FPS idea (scrapped)
by Plague · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 08/31/2006 (10:48 am) · 17 replies
Hey Plague here. Just wanted to share our latest idea for our teams first FPS game.
Comments are welcome.
Basically, the story takes place in the year 2095. Terrorist cells in the middle east have grown into a world power, and provide a constant threat to the security of the North American and European countries.
On August 21st, 2095, the Terrorists (AKA the Righteous Allegiance) succeed in the nuclear destruction of all major cities in America and the United Kingdom in a simultaneous strike.
The world powers are left shattered after this massive attack. And are pushed back by the Righteous
Allegiance into a state of underground operations. After a year of fighting, multiple experiments are begun
by the Underground Militia. In the hopes of discovering a way to combat the near unstopabble menace that is the Allegiance's forces.
Enter Kaden White. Decorated officer devoted to bringing an end to the carnage created by the Allegiance.
In an effort to foil their growing state of dominance, Kaden was selected to undergo an experiment to allow him to change shape and take on the form of terrorist officials to infiltrate their base of operations.
The test proved a marvelous success. Allowing Kaden to change his appearance in any way he pleased.
But this success soon turned to failure as Kaden's DNA structure was altered to the point that he was not restricted to morphing into other people. His body soon began randomly shifting it's basic composition to a variety of elements and shapes.
Now the year is 2098. The underground has been beaten back to a state of near non-existence.
But a beam of light shines as the only hope in the tunnels. This light is the newfound underground cavern where alien technology is said to be buried. Kaden White (Now with his morph ability fully under control) and his elite squad have ventured into the cavern, and of all things, stumbled upon an ancient time machine.
The plan is this: Restart the alien portal, travel back in time to stop the terrorist cells from becoming a world power, and preserve the peace at all times.
But as the time machine is booted up, and the squad enters the time rift it creates. The alien machine goes haywire. Causing temporal rifts to open up all over the earth. Now the Righteous Allegiance is also aware of the time machine. And they are traveling back to stop you...
Comments are welcome.
Basically, the story takes place in the year 2095. Terrorist cells in the middle east have grown into a world power, and provide a constant threat to the security of the North American and European countries.
On August 21st, 2095, the Terrorists (AKA the Righteous Allegiance) succeed in the nuclear destruction of all major cities in America and the United Kingdom in a simultaneous strike.
The world powers are left shattered after this massive attack. And are pushed back by the Righteous
Allegiance into a state of underground operations. After a year of fighting, multiple experiments are begun
by the Underground Militia. In the hopes of discovering a way to combat the near unstopabble menace that is the Allegiance's forces.
Enter Kaden White. Decorated officer devoted to bringing an end to the carnage created by the Allegiance.
In an effort to foil their growing state of dominance, Kaden was selected to undergo an experiment to allow him to change shape and take on the form of terrorist officials to infiltrate their base of operations.
The test proved a marvelous success. Allowing Kaden to change his appearance in any way he pleased.
But this success soon turned to failure as Kaden's DNA structure was altered to the point that he was not restricted to morphing into other people. His body soon began randomly shifting it's basic composition to a variety of elements and shapes.
Now the year is 2098. The underground has been beaten back to a state of near non-existence.
But a beam of light shines as the only hope in the tunnels. This light is the newfound underground cavern where alien technology is said to be buried. Kaden White (Now with his morph ability fully under control) and his elite squad have ventured into the cavern, and of all things, stumbled upon an ancient time machine.
The plan is this: Restart the alien portal, travel back in time to stop the terrorist cells from becoming a world power, and preserve the peace at all times.
But as the time machine is booted up, and the squad enters the time rift it creates. The alien machine goes haywire. Causing temporal rifts to open up all over the earth. Now the Righteous Allegiance is also aware of the time machine. And they are traveling back to stop you...
#2
08/31/2006 (10:59 am)
I was right with you with the morphing. It seemed like a morphing Geist. But then I got sideswiped by Time Splitters. Now I'm not sure what's going on.
#3
While the storyline revolves around the players ability to go back and forth from the past to the future through the time rifts. We are hoping to have some puzzles that require you to change something in the past to continue in the future.
Both features will be essential to the storyline.
08/31/2006 (11:02 am)
Basically it's both. The main character has special abilities that allow him to assume forms such as "Jello form" which allows bullets to pass throught he player for a short amount of time. Or "Spider form" which allows the player to crawl on walls (yes we have a system for doing that).While the storyline revolves around the players ability to go back and forth from the past to the future through the time rifts. We are hoping to have some puzzles that require you to change something in the past to continue in the future.
Both features will be essential to the storyline.
#4
08/31/2006 (11:11 am)
Seeing as the gameplay itself doesn't seem to be seriously tied to the storyline, I would really consider revising that to something... well, more like a Time Splitters plot. I don't know if that kind of plot setup was intended to be funny, but it isn't, and otherwise... that barely sounds above the level of the "kill the terrorists" flash games and Bin Laden toilet paper.
#5
And how exactly did you find my design doc and figure out what the gameplay was like? I would like to know you method for obtaining this information.
08/31/2006 (11:15 am)
How is the gameplay not tied to the storyline, may I ask?And how exactly did you find my design doc and figure out what the gameplay was like? I would like to know you method for obtaining this information.
#6
08/31/2006 (11:16 am)
Very fantastic, as in, very fantasy-like. sounds like the sci fi original movie of the week. not a bad idea but somewhat falls apart when someone thinks about it too much. why does the time machine have to have been created by aliens in an underground tunnel? its the future. let american scientists create the time machine and things arent as confusing.
#7
08/31/2006 (11:17 am)
True the time angle of the storyline needs work. Our team sat down and thought this up pretty quickly, and we're still working out the details. Thanks for the comment.
#8
08/31/2006 (11:26 am)
I'm saying that the enemy in the game could be changed to something slightly less culturally insensitive and ignorant without making any huge impact on the gameplay setup. If you want to try writing a serious political futuristic story, look at a game like Killer 7, or go with something kitchsy like the Soviets taking over America in Freedom Fighters.
#9
All of your feedback so far has been extremely helpful. Thank you.
08/31/2006 (11:46 am)
Ah I see. Yes we will most likely end up changing the face of the enemy before the concept stage is over.All of your feedback so far has been extremely helpful. Thank you.
#10
So obviously the storyline needs a few fixups, and seems a little new-cliche (my word for the new cliche), but other than that I suppose it could be turned into a great game. After all, I guess ANY idea can make a great game, they're almost two seperate realms.
Good luck!
09/12/2006 (12:16 pm)
The idea of a simultaneous strike of every major city in North America and Europe is so unbelievably impossible without some type of failure or screw-up. Even something like that for somewhere like the US today is horribly impossible.So obviously the storyline needs a few fixups, and seems a little new-cliche (my word for the new cliche), but other than that I suppose it could be turned into a great game. After all, I guess ANY idea can make a great game, they're almost two seperate realms.
Good luck!
#11
nor inconceivable.
for example, when you prepare for battle.
you have contingency plans.
so if you were to strike that many locations.
would you have any fallback measures?
of course.
and of course your fallback measures are more than capable of finishing the job.
so you fire 10 missiles to hit one spot.
no big deal army does it all the time.
09/12/2006 (12:49 pm)
It is not impossible.nor inconceivable.
for example, when you prepare for battle.
you have contingency plans.
so if you were to strike that many locations.
would you have any fallback measures?
of course.
and of course your fallback measures are more than capable of finishing the job.
so you fire 10 missiles to hit one spot.
no big deal army does it all the time.
#12
As for the rest, I say why not and let see how you can get it alive. :-)
STef
09/12/2006 (1:59 pm)
Why not tie the ability of the player to morph to the use of the time portal/machine. His DNA structure has been altered while travelling in time...As for the rest, I say why not and let see how you can get it alive. :-)
STef
#13
Please, employ a professional writer.
It's a tad too transparent that you had the gameplay mechanics but no justification for them so you just strapped on one idea after another until you though you'd hidden it.
Sadly, stories don't work like that. Good stories are complicated and intricately woven puzzles. Your villains have no clear motive, unless being a "terrorist" is a motive for a thermo-nuclear-holocaust, but last time I checked people usually had a damn good reason to push the button. I'm all fine with half the world being blown up (It's an action game, not a military simulation people). The "superpower falling" theme served to generate countless impressive stories and fictions spin-offs from the collapse of Rome, can't see why it wouldn't work for the US either, but do try and make it as believe as possible. You could always try and find a different means of removing the US army form the picture that won't require nukes or time travel.
"The experiment" needs some work, or it needs to be cleverly shifted into some other conflict in the story.
But the real killer for me is the addition of time travel, more so how it was introduced, that needs a *lot* of work. Personally, I'd be searching for some other kind of story mechanic to get where you need to go, there are already too many sub-plots by this point.
Oh, and don't try and cover all of the story at the beginning - start the game in deep, say when the bombs are hitting and they're stepping thought the travel device or something (or whatever you choose to use). The rest of the story can be layered into the game and fleshed out form that point.
For an action game, exposition is a killer, avoid it at all costs unless you can mix it in with something fun and interactive.
10/02/2006 (9:01 am)
Nuclear holocausts, Terrorists, weird shape shifting experiments, aliens and time travel...Please, employ a professional writer.
It's a tad too transparent that you had the gameplay mechanics but no justification for them so you just strapped on one idea after another until you though you'd hidden it.
Sadly, stories don't work like that. Good stories are complicated and intricately woven puzzles. Your villains have no clear motive, unless being a "terrorist" is a motive for a thermo-nuclear-holocaust, but last time I checked people usually had a damn good reason to push the button. I'm all fine with half the world being blown up (It's an action game, not a military simulation people). The "superpower falling" theme served to generate countless impressive stories and fictions spin-offs from the collapse of Rome, can't see why it wouldn't work for the US either, but do try and make it as believe as possible. You could always try and find a different means of removing the US army form the picture that won't require nukes or time travel.
"The experiment" needs some work, or it needs to be cleverly shifted into some other conflict in the story.
But the real killer for me is the addition of time travel, more so how it was introduced, that needs a *lot* of work. Personally, I'd be searching for some other kind of story mechanic to get where you need to go, there are already too many sub-plots by this point.
Oh, and don't try and cover all of the story at the beginning - start the game in deep, say when the bombs are hitting and they're stepping thought the travel device or something (or whatever you choose to use). The rest of the story can be layered into the game and fleshed out form that point.
For an action game, exposition is a killer, avoid it at all costs unless you can mix it in with something fun and interactive.
#14
There's nothing "culturally insensite and ignorant" as far as the idea of some sort of Middle Eastern Coalition (to borrow the BF2 name) arising. It's ironic that you then recommend the Soviets taking over the USA, which is basically replacing one enemy for another, kitsch or not.
Sheesh. First a person can't draw a likeness of Mohammed, and now it's wrong to suggest a MEC plausability. I can definitely see who's winning the propaganda war here. And please, this is not a personal attack.
10/02/2006 (10:56 am)
Quote:I'm saying that the enemy in the game could be changed to something slightly less culturally insensitive and ignorant without making any huge impact on the gameplay setup.I take it it's OK for EA to do that in BF2, but not here in Plague's idea?
There's nothing "culturally insensite and ignorant" as far as the idea of some sort of Middle Eastern Coalition (to borrow the BF2 name) arising. It's ironic that you then recommend the Soviets taking over the USA, which is basically replacing one enemy for another, kitsch or not.
Sheesh. First a person can't draw a likeness of Mohammed, and now it's wrong to suggest a MEC plausability. I can definitely see who's winning the propaganda war here. And please, this is not a personal attack.
#15
See, its a reversal of....oh never mind. :P
10/18/2006 (12:25 am)
Maybe you could call the game Irony? Because the american/european forces become the hidden forces fighting the "Super Power" after having their homes bombed/destroyed? Infiltrating agents into the enemy infrastructure? See, its a reversal of....oh never mind. :P
#16
10/19/2006 (5:24 am)
Mr. White may also be an ill-chosen name for the protagonist...
#17
But on gameplay aspects, morphing to the enemy is an ok thing, morphing into shapes could either come out lame or too code intense and here's why say this. If you allow him to morph into any object you have in the game that's a lot of options now how does he chose one just click on what he wants to morph into or scroll through a huge list of every object he's every encountered? So if you restrict it and randomly say you can be one of these 4 objects those won't always fit in rooms and will seem so out of place and if the enemy doesn't notice that that would take some away from it. FPS tend to rely on speed of actions, so the morph seems like it could backfire, in an mmorpg maybe since you could take the time to choose an object.
Also if you do go with the storyline, that many nuclear blasts = nuclear winter and so much radiation spreading through the remaining world that everything is going to die anyways. might want to revise that. Or start taking the Jericho tv show premise and adding a special ops morphing guy to it ;-)
I'm not attacking just trying to help you solidify your ideas, I respect anyone who wants to make their own game and dedicates the time to trying. Without new independent development teams we'd be stuck witht he same old games because big game companies can't think outside the box, look at EA every game the same as the last because everytime it sells.
10/24/2006 (6:31 pm)
Who needs a story line for a fps, how many people read the storyline for a fps instead of opening it up and going what weapons/skills do I have and get to work, I think I would applaud a game that just said here's how you play go. But on gameplay aspects, morphing to the enemy is an ok thing, morphing into shapes could either come out lame or too code intense and here's why say this. If you allow him to morph into any object you have in the game that's a lot of options now how does he chose one just click on what he wants to morph into or scroll through a huge list of every object he's every encountered? So if you restrict it and randomly say you can be one of these 4 objects those won't always fit in rooms and will seem so out of place and if the enemy doesn't notice that that would take some away from it. FPS tend to rely on speed of actions, so the morph seems like it could backfire, in an mmorpg maybe since you could take the time to choose an object.
Also if you do go with the storyline, that many nuclear blasts = nuclear winter and so much radiation spreading through the remaining world that everything is going to die anyways. might want to revise that. Or start taking the Jericho tv show premise and adding a special ops morphing guy to it ;-)
I'm not attacking just trying to help you solidify your ideas, I respect anyone who wants to make their own game and dedicates the time to trying. Without new independent development teams we'd be stuck witht he same old games because big game companies can't think outside the box, look at EA every game the same as the last because everytime it sells.
Torque Owner Paul /*Wedge*/ DElia