Story, What would happen if...

[Irishflyboy254]

An opening!

Reopens back in the Osprey. A flash of light comes to your front left, and you see the G-Man walk through.

G-Man- Well...Cpl Sssshephard. I must admit...it wasss not easssy to find a ssssuitable place for your...ssservices. And yet, here we are...Your objective is sssimple. Cause as much chaossss as possible. Asss a member of the Marinesss...well, letss jusst say the enemy should be thankful there aren't two of you... (G-Man starts to fade) So, be ready Cpl...for a new kind of war... (Bright flash of light)

Player finds himself in a wrecked Osprey, filled with bodies. He starts with a knife, a pistol with two mags, and an M4 carbine with a mag and a half. Starting out, the player sees a barren wasteland, devoid of most life. Starting forward, he hears a noise from above. Lokking around, (hopefully) they see another Osprey flying along, but not stopping. Looking towards the ground, he sees a small farmhouse. Inside are three headcrabs, a houndeye, and a four barnacles hanging from the barn doors.

So, what do you think?

[ijgs]

Moved this topic to the developer's section - we want to keep most of the story under wraps - otherwise what's the point?! You're a developer now irishflyboy - post concept stuff here mate!

As to the concept presented, I've always felt that the opening to this story should establish several facts:
1) there's monsters in them thar hills; it's several months (about 6-7 if I remember correctly) after the RC at Black Mesa, plenty of time for lots of Xen fauna to cause the mass exodus from the countryside to the cities - the cities are where it's all at - there may be some countryside exploration, but we should be in a cityscape to begin with
2) it's all just about to kick off; like about 20 seconds after you get to start exploring your immediate vicinity. The seven hour war is kind of the major plot point in this mod, so let's start with a momentary lull, and then a mahoosive bang!
3) you ain't got nothin'; it's a half life staple that you start off with nothing, appear to be in some danger, and then get a melee weapon - it's a good model and if it isn't broken, why fix it?!
4) despite appearances, you're not in any significant personal danger... yet; you may well come across some xen fauna in a couple of minutes, say after the big introductory awesomeness, but for now you don't actually need to be fighting little critters.

That said, I quite like the idea of starting in the osprey for the G-Man speech, it establishes your military background, it can easily fade out/morph into a cityscape. Just my $0. 05 though, feel free to discuss!

[Irishflyboy254]

Sorry, man. Remember, I'm still getting into the groove.

Okay, so, you're still in the Osprey...hm. Can we keep the abandoned farmhouse? Seems like a good place to grab a wrench, then beat the crap out of some head humpers. Maybe a little further in you can find a glock or something like that.

I still think there might be some idiots who were either left behind or stayed due to pure idiocy, though. Have you ever heard of the one man who stayed in his house when Mt. St. Helens erupted?

Lets rework this, but keeping the G-Man sequence.

Player wakes up in an Osprey. Lookin around, he can't find anything. Slowly leaving the craft, the player sees a wall of trees behind the Osprey, and a dirt path in front. Slowly following the path, the player hears only birds far away. Then, a headcrab sounds off and leaps out of the bushes. Running away, the player finds an abandoned farmhouse. Looking around inside, all you find are two human corpses and a wrench.

So far, so good?

[ijgs]

I'll refer you to this thread, ignore my mini-rant in the last post - I was having a bad day!

However, I feel that something a bit epic along the lines of my posts (which I'm told is doable) would grab the player by the balls.... of course, I would think that as I wrote it, but still...

take a look and let me know what you think.

[Irishflyboy254]

Don't sweat it. Well, I do like the Gordon-Barney encounter, but maybe we could have it be Shephards D.I. instead? That way, we don't have to make up some kind of random character history. Also, maybe the aid station could be found during the fighting, and you have to defend it, similar to how you need to save yourself in Nova Prospekt.

Speaking of which, where is the game going to be set? Has that been decided too, or do we need a city? If we do, I live near Philadelphia, PA, and this would probably be some of the heaviest areas of the fighting, since its sandwhiced between New York and D.C.

[ijgs]

I believe the intent was to have it set in the US Eastern Seaboard - Philedelphia would make a certain kind of sense (isn't that where the Liberty Bell lives? or is my grasp of American Geography as woeful as I think it is? if it IS, we could have an epic scene where the Liberty Bell gets shattered - symbolism FTW )

[Irishflyboy254]

Yes, yes it is.

I think, if we ever finalize a city, that I could get you guys some pictures to be rendered. Just a word of warning though. Do NOT, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, show the sports stadiums destroyed! I know Philly fans, they will be mad.

[ijgs]

Right, that's it - the stadia are the first things on the list of "Stuff to destroy utterly"

[Irishflyboy254]

(Sign of the Cross)

May God have mercy on your soul.

So, what other cities do we have lined up? D.C. and New York, we can agree, are too overplayed. I have family who live in Maryland, maybe they can get us some pictures of Baltimore?

[Boneyard]

hmm... I'm not gonna interupt, looks like you two might be on to something.

[Irishflyboy254]

Nah, Bomeyard, comment! Give me the creative challenge I yearn for!