Task 2- Creating Story for Games

Week 1- I brainstormed 3 ideas for an opening scene.

The sub-genre is Science Fiction.
The protagonist is a prisoner from a prison ship who is innocent.
the disaster is the ship is on course for a black hole.
The disaster is foreshadowing by in the opening scenes there being clips of a documentary on the worst side of dark holes.

the protagonist is someone who is stranded in space.
The disaster happens halfway through the film where his ship is attacked by an unknown craft and he uses the escape pod but it is knocked off course.
the event is foreshadowing with you seeing clips of the ship trying to troubleshoot problems and you see the errors.

the protagonist is a murderer who is also a space pirate venturing through space.
The disaster is that he gets caught and to escape the prison.
This is foreshadowing by him constantly having dreams about prison life.

The image below shows that the escape pod is in deep space, the bright colour of the ship shows how that there is hope, showing the lightness. This image will help me writing because it shows how confined space will be he has to live in.

Purpose-
We are creating a story fro Star Citizen so that they can sell more to their target audience with a compelling story. Our client is the developers. If we create a good story for the developers then they will be able to sell more copies of the game for the developers. However, if we make a bad story then it will effect the game sales, as well as a possible franchise.

Intellectual property- Is a type of trademark for a franchise/character or game made by the developer. For example, Mario is an IP of Nintendo. The legal implications of the IP is that it means the company such as publisher or developer owns that franchise, which means no third party company without permission can be taken to court and have their game taken from them if they don't follow any specific rules, which happened with Pokemon Uranium,

Franchises are important because they can make more money for the company and bring in a wider audience over the years.

Target Audience-
A target audience is important for a game because it allows the developers to target future DLC and games made by the company to be suited for that audience. Also if the game has a varied audience then they can be adjusted for everyone to have fun on. An example of this is that

Theme- Adventure. The theme is throughout in the location and actions the character does while trying to get to safety. Can meet up with other entities and then you see their adventures. 

The space ship he starts off in is always seen as massive and full of space, usually over exaggerated so that it is a luxury compared to the pod. Then the pod is seen as tiny and cramped when he has to escape, the complete opposite to the ship. 

Sometimes, he lands on hostile planets and explores them, trying to find a planet to live on. 

Backstory- They have been a scientist for a long time on Earth and volunteered to journey across space, finding a planet for the overpopulated Earth. He was always from the city so was used to rough situations and having to make rash decisions, however, he enjoyed exploring abandoned buildings. This influenced his time in space because he wanted to explore the unexplored.

Timeline- 

Beginning: He is in a tranquil ship with his crew and it has much more space than needed. They are notified of an incoming meteor shower but it will cause no problem for them as it shouldn't effect the shield surrounding them. they carry on their lives as normal but the story goes to a mission command where you see a problem with the force field but this is not known by the crew and people on Earth.

Middle-

You see the mission control again but everything is flashing red, indicating that there is a massive problem. As the meteor shower comes over the crew move to an observation deck to look at the spectacle. Then the meteors stop outside of the ship and open fire. This leads to the ship being destroyed and the crew having to escape. All of them but you die along the escape. The rest of the story focuses on you in the escape pod having to get to a ship. 

End- After having some troubles, you arrive at a ship, it is abandoned and you have to try and command it back to earth. Then, similar to one of the final scenes from Alien, you see an alien behind your character as he looks into the mirror. He picks up the electric knife and it ends there.

Alternate ending- He boards a ship full of a crew, and then he stays there for a while, as they take him back to Earth he is told he can't return due to contamination. He then refuses to stay and gets himself into another escape pod after running from the observation deck looking at Earth, this resembles the beginning of the story. When he is in the escape pod, as soon as the anti-gravity kicks in, you see rocks float up and slowly transform. it ends. 

Plot devices:

Revenge will play as an undertone in the game, we find out that Joe wants revenge on the aliens but this also makes him want revenge on anyone who stops him. Revenge is key in films like John Wick where the entire film is built on revenge because he wants to kill the people who killed his dog. My game won't use this aspect of revenge because Joe won't want to kill the aliens in the game because they are too powerful. 

Foreshadowing- You will see a small object at the beginning of the game during the meteor strike, it looks like a capsule, this foreshadows the intended end of the narrative, where you are in the capsule looking out at your ship. Inspired by interstellar where at the beginning of the film the books fall off the shelf, at the end, it reveals it was the protagonist pushing the books off for Morse code. Another film which greatly inspires me for foreshadowing is Green Room where at the start the band are asked  "If you were on a desert island, what band would you stay with?" all but one of the members answer this question, this scene is then repeated before the final section of the film and the same character doesn't answer. In the end, the one character who never answered is the survivor of the group, the desert island referring to life beyond death. I will incorporate this into my work because it is a subtle hint at foreshadowing but it does reveal the entire plot line within in it. 

Red Herring- The aliens will be a red herring because after the incident they will no longer be explored in the game or even encountered, or they could be left on a cliffhanger where they appear periodically. A film that uses a Red Herring is American Psycho, the entire film is believed to be a Red Herring because we never know if Christian Bale had committed the murders in the film due to everyone laughing at him admitting he killed the people, and they all respond with reasons why the victims are not around, for example, Jared Leto being on holiday. Also, at the end there is a book with illustrations of murders, making the audience question if he actually did commit the murders. The reason I want to use a Red Herring because it can make the audience question certain events and usually can then bring more attention to the film, but I wouldn't be able to use the one American Psycho used because all the events in my game actually occur. 

MacGuffin- the main goal is to survive and get back to Earth. This is shown in the first contact with UFOS when they explain they will get Joe home. In the film the Martian, the entire film is focused on Matt Damon surviving on a hostile planet and planning a return home. I can use this in my game because both plots are very similar, where one person is surviving in a hostile environment and trying to return home. However, my plot only differs in the event sequence on how they become lone survivors. In The Martian, it is a storm on Mars separating in from the crew, in my game, it is due to aliens.

Conflict- This is seen between the crew of Titan and Joe when they want him dead after becoming insane from being alone. In many films conflict occurs in some forms, films like John Wick are entirely focused on conflict, but a conflict seen in Alien is more fitting towards my game. This is because in Alien it is an inhabitant of a planet attacking the supply ship. I can use this in various situations in my game, the first being the main attack on the crew from the aliens. The other time is the event I just mentioned, where inhabitants on Titan are hostile towards Joe because he is alien to them.

Time- In the game mechanics this is key, the end of the story is affected by the time it takes to complete certain tasks. Leading to a worse or better ending. Time is key in the franchise Saw, where they are timed to escape the traps if they escape in time they get a good ending with their life but if they lose to time, they get killed, this being the bad ending. I will slightly put this into my game, where time plays as a key feature but I won't include the traps and death aren't the only bad ending. 

Climax- The ending, when Joe goes through the black hole and then he is sent back in time. He sees the events unfold before him. This also links with the foreshadowing. I will leave my ending on a cliffhanger (to be explained next) where you don't know the end or what will happen after. I took inspiration from the film Inception because at the end you don't know if they are still in a dream or not, represented by the spinning top. I will end where Joe vanishes, so you don't know if he has died or just teleported like the aliens did. The only way mine will differ from inception is much like the red Herring, because you know all of the previous events have occurred instead of them being a dream in this situation. 

Cliffhanger- This is where a story ends without an explanation of the event. You won't know whether the character had died or lived for example, much like mine. My cliffhanger will be where Joe disappears and you don't know if he ahs died or not. Cliffhangers are usually used in shows like The Walking Dead season finale, for example at the end of season 6 where Negan is about to kill someone but it ends with him smashing a head, the viewer doesn't get to see who it is though. I will use this at the end of my script, not the story extract, so people are unsure what happens to Joe. 

Breaking the fourth wall- This is seen in certain films and games, Ferris Bueler's Day Off was one of the first films to do this, having the protagonist narrating certain events in the film, and also to tell the viewers of the film to enjoy life with his inspirational quote. Another example is that House Of Cards uses this to narrate his decisions and how other characters will act. The reason for breaking the fourth wall, lets people feel more involved in the film/game because they are being spoken to directly. I will use this to narrate over events and how the character thinks fo certain people, making the audience be more involved in the game.

Story extract-

I clamber around the tight spaces in the pod, the bright orange is slightly visible through the sides of the windows. I am thankful for the wide windows, it makes the pod seem a lot wider than it actually is. Sitting in the back of the pod, I glare at the back of the pod, crates stacked upon crates of supplies. Whatever attacked us back at the ship, was relentless, it didn't care who we were or why we were there. It showed no mercy to us. I am lucky I survived, however, I feel so unlucky that I am stuck here for my last few days. Shuffling, back to my seat, I check the system diagnostics. Oxygen levels at 60%, for me that is enough to last a couple of months out here, which is too long alone for anyone. 

Character-

Joe, protagonist- 

Characteristics- Intelligent, fueled by his split personalities in space and the inevitable fear of death. He is able to strive under pressure though.

UFOS, Guardian- United Federation of Space, these are the people who help you throughout the game and guide you. they are key to the story as they set up main events and are referenced by NPC's frequently. Although, they are mysterious because they remain anonymous to the outside world and to even the workers. 

Sophie, short term sidekick- A girl who is the last to die on your team at the start of the first attack. She is helpful and the medic for your team. During, the fight for your life she helps you recover from certain injuries. She is outgoing and can be sarcastic, lifting the morale of the group. 

Week 3

A film that inspired me is Apollo 18, Alien and Split.

Book- the Martian

Apollo 18 because of the aliens being in the rocks making it unpredictable where they are and when they will attack and Alien for the survival aspect. Also, Apollo 18 has him having to survive in the lunar lander. As well as this the book "the Martian" inspired me because it shows how surviving can be difficult but also as a story doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. Finally, Split inspired me because of the split personality and how significant it is to the film. 

Character backstory- 

Joe- Male, 21. Weight is 150 pounds (10 stone).He looks scrawny and not very well built, making him appear weak to other people and aliens. He has no special abilities, however, you see his split personality come out through the game and it helps him through certain situations, for example, each personality has its own traits. 

He has had no contact with family for a while but he has many friends including his crew mates, which is why he is distraught over their deaths. He has a stable financial situation and has a lot of money stored away for after he comes back from the trip if he comes back. He has been a scientist all of his life, for universities so that lead to his current job.

He is not religious and has never believed in it due to his job.  As well as this he sometimes has a bad temper depending on the personality but has an outgoing attitude and is confident in his work. 

My story has a drastic effect on my character, you see how he develops for survival and how he compares himself to poverty. You see how poverty and sickness are viewed as well as this you see how he feels alienated in a land he does not know very well. The survival he goes through changes how he views life, he becomes more thankful for the gift he has and claims it's not an illness anymore. He is more valuing of his life. 

He has a history of split personality disorder, he has kept this away from the crew but is closely monitored by the crew at home, this helps in his survival as they can see where he goes due to an implant.  

Narrative flow-

My game genre is survival, this effects the story massively, depending on how you make your decisions and how you survive, it affects the ending. Similar to until dawn, it has the butterfly effect, where little decisions affect other decisions. For example, if you choose to eat more food than the ration amounts it can affect your morale. These decisions are similar to how This War Of Mine: The Little Ones uses its mechanics, you will have your hunger meter (as an example) and be given the choice to eat or save as rations but it is completely up to you. However, you can starve to death so you have to carefully choose what to do. When your morale is affected it alters how you act, for example with the personality changes it can usually be controlled by the player but with low morale or another detrimental statistic to your health, it will suddenly change the personality, making certain tasks harder to complete. As well as this along with the way, you will come across abandoned ships so that you can choose to risk your life and adventure onto the ship for supplies and in certain events potentially use the ship to go further;. But all of these actions will affect your mood etc so it can make the game longer by choosing the certain actions and as well as the added risk of venturing onto your own death. Some decisions will be made by the game, forcing your decision and using the "illusion of choice" in a certain aspect, so if you are low on food and hunger you will try and find a ship and explore it. Unless you want to die of course. 

Possible endings- there are multiple endings, three of which are done through the narrative of the game. One end is where you survive and board a ship which is supposedly populated when your board it, you have to try and find the crew. When you reach a certain room, you go in and like the scene in Alien, the aliens appear behind you, unlike the ending of Alien they will kill you and the end of the game is you hearing the screaming as the credits roll. The other ending is where you actually find a crew on the ship, then they give you their escape pod and plot you to Earth, similar to the ending of Apollo 18, rocks float up in the pod and the game ends- another ending leading to death. The third ending is where you board the ship when your morale is low, leaving you in the worst personality. You find the crew sleeping, and take the ship for yourself, killing the crew and saying you found them dead. Then taking the ship to Earth.

The other ending is where you are unable to reach the ship but able to reach a non-populated ship, by the time you try to guide the other ship towards your end objective, you see the same meteor shower that attacked your ship. After some narrative, the conclusion is that you are in a parallel universe, the implant where the crew was able to talk to you through is just the voices in your head, like Interstellar, you are seeing the event unfold before your eyes and unable to have an effect. This ending is decided to form the start of the game, where you are given the choice to look at the meteor shower or an object in the distance, in the distance the object is you. Leading you onto free roam forever lost in space. 

The final ending is where you take too long to get to the ship due to a one off planet exploration you are able to do in the game, the ship goes off in the distance, you are then told you are unable to get back and they have been ordered to cut off communications with you. You are left to free roam now with no story, just exploring space trying to reach Earth or kill the Aliens. 

Below is a storyboard detailing important events in the story of the game.

Extract- 

I have allowed these four white walls to swallow me whole over these past few years, they have seen the real me and all of my emotions. But it's hard for any of us to swallow the walls themselves, the rooms of this ship are immense. Enough room for the average family to be able to live in, and quite frankly way too much room for me to live in. I peer into the hallway, as it drones on forever, the brightest white you would ever see has been painted on these walls. Previously, we had been told the "white" would help relax and calm us, after all, it is the polar opposite to the vast, merciless space waiting just outside of the airlock. But now the white is driving me insane, if I stare at it long enough I can just about see a reflection- not of myself but my former self. Before we boarded this ship we were told of the strain it would have on not just our physical capabilities but our mental endurance. In all honesty, my mental endurance is split across multiple personalities and therefore making me mentally unstable but I'm good enough for the job so they wanted me on the team. After all, my personalities do come in handy sometimes. The downside to all of this is that I'm consistently being monitored; every move, every scratch, every smile is being captured by a small chip inserted into me which then links to the ISS and then links to Houston. It's a long way but it happens in seconds which I can never comprehend. It's like when you draw money out of the ATM, you only press a few buttons but in that space of time, a relay goes from the ATM to a data centre isolated from the public where you have to go through an airlock to get in, and then to your bank. Where a computer decides whether you are able to draw the money out depending on your balance. Then it answers and that relay goes all the way back to the ATM and you get you money. All of that happens in an average of 30 seconds, so quite frankly beaming signals through space is pretty much the same. Except on Earth, you don't get meteor showers every few months which interrupt the signals for a limited time.

I get up from my rustic looking bed, it looks out of place in the room but it makes me feel at home, and I walk towards the mirror, staring at it I see my reflection, my blue eyes are bloodshot and my lips are now chapped. Brown hair is combed over to the side using a limited amount of wax and some water. I force a smile and walk into the wilderness of the cargo ship, hoping to stumble upon a spinning top that will eventually fall, but I never do. The rest of the crew love it up here, they really love it, they always talk about how space makes them feel valuable, that space "makes humans have a purpose because we were granted the opportunity to live in a universe as beautiful as our own." Those are the exact words Andrea said when we were first allowed to use the observation deck, I forgot to introduce you to Andrea the local spiritualist who believes that stones hold the gateway to our souls. I sit down around the round table, I look at the crew and look back into my room. I enjoy the company of them but not as much as I should see as I'm going to be stuck with them for another few years. Glancing over at Andrea, her key features are a crooked nose, far too many wrinkles for her age and a smile which reveals her rotting teeth (as you can tell I don't like her very much). Then there is Chris, he is pretty much the "jock" type guy of the group, he has muscular arms which make him look like a devolved version of the Hulk, short blonde hair and a certain charismatic attitude to everything which attracts all of the ladies. All 3 of them. Sophie, the medic and "undercover" psychiatrist for me, I like her a lot- her blue hair is now fading and uses contact lenses- each day they are different, I am unsure whether I have seen her actual eyes yet or not. Her smile is enough to light up the darkest of rooms and cheer up the loneliest of men. She moves elegantly to the counter and makes herself some breakfast, every action she does is just perfect. She is the definition of perfection. Then I guide my eyes towards, Michelle, she is of Asian descent, she spends her free time watching anime and eating away at the only stock of noodles available. Over time, we have all come closer together, like a family in some ways. I suppose that's expected when you are living with the same people for years.

A couple of hours later.

"So in around 30 minutes there will be a meteor shower passing by, feel free to go to the observation deck and view this spectacle," the voice boomed through the corridors, the white reflecting the noise into vast empty spaces. This meteor shower is something I do not want to miss, so I clamber out of bed and head towards the observation deck. I pick up the speed as time goes on, my quarters are on the other side of the ship and I really don't want to miss this. I make a shortcut past the escape pod area, it gets tighter around here so I have to squeeze between the piping and then I am outside the observation deck, a shortcut which is handy but dangerous, one slip and I could burst the piping. Everyone is already on the deck, staring out, awaiting the spectacle. I sit next to Sophie, she smiles at me and looks out the window. A glimmer catches my eye from the distance, a flashing, similar to a strobe light. I wander over to the glass, press my face against it to try and get as close as I can. "Guys...what is that?" I point at the strobe but it disappears, the light goes dim. Rapidly, these rocks start flying past, the observation deck shakes a little and knocks me off my feet. "Wow, it is beautiful," Chris says softly, he is lost within the asteroids. For a second no one talks, everyone in a trance, today has been a quiet day, I like it this way. Then the asteroids slow down, then stop dead. "What's going on?" Michelle had a sign of anger in her voice.

"I'm not sure, maybe this was all a digital overlay?" I say, reassuringly.

Then, the rocks split open, the firing started. Chris got shot first, the laser piercing through him leaving a hole in him. We all scream, then in the panic, the shooting continues. It all happens so quick. Michelle dies next. Then Andrea. Sophie drops to the floor, her face now contorted from the debris, chest split open, arms cut off and legs bleeding furiously. Helplessly, I stand there, gawping over the dead bodies of my fellow crew wondering what to do. 

This second was an eternity to me.

Natural instinct kicks in and I run out of the observation deck, I look to the left and see the pipes bursting one by one. Those things aren’t shooting anymore. What was happening? Quickly, I run down the never-ending hallways, once painted white, now painted with debris and fire. It does make a change from the white colour though. Sprinting has never felt so good, I mean running away from aliens is a good way to start exercising again. Swiftly, I make my way through the rooms, then the floor starts to crack. You can feel the air pressure change, that impact hits your lungs instantly like a punch. Coldness sweeps through the cafeteria now, I can feel it. I need to get out, the escape pods are located away from me. In the panic, I took a wrong turn and have ended up over here. Then I remember, they kept space resistant suits in every room for safety reasons. I run to the wall and furiously tap my digits in to reveal the suit. Gasping for air, I scurry to get into the suit. Once the helmet clasps on to the rest of it, like roots around a fence. I gasp fresh air. One lung full. Two lungs full. And breath out, Oxygen has never tasted so good.

BANG!

The floor falls beneath me, sending me rolling down towards an abyss of eternal horror, known as space. Tumbling down I try grabbing a flat surface, the sheer thought of dropping out of the ship is enough to make the strongest man tremble at the knees. I roll and roll, then my back hits a pole. I grab onto it with my life, quite literally. It creaks loudly, I can hear it going to give way beneath my fingertips. Before I could react, it snaps, the downwards force sends me flying down to slope like a cannonball. Nothing to grab on to, no ledge, no dent in the floor, not even hope. Elegantly, I slip off the platform, the supports for the floor are no longer with arms reach. Is this the end? It must be, no one can survive this. There was a story of a woman, (whether this is a myth or not is not clear) who was heard from someone who used to listen in on Russia’s radios when they were doing space travel. The radios were never secured back in those days so it was easy to tap into as long as you had the frequency. Anyway, they heard this woman on the radio screaming for help. She had been knocked off course in re-entry and was sent into deep space. After a minute of screaming and crying she was never to be heard again. Maybe I will see her.

I look at the ship, it seems so far away now. I glance over to my right, I see something approaching and approaching fast. This large metallic object isn’t slowing down. I flay my body around, trying to get into some sort of stable position, out in space it’s like you are under water, you have control over your body while floating but not enough to move yourself large distances. Then it hits me, this large object is one of the pods. It hurls towards me but when it hits me I feel no impact at all. Gracefully, I clamber over the pod, latching on to the door and opening it. I force myself inside, these walls are not so spacious. Slamming the door shut, you can hear the rattle of the metal as the air pressure lowers. I take off the suit and lay it on the floor next to me, slouching in my chair I inhale. One lung full. Two lungs full. Exhale. I am thankful for this. Crackling breaks the tranquility, it’s white noise from the radio! I reach for it but then it stops. Was I dreaming?

After waiting a couple of minutes, I hear no white noise. Just silence. I hate the silence now. I find the built-in MP3 player, yes MP3 players are obviously essential to surviving. They say it’s for morale but I think it’s just a gap filler.I turn on the music and David Bowie plays...starman. The irony.

The white noise sounds again drowning out the music. “Hello, anyone there? Anyone receiving.” The voice is loud and clear through the intercom. “Hi, I receive, it’s Joe!” I yell at the top of my lungs in excitement. 

“Joe, ah Joe, I know you, we saw what happened at the cargo ship. We set off the pod to reach you. Are you hurt?”

“No, I am okay, what happened?”

“We don’t know, it was random. It was a first.”

“Oh, I wish you did.”

“We do too Joe, we do too. Well, let’s not wait for death.”

“What are we going to do, who are you?” My voice was sharper this time, probably a bit too sharp.

“We are UFOS, the United Federation Of Space and we are going to get you out of here.”

Log Development:

I used many plot devices in my work, to be able to extend the plot further and reveal certain events which could be followed up later in the game. Even though I haven't included revenge in this extract because this is showing the character develop from shock and fear after the attack. Also, I had used pieces from various media, mainly films because they are a better representation than books are in the visual aspect. As well as this, I tried to break the fourth wall in certain situations but it is difficult in the extract so I had to write it as if I was narrating that scene in my head, this is because it brings the audience in more and makes them feel more involved as they are being recognised in the film as an actual human rather than someone peering over the situations. I could improve by trying to capture certain interactions with characters more, making Joe feel more like a human rather than a nobody, however having Joe act like this leaves more room for character development later on in the game. I could also try to use books as a form of media for inspiration for certain parts of the extract.