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Project Aqua Plot Scripting 2005 Project Aqua Team Last Update: November 7, 2005 10:07 pm Some notes: [] - Anything contained within brackets [a bracketed thing!] is a description of a cutscene, be it one that requires an FMV or one that requires a single screenshot of finished art or something of that sort. If it does require a full cutscene a reference to which cutscene it requires will be present. Ex: [quick description of a cutscene!] See Cinema 00A i- italics Indicate that something is text to be displayed in the game, either in dialogue or in some other way. Quotation marks will usually indicate dialogue. a) Anything separated by a letter and a paren is an indication of an option the player may choose. This will generally appear italisized as well. Background Pre-History – The Origin of Humanity on Earth: 1. Humankind did not evolve as a primate species on earth. Humans are not even a native species of that blue planet, in fact they came from another. 2. There was a great civilization that lived on the lone moon of a distant hydrogen planet thousands of light years away from Earth’s solar system. These ancestors of modern humanity were nearly identical genetically to current humans but their genetic advantages were far more capably realized than those of modern humans. The genes of these Ancients allowed them to absorb and refine Aethr, a type of radiation not present in Earth’s solar system. This refinement period was akin to the incubation of a caterpillar in that it inspired a powerful metamorphosis within the Ancients. 3. The Aethr allowed the Ancients to manipulate the world around them in fantastic ways, manipulating the basic elements of the universe and even space and time. The incubation period for the Ancients was extremely short; by the age of 6 the body of a human is capable of absorbing the Aethr, and it takes only a matter of weeks after seed-Aethr has been absorbed for a human to begin manifesting these powers. 4. These incredible powers the Ancients possessed were as common to them as breathing is to modern humans. This magic permeated their lives in every way and was the basis for their business, leisure, and warfare. Modern technology is a poor substitute for what the Ancients could create with their magic. 5. The Ancients created incredible cities, flying machines, intricate magically-animated servants and weapons of incredible power. There were three civilizations on the small moon of what is now called planet Aqua, and it soon became far too crowded. 6. The smallest of the three civilizations was near the northern pole of the planet and was largely agrarian and peaceable. The other two were triumphant crafters of ever more majestic and graceful cities and gradually, as their populations became restless and the Crafters became bored, built up standing armies. 7. The first skirmish was forgotten even before the final destruction of the Ancients. It was small and maybe even a misunderstanding but its effects were terrible. The two greatest nations on that small moon went to war, their losses were terrible, but the small, peaceful, agrarian nature would suffer the harshest consequences. 8. When the western nation had suffered a particularly devastating defeat at the hands of the eastern Crafters they decided to demonstrate the power of the magical weapons they had been developing in secret. They Crafted their greatest and most terrible spell and leveled the peaceful northern nation. Not a single living thing was left alive and the northern pole became a desert. 9. In response, the eastern nation created the Watchtowers. These towers were a magical network of the countries most skilled Crafters and were created so that they could not be left unoccupied. The towers were supposed to give the eastern nation the time they needed to retaliate should the West begin its terrible casting. 10. The war continued for a short-while, before the Beasts appeared. The souls of the northern nations dead had become dark and twisted and in their hate they spawned thousands of ravenous creatures that tore at the throats of both nations. Before long both nations were desperately fighting just to defend themselves. The East had the Watchtowers, and so was at an advantage. The West was overrun and the spirits of those consumed by the twisted things rose up among them. 11. The East finally saw its doom. The Crafters of that nation gathered their children and mothers and fathers and prepared desperate final crafting. The Crafters asked for volunteers to man the Watchtowers, knowing that they would never be relieved. Volunteers were found. The final Crafting was cast and human was sped through time and space to Earth, the people arriving millions of years separately from the giant fragment of the moon that they traveled inside. 12. The moon was destroyed. It began to crumble and its orbit decayed. The fragments settled violently into low orbit around the blue planet below. The volunteers were forever trapped in their Watchtowers. Gradually, over many years, the spirits of the twisted came to rest. Pre-History – Humanity on Earth and the Second Exodus: 1. The children of the Ancients find themselves on Earth and soon realize that it is a cold and hard place. The first generations manage to secure the survival of their race, but they soon realize their most precious resource may soon disappear. The Aethr that they needed to refine in order to use their magic was disappearing. It would soon be gone. 2. Civilization develops slowly, in the beginning very much dependent on the last remnants of magical power on Earth. As the centuries pass the presence of Aethr becomes fainter and fainter, and soon only one in 10,000 people can refine enough to wield their magic. In some cultures these people are revered, in others they are hunted. Magic, and those magical things created by it, soon become nothing more than legend. Human kind lives off of the product of its labor and tries to get by. 3. As agriculture becomes more refined and efficient human cultures become better able to explore the boundaries of their new world. They begin studying the physics of their universe and experimenting the alchemy and chemistry. Science becomes the new power on Earth. 4. Humanity enters the technology age with the advent of the internal combustion engine and the personal computer. Microprocessors and sophisticated circuitry become common-place house hold items. 5. The pharmaceutical corporations of Earth develop nanotechnology. The very rich use it to increase their life span, granting them immunity from disease and near immortality. They use the nanotech to enhance their physical and mental faculties become near demigods in their intelligence and strength. 6. These technologically superior humans from the wealthy elite of human cultures form an international organization, and soon gain political dominance over the nations of the Earth. 7. The Cyber humans engineer themselves on a genetic level, using techniques to switch out their very chromosomes for engineered ones. They enforce a purity law, disallowing breeding with natural humans except through special programs. 8. The Cyber humans enact the Pyramid and the Autocracy. Non-cyber humans are defined as a “simpler race.” The Pyramid promotes a social hierarchy with natural humans placed in a peasant class, without the rights formerly accorded to them. Disease is spread among the natural humans to keep their populations under control and weak. 9. The natural humans rebel, instigating the third Great War. It becomes clear that the superior weapons and tactics of the Cyber will eventually win out, despite their fewer numbers and the surprising resilience of the “inferior” natural humans. 10. A group of the leaders of the resistance decide that as many humans as can escape must. They stage a great invasion of the Cyberhuman’s stronghold continent. The attack is a feint, a distraction so that the remaining humans can escape. 11. The humans escape in what is then referred to as the Second Exodus. They flee to a planet only recently indexed in the Cyberhuman’s survey of the galaxy. Afew sympathetic cyberhumans within the Autocracy assist the escape by deleting the record of the planet’s existence. 12. The remaining humans intend to fight to the death, but the Cyberhumans subdue them, seeking to preserve their menial labor force. The humans on Earth are now totally enslaved and a conditioning program is begun to pacify them and discourage aggression and rebellion. The conditioning results in a severe nervous breakdown when normal humans handle weapons, or defy the orders of their Cyberhuman counterparts. The Game Cinema 001 -- The Introductory Cutscene: (See Cinema 001 Document for greater detail) Cut to a press conference/lecture type event, with shaky filming and in sepia, as if an old recording. A scientist is lecturing on the history of Earth. He explains how a group of archaeologists discovered ruins on a distant planet. [brief flash of a grainy image of a blue planet] … Introduction Part I – Reconditioning Reconditioning takes place entirely in the observatory/laboratory of the Quazi Nova. The observatory is composed mostly of glass, and begins nestled in the underbelly of the ship. The observatory has a medical table where Tijon awakes, a simulation chamber, and a monolithic telescope. Isaac will enter the room after Tijon wakes up. The scene conveys some of Tijon’s personal history for the player and establishes the current time and place of the story.
1. The main character wakes up, to the sound/feel [screenshot of bots in a vein, mechanical rushing sound effect] of a mechanical rushing through his veins. He’s disoriented, finds himself in an observatory/laboratory.
2. He walks to the window and, dizzy, leans against the glass. [screenshot of the view of space out the window] 3. Cinema 002 (See Cinema 002 Document for full details)
He dreams of Earth, the slaves working in factories, singing freedom songs. The song starts to go off pitch, there’s a flash of the conditioning chamber. Shock collars, knives, needles. He can see the orphan camps. Cyberhuman soldiers sorting through them. Tattooing barcodes on their forearms. A silhouette of a soldier in front of him. [Flashes of the shock chair, needles, being forced to hold the weapons, more shocks, needles, razors…] [Panic attacks] [Huddling in a dark room] [An assembly line.] [Sparks, Sparks, Sparks] [Assembly Line] [Huddled in a Room] …. [Huddled in a Room] (The freedom song can still be heard) [Huddled in a room, door opens, Silhouette of the Scientist] 4. He wakes up, back in the observatory. [Screenshot of the barcode on his arm] “But who am I” [Character name screen: Default – TiJon] “I remember… but… why am I here?” The player can now look around the laboratory. There’s a chair/table with straps and instruments all over it, this is where you woke up. There are various research instruments and filing cabinets around the room. The exit is locked. A massive telescope dominates the room, its lens pointed at the floor. There’s a large chamber in the observatory. If Tijon examines it the digital display reads: “World v.2.0 2875 Isaac Heisenberg” “Enter?” a)”Yes” --“Permission Denied” b)”No” There’s also a medical journal on the chair. It turns out to be a diary. 5. The Personal Diary of “What’s the name on the jacket?” [Character name screen: Default – Isaac] Project Aqua- Day 1- I’ve been assigned to this godforsaken survey mission as a “reward” for my “admirably skeptical philosophy.” Pathetic. They’re just punishing me for pointing out the flaw in their “perfect model of the universe”: Those remnant feeds of a peaceful blue planet. Day 2- The ship is being prepared. They’re assigning us the QuaziNova, which, I admit, is a pleasant surprise. It’s been recently re-outfitted. I haven’t yet seen it myself, but I expect its facilities to be more adequate than even the ones in my private lab for my pet project. Day 3- They have advanced our time table. Launch is to be in two days and I have yet to find a subject for my personal project. This is upsetting. Day 4- Success, I have found a subject. Slave 01 11011001 1110. He was in the Factory stockade. Apparently he had attacked his supervisor… Killed him with a fusion welder. Cut him clean in half. He had the Fits immediately afterwards, too, but they didn’t last as long as usual. They purged his memory and were preparing for retraining when I got there. The Autocracy processed my request for specimen extremely efficiently. Apparently they want me relatively happy on this expedition. Curious. Day 5- I have transferred the entirety of my World v2.0 simulation onto the QuaziNova’s mainframe. The renovations do seem extensive. The ship has impressive heat shielding and several new bays. A laboratory has been totally renovated for my use. They’ve installed the Hubble 5 prototype. I’m exceedingly pleased. Day 6- I’ve begun the World v2.0 regulations with 01 1101100… TiJon… He says his name is Tijon. It is as convenient a project name as any other. I’ve developed a series of simulations in which the subject may interact with what he is conditioned to consider Forbidden. The first several tests have induced severe shock. I’ve had to administer serious tranquilizers, the subject doesn’t react well to them, his memory becomes foggy for a few hours. Day 12- The World v2.0 regiments have been proceeding nicely. TiJon has made great progress, he does still occasionally relapse into shock, but he’s improved greatly. He’s almost totally reconditioned. The weapons training still sends him deeply into shock, but in every other area he excels. I think I may try something, tomorrow. Day 13- I see… the final trial in World v2.0 was conclusive. The anti-weapon conditioning is too deeply ingrained into him. It was probably the result of a more personal trauma. It is unlikely that he’ll ever be able to handle a conventional weapon. He seems to have no problem with fusion welders or anything of that nature though. Day 14- TiJon is still in shock from yesterday’s experiment. I’m genuinely worried about him. In between experiments we’ve been talking about him and his past and, frankly I see nothing inferior about him, I find myself enjoying his company. Certainly more than those damn “Guardians” Speaking of which. I think I may have found Aqua. I’ve been doing some calculations and there’s an unusual eddy in the gravity of the one of the nearer constellations. The “guardians” have been particularly been insistent about this mission. And they sent too many along with us on this expedition for my liking. Day 15- TiJon is still in a coma. I am deeply trouble. The Fits should not be lasting this long. I have decided to implant him. The machines should be able to correct his brain chemistry. This is highly illegal, but I find I care little for the laws of the Pyramid these days. I have certainly located Aqua. It has even become visible, a blue star out the observation window. I’m going to be quite busy preparing the observation equipment today. Hopefully Tijon will wake in time to witness the observation of Aqua. The view from the Hubble 5 should be incredible. [There are no further entries] “I…I think… I remember this…??”
NOTE: I think perhaps that the entire journal should be done in cut scene form. It has the potential to be too long to read through for the average player. This will need some careful work. 6. TiJon gets up out of the chair. There’s a knock on the door and Isaac walks in. [Screenshot of Isaac framed by door.] He enters the laboratory and yawns.
“Excellent.” “We’ve found Aqua! We’re on approach now.” “I’ve added a new simulation to World v2.0… and I removed the weapon sim permanently. I’m truly sorry.” “…I’d like you to run through the simulations again. I’ve added one to train you on the Hubble. I’d like your help surveying Aqua.” [TIJON] “Wha-? Alright…” a) “Sorry, I’m a little bit out of it.” b) “Whatever you say.” 7. TiJon may then freely explore the laboratory again. If he talks to Isaac again he offers his sympathies about the coma, and offers a refresher about the World 2 chamber. The next scene begins when Tijon examines the World 2 chamber. Part II - World v2.1 1. TiJon may now enter the simulation chamber in the laboratory. The player notices upon entering the simulation that the menu has changed from World v2.0 to World v2.1 2. A text message from Isaac appears. “I’m sorry Tijon. I’ve been awake for almost four days so when I modified the simulation I didn’t bother resetting your permissions. You’ll have to complete the earlier simulations before you can access Hubble.” 3. The simulation menu appears. Menu: Debug Mode - (Event 02) [Communication] -(Event 03) [Cooperation] -(Event 04) [Vehicles] -(Event 05) [Observation] -(Event 06) [Exit] -(Event 07) 4. DEBUG MODE is the only available option. Entering this simulation takes TiJon to a tutorial world where he is required to move about the environment and interact with certain basic game elements. Tossing switches, climbing ladders, jumping gaps, etc. This also covers management of the status and item menus. Upon completion of what is essentially an obstacle course Tijon may leave the simulation. When Tijon selects Debug Mode he is taken to a small map simulation, that is basically an obstacle course. If the player has already completed this Simulation, they may repeat it without dialogue. [ISAAC] You’ll have to navigate this course as quickly as possible. I’ll take you through it once with instructions. Unless you don’t need them? [TIJON] a) No, no, I’d like the tutorial please b) I’ll figure it out. Tijon can now traverse the obstacle course. If he travels in tutorial mode Isaac will pipe up with instructions. He will then have to repeat in normal mode. In normal mode there should be a base time that Tijon must be to advance, in addition to a top score that the player can attempt to beat. The obstacle course should not be too difficult but should include everything that the players might encounter on the world map. Switches, doors, gaps to jump, ladders, the kitchen sink, bathing... everything. Including “dismantling” Gecko, the Sim robot. Upon completing the course: Menu: Exit Repeat the Course Upon exiting and returning to the Main Menu, the next option, Communication, will be available. 5. The menu now shows TEST MODE and COMMUNICATION. Upon entering the communication simulation TiJon is shown how to interact with other non-combative characters, how to manage a party of characters, and how to use shops. It will also teach him how to reconfigure his nanotech. If the player has already completed this Simulation, they may repeat it with- out dialogue. [Isaac ] I’ve added a new Simulation to the Communication tutorial. It will ex- plain how to communicate with the Nanotechnology that has been injected in your blood. You should check it out. Menu: Interaction Nanotech Exit The Interaction selection will take Tijon into a tutorial where he can talk to people on the map. Use shops. And use the menu system to configure personal and party options. The Nanotech selection will take Tijon into a simulation where he can reconfigure his statistics using nanotech, allowing him to accomplish different tasks. [Isaac] Beware though, reallocating stats in an unbalanced way can degrade your sanity. Selecting Exit will return to the main menu, and allow the player to select Cooperation. 6. COOPERATION is now available from the menu. Entering this simulation takes TiJon essentially into a battle with two other party members. However, instead of actually being in combat he and the other party members are technicians who have to navigate the combat menus to perform cooperative techniques to “repair” the machine. This simulation will instruct the player on the use of the combat menus. NOTE: This should basically be a combat scenario with some goofy attacks that really ‘repair’ a machine, etc. Just to show combat without having physical violence. [ISAAC] This Cooperation simulation is a behavioral simulation designed to test how well you work with others. (Tijon could potentially be given a pseudo party member named Gecko, with whom he has to dispose of small robots and dismantle large machinery. It’s important that he should have to use party attacks and other kinds of moves in this simulation) 7. VEHICLES is now available. In this simulation TiJon may take control of a vehicle and must race against an opponent through an obstacle course. NOTE: The World v2.1 simulations should be available later in the game, as minigames. Therefore we’ll need a way to make them progressively more difficult next time they’re accessed. Or something. Maybe Isaac will just develop new ones. Also, what these sims look like is not hugely important to me, the design is up in the air. Be creative. 8. OBSERVATION becomes available. This simulation takes TiJon through the use of the Hubble 5, which conveniently has the same controls as the players World Map screen. The simulation, however, presents TiJon with Earth. This should allow the player to see what the Earth has become. A glittering but cold city built on the backs of slaves. 9. When the final simulation ends another option appears. COMBA01010 flickers on the bottom of the menu. TiJon is curious and selects it. 10. [There a brief flash of TiJon and the Supervisor he killed, and then the fusion welder… and then static] TiJon finds himself in an unusual simulation; a plane of sound and light. After exploring for a bit he finds a particularly bright river. As he follows it he hears the communications of Guardians back on the ship. “… found it…” “…… radio back…” “…… strike force…” “…can’t wait…invasion…” “We’ll have to strike on our own.” 11. TiJon reaches a pool of sound and light and can see the Guardians talking, and then occasionally flashes of the blue planet, Aqua. As he watches he notices a cloaked figure watching as well. “Send the Order. Now.” [The pool shows a ranking Guardian] The cloaked figure raises his arms. (The arms have runes along them) And begins weaving a silver net around the stream. In the pool a blue light begins to glow. The cloaked figure turns to concentrate on the net and sees TiJon. He stumbles in surprise and the net fails. Just then the blue light bursts out along the path. The cloaked figure curses, raises his arms to cast a spell, and then disappears. 12. There’s a rumbling and a metallic beast comes into existence. It resembles an ant-lion and attacks TiJon. He is about to be attacked by the beast when, as it lunges, the screen goes to static. [Screenshot of an Albino boy raining destruction on Earth] Fade to Black. Chapter 1 – Defection, Heresy, and the Crash of the Quazi Nova Defection is really the beginning of true gameplay in Aqua. The tutorials in the World 2 chamber are done and the real plot begins in earnest. Isaac has Tijon assist him in a survey of Aqua, which they have gone into orbit around while Tijon was in the World 2 chamber, using the Hubble 5. They find the Aquan nation on the continents below them, but as they are surveying the planet the Guardians stage their coup and launch a missile attack against Aqua. Isaac and Tijon recapture the ship, but during the battle the Aquan retaliation fatally damages the Nova, and they’re forced to crash land on the surface of Aqua. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: March 13, 2005 Cain destroyed the ancients and fled to Earth. “There was a time when I could go there. Back when man still remembered the Old World and Cain’s betrayal.” “I saw many of the betrayers die. There weren’t enough of them to maintain a healthy population. There was inbreeding. They eventually bred out the ability to use Aethr. Not that much existed on their new Earth. Oh, occasionally someone would be born with the power, and others would find some Aethr and discover it. But they were as likely to be burned as witches as to enlighten the rest of that polluted race.” “I cannot go there anymore. I cannot see it. No one remembers. No one remembers Cain… and no one remembers me.” Isaac: “There were still some believers in religion among the natural humans until a few centuries ago. They were executed after the war and all the old religious texts were banned.” “All that remains are a few freedom songs among the slaves.” |