Well, I've got a basic storyline for a game that I think could work. I would love to hear any critism, good or bad, so that I can improve upon the storyline and make my game better in the end. I haven't written this out yet, so I hope what I write here will be understandable. It is an adventure game is set in the future, probably a few hundred years from now, but exact time not very important or decided yet. Humans have explored and colonized outside of Earth. Then, they meet an advanced alien race out to that threatens the safety of the human race (kind of typically there). Due to a threat of destruction by alien forces, the Earth finally unites into a complete union of some sorts (or maybe just one superpower supports this, but its under debate) to defeat the common enemy. Your character plays the role of an elite special operations unit. This game will be designed as the second in a set of two or three, depending (Star Wars timeline style). In the first game the character either destroys or does something to an alien ship that was attacking a certain planet that has a scientist working on a technology that would tip the scales in favor of humans. The technology is either space travel, cloaking, or weaponry, I still have to determine which would fit best into the story, but I assume it will be space travel. Well, anyways, the player escaped from the alien vessel in an escape pod, but crashed onto the planet where the scientist lived. The escape pod was managed to crash on the small island that the scientist inhabited (kind of a stretch, but anyways). So the player explores the island to find a way to get back into space and eventually home or on his/her next mission. The island part itself is not fully planned yet, except for the fact that the visible structure will all be damaged and the scientist missing, making it seem as if the aliens had been there searching for something, the technology. A hidden laboratory of sorts might come into play so that the character can find the techology in tack and figure how to implement it some how. Of course there will have to be more on the island, such as puzzles to get past and more storyline about what the scientist was researching (which will be unknown to the player until they actually find it) and what happened there and such. The feel of the game will be a sort of Myst meets Journeyman Project, minus the spectacular graphics, which is a whole nother discussion. The character will have a sidekick character, like Arthur from the Journeyman Project. The character is an AI that has been placed in the player's suit, remember, special covert operations, high tech. The character will add witty (witty to me at least, hopefully witty to the player) and informative commentary, helping the player by translating things, supplying information, and being the lighter side of the game. I plan to have the game be freely played through the internet, creating an engine to run it through PERL, but thats also another discussion, but I think I have that part handled. Any comments, questions, or plain out 'that sucks' about the above is appreciated. But, if you say 'it sucks' please tell me why at least. Blair Heuer Edited by - simceo on 6/14/00 4:10:37 PM

Good idea... but (this is just my opinion) "you and only you can save the world" type games are a little overused... oh well...

would it be a first person shooter? a 3rd person shooter? a sidescroller(hey,it could happen)? RPG? racing? ok maybe not racing...

I like the idea of releasing the chronological second in the series first, because then if people like it the second one released told the story of how you got the job of the second one... confused? i am. i''d give an example, but i can''t think of one at the moment.. oh well...

on the topic of technology, my suggestion for whatever technology is aboard the ship would have to be something like high tech weapons or defence (like cloaking), because if it''s an alien ship that they/you find it on, then wouldn''t your (for lack of a better word) side already have space travel?

The idea of an escape pod hitting an island isn''t so far fetched... hey it happened in Blue Stinger (Sega Dreamcast)?
ok, maybe it is a little...
since there may or may not be a secret lab on the island, maybe a magnet of some sorts guided it there or something... i dunno.

anyways, good luck on your game, and i hope my suggestions helped, at least a little bit...

Yes, only-you-can-save-the-world is overused, but it works. Plus, as anti-climactic as it might be, you don''t save the world in this game. That would happen in the third installation of the series (if ever made).

The game is an adventure/puzzle/humor (hopefully humurous) game. Like I said, put the feel of Myst to the humor of Journeyman Project (Arthur in that is just too cool not to rip off!) and you''ve got the atmosphere that I am trying to create.

Having the technology be weapons or defence would probably be best for the overall storyline, but force me to seek other means of getting the player off the planet. I was thinking that radio (or whatever is used in space in the game) would not be in use since the alien fleet could intercept it and track him down. So the player would be forced to find other means of escape. Thus space travel technology, such as instantaneous long distance travel though worm holes or transferring matter into light to travel the distance, would give the player a means, once found/harnessed to get off of the planet and return to Earth or a base or a mission, depending on how I have the third play out the victory of good over evil.

For reaching the island, the magnet seems more far fetched than actually blindly hitting it. Perhaps the pod has a built in system for emergency landings. Who knows? Its alien, it could do anything!

-Blair Heuer

Good idea, the pod has a built in "find the nearest landing spot that isn''t water" system... and i agree that even though it is overused, it still works...

quote: Original post by Mr Cup

"Myst meets Journeyman Project, minus the spectacular graphics"

Well, it only does not have spectacular graphics because I am not very good in that department. Maybe I will find someone willing to help me in that regard, but that might be hard to do. And what do you mean by what was good besides that in the games?! Myst set an incredible atmosphere of mystery since the player never really knew what they were doing. Myst inspired me to begin programming/making games long ago, don''t diss it. The Journeyman Project series is only the best set of adventure games ever created! Arthur is sheer genius in my mind. He was so funny and added greatly to the game. Plus, I really enjoyed the time travel oriented plot.

Enough rant, back to topic.

I do realize everyone has an idea, but I also have the ability to put my ideas into work. I am not just the idea maker, I am also a programmer and web designer, so it will not be hard for me to create the engine to run this game via the internet, which is how I plan to release it (playable through a browser). It is true though that I have never finished a complete game, well sort of. I have made an old adventure game on the Macintosh in a program called HyperCard, that was complete, but sort of pathetic. So, before I jump into the huge project that this game will become, I am going to remake my old game for the internet in the same interface that I plan to use for this game, so that I can work out all the interface problems, coding joys, and anything else that may come up. That way I will have a better idea of what I am doing with the other game.

I was thinking last night about the game some more, and was thinking more about what the player would actually do. I was thinking that just the small island would be too little to pack a full game into without crowding it. So what if the technology was a teleportation device, but the settings were not understandable to the player or the AI assitant, so therefore the player is only able to input set cooridinate/setting combinations that are read in the scientists notes. That way the game can be open to other "worlds" that the player can jump between expanding the game almost infinitely. Of course there would not be infinite worlds, more like three or maybe a max of five, but each would need a purpose and all come togehter to some ultimate goal which would get the player back to earth, possibly something that helps the player to understand the coordinate/setting combinations on the teleporter so that it can be set to Earth, such as pieces of the key being strewn through out the worlds by the scientist to keep them safe.

Thanks for all your comments so far. I really appreciate them.

-Blair Heuer