After discussions about a community game here:
And the subject re-approached here:
I am now in a position where I am ready and have time to start work on a space epic game provisionally called ‘Colonising Kepler 62e’.
There are 4 parts to the game:
Part one is on a need to know basis and I can’t talk about that here. For now, you will have to make do with a short introduction:
Red and blue sped through the moonless night. The siren wailed and the sea of metal parted allowing a way through. Inside the white cage, mother screamed with pain. Father sat numb and helpless. The paramedics worked tirelessly to prevent the bleeding. It was all in vain. Before the journey was complete, mother was dead. Father began to sob, but the paramedics kept going. Then, the sound of new life filled the speeding vessel. You were born.
Your birth was forever marked by the death of your mother, something your father could never forgive you for. However, the date in history is remembered for a much more important reason. It was the day that Earth became mortal.
“Hit me.” Says Jonas, holding his cards just below the rim of his glasses. Mary flips the top card from the deck towards her older brother. A Queen.
“Damn it. I’m bust. Every time…” Curses Jonas, throwing his cards down in frustration.
“Lady luck strikes again.” Smiles Mary, picking up the cards. Her smile revealing wrinkles between the bridge of her nose. Before she can deal again, an old man enters the common area.
“J, Mary. We’ve got something.” He says, a mixture of excitement and panic in his voice. The two scientists leave their card game and walk with their father to the observatory.
“What does it look like, dad?” Asks Mary, a 39 year-old astro-physics graduate from Cambridge.
“If I’m not mistaken, it’s the big one. Early assessment suggests a bulls-eye.” Replies her father, and former university lecturer. Jonas and Mary look at each other instinctively.
“Collision course?” Asks Jonas, himself a graduate from Oxford, something he is sure his father has always resented.
“That’s what I said. Take a look for yourself.” Replies dad, malice in his voice only detected by Jonas.
The three scientists reach the observatory and head to the central computer terminal, a set-up of sixteen monitors in a 4x4 grid, each displaying information and observations on various star systems. Jonas instantly spots the rogue monitor.
“Oh, my God. Is that… Is that it?” He asks. His dad nods, staring at the monitor as if looking at it for the first time. Mary starts typing keys and the giant telescope positioned behind the monitors stirs into motion.
“It’s real Mary. Looking won’t make a difference.” Sighs dad. Still, Mary presses on and looks through the lens of the large machine. After a moment, her eyes focus on an object millions of miles away. It looks like a large speck on the screen. She gasps.
“Let me see it.” Says Jonas, lightly pressing his sister’s shoulder. She moves aside for her brother to look.
“Jesus, it’s really there.” He exclaims. “That asteroid is going to destroy humanity.”
The rest is outlined here:
Part two:
In the year 2115 an asteroid is discovered to be on a collision course with Earth. The bad news is that the size of the asteroid will almost certainly wipe out all life on the planet. The good news is that there are 25 years until it hits. As the aid to the leader of your nation, you have decided to build a spaceship and send a group of humans to the only discovered habitable planet Kepler 62e. You must design, build and populate your ship. You must deal with other nations, terrorists, and protests. You must face many difficult questions: How will you decide who goes on the ship? How big will you aim to make it? When will you launch?
Part three:
Once the ship is in space, there will be no turning back. Depending on your choice of cryogenics or a sustainable ecosystem, you will have different challenges to face in space. With most people frozen most of the time, using cryogenics is an easy option. But maintaining the stasis still takes considerable effort. How will you deal with the many problems that can occur? Keeping everyone awake is definitely friendlier. Generation after generation of humans will live and die on the spaceship. However, what will you do to keep the population rate at an acceptable level? How can you cope with cliques between the generations? How can you maintain the quality of the ship for thousands of years?
Part four:
So you have built a ship and travelled across the stars to reach your new home. Well, the holiday’s over and the real work now begins! You need to organise everyone and create a new home on Kepler 62e. How will you prioritise different parts of the city? Will you focus on defences or life support? How will you react to the flora and fauna of this planet? How will you greet your neighbours…?
This game will take a long time to create. The four parts each need a lot of dedication and hard-work to make them successful, however they can all be written independently. I think we need many people to create this.
A head writer or two: Part one and part two will need a dedicated writer each. Part one will be mostly story based and good writing will be needed to reflect this. Part two will be easier to write, but is more complex as there are many outcomes. It would suit a creative writer.
Smaller module writers: People with some experience who can create good dialogue between characters and good descriptive language. A basic understanding of choicescript is important. This will be for part three and four of the story. Each writer needs to pitch a description of the spaceship and how life will be continued upon it.
A coder or two: Someone who knows choicescript and can be creative with the language. We’re going to have to keep track of a lot of variables with this game. Part two will be the most complex as the outcomes from the choices here will determine everything else.
An artist: A game like this would be incomplete without solid visuals to back it up: A large variety of different faces / torsos, imaginative spaceship internal designs, and landscapes.
A director. To coordinate the project and help with the creative process and coding where they can. They will be the builder, taking the code created by each member and putting it all together.
I will take the director role. I will also aid all writers over their portion of the story.
Specific writers/coders who I would like to hear from, whether to work or just suggestions, are:
@Reaperoa @JimD @Nocturnal_Stillness @Samuel_H_Young @CJW @Lordirishdas @Lucid @Cataphrak
For everyone else, if you are interested in working on this project, please post here.
though I agree that the beginning is cliche, that’s the only thing I think needs to be changed so far, and that’s okay because this is a pre-beta.