Endemia

From WorkCDN

This is another open game idea. The goal is to re-think what games are meant to be, and how to create games (and game paradigms) from the ground up, with a Christian world-view.

The game is about a person who comes to find out that he has a disease that is slowly killing him, and he is trying to find a cure.

Format

Currently thought of as an action / adventure game interleaved with cutscenes. Initially thinking it could work well in a number of formats -- such as a turn-based RPG format (ala Final Fantasy), an action / fighting game (ala Secret of Mana, RPGesus), or a platformer (ala Doukutsu), but I'm sure other formats would work well also.

Storyline In Progress

Act 1: Home

Setting

Environment

The sky is yellow, with an orange hue to the landscape. Architecture is built from stone, but clashes with the landscape -- usually things are landscaped or modified, either with build-ups or with cut stones -- it doesn't try to fit into the land, but seeks to build up out of it and add order to the otherwise harsh and rugged landscape.

Village Xen

All Xen (as a race) suffer from a malady that degenerates their bodies as they age. In Hiro's home village, it's accepted as part of life, and people don't really know (or seek to know) much about it. They just accept it and try to not care about it -- "live in the present" they say, and "let the future take care of itself." They consider themselves victims / characters of fate, and relinquish all control of their circumstances. They subsist of eating roots and grubs, and don't really assert themselves on the world around them. In contrast with Xen met later in the story, this is a peaceful village that lives harmoniously with World around them.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Hiro is a young Xen that lives in a small and fairly isolated village. Everyone knows each other, is friendly, and live a simple but content life. Hiro still lives with his parents, though they are getting older and weaker. He is a young mid-adolescent who is maturing and coming to grips with the world around him. It's a small village, where everyone knows each other. He is friendly with everyone, but is best friends with Zyg, who is of similar age as him, and they have grown up together.

Hiro begins his day with needing to help the village to gathering resources for a local festival. His father is weak, but gives him instructions in how he is old enough that he can participate in the festival preparations for the first time this year. Hiro's disappointment in his father's weakened condition is overshadowed by his opportunity to participate.

The tasks that he's given familiarize the player with the controls of the game. Moving left and right, as well as various jumping skills that he needs. Starting with the basics of accurate platform landing, and culminating in special harvesting tasks that require him to use a combination of accurate jumps, timing, and wall jumps to reach his goal.

Some Regolith are encountered outside of the village at this point, but all are peaceful, and Hiro has no need or means to damage them.

Chapter 2: Discontent in the Festival

The village festival is splendid, and the whole village is happy. Hiro is enjoying talking with his family and friends, particularly with his best friend Zyg. Zyg has dreams of going to the Great City that they've heard exists to the West, and the lights of the party remind him of the tales he has heard of how the Great City lights illuminate the sky at night.

In the midst of the party, Hiro is struck by a flash of pain and bright red light. He doesn't know what just happened, but the party is continuing on around him as if nothing had happened. Nobody else seems to notice, and he is suddenly scared and decides to get some rest and turn in for the night.

After the party, he begins asking around as to what the flash of pain was. Hiro soon learns from his father that he, like all Xen, are afflicted with the Malady -- a Great Sickness that starts when Xen are adolescents, and continues to affect them until they die. He is horrified by this, but still tries to be satisfied with the "just accept it and live at peace with the world" answer that the village Durg (elders) gives him. This reluctance to accept their answer is culminated when he returns home to find that his father has somewhat unexpectedly succumbed to the Malady. He is appalled that there is nothing that the village could do for him, and when his mother winces in pain at her own affliction, Hiro feels that he must do something. He and Zyg agree that they should go to the Great City to seek a cure. The Durg tell them that they must not leave the Village, but Zyg shouts at them in a moment of rage. Both Zyg and Hiro are locked up in a hut as a result, but they escape that night and run off in hopes of finding the Great City.

Act 2: The Great City

Chapter 3: Eyes of Wonder

On their travel to the Great City, they are attacked by some unexpectedly hostile Regolith. Hiro and Zyg have never seen a Regolith that was hostile, and they are caught off guard. Hiro is knocked to the ground, and Zyg attacks the Regolith in an attempt to defend him -- being severely injured in the process. At a pivotal moment, a City Gaurdsman enters the scene and saves Hiro and Zyg from the threat -- astonishing the two of them with his great strength. In great contrast to their own weakness, the Guardsman is essentially a large mechanical mech that fights off the Regolith rather handily. The Guardsman is curt, professional, and powerful. He assesses the situation, picks up Zyg, and escorts Hiro back to the Great City where they get Zyg medical aid. (Eventually after seeing a map of the world, Hiro sees that one of the most difficult regions of Regolith lie directly between his old village and the Great City, and that explains why he was so quickly overwhelmed). He had never seen such a display of strength as the Guardsman showed, and it opens his eyes to the possibility of not just curing his illness, but going far beyond what his base strength would be. It broadens his horizons, and inspires him as to what Xen can become.

Chapter 4: Building the Dream

After being safely escorted to the city, Hiro and Zyg are given safe harbor by the city officials. Zyg though severely hurt, is stabilized. He is going to recover, though one of his arms is now useless as a result of his injuries. Hiro sets out to find a solution for his arm, and he is directed to an Augments shop. He finds a replacement arm that would do the job nicely, but he is unable to pay for it. The shop owner offers to give Hiro work, and in exchange, will give him the arm for his friend. Hiro asks about the Malady, and is directed to other Augments that will boost his strength, defense, etc. These Augments make up the mechanical exoskeleton that gives strength to the City Gaurdsman and other citizens of the Great City. Excited by this possibility, he begins earning money to purchase augments of his own through some menial gathering tasks.

Foreshadowing: It shouldn't be highlighted, but there should be a subtle contrast that his inquiries about curing his illness are answered with augmentations that counter the _symptoms_ of the illness, but never actually address the core _cause_. This is particularly highlighted as he is trying to fix his friend's lifeless arm, and rather than repairing the damage, he is directed to ways to bypass the arm, rather than fix it.

He begins a cycle of working to obtain augments, and countering his declining health and strength. His health and strength deteriorate slowly, but the benefits of the augmentations grow at a proportionally faster rate. These augmentations are fantastic and fun, and they help to protect him better, or let him run faster, jump higher, or hit harder. Hiro and Zyg are excited about the possibility of bringing Augments from the Great City back to the village to help Hiro's family, so they begin upgrading themselves in earnest, in the hopes that they can fight their way back through the difficult region of Regolith to get back home. He continues to grow in strength, power, and soon becomes a formidable fighter who can adventure into nearly any hostile region around the Great City for the quests that are given to him.

Act 3: Beyond

Chapter 5: A Dream Realized, and Again Discontented

After another flash of pain, Hiro realizes that his augments aren't actually curing the Malady -- they're only masking the problem. He still wants to find a cure for his mother, but he's not sure that this is it. Meanwhile, Zyg is growing discontent in his own way, as he is getting fed up with the wanton pillaging of the natural world. Zyg confronts the Great City elders about it. He is rejected for his ideas of environmentalism, and, embittered, he and Hiro go back to their home village in search of the "simple life in harmony with nature" that they once knew. Hiro remembers his mother's parting words about living at peace with the world, and just accepting fate, and he is open to listening to his mother as they set off.

They are now both strong enough to fight their way through the difficult Regolith that attacked Hiro on his way to the Great City, and go back to their village -- only to find it destroyed by the very nature it was living in "harmony" with. Hiro and Zyg are both distraught -- Hiro is distraught and withdrawn, but Zyg essentially snaps. Zyg concludes that the Regolith wouldn't have attacked the Village if it weren't for the Xen who drove the Regolith to it. He becomes embittered against the Great City and all other Xen and departs. Hiro preads for him to stop and calm down, but Zyg fires on him in blind rage, and has departed before Hiro can pick himself up again.

Chapter 6: An Alternative Answer

As Hiro is stunned (both physically and emotionally), a Xen clad in swirling blue approaches him, and tells Hiro that there was nothing he could have done -- he was too in a rage. The Xen introduces himself (as Evangelist?) as a nomadic warrior who had heard that the village was under attack, but was unable to arrive in enough time to save it. Hiro learns from Evangelist that the Regolith attacked without warning or cause, despite the village's peaceful living. He learns that the Regolith fight the Xen not just because the Xen "intrude" on their land, but they are hostile and fight in and among themselves as well. He comes to understand the world as a hostile and unfriendly place, where peaceful living is impossible -- it's a kill-or-be-killed world.

Evangelist also gives him the first hints that this world is not their home, and the reason for his deteriorating health is because this Plane is not his natural Plane of existence. This is his first contact with "magic", which is represented by the colors / hues of blue (in stark contrast to the oranges of the natural world which have been the only colors present up until this point in the game).

Chapter 7: Hope

Hiro wants to go back to the Great City to look for Zyg, and Evangelist agrees to accompany him, but only so far -- as he is not welcome in the Great City. Hiro goes back to the Great City, looking for Zyg, but is unable to find him. He reports to the Durg about the destroyed village, but they are fairly unconcerned. Curious, he also asks them about the possibility of a Home Plane (as he heard from Evangelist), but he is met with a startingly sharp reaction, and cautioned from talking about this any further. The subject matter is dropped. Unsure of what to do next within the village, h meets back up with Evangelist, who asks him for the help to accompany him on a mission to defend another village from an attack by the Regolith. In the following fights, Evangelist teaches him more of the Blue Magic, and he sees bits of its power. Foreshadowing: A subtle (yet not-pointed-out fact should be that Evangelist is vulnerable to the "easy" monsters, and strong vs. the hard, while Hiro is the converse). On the way, Evangelist encourages Hiro to give up his Augments (which are now among the strongest available in the game), but Hiro thinks this is ridiculous. How would he survive without his augments to protect him? The Evangelist is in the middle of telling him about how he must lose himself in order to be truly found, but he is cut short from fully explaining this when they arrive at the village and find it to be in the middle of heavy attack. They jump into the fray together. Evangelist and Hiro fight valiantly, and the battle is won. Evangelist is nearing the end of his life, and though they win the battle, Evangelist is spent at the end of it. He gives Hiro some last advice on how to continue along the Path to Home. In sharp contrast to how the normal Xen die (who sink into the ground), he dematerializes into a cloud of blue particles and sparkle out of this plane of existence in a beautiful display. Hiro is left on his own at this village, which Evangelist has had contact with in the past. He learns a bit more of the magic from this group (though nowhere near to the level of Evangelist). He doesn't know where to go next, but finds hope in some of the last direction that he received from Evangelist, who had told him that if he wants to leave this Plane, that to find the way, he should travel to a particular Valley (translate to the Valley of Despair). He doesn't know what he'll find there, but his health is getting low, and he's getting desperate for more answers. He's bitter at Evangelist having been taken from him so quickly, before he was able to answer all of his questions, but he decides to chase this down as well as he can.

Act 4: Awakening

Chapter 8: Desperation

As time goes on, his health has continued to drop down just a single point, but as his health lowers (it's gone down from 100, and is approaching a mere 10 points), each lost point is more significant, and he begins to be mortally aware that this can't continue much longer. He wants to find the way to Home Plane, and so proceeds to the Valley of Despair. The way is difficult, and he is way out of his league. Despite having the best augmentations that the Great city have to offer, he eventually becomes overwhelmed, and in a climactic moment of desperate surrender, he gives up on trying to use the augments and trusts entirely in the Blue Magic for his strength. As his massive exoskeleton falls down around him, the player sees once again how small and frail he is on the inside. He is reborn in blue light, and finds that his blue light bar has taken the place of his orange armor's health bar, and is significantly higher than anything he had before. He is shielded in a new way against the attacks from the Valley of Despair, and he is shielded in a new way. He is confronted by hordes of the toughest monsters which he is able to chew through with relative ease. His steps now trace back in reverse. He ventures back through the previous "hard" section that was in between the Great City and his old village ruins.

Twist: When he was of the world, things that went along with the world were easy. But now that he is orthogonal to this world, what was hard becomes easy, and what was easy becomes hard. This is a picture of the degree to which his new direction is counter to his previous way of life.

Chapter 9: Confrontation and Rejection, Again

After his Spiritual Awakening, he once again travels back to the Great City, and he is called before the Durg to report. He tells them what he has learned about True Home, and the Blue Magic. The leaders understand the idea of True Home and the Blue Magic to be counter to everything that they've worked for. They reject his fantastic ideas as lunacy and heresy, and he is ostracized from the city in a very close parallel to his friend's earlier rejection.

Chapter 10: A Dangerous Choice

No sooner is he thrown out of the city and is walking away, than he hears of an attack against the city behind him. He is given a choice to go and live in the forest as a hermit in peace, or to go back and help the people as Evangelist taught him to.

Act 5: Answering the Call

Chapter 11: Defense of the Enemy

If he chooses to go back and help the city (rather than to end the game), he races back only to find that hordes of Regolith are attacking the city, and he throws himself into battle in defense of the Xen in there. He notices that the Regolith (who have previously always been mindless beasts) are seeming to be unusually coordinated and dedicated in their attacks, as if they are being controlled. He fights his way through the ranks, and learns that they are indeed being controlled by someone -- and this someone is his former friend Zyg. Zyg has, like Hiro, come to understand that the Xen are unnaturally here. He goes beyond what Hiro thinks, and thinks that they poison everything they touch, and they have irreparably poisoned this world, which, without them, would otherwise be a utopia. He has therefore taken the step to conclude that they must be exterminated. In the words of Agent Smith, the Xen are "a disease -- a virus." He (mistakenly) believes that the Regolith wouldn't be so violent and destructive if the Xen weren't there, and so has made it his mission to destroy the Xen.

The period in which Hero was growing in the Blue Magic, Zyg was growing in his ability to control and wield the Regolith. Hero is ultimately forced to fight his friend Zyg, and in the end, sacrifices himself to save the Xen in the City (who had only recently turned on and rejected him). The rejection of Hero should be contrasted with the Great City's rejection of Zyg earlier in the story -- they are treated similarly for their ideas, but the difference between the two characters is how they have responded to the treatment.

Chapter 12: Bene Moriendi

It is in this final battle that Hero essentially sacrifices himself, and goes Home. He completes his work as his health slowly drops to zero. When the City is safe, his life is completely spent. His life on World Plane ends, and he begins his journey to Home Plane. Hiro disintegrates into blue particles, and our view of the world is caught up into blue particles as well as we journey along with Hiro on the final leg of his journey. As the credits roll, a beautiful scene of swirling and ever-changing blue particles set to music fill the screen as the credits come and go.

Themes to communicate

This world is not our home. We belong elsewhere, and we will always hurt until we find unity with our home. Things of Home are counter to this world. When you are with the world, some paths are easy that are hard when you are of Home. "In this world you will have trouble, but I give you my peace that where I am there you may also be."

"turn the other cheek" and "love your enemies", while juxtaposing it with valid fights (such as, in this case, protecting the many innocent Xen of the Great City, despite their leaders' closed-mindedness). Care should be taken to not make this too cheesy or trite.

Glossary

Xen

A diseased race of human-like creatures that are ultimately found to not be native to World. They are all subject to the Malady.

Various groups exist within this race. The largest group lives in the Great City, but there are other smaller villages scattered throughout World. The key to their sickness (which is revealed throughout the story) is that they are not of this world, and as long as they are absent from their Home Plane, they will never be healthy and whole.

The Great City

The largest and most civilized group of Regolith seeks to combat the sickness through technological advancement and self augmentation -- they grow weaker, so they build machinery that augments their strength. They build armors and mechanical exoskeletons that compensate for their weakness in the world. Their needs for minerals and raw materials (but collected only at one's peril from the Regolith) provides an opportunity for the Protagonist to work and help those who have given him shelter.

As a group, they are extremely rational, logical, and resourceful. They are kind, and care about one another. They don't like mysticism, and reject anything that is not of this Plane as being counter to their cause (which is extending life).

Regolith

Native beasts of World, they are sometimes peaceful and sometimes savage. Some varieties are peaceful, while other varities are violently territorial, and will fight whoever comes near -- whether Xen, or other Regolith. They are completely at home and natural to World. They can represent nature, and often confront the player with the harsh realities therein.

The Regolith are "guardian beasts" of the earth, but are not sacred, and aren't "right" in and of themselves. They're (often violent) creatures who play their part and role in nature, but are not kind, or loving, or rational. In essence, they are soulless beasts.

Each creature type should have an earth-centered name. Some ideas:

Saprolite
Feldspar
Saprock
Alluvium

Or perhaps just use the various classifications of soil, along with their characteristics (I.E., Inceptisols might be young and weak, or Gelisols might have frost powers)

Zyg

Born in the Village, a friend and peer / role-model of Hiro who is alongside Hiro throughout his pre-story Village life, as well as much of their adventures to the Great City. Early on, he essentially sacrifices himself for Hiro, and they are extremely close. He's often the only one who understands and identifies with the struggles that Hiro is going through. Zyg is brash and energetic -- quick to find and question the faults of any of those in authority. His rash boldness can often lead him to hasty conclusions -- for better, or for worse. He is the chief instigator of questioning the elders of the Village, as well as to question the Durg of the Great City -- in each case, he is thrown out, with Hiro accompanying him. He often reacts violently to opposition, and is ultimately discovered to be the one behind the Regolith's coordinated attack against the Great City.

Hiro

Protagonist of the story, he is the main player character. He was born in the village, but as he reaches adolescence, he begins being affected by the Malady, and is discontent with the answers for it given to him by his family and village Durg. He and Zyg leave their home to seek a way to cure the Malady that is slowly killing his family, his village, and himself.

Malady

A condition that affects all Xen as they grow up. It is associated with a red flash of pain, and a decrease in the strength and constitution of the character.

The key to the Malady (which is revealed throughout the story) is that whoever is cut off from their Home Plane will never be healthy and whole until they are reunited.

"Astheneia" is a good Greek word to represent much of what's caught up in this idea.

Outdated Rambling Vision Overview

The storyline concept at this point is that you're a Zelda-like character who wakes up in a world, and you slowly come to find that you have a disease. You search and search for the cure, in a variety of fetch quests and whatnot, and finally come to understand that the real cause of your disease is that this world is not your home.

Another twist that I'm toying with is the idea that, in normal games, as you progress through the game, you start out fighting weak enemies, and slowly progress to fighting stronger monsters. I'm toying with the idea of flipping that on its head -- that as the game goes on, the enemies are harder only by comparison, because you are constantly getting weaker. You can still develop in your variety of powers / spells / abilities and whatnot, but your health and strength go downhill. So you must continue to operate, and do similar tasks, but with fewer resources. It will be a challenge to make this not tedious and annoying, but I think it can be done. Regardless, I'm trying to cultivate the idea and the sense that you're starting out on top of the world, and you're slowly coming to realize that you're not all that you thought you were, and you are powerless to help yourself. Trying to convey the progression of someone who is self-confident, to someone who needs help, and is unable to help himself.

Something else I was considering, is that perhaps a crux moment in the game, as your max health is getting lower and lower And you're starting to panic, the sortof "salvation" moment would be when your self gains the "mana shield" ability. Basically, you stop relying on your health, and you start relying on your spirit. It recognizes a shift in trust and goals, and then you begin progressing up again. It's almost a transition from strong melee character, to weak melee, to weak mage, and then to strong mage.

Ultimately I wasn't imagining the game to be a game about salvation. More about sanctification, but counting the pre-salvation time as part of that sanctification process. Sometimes I think Christians place too much emphasis on the "salvation moment" or something, and a hard black/white time they can point to when someone is "saved", but I think there is value to viewing it as a continuous, life-long process.

I'm not sure that the game could be a clear salvation message. I'm not sure that I would want it to be. I almost feel compelled to, but I wonder if that's more social pressure rather than what I think Christian art needs to be. I started down this path just trying to think of how Christians approach games, and was thinking of turning the tables on the traditional "get stronger" self-aggrandization of so many games. We had a recent discussion at our study group about pride, and it really got me thinking down this path. Just thinking about a game that illustrates humility more. Reliance not on self, but on something outside of ourselves. That could be God, but just the mere concept of surrender is what I'm trying to convey.

Themes

1 Corin 15:42
- So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

2 Corin 13:4
- For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For [b]we also are weak in him[/b], but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.

1 Corin 1:27
- But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

2 Corin 12:8-10
- Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Chapters / Arcs

There are two (possibly three) primary "arcs" in the game, each with their specific themes and progressions. These will need to be stretched, arranged, and tweaked for the pacing of the game.

Act 1: Excitement, Discovery, Descent

Chapter 1 is about the player coming to find himself in the world. He is very strong, very capable, and very impactful in the world around him. As all early games should be, this chapter opens the game easily. It is meant to build up the player's pride, and to be a fun start to the game.
Chapter 2 is about the player's progression to learn that he is not as strong as he seemed to be. He still feels that the world is very much under his control, and he is somewhat impervious -- this is just a minor setback, that he can overcome like all of the other obstacles he has faced thus-far.
Chapter 3 is about the player starting to become desperate. He is recognizing that this is no longer a minor problem, and he is recognizing that he is becoming a victim of something that is outside of his control, and he is powerless to prevent.

Act 2: Surrender, Death, and Life

Chapter 1 is about the player finally learning some true hints as to the nature of his problem -- namely, that he is not of this world, and this is not his true home. In doing so, he learns about his past, his home, and the reality that exists beyond himself and this world. The player still maintains a determination to overcome his problem, but at least he has now begun to properly identify it.
Chapter 2 is about the player finally giving up trust in his own strength, and to rely on the strength offered to him through his true nature. This is a crux moment, which greatly enables the player to deal with the challenges around him. It is here that the player begins to significantly grow in strength again.
Chapter 3 is about the player finally giving up hope that he can save himself in this world, and, becoming unhappy with the world that he is in, he begins to search to go home.
Chapter 4 is the end of the game, where player finally learns the true nature of his home world, that it is not a "world" in the normal sense, that it is not of this plane of existence at all. His physical presence will not come with him as he goes home, and he is finally happy again as he is stronger than ever in his Spirit, when the last of his health ebbs away, and he happily goes home.