Campaign Questions
by Eli McClanahan · in General Discussion · 08/15/2002 (1:42 am) · 5 replies
Okay, I need some information (at least a little) in order to get an idea on how to write up the backstory any further.
Exactly how far will we be taking the single player? I realize that a decent backdrop has to be done to give order to chaos in the multiplayer, but the campaign itself can range from extensive to merely a training session (like T2's "single player.")
Really, I'm not at all sure if we're going to have one, but I'll assume for the time being that we will. Now...
I assume that cinematics are way out of our league here, so any type of non-playable story scenes will be done in-game. Using this as my assumption, how many of these will we be willing to create? I realize this is slightly unfair to ask at this point in development, but I'd prefer at least a general response, because otherwise, I may write up a story with far too much depth.
If keeping the storyline merely as a shadow in the presence of the actual gameplay is how things will be carried out, there are two things that we can do with the storyline:
1) The story won't focus on a single person, but rather on a series of events. Personally, I don't like this idea, simply because I forsee a lot of possible themes branching off from Realm Wars.
2) The story itself will be in text format after every mission, and will be up to the player to create in his own mind. Or, much like some other games, the storyline can be kept seperately as an outside booklet. (Think of the side stories and information from Starsiege, which you get as a bonus, if you ever bought the game. Essentially, it's like getting a normal game with a very short novel to boot.)
Now, if somehow we can pull off a thorough story in Realm Wars (which I would prefer, but I know it's a great task to ask of, and can be quite a strain), then I'd like to know to what extent this engine will be capable of carrying out storyline events.
If those questions are too broad, it's perfectly understandable and reasonable. As of now, I'm only on a version 0.01 of sorts with my own ideas for the backstory, and so I shouldn't expect anyone else to be so far ahead of me as to be near their final ideas of what they're doing involving the game engine itself. But, nevertheless, any help or comments are greatly appreciated.
Exactly how far will we be taking the single player? I realize that a decent backdrop has to be done to give order to chaos in the multiplayer, but the campaign itself can range from extensive to merely a training session (like T2's "single player.")
Really, I'm not at all sure if we're going to have one, but I'll assume for the time being that we will. Now...
I assume that cinematics are way out of our league here, so any type of non-playable story scenes will be done in-game. Using this as my assumption, how many of these will we be willing to create? I realize this is slightly unfair to ask at this point in development, but I'd prefer at least a general response, because otherwise, I may write up a story with far too much depth.
If keeping the storyline merely as a shadow in the presence of the actual gameplay is how things will be carried out, there are two things that we can do with the storyline:
1) The story won't focus on a single person, but rather on a series of events. Personally, I don't like this idea, simply because I forsee a lot of possible themes branching off from Realm Wars.
2) The story itself will be in text format after every mission, and will be up to the player to create in his own mind. Or, much like some other games, the storyline can be kept seperately as an outside booklet. (Think of the side stories and information from Starsiege, which you get as a bonus, if you ever bought the game. Essentially, it's like getting a normal game with a very short novel to boot.)
Now, if somehow we can pull off a thorough story in Realm Wars (which I would prefer, but I know it's a great task to ask of, and can be quite a strain), then I'd like to know to what extent this engine will be capable of carrying out storyline events.
If those questions are too broad, it's perfectly understandable and reasonable. As of now, I'm only on a version 0.01 of sorts with my own ideas for the backstory, and so I shouldn't expect anyone else to be so far ahead of me as to be near their final ideas of what they're doing involving the game engine itself. But, nevertheless, any help or comments are greatly appreciated.
#2
BTW... How easy will it be to make online cooperative missions? (Will we bother having them at all ourselves?)
08/15/2002 (1:38 pm)
Well, don't rush yourself or anything. :) I understand you're busy as it is.BTW... How easy will it be to make online cooperative missions? (Will we bother having them at all ourselves?)
#3
Owen
08/15/2002 (2:56 pm)
If you're writing it up can you post the basic skeleton once done so we can all pitch in, but one person definitly needs to be the story writer, even if everyone can contribute ideas, multiple story writers will just make a mess of things.Owen
#4
As for the skeleton, I'm not sure that'd be a good idea, as of right now, it's well over 2,000 words. :)
08/15/2002 (5:21 pm)
Well, I've found that while it's better for someone to take the lead, a good story will come from the ideas of multiple people rather than one person. I'm not sure exactly how the final say in the matter will go, as of right now I believe we have three people working on this. In any case, I welcome others to try their hand and contribute their ideas, as I'm not so arrogant as to think I'll attain perfection on my own. :D As for the skeleton, I'm not sure that'd be a good idea, as of right now, it's well over 2,000 words. :)
#5
08/16/2002 (5:32 am)
Ahh, so we're going for Realm Wars : The Novel then :) 
Torque Owner James Margaris
Briefly at this point we want more of a backstory and atmosphere than a real story per se. The game will be focused on mutli-player, so we shouldn't count on a lot of single player campaign exposition. At this point what I am looking for is more along the lines of who are these people, why are they fighting, etc.
Anyway I'll email you something more detailed tomorrow.