Yes, I said it, Post Apocalyptic. Barring the obvious references to Fallout 3 and the fact that the genre is seemingly saturated at this point. I have been revisiting (in my head, that is) and idea that I had played with way back in 2009... I stumbled onto it tonight and found it hauntingly topical. Basically, The idea is to create points of discussion on concepts of morality, ethics, survival, religion, human nature, internal conflict, mature themes, and so on... It is not my goal to create a linear story, but rather than present episodic stories to the player that challenge his/her established belief systems. I know this sounds like content that may be a little over ambitious for a game, but I think it could be done with positive results.


Basic description of story-
This game will be a character’saccount of today’s society descending into anarchy. The playerinteracts with other characters in the game world as they all try tosurvive. This will invariably lead to decision making crossroads,where the player’s actions and the consequences of those actionswill have a dramatic impact on the disposition and playing experienceof the player.

The story will take place in the nearfuture, and is based upon the premise that an economic andgovernmental collapse has sent society into a dramatic and rapidfreefall into chaos.

At first, the financial collapse is metby the public with measured anxiety. But as governmental agenciesand services systematically shut down, that anxiety gives way towidespread panic as many citizens try to hoard supplies, while otherstake advantage of the lawlessness. Almost immediately, people beginto form factions to create stability.

About the main Character

Age- 30ish

Gender-Male

Occupation-Military Veteran

The concept of this game is to tell thestory of one person as the world transitions from its current state,to a state of anarchy. The challenge will be to cope with survivaland resource management in a crumbling society. The story willexplore how certain groups with common bonds will come together.

Throughout the course of the story, theplayer will struggle with resource allocation and management. Withno economic system in place, certain NPC’s will control access togoods and services, and the player will have to barter or scavenge toprocure goods.

Story

At the onset of the game, the playerfinds society collapsing around him. Being suddenly in the positionof having no resources, the player must set out to survive. Theplayer will meet various people and be put in situations which testthe constitution of the human spirit. These interactions will takethe form of “quests” which will be closely intertwined with theconcept of resource management. Because of the limited availabilityof resources, the player will be in the position where he may have totake a course of action that he might normally find undesirable. Ina typical RPG format, the player will gain experience and skillsthrough the course of the game.

Perhaps instead of a linear story, thegame will be comprised of chance encounters with other individualswho are in the same battle for survival. The outcome of the questswill affect the game world in specific ways such as creating accessto skilled workers, resources, additional quests, etc.

The game should employ the use ofscavenging materials to build tools. This aspect of the game shouldbe developed more than what was seen in fallout 3… For example,some quests may require the building of a tool to achieve anobjective.

Not long after the collapse, peoplestart to congregate at their supply sources. They do this forseveral reasons. First, they must secure and often defend thesesupplies. Secondly, as a group, they have security and are able tore-establish social hierarchies.

Initially, The third person shooter engine that I have spent the last year or so developing had been intended for a zombie shooter RPG.... I have all but abandoned that concept as of now, and I am left with a void of a story and an almost complete game framework.

Well, it needs fleshing out.

There are a lot of ideas here that are good in theory, even if they've been touted time and time again by a lot of companies, but it's all about the execution. How are you going to make good on all of these claims, specifically the heavy-handed and poignant narrative that challenges the player morally and emotionally without sacrificing or ignoring gameplay? How are player actions going to have legitimately weighty consequences in the world?

What's confusing me most, though, is your seemingly conflicting ideas on story presentation. You say you don't want a linear presentation, but an episodic one. How exactly would that work? Unless by "episodic" you mean something more along the lines of arbitrary/dynamic quests that pop up every once in a while and are somewhat self-contained within the world? And on that note, if you're going for this neat-sounding persistent open world with survival elements, why have a predefined (male) main character? It seems out of the spirit with the game.

Speaking to the story elements, how the world has devolved into post apocalyptia doesn't much matter unless you want it to matter in respect to the overarching story. Otherwise, it could easily be like the critically acclaimed novel The Road (movie, too), where the actual events that cause the world to spiral into insanity are not necessarily disclosed. If those details don't need to be disclosed, don't waste the player's time, especially if you're trying to work on a more interpersonal and individual level. Otherwise, you have half your audience half listening and half of them criticizing the "ridiculous, unbelievable manner in which society has entirely devolved into anarchy." Outside of that, there aren't too many other story/writing items presented for me to offer any comments or criticism.

That being said, all the claims sound fantastic, like a mesh between the may-be-released I Am Alive, Fallout 3, and Metal Gear Solid 3, or something along those lines. It's the kind of game that I'd love to play if anyone ever actually made it (I'm still hoping for I Am Alive to pull it out).

Good luck with your aspirations (:

I appreciate the feedback Don'tBotherNone- And I will address several of your questions. Resource Management in game economy and scarcity figure to be the primary ways to affect the player's decisions. Does the player horde or share scarce resources like aid, food, water, ammunition? Will he aid people, terrorize them, or leave them to their fate.

Creating the in game economy is the easy part fortunately, The hard part is connecting the player to the world to make him care why he should or should not share resources or come to people's aid. To do that, I intend to create a world where the player isn't all powerful. He can't raise his statistics incrementally as the game progresses, and as such he may indeed require the aid of NPC's to achieve goals. Of course not every NPC will return the goodwill, and of course if the player slights another, it would be expected that the other party or his compatriots would seek revenge for the misdeeds.

I didn't want the story to come across as conflicting. You are correct however in your interpretation of what I called "episodic" stories. Of course there will be an overarching back story, the elements of which would be exposed and elaborated upon as the game progresses, But I don't intend for there to be any "main line story". Survival will be the story and the ultimate goal. I want the game to progress in a way that you or I would experience it if we were to be thrust into this world.

As far as the main character goes, I am not by any means married to the idea of a certain character against another, For the sake of simplicity, I would simply give a gender, age range, and occupational background, leaving elements of ethics, background, personality, morality, and such to the discretion of the player. I don't want the player to feel that there is a certain "personality" that he/she needs to adhere to in order to play the game the way it is intended. Is the player an military vet, an engineer, or a grocery bagger? I would hope that the answer to that question would be irrelevant to the way the player approaches the game.

As far as story specifics go, or specific quests as it were, I really am lacking a solid foundation to build off of in that regard.

Please let me know if I am vague in any of my explanations.

I appreciate the feedback.