@zankizuna: No problem there.
@gekiganwing:
Keep that in mind. For instance, you mentioned a corporation called Geotec that has a laboratory that explodes... I'm not sure if I've seen this exact idea in other fiction, but it sounds vaguely familiar.
The sad thing is there are so many zombie stories out there that it is almost impossible nowadays to come up with a unique idea there. The exploding lab could feel familiar from the prototype1 xbox360 game there the outbreak
happened (fully) when a lab was inadvertly destroyed by the protagonist (or from the all flesh must be eaten pen and paper rpg....the gm screen had a similar premise).
As I thought about the storyline I finally told my self what the hell......I'm just going with the classic as a base and I'll make my storyline stand out from the crowd just by the background of the world, the chars and also that it does not solely center on the mall (so far there are only 2 series: "Highschool of the dead" and "The walking dead" that I know of and maybe the upcoming world war Z that don't concentrate on 1-2 locations for the entire film/series/game).
Thus I:
- Put in other supernatural beings (never saw a zombie apocalypse story featuring more than zombies as supernats...fanfictions aside)
- Not only concentrate on one location (the mall), but also let the players fight through an overrun city for at least 1 full chapter.
- Also put in a backstory that goes back a few hundred of years and that not only done as flashbacks but as full playable parts of the game which affects also the present (at least affectionratingwise).
If you have a question there just ask.
Why are vampires and demons also involved? How are they related to the main zombie plot?
I'll split that question into two related parts:
Why are vampires and demons also involved?
As I said I wanted to have supernaturals involved. 2 Types to be exact. One type being created by the other type.
I thought quite hard there and after a few attempts I settled for demons and vampires (the first concept saw
werewolves and vampires but there I had the problem that it reminded me too much of the underworld film series).
So why those two?
- Vampires:
- I wanted to have sort of an intelligent zombie that carries the zombie plague and can infect others with it.
With them I achieved 2 goals of mine: 1.) A sort of zombie that still has feelings. This is important as I wanted the option to be there for NPC to get infected and still be viable for romance options / drama to unfold.
2.) I needed something else than mere normal zombies if I wanted to also include another supernatural species. With vampires I had something powerful and undead AND intelligent. Thus a player must use his intellect to survive and can't rely on pure strength of firepower.
- Demons:
- Demons were a later addition. I KNEW I wanted a second supernatural species, but I had troubles finding an appropriate one. I went from werewolves (sounded too much like the underworld film series) to dragons, but settled finally on demons. With that I achieved two goals. 1.) A scaleable supernatural species that can be used as either PCs or ally to the PCs 2.) I had a species where it wouldn't sound too illogical that they were able to create vampires (half of the vampire films feature pacts with the devil or demons as reason for the vampires existence anyway)
3.) I had a species where PC/NPC could react badly if they got to know WHAT they really are (especially if the PC/NPC is very religious).
4.) With them I had a nice species which could be the (even unwitting cause of all the mayhem to occur)
How are they related to the main zombie plot?
In the world background it is so that demons had the means to make humans immortal.
This "present" was tainted by some humans that envied the immortality of their few chosen brethren.
These envious humans became the first vampires.
Over the course of time (and an inevitable war between them and the demons) the vampires found out that
their "taint" can not only be used to transform others into them (and weakening themselves in the process)
but it can also be used as a plague (by biting someone and willing the taint to go into the victim without
giving him/her the vampires blood as an exmple). With that ability they were able to create walking corpses
which would later be known as zombies. And even had means to control them.
Thus the relation is that the demons unwittingly created the vampires while the vampires created the zombies
(and use them as tools and weapons....although the contagious nature of the zombies is something even they
don't like.....as they can't really feed on walking corpses).
When you have time, let us know more about your characters. Provide a few key details. Maybe some of them are cannon fodder. However, we need to care about who these people are and what they're doing.
Will try to give out the first details either today or tomorrow (had a very long shift at work yesterday and still quite a bit out of it).
This game will require a lot of writing, and even more coding. Do you passionately believe in your story and/or your gameplay? How will you deal with real-world obstacles to writing (concerns with family, friends, money, health, and so on)? How do you plan to stay committed?
I think I'm having a realistic view if I say this creating this game will be a big challenge.
Not only that I'm new to the python programming language, but also the concepts I have are complicated
by themselves (3 PCs between which you can switch with the decisions of one affecting the story of the other,
and also I'm trying to give players the most freedom in regards to decisions). And also there will be much work
involved.
So why do I think I'll be able to manage this?
The reasons are threefold there:
[*]I just LOVE to create things in my sparetime (I write short fanfictions, create RPG sytems and mod existing RPG systems and write web games in my sparetime, and that since over 20 years now).
[*]I'm used to creating long and complex stories (I'm a GM since years with most adventures I gm'd being homemade ones).
[*]I'm used creating complicated programs and algorithms as I'm working as a web application programmer since years now. So I'm used to writing quite a lot and also to solve complex coding problems (although I have to admit
I'm still unused to the python programming language as I'm using other programming languages thus far).
[*]I have experience with big and long going projects (due to my work).
Thus creating the game will be a challenge, but a manageable one and one I'm looking forward to to overcome
I have heard that using roleplaying games (pen-and-paper) can be an excellent way to test an idea. It's apparently a good method for understanding how various characters might act, as well as for finding plot problems and ways to break the game. Thanks for thinking of this.
Hehe I will be honest I never heared of anyone using that method before. I just had it when I ran into fleshing out troubles (details of the storyline and what NPCs to use). I never have these troubles when I gm a RPG (gm for years already in different rpgs). So I came to the solution: "Give up thinking of it like a story or a computer game...think of it like it was a RPG session". And the playing it out part was only the next logical step there^^.
As always if you have other questoins there or want more details just ask.
