Never End (WIP)

science-fiction
gender-choice
#1

04/06/18: Updated information on the progress. I’ll post a demo for the game once I’m done with the Meeting Freemen, to be honest, the final demo will end before the Side Choosing.
11/26/17: Hi again, it’s me, just redoing the old Young Forever thread into something new after I reworked many kinks out of the old concepts.

I have a lot to work on for this, but since it’s bumped up suddenly, I figured it’s time to fix things. Thread still under construction etc. I haven’t gotten time to proofread or edit anything so I’m really sorry for any errors spotted

INFORMATION

Inspired by various game titles like Last of Us, Fallout, Borderlands, and other sources like Mad Max and most importantly, Neverland. The story takes in a post apocalyptic world, surrounding the land named Neverland.

The civilization is nothing but a remnant of what was and a reminder of what will never be. There’s nothing left from our societies except the people who have no recollection of what comes before them. Corruption in the ground spreads wild and far beyond our reach. With hundreds years of growth, changes were impaled into our guts and our bones. The air we breathe is different from the one in the past, the water we now drink would hurt us years ago.

We now live in the time of never ending changes, when everything is a war for survival. And here in Neverland, everywhere is a battlefield, the only question is which side are you on?

Summary

Either you have the devil’s luck or misfortune for ending up in the midst of the war between factions that claim over the vast grounds of Neverland. Now with the tension rising high between the two major forces in the upcoming battle, it’s impossible to not get pulled in but you can try. Though more than anyone, you know safety is guaranteed in number and without somebody to watch your back, death is a promise that’ll be delivered.

After losing most of your family in an attack by lawless robbers, you scramble to find safe haven with one of your oldest friend with with to live in order to fighter another day. But you aren’t optimistic, and your entire world crumbles after the worst of accidents come for you. What would appear to be a slow death brings you to a turning page in your life when you get rescued by Peter, the leader of the Freemen. With the promise of a new roof over your head and food for your stomach, you decide to pledge your service to his force at least until you find a new home, or maybe you will find your place among his people.

Though, that would also mean you have put yourself as a pawn into this upcoming war between the two strongest forces of Neverland, and it’s in your hands whether you will remain a pawn, or fight against the odds to claim the power for yourself. Whether it’s for the metropolitan Freemen fighting for a new civilization or with the traditionalist Blackmarsh Merc fighting for the revival of the Empire, every choices will matter in the course to reshape the world around world.

Characters

Protagonist

  • Customisable, though protagonist has a fairly established background, other things are up for the player’s decision.

Freemen Forces

  • Peter ( Codename: Pan ) - Leader of the Freemen: Charming and charismatic, he has everything it takes to be the leader of the idealistic Freemen. Despite his past being shrouded in mystery and his cunning, Peter remains one of the most beloved and revered figurehead at this side of Neverland.

  • Isabel ( Codename: Tinker ) - Second-in-command of the Freemen: The no-nonsense general of the Freemen, she’s often frustrated over how lax and laid-back Peter is sometimes. Regardless of her enmity towards their leader, it’s undeniable how much she cares for the people and her unwavering loyalty for them.

Blackmarsh Forces

  • James Malik ( Codename: Hook ) - Leader of the Blackmarsh Mercenary: The feared and respected leader of the Blackmarsh Mercs. Despite his imposing stature and intimidating attitude, what’s truly remarkable about him is how he roused most of the mercenaries and outlaws on the wild land to follow him without question in less than two years.

  • Horatio Schmidt ( Codename: Schmidt ) - Second-in-command of the Blackmarsh Mercenary: Brotherly to his men and utterly warm and caring to others, most would be surprised to hear that Horatio played a large role in helping James taking over their old merc company before helping him becoming one of the most feared name on the wasteland.

Wildfire Dwellers

  • Lilian North ( Codename: Tigerlily ) - Leader of the Wildfire: Lilian does her best to keep her people outside of the conflicts, only wanting to focus on the peace at her side of the land. But she also knows better than everyone that the land is unforgiving, and it won’t be long until she can’t no longer remain neutral about the fights on-going once it comes to her door.

  • Gwendolyn Jones ( Codename: Darling ) - Member of the Wildfire: After losing most of her family to the different sides of the war, Gwen decided she had just about enough and found safe harbour among the people of Wildfire. Though, even with the soft and gentle nature she adopted after leaving the war, it’s undeniable there’s still a lot of anger inside her, waiting to catch fire.

Are there more? Yes, but if I have to name every possible characters, we’ll be here all day. These are just the love interests and the characters who play a large role in the story.

Plans
  • Romance options based original Neverland cast, albeit severely different in their characteristics but retain many points of their source of inspiration. (Hook, Peter, Smee, Tigerlily, Wendy, Tinkerbell, some of them will be known under different names in game)
  • Two forces to ally yourself with bring on different storylines, I’ll try my best to not repeat FE:Fates’s mistake sweats. You can either choose to be a member of the Blackmarsh or the Freemen, fighting for what you believe in and earning the loyalties of those who fought with you.
  • Three different roles to choose from: soldier, scout, tactician to bring up different ways to deal with the missions. I have yet to tackled this deeply but it should give the players different position in a mission, after the first mission that is.
  • Character-focused plot because that’s the kind of writer I am sweats, a lot of this will be relationship drama next to war storyline, who you choose to ally with impact the relationships around you.
Challenges
  • Because of the unfamiliar settings compare to what I usually write, the length and the time consuming tasks to write this, it will probably take a while for the story to be finished. I’ll try to update often to stay on tracks but I’m still busy with a lot of things
  • Will this be the only book? Probably not, the war began just some short time ago, and I already have the ending in mind for this one. There are definitely more to come with this. This is a project I plan to stick with in the long haul regardless of what will happen.

PROGRESS

I’m currently rewriting the prologue, most of what I have finished isn’t written from protagonist’s POV but it should give an idea about what’s going before the protagonist was born. I will post a demo without any stat element once the premise is done, and then another to wrap up the entire beginning before you meet any of the forces. So, my plan is:

  • Prologue (Past) - Prologue (Present) - Meeting the Freemen - First Mission - Meeting the Blackmarsh - Side Choosing - TBD
#2
  1. I think the premise is very well done.
  2. I love a more story-heavy gameplay.
  3. I would probably play both so…
  4. I’m horrible at this.
  5. Yes I would if you want to put it in.
#3

I like the premise so far although I’m interested to hear more world building
Obviously a good balance is ideal but if it came down to it I’d favor story
I like being evil so Deathseeker’s for my first playthrough but I’d probably do both
The Dusters, The Broken Brotherhood, Sons of the End
I’m always up for a good romance story but if you feel it doesn’t work don’t try to force it in cause it will backfire

Questions: Can we take over Neverland as one of the endings?
What level of technology will we have?
Most importantly, can we get a badass vehicle ala Mad Max?

#4

1 premise sounds great
2story
3 Hook! Hook! Hook!
4 freebooters or Marauders for hook cant think of any for peter
5 unrepentant pirate/deathseeker captain (loot pillage burn etc.)
6 what tech level are we at?
will their be blimps/dirigibles aka sky ships?
can their be blimps/dirigibles aka sky ships?
can we loot pillage and burn?

#5

I. Am. SO. EXCITED!! A Neverland story? Omg and with a twist no less!

The premise sounds lovely, but so far it is just that. A premise. As such, I am unable to answer your question on whether I would side with Hook’s crew, the Deathseekers, or Peter’s squad, the Somnambulist. Peter could have saved me out of the goodness of his heart or possibly had some ulterior motive. Me paying him back could be because I am grateful or because it’s like a situation like Walking Dead and I’m Beth at the hospital, he “helped” me but now I have to work off and repay his kindness. My debt keeps adding up with every bite of food I take to eat making it take even longer to “pay him back”. Hook could in turn be a way that I could get revenge on Peter, I could sympathize with whatever I find out that his goals are, he could offer me more rewards/wealth for staying with him, I could even find him or one of his crew to be hella hot. There’s also the possibility that I’m torn between both and don’t want to choose (unless you force me as the all mighty author-god). I could even grow to hate both of them and this stupid war and not want anything to do with either of them.

As for whether I’m more interested in stat or story heavy gameplay, I believe that the best games are a mixture of both. If I had to choose though, I would pick story-heavy because compelling stories are what draw me into any game. Careful though, neglect character stats too much, whether they are hidden or viewable from the stats screen, and it just becomes a lovely story with branching paths but very little character build up. Kinda like those choose your own adventure horror games like some of the old goosebumps books or the newer video game Until Dawn.

And I’m also bad with names as well. Maybe more of a description of each side and their characteristics and way of life would help?

A question for you though. The name Deathseekers seems pretty self explanatory, but Somnambulist means something like dreaming or sleepwalking if I recall correctly so why that name instead of calling it the Dreamers or Sleep Walkers or whatever?

#6

I actually intended to put in more lore information but l feel like it would be a long rant so I cut up to recent events, but I’ll definitely release more world building details when the time comes, some would be about biology and others would be more about the people, though I can always dump more non-spoiler history events!

And worry not, I’m a huge sucker for well-developed romance. I basically just love Bioware since forever ago, I won’t neglect romance part or let it develop awkwardly :9

As for whether we can take over Neverland in the ending or not, I wonder, can we? I’m planning for the story to be long so the war would drag on at least until the third game with a mild pause in the second one. I think too far ahead, I know :9

The civilization when it ended was at a level where technology and medical reaches a peak point in history, some had developed far into the future but most had been lost with time. So, we would have weapons and medical in a slightly higher level than modern world, about a century in the future but not enough passable facilities and resources to make it reach its full potential. Woops, ranting, does that answer your question? And yes, there will be rad vehicles, just not ones you stand on and play guitar. There’s a scene in-game where you fight on cars, it’s also a crucial point of the game winks

I just answered the first question above. And, no, sadly no sky ship, post-apocalyptic settings sadly doesn’t allow us to own all the swaggers and live the pirate life. And unfortunately, they are mercenaries, not pirates. But I’m glad this caught your interest! Worry not, Hook’s side is as good as Peter’s side :v Health-insurance-wise that is.

It seems like we have a cynic! I just love having doubters when it comes to story. I definitely can’t answer any of your question yet, aside from the fact that Peter doesn’t have any ulterior motive when he takes the main character in.

Working is entirely player’s choice in this situation, motive can be any but I have use a general one in the description. Peter saved many people in his time, main character could’ve been another fortunate soul that was lucky enough to get his help. But yeah, you might stay because of how hot Hook’s crew is considering Smee’s face claim is Alejandro Corzo. Of course you’ll have to choose wiggle waggle, and pray that you will find the heart to like both sides because I love all of my characters, even the insufferable rude child. I’ll try my best to balance out both aspects of the game, I still need to plan which stat is needed first, hmm.

I’ll add more information on both sides when I have time to make the next update :> And introducing the characters as well, there will be eight love interests overall with some…restrictions.

I’m going to be honest, I picked up Somnambulist because it sounds eerie and dreamy and all that kind of things and I saw it once on this one headcanon about Tim Drake and I thought it sounds hella nice.

#7

Maybe a less fancy way of describing the story please? I got tired of the mass of adjectives and didn’t read much into the second paragraph.

#8

I don’t think I use that much adjectives, more like the writing is a bit rambly because I haven’t gotten a chance to edit the text. As I said at the beginning, I’ll clean up the writing up later, along with the updates when I have the chance <:

#9

Ooo, I’m really liking this! I personally prefer story over stats. I can’t wait to see where you go with this!

Srs question: will we be able to romance Hook and/or Peter?

#10

Thank you! I will see to it that stat will matter a lot in the story but not overly important that it would smack you left and right if you do something wrong.

And as for the serious question, yes, you’ll be able to romance Hook ans Peter. This also depends on which side you took of course, there eight love interests overall, which is ambitious to say the least, and four for each sides. You’ll know who they are when I update but I think it should be easy to guess!

#11

I like the idea. My only question is this: Is Hook a “bad guy”? Would i be given a good reason to want to side with him?

Oh. A trilogy. Cool.

But Pirates! The Jolly Roger! NOOO!!!

Oh…aw man.

Ugh. A goody two shoes.

I retract my previous inquiry of having a good reason to side with Hook. With the alternative being THAT, I have reason enough.

#Tali Zorah!

######You brought up Bioware and romance, so i couldn’t resist bringing up my favorite.

Huh. I have an idea for a Neverland story that would tie into another idea i have for a wonderland story.

If i ever get around to those (sometime after Waking Dreams), then I bet you’d be happy.

#12

Considering that I am a HUGE Alice in Wonderland fan and love it more that any other work of fictional literature, I can say that I will be thrilled at any mention of Wonderland.

And I romanced Garrus btw. Turian space cowboys are hot.

#13

Sounds really interesting can’t wait

#14

What do you think of the premise so far? As long as I get to fly with Tinkerbell I’m fine with it lol. But in all seriousness I think it’s good. It might just be me but I became a bit bored by the history dump you were giving us in the setting, but that just might be me.

Would you be more interested in stat-heavy or story-heavy gameplay? Story heavy since I rarely care about stats, if I’m gonna mess it all up then I’m gonna mess it up in the most honest way possible.

Will you side with the Deathseekers or the Somnambulist if given a choice? Ugh don’t give me that choice! Bad guys rule but you’re asking me to go against Peter!

Do you have any suggestion for the name of the sides? I was actually wondering if you were going to keep those names. I don’t know how heavy you are trying to go into the Neverland theme but those seemed pretty out there to me. Perhaps try checking out this link, they help me a lot especially with things such as this. http://fantasynamegenerators.com/

Would you enjoy Romance subplots provide that there are personal quests for romance interests? Hmm, I don’t know. If they feel like they’re just there to be there, then I’d probably can do without. But if they actually would affect gameplay and actually be developed and cool to go after, then sure.

But great job so far, can’t wait to see where you go with this. Love the title of the WIP!

#15

I don’t know. It depends on if you’re sympathetic with his cause or not, because when you pick a side, the leader of the other side might as well be your bad guy. But I believe there’ll be a good reason to side with him, and as far the trilogy thing, it’s just an idea. I have no plan to work on the second one if I have no time for it, I have other game projects that keep me busy well into 2018. They’re only ideas for now, really <:

Whether Peter is actually goody-two-shoes or not, it’s up for you to decide. Who knows, people are always ready to surprise you in Neverland! And aye, Talimancers, I would say my favourite are Miranda and Thane if I didn’t end up romancing Garrus or Tali everytime.

I don’t think this ‘Tinker Belle’ can fly, at least not without an aircraft, I suppose!

Uh, oh, I suppose the choice is unavoidable. There are consequences to your actions so even if you had high affinity with Peter before you left, it would’t stop him looking at you differently if you betray him (:

I’ll see to it so that the romance subplot will matter if you choose to do them but they won’t affect the gameplay heavily if you don’t. I’ll clean up the text later as I said before <: Thank you for your kind words!

#16

Thank YOU for making a Neverland game.

I tried romancing Thane but then someone told me that, no, He doesn’t miraculously get better and its going to break your heart for the rest of the series. I couldn’t do it so I ended up watching all of his scenes on youtube. I don’t think I’ve ever cried so badly for a game.

#19

Hi again!

So I put aside a bit of time to fix the original post and update it with new information about everything. Hopefully I will have more time to work on it next year, I’m really excited to show the demo to everyone!

Hope you guys are having a nice weekend!

EDIT: I realised it has been a year since I first posted this, yay for anniversary and hope the next one will be much earlier than this :heart:

#20

Oh, look, an update, months later as well. How unsurprising. I’m currently at the meeting with Freemen, progress is slow because of freelance works and game works but I’m still moving things along for Never End.

Meanwhile, has old draft of Peter’s meeting scene because I’m going to rewrite this, again.

petey pete pete

Isabel gives you one last asserting stare before leaving, slamming the metal door shut between the two of you upon her exit. Your shoulders jolt up in the surprise of her action, and maybe, in fear. Though, the initial shock wears off when something else in the room catches your eyes, someone else to be specific.

Despite the loud ruckus Isabel made as she left, the person doesn’t care one bit about it. If anything, they are lost in their own little world where they sit on the large windowsill, ignoring your intruding presence in the room. If what Isabel said earlier is right, then this must be Peter, the person in command. Honestly, you don’t know what to expect from him, but you didn’t envision him as someone so young.

Too young, in fact, even with the slow aging mutation of the wasteland. You have heard stories about the Freemen, knowing from tales and rumors that their leader has been with them since their establishment many decades ago. But this person here doesn’t look like a living legend, if anything, he looks very much like a normal young man, albeit a pretty one.

He’s not a year above twenty if his appearance is anything to go by. Traces of youth remaining on his cheekbones and the gentle curves of his mouth. Soft and boyish, it’s impossible to ignore the dash of freckles on his nose when the light hits his face.

There’s something curious about the way he focuses on the pocket knife, it’s almost apathetic and lackadaisical. He tosses the knife up and snatches it midair with practiced ease, though despite how easy he makes it look, you reckon that you cannot do the same without risking a few injuries. It’s almost mesmerizing to watch him, something about the relaxed posture or how calming he looks right now freeze you where you stand as if you don’t want to disturb his little peace.

But then he stops, holding the knife where he catches it last, the intense focus fixed on the knife darkens his eyes when he presses his thumb to the blunt side. Harder, and harder, till his flesh meets the edge and you see trickles of blood running down from the knife’s handle.

You are familiar with blood, it’s difficult not to get used to the sight after a while when you have to survive in a place like this. But never in your life, have you ever seen someone intentionally hurt themselves in such a manner. You shudder at the thought, cringing at the sight in front of you but your eyes remain watching with difficulty. It’s almost like you can’t look away.

“Hmm.” He hums, sounding almost too disinterested in his wound to get any sensation of pain from it. Normally, you would expect at least a grunt or a grimace, but there’s no sign of reaction from him. And it’s almost…scary. Regardless of whatever you think about his actions, it’s easy to say you have more or less of an idea about what kind of person he is.

Though, that doesn’t change the fact he was the person who summoned you here and wanted to meet you. And you will never know what he wants if you continue to stand to watch like an idiot.

–

Calls out. “Excuse me.”

It appears that you have caught his attention because he stops pressing his thumb further into the blade but not quite removing it. He makes no show of hiding his sigh before turning over to you, slightest of smile curves his lips when you enter his sight. Peter cocks his head to the side with a raised eyebrow, examining you from head to toes before his eyes stop at your neck area for the smallest of second before locking his gaze with yours.

”Nice blade you got there.”

“Thanks, it’s a gift.” He doesn’t stop what he’s doing, and it only gets you even more curious when a flash of a smile shows up on his lips.

The sight of the brief display of emotion urges you to continue with your questions, hoping to get a better idea of his character. “From who?”

His smile is visible again, this time it remains longer and shows a visible sense of enigma. “From somebody.”

“From somebody?” You ask.

“From somebody dead.” He muses, there’s a hint of nostalgia in his eyes before he turns to look at you with smug confidence. It’s triumphant, you tell yourself, and it unnerves you. Doesn’t help that it appears in the next moment, his eyes scan over you quickly in examination before he locks your gaze into his.

“What are you doing?”

“Testing.” He replies, short and abrupt. His answer only gives you more questions, in contrary to what you hoped for. You almost dare yourself to continue with your questioning, but somehow, you have an idea that no matter how much you asked, you’ll only be more confused. So you wait for him to stop, and eventually, he does. With his thumb remains where it was, he turns to look at you with his head tilts backward, amusement sparks in his eyes.

–

“Well, hey there.” He greets you with a warm smile, acknowledging you truly for the first time since you entered the room. Peter throws his other leg down to the ground before tossing his knife on to the counter nearby before wiping his wounded thumb with a blood-stained rag. You barely get an idea of what’s going on before he extends his uninjured hand toward you. “You must be {playername}. My name’s Peter, I was the one who summoned you.”

“And saved me. So, thank you for that.” You accept his handshake with mild reluctance, though he doesn’t appear to be an ounce of offended by your hesitation. If anything, he only looks more amused.

“You’re welcome.” His previous smile widens by a fraction, there’s a glint of mischief in his eyes when he says that. And for some reason, you have the feeling you are now indebted to something very wrong. But Peter shows no further indication of your doubt when he turns away to approach his work desk, surprisingly messy compared to the rest of his quarter. Now that you finally have a look at it, it appears that Peter has very little personal belongings for someone who has been living as long as you speculated.

Though, you don’t get much of a chance to dwell on that before he interrupts your train of thoughts. “I assume you’re curious as to why I called you here?”

Time for me to be gone again, woosh.