OK, I''ve begun to write...I don''t know if I''m going to develop a game from this, it seems to work well as a book. But I''d like to know what you guys think of my ideas. It starts out with a person running through a dark forest, lost, scared. Some vague references to what might be chasing him, and then he eventually just gives up. End ''intro''. ^_^ I have this part written already. So here''s what I''m thinking I''m gonna do with the rest of it. Main character is a girl, maybe young teens, who is very bright and gifted, and bored in school. She is kidnapped by some unknown government agency to a facility. Meets other characters here, learns about her new environment. Turns out the place has no real purpose, it''s just that the government doesn''t want these prospective revolutionaries running around. Sort of reminiscent of the movie ''Cube''. And so, as you might have guessed, the book is about her escape from the installation, and will also focus heavily on character interactions and relationships. Oh, and that guy at the beginning, he was trying to escape, too. But I need some plot branches. This is quite a linear story, if you haven''t realized yet. Perhaps she has psychic ''flashes''? Or another inmate that seems awfully familiar...turns out to be a brother or something? Thanks for any suggestions.

What made Cube great was the fact that the Cube was isolated from any time period.

The mystery was why, how, what, and when. The only answerable question was who.

Your story seems...predictable, but that can change with the right plot devices.

Have the story start inside the facility. The backstory can be told through flashbacks or recovered memories. The great thing about this approach is two things, (1) the mystery of why, how and when remains a mystery and (2) the memories/flashbacks aren''t neccessarily hard facts but only what the brain remembers mixed in with what the brain makes up (all memories are like this). Another plot device could be implanted memories, just to add to the overall confusion of the actual nature of the plot and the motivation of the faceless bad guys.

The forest you spoke of in the ''intro'' for instance could be an actual forest, a fictional forest created by the protagonist''s mind in order to cover some horible memory, or a dream-like memory where no one has actually been there but everyone thinks they have.

Just my two cents.


"There are only three types of people in this world: those who can count, and those who can''t."

Just3D
Justin Nordin
J Squared Productions
www.jsquaredproductions.com

Yeah, I was afraid that it was quite predictable. The flashback idea sounds really cool. I''m going to have to think about it and see how it can be implemented. Thanks for the suggestion.

Cube really was such a cool movie, wasn''t it?

Yes, Cube was a great movie.

Anyways, I was thinking about your story idea and have a few more suggestions of my own (I''ll mention where my inspiration came from as needed).

First, the less said about the facility the better. Make sure to keep the mystery (like Cube) about its purpose (or lack thereof). Make sure to keep down on the number of actual people met by the protagonist (ala Cube) so that when the great escape commences, there isn''t a lot of confusing relationships to deal with.

Second, the facility could be void of life except for Reapers that check the hallways on a regular basis. The Reapers aren''t human, and could be anything as long as it remains mysterious. The Reapers'' function would be to make sure no one is trying to escape (because there are no locked doors in the facility). They sweep through the halls slowly (like the angel of death from the Ten Commandments) and abduct those who get in their way. One of the protagonists friends could be abducted in such a manner not to be seen again until much later in the story. The mystery here is where are they taken and why are they returned.

The great escape could lead the protagonist out into the perimeter of the facility which turns out to be "the forest" in the prolouge. At this point the player/reader can assume the person in the prolouge tried to escape, made it this far and was caught...or killed...or worse. The protagonist can have a harrowing nighttime (the time has to be perpetually night for more suspense) chase through the forest (ala Blair Witch) except the hunter in this case are the Reapers, the ever slow moving Reapers.

The Protagonist makes her way to the edge of the forest just as the sun rises. The Reapers vanish (were they ever there?)apparently not able to exist in daylight. She reaches a clearing and can see the sun and sky in the distance. She begins to run, but halts abruptly as she realizes she is at the edge of a cliff. A MASSIVE cliff. She peers over the side and can''t see the bottom, it''s almost as though the land she was on was floating...(A little final fantasy 6 here). Terror sets in when she realizes that there is no way off the "island" the facility is located on. This could be the climatic midpoint of the story. The remainder could be exploring the island, the facility and trying to learn its dark secrets.

If this were a game, then it would be survival horror / adventure. The cast of characters becomes ever thinner, as all are slowly taken by the Reapers by there own fault and bad luck until only the Protagonist remains.

I''ll leave the ending up to you. The purpose of the facility, the purpose of the Reapers, the whereabouts of the other "inmates", and the nature of the floating "island" the facility is on can be resolved in the conslusion. Or not. Mystery is what made Cube great.

IMHO, the ending can be either a concrete revelation that explains everything (Minority Report did this well), a mysterious ending that reveals some (Cube did this well), or a even more objectionable ending like that of I am the Cheese (the book). If you don''t know what I''m talking about, read the book. It''ll mess with your head.

The Antagonists don''t have to win ( Quentin ) all the time for a strange ending, but sometimes it creates a better illusion and suspension of disbelief that is vital for the success of such games.


"There are only three types of people in this world: those who can count, and those who can''t."

Just3D
Justin Nordin
J Squared Productions
www.jsquaredproductions.com