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[Story] Themes

Version 0110a; Update 1

I've gotten lots done on the map tree, but hey, some of you respond better to when I talk about the setting and story.

Themes. This game is actually dense with them. I don't like specific tie-downs with themes, I like to be more flexible. However, you'll notice some specific general ideas.

First is the idea that reality can be stranger than you think. It's ironic to be a idea for a work of fiction, but lots of things are inspired on how strange reality is versus the sort of things humans have come up with in mythology. Sure, it's fun to read about ancient mythology and how weird it is, but it's got nothing on the really weird things that have been discovered. Still ironic since I'm here writing it all. Irony is a healthy part of any diet.

Which brings me to the second idea. Tetsumori will of course gain motives as the game progresses, however, the first driving force after being confused is that of curiosity. She starts to realize she can do various things, and it brings a rush. It's a basic idea of discovery. Have you ever realized you could do something for the first time?

And after that, you can see the progression of how she starts out in a sort of distant daze and simple tries to become a better person. Character's should also somehow become a better person in more ways than their mere stats. This is a vague idea that could apply to too many games, but this one in particular is important for Tetsumori's case. In this particular idea lies lots of instincts and compassion.

It's all obviously a kind of a scientifically and artistically inspired sort of story, it's all about exploration. You're going to explore the game world (which is made up of spacial distortions which kind of 'sew' parts of planets together to form one large, confusing map) and there will emerge conflict. You can't explore without encountering conflict in a world like this. That bring me to the last idea is this chaotic conflict. There's so many different people brought so close in space, so there's plenty of conflict to go around. Tetsumori's arrival came at a time when there is even more conflict than there usually is in that world. There really isn't such a thing as a perfectly ordered universe.

Posts

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Pokemaniac
3559
10/04/2010 04:53 AM
I love it when I'm plotting away and I suddenly realise there's a common theme in my story and everything suddenly seems more meaningful. I think it really helps in writing to know what you're writing about, if that makes any sense.
LEECH
who am i and how did i get in here
2599
10/04/2010 05:11 AM
Damn, this game looks awesome...

Cant wait till its done.
Pokemaniac
3559
10/04/2010 05:27 AM
But just one thing; a character doesn't necessarily need to be a better person by the end of your story, just a different person.
WolfCoder
3554
10/05/2010 05:29 AM
It's a very primal feeling to want to become somehow stronger or better as you go through life. It's rooted deep into many species of life on this planet. Naturally, so does Tetsumori. Whether or not you actually become a better person is a different story, but you naturally should want to if your instincts came in correct.

Humanoids are social creatures because that is how our species can grow. So for social creatures, there's the added instincts dealing with society. Even piranhas try not to hurt one another in a feeding frenzy. Helping others achieve the goal of becoming somehow better makes sense to those with correct instincts.

What are "correct" instincts? Ones that mean our general survival through generations, of course. If they weren't usually correct, we could not exist for so long.

Pretty simple rules and ideas can breed so much complexity. Especially since not everyone has quite correct instincts. Also because perhaps there is a different set of instincts that could somehow increase the survival factor. I could go on~ This is why Biology is a field of science and also why morality is very complicated to understand.

However! I kind of want to highlight some very basic acts of kindness with Tetsumori's character as she has to somehow show the first group of humans she encounters that she is friendly. You're going to have to figure out how exactly, not sure how deep the gameplay will be on that one though.
TheNecromancer
3160
10/05/2010 05:46 AM
haha Nice science ownage. Love this kind of debate.

I'm just curious, do you know where the story of your game will end? Do you have a final chapter and final boss in mind or do you plan on letting that evolve from the story as you make the game? How much of the story do you have already written out? and..how do you plan on writing the dialogue? What's your method of actually laying down the dialogue and story? i.e. Do you write it on paper/txtdoc? Let it flow as you program NPC's?...
WolfCoder
3554
10/05/2010 06:00 AM
"I'm just curious, do you know where the story of your game will end?"

Not really

"Do you have a final chapter and final boss in mind or do you plan on letting that evolve from the story as you make the game?"

Video games are weird in that they have the ultimate climax at the end and then fall off as you sit and watch the ending.

"How much of the story do you have already written out?"

I don't have too much of it planned past Gray Rock.

"and..how do you plan on writing the dialogue?"

Very carefully.

"What's your method of actually laying down the dialogue and story?"

I break it down into a mission, and I have the key points. All I have to do is figure out how the characters will act as they go through each section according to their designs. I've only got the outline on paper or anything, but all the details are made right there- what's the point of defining precisely what will happen if you're going to do so already using the game engine? Aren't my scripts already a precise layout of what will happen? So I generally skip the detail document and only plan the story elements on paper.
Pokemaniac
3559
10/05/2010 06:05 AM
The epic end boss is one of those things that's pretty much a given, because it so satisfying.
WolfCoder
3554
10/05/2010 03:27 PM
I actually do have an idea of the epic end sequence and levels, my game will start out as being easy to learn and pick up, and at the end it will be mercilessly hard. "Nintendo Hard", if you will.
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