I started this week’s activity using my contribution to the weekly premise wiki, which this week called for three bullet points that could serve as the beginning, middle, and end of a story. My contribution was..
- A rider is travelling across a vast desert
- Their vehicle breaks down, stranding them far away from any help
- They scavenge parts in an ancient ruin, and are able to repair their vehicle and be on their way.
I started off by mind-mapping to clarify and expand on my thoughts for the story I could make from this premise, considering some of the questions I was posed in feedback on the premise entry. I’ve been finding the process of making mind maps quite helpful to my idea development. Traditionally I would make notes and write down ideas in some form, but making these notes in a more visual way, and letting ideas grow and connect in a more spatial way, has really been beneficial. (The full mindmap can be viewed in the browser here)
After mind mapping and working out my thoughts, I then developed the premise to include more story beats. I realised that the vehicle breaking down was more of an inciting incident / end of the beginning of the story; and that the true middle of the story would be the process of scavenging parts from the ruins, with the ending being the bike being repaired, and the character continuing on their way.
The resulting plot synopsis is as follows.
- A rider is travelling on their hover-bike through a desert, carrying some precious cargo with them as they return to their small hometown from a larger trading settlement.
- As they traverse the desert, their hover-bike breaks down, stranding them in the desert.
- They inspect the damage to their bike, working out the parts they’d need to repair it
- They scout the area, discovering the ruins of a long abandoned town, and of a military base
- Exploring the town and the base in turn, they manage to scavenge the parts that they need, while avoiding some environmental hazards.
- Returning to their bike, they are able to make the required repairs to their bike, and are able to continue their journey to their hometown.
Through the process of mind mapping, I decided that I wanted to develop this premise to be interactive, rather than just a linear story. I then decided to develop a flowchart to represent the sequence of events from the players point of view. After the intro section with the bike breaking down, the game would be open world, allowing players to explore at their own pace, and in any order that they wish. The player would however have to explore every part of the map to find the components that they need to repair the bike and finish the game.
The theme of this story would be about survival. Set in a post apocalyptic world, the player character has to brave the inhospitable desert environment, and delve into the ruins of the past civilization in order to return safely to their home. As an interactive experience, it would afford the player the opportunity to immerse themselves more deeply into the world of the story. Through the act of exploring, and interacting with objects (with additional commentary from the character) the player would be able to discover much more information about the society the character comes from, and the events that lead to the world being in the state that it’s in.
In terms of setting, the story takes inspiration from the 1984 animated film ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ (trailer here) directed by Hayao Miyazaki (adapted from his manga series of the same name), and the video game ‘My Time at Portia’(trailer here), developed by Pathea Games and released in 2019. Both of these works depict a world that was ravaged by some cataclysmic event, but show a society that has for the most part moved on and is functioning once again; though vestiges of the previous world still exist, and there is still a reliance on a certain amount of reclaimed / repurposed old tech. The setup / inciting incident of the bike breaking down is reminiscent of the horror films The Hills Have Eyes (1977, directed by Wes Craven,) and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, directed by Tobe Hooper) (trailers here and here, CW gore and violence), which both feature their protagonists getting stranded in a remote environment, with no way of escape, and turning into prey for a group of antagonistic cannibals. Obviously I didn’t develop the premise into a horror story, but that was where my initial inspiration for the premise came from. Finally, in terms of gameplay, I was thinking about adventure / puzzle games, which focus on exploring an area, finding clues and objects, and avoiding traps, rather than on action heavy games. An example of this would be the game ‘Broken Sword : The Sleeping Dragon’ (trailer here) developed by Revolution Software and released in 2003. The game focuses on two characters uncovering an ancient occult mystery, and a mysterious cabal that will stop at nothing to achieve ultimate power. Each level typically involves the characters navigating levels, finding useful objects, and using them to solve puzzles, while avoiding hazards in the environment or from the antagonists.
