9 réponses à ce sujet

[StealthGamer92]

What if we start off as a graduate of a SPECTER academy where individuals who have proven exceptional get sent for even more advanced training. This may sound familiiar to Star Wars game fans, due to it being the same basic plot to Star Wars Jedi knight Jedi Academy. This would allow you to choose which species you want to be and all the other variables you could choose with Shepard could also be chosen from.  I think for a single game this setup would work well or even a few after that if its popular enough.

What do you think? Be honest, I've been told it won't work before.

Modifié par jimmyham22, 07 janvier 2014 - 06:53 .

[Trank 209]

I actually think thats pretty interesting. I loved JKA. And it would nice to have different outcomes depending on the missions and how you act towards the other Specters.

[KBABZ]

I think it'd be cool to play a not-Space Marine in a sci-fi video game for once (that isn't Ratchet & Clank). It'd be cool to, say, start off as a colonist who gets (or steals for Renegades) a ship to road trip the galaxy with, gradually getting pulled into events of galactic importance. But then that's effectively the idea for my own story, so actually maybe not!

[StealthGamer92]

KBABZ wrote...

I think it'd be cool to play a not-Space Marine in a sci-fi video game for once (that isn't Ratchet & Clank). It'd be cool to, say, start off as a colonist who gets (or steals for Renegades) a ship to road trip the galaxy with, gradually getting pulled into events of galactic importance. But then that's effectively the idea for my own story, so actually maybe not!

Not shure how that would work all my favorite space games are military or at least military-ish. They are Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter, Star Wars Jedi Academy, and the Mass Effect and Halo series'. If they can make it enjoyable then I don't mind one bit it being this way.

[KBABZ]

jimmyham22 wrote...
Not shure how that would work all my favorite space games are military or at least military-ish. They are Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter, Star Wars Jedi Academy, and the Mass Effect and Halo series'. If they can make it enjoyable then I don't mind one bit it being this way.

I'll give Ratchet & Clank as an example. At the start of the story, Ratchet is living on a backwater planet, trying to build his own starship so that he can leave and explore the rest of the galaxy. This happens when Clank arrives who wants to stop an evil plot with the help of Captain Qwark. Clank, by way of his Robotic Ignition System, is able to get Ratchet's ship to work. Thus, they start exploring the galaxy; Ratchet just wants to have a good time, while Clank is focused on stopping the plot. Eventually Ratchet realizes that he's been ignoring the threat the entire time and starts more solidly focusing on stopping the bad guy.

What makes the story different from Mass Effect or Halo is that neither Ratchet nor Clank are part of a military force, and thus they are free to explore the galaxy on their own terms, without somebody saying "You must get to Kerwan or the planet will explode!!". As another comparison, Final Fantasy VII has the characters part of a rebel band who happen to get caught up in the events of the plot and all decide they need to do something about it, rather than a higher-up on a radio saying they should.

Mass Effect has to come up with its own military explainations as to why Shepard has the amount of freedom she does. In the first game, it's by giving Shepard Spectre status that allows her to do anything she wants. In 2 she is part of the Lazarus cell of Cerberus, and is given a huge amount of freedom by the Illusive Man with little explaination as to why. In 3, Shepard is given Ultimate-Giga-Ambassador status by Hackett, but in this case it's much more natural given Shepard's actions and knowledge from the last two games.

What a non-military background allows for (or more easily allows for, at least) is to give an explaination as to why a character is so invested in stopping the big plot. While Paragon Shepard's are explained (non-verbally) by way of them wanting to stop such a huge galactic threat to the galaxy because it's in their nature, for Renegades who don't give a damn it's very strange to see them be so suddenly commited to defeating the Reapers. Of course, I'm not saying it isn't possible to explain why the main character is invested in defeating the bad threat, but with a non-military background explaining why is a more natural part of the storytelling.

It can be put short by comaring to Uncharted. In that game, characters go to places because they think that's the best spot to go, on their own, and decide for themselves that's what they want to do. If they are part of a military, then 90% of the time there will be a guy on the radio going "get to the tower", and most of the time there's little input or thought proccess' shown from the main character.

[StealthGamer92]

Actually sounds kind of interesting but I would prefer a millitary(or mercenary maybe) background option personaly.

[NekkidNones]

Could start off as an independent scientists or researcher that discovers something(invents or rediscovered tech/virus/whatever). Would have the benefit of being more difficult/interesting at the start of the story, without having a galactic governments resources at your disposal.
Even in the fantastical future, getting to another planet, wouldn't be without difficulty for a regular Joe. Hell, transport to another continent could be challenging enough. Story could be easy enough to start too. A normal person could be discribed as having difficulty communicating discoveries to trusted peers in secret, without (again) the resources of a government backing them.

Have Cerberus' subsidiary branches(SilvermansBags, Morgan's pursuit, liquidity first) try to steal/impede the players progress, because they want it for themselves first.

Any how, I can certainly dig a story that spends time with early character development that has more humble origins. It has relatable trials and tribulations, to which most can easily become more emotional invested with such a protagonist.

[KBABZ]

I can certainly dig a story that spends time with early character development that has more humble origins. It has relatable trials and tribulations, to which most can easily become more emotional invested with such a protagonist.

Pretty much this too. It would be like a lot of fantasy RPGs (or Pokemon) where you eventually leave your hometown for adventure. In a sci-fi world this could start by having to save up enough credits to buy a cheap, crappy starship from the back of a lot that would be akin to getting your first car.

@jimmham: What is the appeal for you for starting off with a military background?

[StealthGamer92]

I just don't like civilian characters like in a lot of games I've played who are put up against squads of highly trained commandos and kick their butt.

[KBABZ]

I just don't like civilian characters like in a lot of games I've played who are put up against squads of highly trained commandos and kick their butt.

Well the offset of that is that the characters will be much easier to relate to in the story. It makes it much harder to write the story since you can't have the Council pop in over the radio and go "You need to visit Virmire even if you don't like it" to force the story to where the writers want it to go, but good writing will sort it all out and the characters will be more connect-able as a result.

As for the combat thing, I've always seen that as the dissonance between story and gameplay. GTA is a prime example, where it tries to tell touching stories and will then allow you to hook up with a prostitute a second later, against everything the story is trying to do. You could solve the problem by cranking up the difficulty, as a reflection for how hard the civilian character has to work to beat his or her opponents. Story can also help the issue as well; the main character could be the son/daughter of someone in the military like Ashley and thus would have recieved some form of training. Or perhaps they're the type who gets into a gunfight situation so often that they've accumulated natural experience in the area.

Basically, my alternative wasn't a request to cast off all military influence in the next game. Rather, it was more to do with the motivations and actions of the character, such as how the plot is progressed less through character motivations and more through a superior telling you what to do, and how military regs can get in the way of what a character may want to do (flawed or not), such as romance being put aside due to the "no fraternization" rule. It makes the story and characters less relatable, but a military background can still be used in story-telling.