13/2006 (12:17 pm)
There needs to be a game where the player is God and you get to do whatever you want. It's kind of like a world edition of Sims
#6
07/13/2006 (12:25 pm)
There have been several attempts at this, but the problem is... you must limit the options available to the player.
#7
@ Bryce, there is a game that lets you do whatever you want. It's called a game engine, there are many, like TGE, or Source, or Unreal Engine.....and so on. You may say they aren't games, but they do exactly what you were saying. You in your game dev glory can do wahtever you want with the world, no restriction but the comp's power and your interface....which you could also change. You may say that it needs to be simpler to make things, but if there was such a product, everyone would be making games with it. But to make an easy to use, simplified version of this, you will invoke restrictions. Until someone creates an all-in-one package with every feature of all of the tools devs use nowadays, might I suggest looking into Spore?? It's a new game by Will Wright....looks incredible. Otherwise, look no further than Torque :-P
07/13/2006 (1:26 pm)
Sounds like a very interesting story, i'd say an adventure game. Like The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker going from place to place looking for the giant's tomb. You can sail, drive, whatever. You can have a dynamic method of transportation, just like in Wind Waker. Obviously the fighting wouldn't be restricted to melee with swords and sticks, you can include all sorts of guns and whatever, and in the end find the tomb with all it's advanced 'godly' glory. I wonder if the giant will still be alive.... your choice. But like I said, an adventure game in the vein of the Wind Waker would be what i'd go with.@ Bryce, there is a game that lets you do whatever you want. It's called a game engine, there are many, like TGE, or Source, or Unreal Engine.....and so on. You may say they aren't games, but they do exactly what you were saying. You in your game dev glory can do wahtever you want with the world, no restriction but the comp's power and your interface....which you could also change. You may say that it needs to be simpler to make things, but if there was such a product, everyone would be making games with it. But to make an easy to use, simplified version of this, you will invoke restrictions. Until someone creates an all-in-one package with every feature of all of the tools devs use nowadays, might I suggest looking into Spore?? It's a new game by Will Wright....looks incredible. Otherwise, look no further than Torque :-P
#9
07/13/2006 (3:11 pm)
I applaud your discovery of this concept but its not exactly new. Checkout the works of Zecharia Sitchin and other 'Ancient Astronaut' writers. They posit a senario that's basically the same as your's only there's more material than just Prometheus and his stolen fire to pull storylines from.
#10
I don't know whether you intended it to be so, but your wording came across as rather offensive.
07/13/2006 (3:20 pm)
NR - If you look at what he says, he is drawing his inspiration from mythology - and Sitchin's writings are supposed to be about the genesis elements of the mythology. Dopp doesn't even claim to have discovered the concept, he gives his full references.I don't know whether you intended it to be so, but your wording came across as rather offensive.
#11
07/13/2006 (3:55 pm)
My bad, not trying to offend Doppler. Just wanted to point him in the direction of similiar material. You're right about the genesis of the mythology but replication and distortion of these same myths by other cultures is also part of Sitchin's writings.
#12
07/13/2006 (4:08 pm)
I've often thought that a game that exposited the Enlil vs. Enki theme of Sitchin's would be very fascinating.
#13
Kudos to you Cliff for pointing that out. Also, I wanted to tell John his idea for the game is tops.
07/13/2006 (4:19 pm)
You know it. If anyone wants to understand the true intent behind Genesis they should study the Enlil/Enki drama of the Sumerian myth. What really kills me is to listen to devout Christians justify the radical mood swings God displays in Genesis when all they have to do is look at the interaction between Enki and Enlil and realise they're really talking about two different gods.Kudos to you Cliff for pointing that out. Also, I wanted to tell John his idea for the game is tops.
#14
(Although if Dan Brown rips off my discovery about the pagan symbols in Lucky Charms cereal and the related Masonic conspiracy at General Mills, I'm going to be very angry.) =)
I'll definitely have to check out Sitchin's work; I'm not familiar with it.
07/13/2006 (4:32 pm)
@NR: No offense taken at all, and thanks! I know that with 6 billion people currently around, and the whole of human history behind us, it's damn hard to find a concept that hasn't been touched on at least once.(Although if Dan Brown rips off my discovery about the pagan symbols in Lucky Charms cereal and the related Masonic conspiracy at General Mills, I'm going to be very angry.) =)
I'll definitely have to check out Sitchin's work; I'm not familiar with it.
#15
07/13/2006 (5:17 pm)
Yeah, I've got my tin-foil spiral helmet on right now... Just kidding.
#16
07/13/2006 (5:47 pm)
Glad to find I'm not the only one who has read Sitchen's books. Here is a link to a free online eye opener book of a similar nature.
#17
Doppler, that's the best summation of Sitchin's work (he's not the only archeologist talking about this though) I've read. If you want all the references to dated work you should pick up his Earth Chronicle series but for a basic breakdown of the story and its characters Duncan's link is a really good offering.
07/14/2006 (4:46 am)
Yep, man's original soap opera. It gives a whole new meaning the phrase 'family feud'. The reason I love this story so much is after a while, if you observe human behavior long enough, you begin to see reflections of this drama played out all the time in human affairs. All the classic architypes of human behavior are right there. Doppler, that's the best summation of Sitchin's work (he's not the only archeologist talking about this though) I've read. If you want all the references to dated work you should pick up his Earth Chronicle series but for a basic breakdown of the story and its characters Duncan's link is a really good offering.
#20
07/19/2006 (7:23 pm)
At the moment, there is none; I'm just hashing out the storyline. I find that games are much easier to design when you've got a solid story to build on. =) 
Torque Owner Cliff