So I’ve been working on a story the last couple of weekends. Its set in a future where there are human colonies and interspecies politics and all that.
What I had in mind was a story in which you serve as a platoon leader in the future. The story is character driven and events play out, not as a result of your own own strength accuracy etc but instead as a result of your subordinates. You spend a significant amount of time training your soldiers and making decisions about training priorities and equipment allocation.
I’ve enjoyed playing through choice of games before but I’ve never liked how, I dunno if I can use the term unrealistic when referring to science fiction and fantasy games, most of the choices feel. I want to play a story where you wrestle with the decisions and constraints real combat leaders face. I’ve put a lot of time into it so far but I’m concerned that it may not have much appeal to a real audience since it isn’t super hero/ zombie/romance centric and just wanted to see if anyone is interested before I keep investing time in it. Any thoughts help. Thanks!
I personally like your idea, though I have a few questions
-Will there be politics?
-Will there romance, and if so, political, love, or both?
Will you be able to be promoted/ rise to government jobs, etc?
-How far in the future will the game be set?
-How long will the game be?
-What type of governments will there be?
-What races will they be?
Sorry for all the questions, but I am really interested in this game.
Oh, almost forgot, will it be a dystopian?
Sci-fi is one of the more popular generas, so i wouldn’t worry about that.
Also small squad, story heavy games like Mass Effect and Dragon age are very popular, which isn’t exactly the same thing, but worth looking at.
The devil is in the details. How big is the platoon? Does the player get a chance to care about each character, or are there too many interchangeable faces? Is managing a platoon complicated or confusing, or does the player have a good chance to understand how their choices effect the outcomes?
In other words, it is all about how well you implement the subject you describe.
Well I see the game being as close to reality as it can be. The story will most likely take place over a series of months but no more than a year. I’ve spent a huge amount of time building the task and organization and rank structures for both the army and the navy as well as the different ship classes, types, and ground combat vehicles. The government and politics play a role as well. I don’t plan on having you make any decisions that affect politics, or organizations but I can’t imagine being a platoon leader without having to frame missions and training requirements in conversations with soldiers.
I furthermore feel like having all of this estabilished will make the story more immursive. The alien races i haven’t worked out yet, but the government is much like I would expect the future government to be…it isn’t perfect by any means but because Humanity has so much at stake the government exists to represent all human interest in the galaxy and not as some self serving or evil empire.
In the story you don’t get promoted, rise to different jobs or romance anyone. You begin with your introduction to your commanding officer, and then progress through a training cycle during which you talk to, get to know, and develop your squad leaders and team leaders. When your platoon eventually sees combat, decisions you make include who to send where as well as tactics used. Sending the right soldiers, with the right equipment to do the right job will dictate casualties and outcomes.
You will not get to know all of your soldiers, as you will have around 50, but all of your squad leaders and platoon sergeant will be developed in such a way as to have unique personalties, interestes, and of course strengths and weaknesses.
Managing a platoon is not complicated, your commander as well as the soldiers you lead will all advise and mentor you as you go, but ultimately its your decisions. There is no “right” answer in many situations, but if you don’t pay attention to what people are telling you, or you fail to look into why certain situations played out a certain way, (ie did the squad leader hesitate at a critical point or take initiative that effected the outcome, or did their previous expenditure of ammo result in an inability to provide a sufficient base of fire etc…) you will lose the soldiers that had trusted you to lead them.
I guess what i’m worried about is people may prefer the more immediete result of “dart from cover while shooting from the hip!” as opposed to deciding if its worth risking your favorite charcter with a dangerous assault as opposed to risking the mission for a more deliberate approach
I agree with eleazzar. Games specifically made to be political or controlling a group are very detail heavy, as politics in real life are the same way. Also, I tend to like the “shoot from the hip” kind of games, but I appreciate and love the games that put real weight on the details and technicalities, and that make you think.
Wow, I keep on having to edit this. Um, from what you are saying out seems like humanity has kind of stayed the same, so I have to ask how far humanity has gotten.
I like your idea, and will be looking forward to the future demo.
Like previous posters, I have one main question since you keep talking about choices.
Will the game play out differently, if you purposely run your platoon into the ground (or if you’re just a terrible first time commander)? Are you high enough rank that you would somehow be able to get away with it, and stay in the platoon? Especially since you have said that the future government represents humanity as a whole. Just wondering.
Thanks! so far all I’ve done is the background codex type work. I’ve just begun putting together the first chapter. At what stage does it make sense to actually post a demo?
I like the sound of this idea and wish you good luck with it.
Regarding when to put out a demo, I’d personally say as soon as possible. It would give people a chance to offer feedback and constructive criticism from the word go, which could help quite a bit. Then again, if you’d rather delay releasing a demo until there’s a bit of meat on it, then that’s your right as the author. Either way I wish you the best of luck with this project.
