Singleplayer Story Mode - Ideas/Development [Spoilers!]

[Sepelio]

Perhaps the respawn thing could be controlled by a difficulty level modifier... somehow.

[Flying Steel]

Perhaps the respawn thing could be controlled by a difficulty level modifier... somehow.

Hmm, that's not a bad idea. Default respawn could be on for easy mode, no respawn for veteran mode.

[MC SE7EN]

bonus level (for meeting some requirement, not too tough that only pros can do it, but something you actually have to earn): Earth - fight off the invaders on earth. Setting would be epic as a city block type of area at night, stuff blowing up, tons of damage/carnage all over..

just a thought..

could be an alternate ending even..

[Yoda almighty]

bonus level (for meeting some requirement, not too tough that only pros can do it, but something you actually have to earn): Earth - fight off the invaders on earth. Setting would be epic as a city block type of area at night, stuff blowing up, tons of damage/carnage all over..

just a thought..

could be an alternate ending even..

it's a good idea, but the thing is, you would have to fit it in with the story. WHY are you doing that? and WHY does it only occur if you do really well on something? it has to make sense with the story.

almost to the point it would make more sense if you only get the mission if you do really BAD somewhere else. you didn't destroy these people over there, so now you are going to have to fight them HERE.

although you have a point in one way. do you think it would be possible to implement multiple endings? just maybe 3 or 4 places where you have to make a choice that could affect the outcome of the game.

[MC SE7EN]

bonus level (for meeting some requirement, not too tough that only pros can do it, but something you actually have to earn): Earth - fight off the invaders on earth. Setting would be epic as a city block type of area at night, stuff blowing up, tons of damage/carnage all over..

just a thought..

could be an alternate ending even..

it's a good idea, but the thing is, you would have to fit it in with the story. WHY are you doing that? and WHY does it only occur if you do really well on something? it has to make sense with the story.

almost to the point it would make more sense if you only get the mission if you do really BAD somewhere else. you didn't destroy these people over there, so now you are going to have to fight them HERE.

although you have a point in one way. do you think it would be possible to implement multiple endings? just maybe 3 or 4 places where you have to make a choice that could affect the outcome of the game.

well, if you look at the story above, it ends with earth being attacked, so this would fit in with the story as the next mission..

it would be like a semi-redemptive (depending on the outcome of the level) for doing well, as opposed to a sucky one with earth blowing up.

even if this level gets added, it may be a good idea to leave it open, with earth still under attack in the end. that way we could leave room for a 'sequel'..i know thats thinking really far ahead, but its still something that should be considered..either way you end the game, earth is still attacked, so the second game would pick up there. otherwise, if you reclaim earth in one ending and lose it in the other, there will be a discrepancy as to which ending 'really' happened in the beginning of game 2

[Flying Steel]

That isn't Earth, it is the small, more or less airless rock orbiting another star on which they found the alien artifact called the Beacon that opened the 'Tunnel' to Nexuiz. The military garrison and research colony called Nightscape that was built around that area is what is under attack, by the intragalactic invasion force that seeks to capture a "beachhead" there before moving on to the other interstellar Terran colonies. They aren't interested in Earth in particular, they are interested in conquering and subjugating Human civilization in general.

Their reasons for this (if you haven't already guessed them) and how this conflict plays out is covered in a potential sequel campaign, the second of three campaigns in the timeline. It is / would be a running series of fire fights and large scale battles over many of the Terran colonies, with some battles even taking place in the Sol system and briefly on Earth, but by and large it is / would be still a Space Opera, with levels set in many distant locations.

[MC SE7EN]

That isn't Earth, it is the small, more or less airless rock orbiting another star on which they found the alien artifact called the Beacon that opened the 'Tunnel' to Nexuiz. The military garrison and research colony called Nightscape that was built around that area is what is under attack, by the intergalactic invasion force that seeks to capture a "beachhead" there before moving on to the other interstellar Terran colonies. They aren't interested in Earth in particular, they are interested in conquering and subjugating Human civilization in general.

Their reasons for this (if you haven't already guessed them) and how this conflict plays out is covered in a potential sequel campaign, the second of three campaigns in the timeline. It is / would be a running series of fire fights and large scale battles over many of the Terran colonies, with some battles even taking place in the Sol system and briefly on Earth, but by and large it is / would be still a Space Opera, with levels set in many distant locations.

Very nice. You've got it all worked out.

[Yoda almighty]

does anyone have ideas for characters? cause if not, I can start working on some.

[Flying Steel]

There are four characters that are important for my campaign proposal's storyline, those refered to tentatively with the following placeholder names- the "Soldier", "Commander", "Handler" and "Arthrolid Leader". More major characters might be added, but only as needed I would recommend, as this complicates alot of the implementation.

Beyond those there would be small part characters who make observations, fill out the environment, add flavor, etc. I was thinking that maybe the actual voice actors who play them could be given this creative control, at least on an experimental basis. So they'd fill out their own characters, within certain basic restrictions.

[Mizu Kitsune]

In the near to not so distant future, Humanity's early deep space exploration uncovers on not so distant world, an ancient alien device of unknown purpose.

The team of scientists sent to study this artifact activates it during one of their experiments and the device creates an anomaly nearby. Afterwards they learn from deciphering the microscopic runes that cover the surface of the artifact, that the anomaly is some kind of passage to somewhere near the core of the galaxy. Further study reveals that the artifact itself that created the anomaly is a simple beacon for whatever created and now maintains the passage. Such being the case, the passage cannot be closed locally.

Faced with the sudden and very uncertain situation, the Military is sent in and takes over the site, and establishes Nightscape, a hardened compound surrounding the artifact. They launch Operation Night Cross, which sends a recon team of well equipped soldiers and scientists through the passage, now designated “The Tunnel”. But the team never returns. Plans are prepared for sending a second team, but with no proof travel through the Tunnel is even survivable, official authorization is never granted.

Instead, a black operation is put in motion, Operation Night Raven. An entire squadron is assembled from mercenaries, rebel militias, test subjects, criminals and volunteers with no living relatives, and over the next few months trained in basic astronautics and various combat roles. Then equipped with the latest and most advanced gear and the promise of riches, pardons and glory upon their successful return, the squadron is sent through the portal, accompanied by the aerospace corvette Raven.

Their mission is to uncover the whereabouts of the first team, discover the source of the portal, but most of all return back with any reconnaissance at all.

When Night Raven Squadron emerges from the Tunnel, they find themselves standing on the inner surface of a massive Dyson sphere, of similar alien construction to the beacon artifact, surrounding a small star and a system of four terrestrial planets. Shortly afterwards, the Squadron discovers that an unseen force radiating out from the local end of the Tunnel prevents them from approaching it by any means. It seems return will not be possible.

Preparing for a long stay, a field base is established near by the Tunnel and powered down Raven. But shortly thereafter the base is attacked suddenly from opposite directions and then from underneath by hordes of strange “things” of varying reported morphologies and wielding equally strange, diverse and powerful weapons. After a long and brutal onslaught, the base is nearly overrun and the leader of the Squadron is killed along with his Raven Squad protection. But then as the different groups of creatures and machines converge in the base, they begin to slaughter each other, giving the surviving squads their chance to retreat, scattering in all directions and ultimately taking cover down deep into the tunnels, ducts and labyrinths of the internal structure of the place itself.

Underneath the surface of the inverted world, the surviving squads continue to stay on the move seeking to find and regroup with each other and evade the alien forces they wisely assume are still hunting them.

At the same time, a Soldier isolated from his squad (Crow Squad) during the retreat, discovers underground a remnant of the first group sent through the Tunnel to this place, Night Cross, in the form of a coded message pointing to a distant place called the “Library” that they were attempting to reach. After a dangerous journey he finally arrives there and finds a chamber area unusually dense with alien machinery, as well as another log entry from Night Cross.

The log describes this ancient place as a kind of public library which they were able to access using a combination of code keys and thereby uncovered basic information on the surrounding sphere structure, which they have named “Nexuiz”. As they explain, Nexuiz is a relic from at least 2 million years ago (they cannot say for certain do to the unknown relative year length of the builders), which uses the entire output of the encompassed star to generate vastly faster than light travel through space to numerous preprogrammed locations of the galaxy via “Tunnels”, like the one used by the Terran expeditions to get here on Nexuiz. These Tunnels that scattered across the equator of Nexuiz are controlled by the two Nexus Matrices inside planet-sized structures at the Poles. They believe that if one could be reached, it might be possible to reverse the “Flow” of the Tunnel to get back home. The message confirms they will attempt to reach a Pole at all costs and leaves a map of the fastest route to a distant Junction point to the Poles. Before heading out on their trail, the Soldier recollects the code keys and accesses the Library himself, attaining a basic but vast knowledge of Nexuiz.

The Soldier continues the route, encountering heavier resistance as he goes, until he reaches one of the major stations for the thousand-kilometers-long cargo Trams that run the equator of Nexuiz through one of the two super tunnels. Here he meets up with his own Crow squad, the Commander of which has now been left with command of the main surviving group of Raven Squadron. They are already planning to board the next cargo Tram that docks with the station to hopefully escape from their alien hunters and when the Soldier divulges the intelligence he uncovered from the Night Cross logs and Library, the Commander decides to make the Pole Junction their destination after they’re aboard.

Unfortunately as the Tram is sited approaching in the far away distance, a major alien force finally catches up with them, made up of the “Cephadarian” and “Arthrolid” creatures, as they are now being called. After a major fight to hold their ground, the Tram docks and Raven Squadron immediately falls back into it, using the docking point as a chokepoint to hold off their enemies until the Tram begins to pull away.

The Squadron now finds that it is at least temporarily safe from their primary enemy, but they are still far from secure as they learn they are not alone aboard the massive transport; the place is swarming with the “Hallurchin” creatures as well as alien fighting machines. The Commander splits up Raven Squadron into Squads that take positions across the width of the Tram and then has them push forward to clear out the dangerous occupants and secure the transport. It is a difficult fight, complicated by the velocity of the Tram countering Nexuiz’ centrifugal pseudo-gravity until it becomes a near-weightless combat environment.

A day after securing the Tram, it arrives at a terminal very close to the Polar Junction, separated only by some kind of loading dock. As the Squadron crosses the loading facility, a large alien craft appears over the horizon and sets down in front of them, blocking their advance. Aliens begin emerging from it forcing the Squadron behind cover with their fire. Then a second UFO, a much larger, glowing orb descends down and hovers a distance above and more creatures begin floating down from it, raining down their weapon’s fire as they do. And so begins the toughest fight yet, with several Squads falling in the process, until shelter is finally reached in the Junction, which seals itself closed automatically when the alien forces approach in pursuit.

Inside the Junction another Night Cross Log is discovered, revealing that the Night Cross team took the route to the Southern Pole. And now it seems Raven Squadron has to decide which of the two Poles it is going to set out for. But fearing being cornered in another ambush, the Commander decides to split Raven Squadron into two teams send each to a different Pole. He will lead one team from Vulture Squad to the Southern Pole. And he appoints the Soldier as the new Commander of Crow Squad which will lead the other team to the Northern Pole. Both teams board the Mass Driver Transports headed for the respective Poles and they depart.

After a few hours, Crow Squad’s Transport slows to a stop at a Solar Complex halfway to the Northern Pole. Drawing on the data left by the Night Cross logs, the Soldier realizes that sabotaging this complex could provide a window of opportunity for getting through whatever detection and defense network might await them on their path to the Northern Pole. So he orders an attack on it during the time before the Transport resumes its circuit. Resistance in this hot, low gravity place comes in the form of various sentry machines and a new kind of alien not previously encountered, that at first is mistaken to be another one of the hostile war machines, that is later named “Exosilex”. Once the area is secure, a fusion bomb is deployed at the heart of the facility, set for detonation shortly after the time the Transport is estimated to arrive at the Northern Pole. Crow Squad then returns to the Transport and it departs.

When Crow’s Transport reaches its final destination and disembarks, they find themselves at a Space Dock, with the great Northern Pole in the background across thousands of kilometers of open space. As planned, local power is soon disrupted from the bombing of the Solar Complex and the Soldier takes the opportunity to board and take over what appears to be a small alien Warship at the Space Dock. Onboard they encounter more of the Exosilex alien discovered in the Solar Complex, which puts up a bloody fight and holds off Crow Squad’s attempts to take the bridge. But it is suggested that since the interior environment of both this ship and the Solar Complex is extremely high temperature, that the opposing species is some kind of thermophile with probably limited tolerance for the cold. So they take the Reactor Room and bring down the environmental temperature to freezing levels and subsequently are able to take the rest of the ship. With some trial and error, the Squad’s technicians are able to fly the ship out of the dock and head for the Northern Pole at flank speed.

When they near the Pole however, they detect no available entry points that have not been sealed off or heavily fortified. So with no other option, the Soldier has the warship fire heavily on a part of the Pole’s surface and then ram into it, penetrating and lodging the ship in its outer layer. Emerging into the interior from the wreckage, the Squad spots inbound hostiles, which have been attracted by the breach of the outer Pole. While more enemies fly in and attack, Crow Squad runs and fights across the open surface to a nearby Photonic Lift platform. As this elevator begins to rise toward the core of the Pole, they continue to be harassed by attacking patrols until the elevator platform accelerates to such a speed that the patrols are left behind.

After a short while, the Photonic Lift slows down and arrives at the Pole Core, inside of which they expect to finally reach the Nexus Matrix. But instead they only get far enough into its interior to find a situation they cannot overcome. In this environment with its toxic atmosphere, channels and ducts of sulfuric acid and molten metals, winding passages that lead only to fully sealed dead ends, they are cornered by an Exosilex response force unprecedented in numbers, organization and determination. The Soldier orders a full retreat to avoid getting cornered, but it is already too late. As Crow Squad scatters down every possible avenue of escape at once, it only encounters more of the enemy. The Soldier sees many of his squad-mates shot down or incapacitated around him before being knocked unconscious himself by a large ammo explosion from a nearby wrecked UGV.

When he regains consciousness, the Soldier finds himself alone in something like a huge crater on the outside of the Pole, the ground covered in dunes and hills of pulverized bone and metal, scattered with debris and alien corpses. Nearby he finds a small ammunition cache. Then a loud alarm or horn blasts out from the edges of the crater and about a half dozen of a familiar kind of hostile alien creatures begin to appear from trap doors in the distance and advance. Through clever tactics and quick response the Soldier defeats each of the adversaries. Then the alarm plays again, this time twice. More hostiles of more diverse types appear and attack, but the Soldier defeats them as well. A large door then opens in the center of the crater and a few other Crow Squad survivors are released. Then the alarm sounds again three times. A large force attacks; the Soldier and his Squad amazingly manages to barely defeat this wave as well. Then from around the crater echoes a distorted and strange voice that speaks- “For a millennium of chaos we have sought the instrument of our reemergence, but now we see that it may have come to us.” An alien transport takes up position overhead and the artificial gravity reverses itself, sending all the survivors into the warship’s open hold bays. Inside the Soldier finds many more survivors from his Squad and some others.

After a long voyage, the alien transport lands and opens its doors to release the Crow Squad survivors. Outside they see that they are inside a dome habitat surrounded by a dozen large screens displaying alien glyphs. Beyond the dome is a hellish, very active volcanic environment and alien attack ships flying overhead. The surrounding screens flash on and in each of them appears an Exosilex. The echoing distorted voice of the Exosilex returns- “You have assaulted our domain. What is it you seek?” After a brief argument between his Squad, the Soldier decides to answer this question honestly- “We seek a way back to where we came from.” The Exosilex then explain how their former allies the Arthrolid and Cephadarian have revolted against them, attacked the Terran expeditionary teams so that they could not potentially aid the Exosilex, and now would block the Terran survivors from returning through their Tunnel. They then propose that if the Terrans aid them in a plot to defeat their ‘mutual enemies’, the Arthrolid and Cephadarian, they can and will use their control of the Nexus Matrix to reverse the flow of the Terrans’ Tunnel so that they can return. The Soldier agrees to their proposal and the Exosilex advise him to prepare his forces for their first mission and then board their gunboats in an adjacent hangar. He complies and the gunboats depart.

In-flight, the Soldier and his Crow Squad are introduced to an individual Exosilex that will serve as their handler and adviser for the course of the campaign. He provides their briefing, explaining that their first target is the central Arthrolid Outpost on this volcanic planet closest to Nexuiz’ sun, which is also the world of origin for the Exosilex species. Destroying it will relieve the Exosilex of an entrenched nuisance, but more importantly will show that the Terrans can be trusted as their allies. The plan for the attack is simple, with the Arthrolid expecting an attack from the Exosilex, the Terrans can infiltrate to the Outpost’s Keep and sabotage its defense controls there, allowing the team to be extracted and the Outpost easily destroyed by external bombardment. Crow Squad completes this task with efficiency and earns some respect from its Exosilex Handler.

After Crow Squad is extracted it is given the briefing for its second mission, this one taking place on the desert planet second orbit from the local sun. On this world the Arthrolid have a Subterranean Hangar where they are holding the Terran’s old aerospace corvette, the Raven, which was captured and brought here shortly after the Terran’s arrival. With the help of the Handler’s own Exosilex forces, it helps the Crow Squad recaptures fly it into orbit. An anti-matter bomb is left behind by the Exosilex forces in the Hangar, destroying it and covering up any evidence the Terran ship was ever there.

Now safely back in space, the Handler reveals the ultimate plan his species has for the Terrans in defeating the Arthrolid and Cephadarian. While the majority of the Exosilex fleet pierces the enemy defenses in a massive final conflict, the Terrans will slip through the chaos via the Raven and inflict nearly crippling surgical strikes at hearts of the Arthrolid and Cephadarian civilizations. While in actuality this campaign will most likely set back the Exosilex at least as much as it will their enemies, the bold push and the destruction caused by the Terrans and their obviously “alien” vessel will create the illusion that the Terrans are a new and powerful Auxiliary ally of the Exosilex that have tipped the balance of power strongly in their favor. And this will lead to a strategically compromising surrender of both the Arthrolid and Cephadarian in return for them receiving back their status as Auxiliaries of the Exosilex empire.

So the campaign begins with the Raven and the Handler’s escort fleet entering the Tunnel to Cephadarian space on its way to the first target, the Cephadarian’s Fleet Forge. Along the way they engage a Cephadarian Shroud Ship, which Crow Squad boards and takes control over and then uses to bypass the Fleet Forge’s defense membrane and enter the station. They then sabotage the Fleet Forge’s anti-gravity coolant system so that it falls into the sun it closely orbits. With the Cephadarian left in disarray by this disaster, the forces then return to Nexuiz.

The campaign then turns against the Arthrolid, with the target being the Arthrolid leadership. The first strike is made against the Arthrolid origin world’s primary military star port, to block any escape from the world of the highest commanders. However, after arriving there and getting access to the Runway track, Crow Squad finds that the Arthrolid flagship is already in position preparing for launch, which leaves no time to destroy or disable it. So the Soldier orders his squad to fallback to their ship and attempt to intercept the flagship from orbit. Then he rushes down the heavily inclined Runway in an attempt to get aboard the Arthrolid flagship before it can launch. He makes it and it takes off into orbit. Onboard, the Arthrolid Leader sends its generals to kill the intruder, but both fail, so it decides to engage the Soldier in a duel. After a fierce running firefight between the two through the great throne chamber, the Soldier is the one that still stands and subsequently the Arthrolid flagship surrenders to the Terrans.

In the chaotic aftermath, the majority of the Arthrolid and Cephadarian surrender to the Exosilex, as they had predicted, with the Arthrolid and Cephadarian majorities giving up their control of most of their holdings of Nexuiz’ Equatorial Belt, in return for receiving back their status as Auxiliaries of the Exosilex’ Empire. The Terran’s former Handler is given command of the first product of this new truce, a combined fleet and force of Exosilex, Hallurchin and the first recent initiates of Arthrolid and Cephadarian. The Handler explains to the Soldier that along with his new command, it will be tasked with ensuring a lasting peace for Nexuiz, but right now it will make sure that the promise of its species to return the Terrans to their home is fulfilled. And so the Terrans lead the Handler to the Tunnel from which they came and the Exosilex now aware of its location are able to reverse its flow and allow the Terrans through. As its final duty as their commander and adviser, the Handler gives the Soldier a coded message to be taken back to his species upon his return.

As the Terrans and the Handler’s forces approach the Tunnel, they spot a great battle in progress between the Hallurchin and a large contingent of the remaining Arthrolid and Cephadarian rebel forces. So the still-able survivors jump this last hurdle, fighting a path to the Tunnel for the Raven and then following it through, putting the violent and alien realm behind them.

On the other side, the tired and battle-worn remnants of Raven Squadron emerge before the friendly garrison of Nightscape, its commanding officer shouting over the com channels for all forces to hold fire. Recovery craft are dispatched and pick up the survivors near the mouth of the Tunnel, bringing them back to the base’s field laboratory for medical examination. There the Soldier hands over the message from the Exosilex to the Nightscape base commander and research team, who don’t believe the Soldier’s explanation of it being a diplomatic message from an alien species.

Hours later, the Soldier is awakened from his quarantine chamber and brought to the cryptology laboratory, where the scientists there ask him so many frantic questions at once about the message artifact he delivered that he can’t understand any of them, until they are finally silenced by the shouting of the research director. Then the director asks the Soldier tersely- “’Your surrender and admission to the trials for position of Auxiliary are accepted’, what does that mean?!” Puzzled but with growing alarm, the Soldier has no answer. Suddenly bright flashes of light glow in the distance out the viewports and deep rumbling and sounds of explosions are heard coming from the Tunnel kilometers away. Everyone runs to see what is happening, except for the Soldier who just now realizes what cost has come with his escape.

Emerging from the Tunnel, the onlookers see an army and fleet of alien creatures and their war machines advancing forward slowly towards the base, firing en masse as they do, the local Terran forces returning a fraction of their firepower in response. Over the intercom are heard orders for an orbital strike being called down from the Terran fleet ships high above, down on the entire Tunnel area, while fighting from both sides lights up the surface of the dark world.

Fade to Black. A low roar from a nuclear detonation is heard.

not so distant future wont work. nexuiz's style is to macrofuturistic.
kinda reminds me of half-life most indeed poke646/poke646: vendetta;
"i never thought i'd see a resonance cascade, let alone create one."
sounds like a great storyline even though kinda haloish.
i'll start working on an opening cutscene, but maya dont work anymore now that the updates for it came from autodesk, but milkshape and keygrip still work.
might i suggest downloading celtix studio, its a very good program for story boards for any type of project.