Possible Names: * Harpoon * = Laser, Light, or possibly other words synonymous with one or both of those two. Likely LIGHT HARPOON. or Vanquished from Light (Vanquished from *) New name, based on the subterranean sea and something revealed to the player at some point in the game: Seven Waves Codename = Endeavor .:.:. Rebirth (<--- SEVEN DOTS NYAHAAA!) __________________ | _ __ \ | _____/ \ / | | | \___ | |__/ | | / | _ / | __/ | | \ \ | /_ | | | | | / | | | | | / /_ _\ \_ \ |/ \/ \/ Setting: (Undecided name) ------------------------- Is a small island nation/village/town amidst a subterranean sea on a future planet (undecided name), which has been colonized by humans for over 200 years in the present tense of the game. Main Character -------------- Name: Leutras/Liutras (Won't bother with last name likely) Given Age: 22 Background: Slightly outside the lineage of the original pioneers of this planet. The history of his ancestors holds the greatest human-known secrets of the planet as it presently exists. Story: After his grandmother, the last remaining member of his direct lineage, dies, he is given a paper key. By using this key, he can decode and is guided by mysterious and monstrously-large engravings on the earth-and-stone ("gaiaic?") ceiling of the subterranean sea. These engravings have been around for as long as all but the eldest can remember, and are not readily visible to the eye without technological aid. The engravings lead him to the burial site (likely a small, hidden island upon the sea) of the * Harpoon, an ancient tool and weapon which in actuality utilizes more advanced technology than anything the humans of the planet own. The * Harpoon is able to sort of grapple the (undecided name)s, strange orbs of light and/or energy that rise out of and re-enter specific slots in the ground that define the entirety of the subterranean sea's day/night cycle. These (undecided name)s have existed as long as or longer than the ancient engravings, and so people of the planet can only surmise that their ancestors installed them. TECHNICAL: The slots in the ground contain a cylindrical water-flooded tunnel that goes deep into the crust of the planet. The shells which host luminous gas rise from the slots after collecting enough of the gas, and let it out slowly as they float and light the area. They then descend back into the slots, and sink far under the water until they collect enough gas to float up again. The aforementioned strange orbs of lights are tamed versions of their true form. Their true form is small pockets of gas that rise out of the subterranean sea, hundreds or thousands at a time, and are naturally ignited into an illuminating, warm yet unharmful form. The ignition may be sparks rising from the ground, or falling from the ceiling. If rising from the ground, then directly over the sea itself is much darker. They are caused to rise by the gravitational pull of the moons, to which this gas has a certain attraction. An ionic form of this gas creates longer-lingering lights, which can be grappled to. SIGNIFICANT EDIT: The gas does not naturally rise very far above the sea surface before dispersing. The gas has gravitational properties of its own which causes it to rise. The gas is not ignited into a lit form, but naturally provides light. It has no attraction to the moons. There is no ionic form -- what can be grappled to is the shells that contain the gas-lights, with the aid of the gravitational force of the gas. Throughout Liutras' ancestry, a story has been handed down in secrecy that describes the capabilities and true purpose of the * Harpoon. The * Harpoon exists so that one may climb the (undecided name)s (luminous gas shells) to ancient and abandoned hovering cities within the subterranean world, and ultimately along a path that extends beyond the planet's surface, and to its smallest moon. On that moon supposedly rests a gateway to the humans' home planet, which of course, is Earth. Game Play --------- Game Type: Platform/Side-Scrolling Playing as Liutras, you must discover the * Harpoon and journey upward through the subterranean atmosphere, your goal being to reach the planet's smallest moon. Many things (keys? harpoon upgrades?) are necessary to get there. This does not imply that Liutras stays above the subterrainnean surface the entirety of the game. Travelling through the air also allows him to bypass seas and reach other islands. The player uses the WASD keys to move, and the mouse to aim and fire. Liutras eventually carries two weapons: A chargeable low-firepower pistol, which he starts out with, and the * Harpoon, which is much more powerful. There will be scenarios where you must use the * Harpoon for one thing while using the pistol to defend yourself. Left click to use the * Harpoon, right to use the pistol. The * Harpoon, as stated before, is capable of somewhat grappling the (undecided name)s. This is, however, limited in some undecided way. It may also be used in many other ways, such as using the light/energy rope of the * Harpoon and special gloves to climb along it. The * Harpoon goes -through- the (undecided names), so for some functionality purpose it could be used to feed its light/energy rope through an (undecided name) after being shot through it and into ground/a wall. There would also be scenarios where (undecided name)s are locked into the ground, and you must use the * Harpoon or something else to get them out. Some may also be damaged, and require repair. New Story/World/Setting Ideas ----------------------------- Connect this to the Vanquished Outpost story somehow. Maybe at the end of the game, Liutras escapes the planet or something of the sort, headed for Ghennam or something, dies somehow and this is how he becomes a spirit in the Vanquished Outpost. (Obviously in this case, Crescent Serori is replaced with Liutras as the main character, or perhaps he is given a new name as a spirit). Also, the villainous darkness that aims to dismantle the outpost could be decided here, and perhaps originate from the same planet as Liutras, perhaps doing what it does to exact revenge upon him and, if relevant, the human race. It begins: Somehow, Liutras ends up unconcious, floating atop the sea. At some point, a large bird of sorts pulls him up out of the water, flies with him in its talons, and leaves him, possibly, on the roof of some sort of tower. RBG Tie-Ins ----------- Liutras is the prototype's spirit reincarnated, or rather that of "Liutron," from the redefinition of Robo Go: "Illuminous Awake." The game begins (before the title screen) with two orbs/lights, one red and one blue, floating down and either creating or entering Liutras upon the water's surface, unconcious. Either this, or the prototype's "spirit" is already a merging of the two lights, and is simply a violet light. Name: Cember Name: Albert / Alfred Grossness Name: Virn Name: Emyhr Name: Kewse Name: Fergitin (Last Name) Name: Arera / Araera / Areara (One of the r's an l?) Persona: Rival or someone who admires and positively aspires to be as good as or better than Liutras (random idea - first appearance: his hand randomly bursts up from below the ground in front of Liu at some point, and he pulls himself up and out. introduction goes from there) Persona: Keinemas' wife - an ambiguous, mysterious character who seems somewhat omniscient - may come into play (as just a voice?) early on but identity isn't revealed until later - may reveal details about Liutras' purpose. May be "Kewse"? Persona: Color-sensitive character who keeps track of things by taking colorful "memory triggers" (e.g. fruit chews like starburst) with him everywhere he goes, and setting them down in unique locations or near/on relevant items. Their insignificance to others keeps them ignored by most. The combination of the trigger color and its surroundings causes him to instantly remember something. He is extremely sensitive to tampering of the triggers. - Relevant event: He encounters a trigger, somewhere mid/late game, off hidden in a strange spot. It's a trigger the player never saw him place. He then instantly has a drastic change in mood/act to reflect what he remembers. Could be for better or for worse. Character: Edit (Cocky; Friggly's son (or "creation?")) Character: Tass - Tall, blonde, skinny, friendly, and positive guy with floofy, floaty blonde hair who wears a black scholar-esque robe, perhaps a white shirt underneath, and circular-lensed glasses Character: Mad Zick, owner of the Netherlandic Xylophone Bank of Cutlery and Votives Character group: 2 (or possibly but unlikely more) people that are really close, like family or best friends, and who are together all the time Character: Wo/man who wears a mask Character: Older man whose name you learn before you meet. His name is unusually youthful sounding for someone so old Cameo: i (Intruder Alert) Cameo: Original Robo design Light Harpoon Ability/Weapon Ideas ---------------------------------- Frequency - Uncharged: Emit small-ish ring shaped wave around the character. Does damage. Charged: Fire projectile wave that carries a limited distance over the ground/walls/ceiling it hits. Inverse Matter - Uncharged: Fire ring-shaped projectiles that begin inverted. Passes through enemies and creates inverse matter spores (think dark beam charge in Echoes) on collision with each enemy. Creates a slew of spores on solid collision, reverses direction, and changes to normal matter, where it dies on contact with next enemy or solid. Charged: Shields character with/changes character to inverse matter, which constantly drains WE (will there be WE? Maybe a similar bar that all/most weapons share, and gradually replenishes when unused?). Collision with any enemies prevents the character from being hurt, and creates inverse matter spores. Stop with same fire button or other matters. Particle Shift - Uncharged: Character's "soul" escapes their body and quickly travels in the predetermined direction until it hits a wall or until the user presses the fire key. Upon finishing, the character rematerializes or "teleports" at the final position. Pressing the jump key before it ends causes their soul to return to the original position. Suspends the character in air, if done in air. Getting hurt during the process causes the soul to return. Charged: Forms a temporary, floating energy mass that deters all/most enemy projectiles from the character. May also attract some items or miscellaneous objects, and may suit to charge some inactive machines. Fuse Anchor - Allows character to hang and jump from the floating balls of light for a temporary time, and from other certain surfaces (alike scale ceilings) Fuse Harpoon - Light harpoon mod that allows harpoon shots to grapple the aforementioned balls of light and surfaces, pulling the character to them. Has a limited distance. Fuse Glide - Fuse modification to enable sliding across the aforementioned surfaces. Fuse Extension - Fuse modification which allows the character to hang from the fuse point on an "energy rope," and to increase and decrease the length of the energy rope to a certain extent. Gliding is still possible while extended. Harpoon Burst - Enables the character to move swiftly and abruptly using short bursts from the light harpoon. Jumping extends the range. Game Stages ----------- Intro/Tutorial Area: Is underwater, allegedly a dream of Liutras' in which he plays and learns the basics, with perhaps an early boss - intimidating, yet easy. Inside of large, dark, gloomy stapulate with broken windows? Stapulates (?) (Towers?) ------------------------ Strewn across the subterranean surface are 1-story-tall (or shorter) buildings with a slightly conic shape. Perhaps they are actually depressed into the ground, and the door is against the wall? In reality, these are just the entrances to "towers" that extend deep underneath the surface into large pockets of water, and which consist of multiple floors/levels. Some may also extend into a section of the underground ocean that exists enclosed by a large shelf of land. At the bottom of each of these "towers" are openings into the open water, where something (mini-boss fight?) can be done after a bit more exploration to cause the towers to be raised up into the air via machinery. Stones and dust can be seen falling into the water from the underside of the surface during this. There is then the large pocket of water that must be traversed upward through (can simply swim up?) to reach the bottom of the building again. Traverse up through the building not only to exit it, but to reach something that had been floating in the air high above the lowered building the entire time: a transportation sphere (note: these may be perceived as larger light sources early in the game, and coming into contact shuts the light off?). These spheres (which are gold w/aqua trim or vice-versa) should transport you to a place that is either mounted on the underside of the outer crust/shell, or else that is suspended in air by a synthetic subterranean atmosphere. These places (or different sections of the same place) support the synthetic atmosphere and keep it running, which keeps the planet's oxygen supply locked underground and protects it from possibly harmful air above. Exploring these/this area/building/whatever will eventually lead to perhaps a boss fight, and disabling part of the synthetic atmosphere, eventually allowing you to pass beyond it and to begin your journey to the surface. INDIVIDUAL CASE SCENARIOS OF STAPULATES Intro: Leutras first becomes conscious in the heart of a ruined stapulate. It is dark, and has no or few windows to the water outside of it. What ruined it is its transportation sphere, which ceased levitation and crashed into it, and has thus fallen through all the levels down the center to the very bottom. The player never sees this actually happen, but perhaps they hear it or are given hints in the intro. The first area likely has a bit of (dusty) light shining in from above, perhaps some water too, from minor leaks. Leutras must travel downward, and eventually finds the transportation sphere, which is either covering or just barely under the opening into the water, and which is still in working order (it's tough!) but is tilted with its thrusers horizontal. Upon entering it, the pod with the player inside of it boosts sideways through a fair expanse of deep under-water area (probably a bumpy ride) until it crashes through the wall of another building. This building is probably not a stapulate, or else is an old, and disabled one. It is either hidden, or partially extended into the air (it is deeper than the one L came from). It is somewhere here that, after exploring, L finds something very significant - either the light harpoon in its most basic, unenhanced form, or something to aid in breathing underwater, however likely the prior. If not, then perhaps the harpoon is found soon afterward via the older idea mentioned at the top of this file. There appears to be something missing nearby (most likely), which Leutras finds later on, and discovers that it was a message of some significance from the creator(s) or previous wielder of the light harpoon. (If creators, likely the RBG scientists. Perhaps the harpoon is the - partially complete - red "soul," and Leutras is the blue?) Plenty of stapulates have lots of inside windows showing the under-water environment behind them. Some towers are darker and have fewer windows. Some have less windows, but a more interesting inner-background such as gears and belts rotating. One stapulate might have interior water damage to the point that, when it attempts to raise up, the walls alone might go up and all the floors may cave in or detach from the walls and fall down. If the player got stuck in this, perhaps it could happen slowly and they would have to work their way "up" through the falling floors to avoid being crushed? Afterward, the player would have to scale the edges of the raised walls to get up to the transport sphere. Stormstormstormgiantmoonlightsourceeye The "Enephisce" as a sort of hidden bonus level? Goes on (seemingly) eternally with enemies strewn throughout. 'Tis a sub-subterannean surface with no water that exists deep below the subterranean sea. Perhaps accessible via a hidden, inactive stapulate? (Or by returning to the intro stapulate later on in the game, since it's damaged and already inactive?) Might contain rewards of sorts. A door with wings and a small eye in the center? Is found inactive atop a stapulate, but eye opens when approached by Leutras, and after a delay the wings grow and it flies off. Perhaps contains a small compartment with a humanoid inside? Is the key to reaching a final area, or else a hidden area? From that point on, is seen at random outside places throughout the game. Becomes a host of several mini-games, where you see the door as it flies around the whole time but don't interact with it? These only happen if you take action when you see it at said random moments. Incorporate the idea of an albatross somehow? E.g. when the character is badly damaged by an enemy that does not belong to the casual group of enemies (such as an NPC), the casual group of enemies mysteriously turns on the NPC. Or incorporate it into the planet's history, such as "the destruction of an albatross is what forced them underground." butnotthatreally cuz it sounds like Gurren Lagann. At some point he meets a girl that later betrays him? A probably-side-story where person A is vying for the attention of person B, who is more interested in person C. Person C may, in turn, be rather cold, and doesn't brag about the attention they get from person B maybe. An image of sorts of Keinemas' wife as a key source of backstory and omniscience provided to Liutras at sparsely-placed moments? Perhaps she had something to do with who he is now? Her mind is host to the figure of Liutras' "grandmother," the label she gives herself as an excuse to house him and keep an eye on him. She moves into wherever she lives not relatively-long before he arrives ("relative" to the point in time upon which all of the prototype's Enno is transferred to this planet, which may have been a slew of years ago and Enno may be a valued substance in the world). A mini-story/event within the main story which focuses on developing the player's knowledge of Liutras' past. A large-scale mid-game "reset" point, sort of like a sub-climax. Good games such as FFVIII, Chrono Trigger + Cross, and good animes like Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, The Third have points like this. Ensure that > 50% of the game remains after this event, to ensure player satisfaction. Ending too soon after this event is a big let-down. A certain line of descendents that began around the time of Liutras' inception was assigned to carry a place in their family for Liutras at all times. The legend was passed down along with a book (or other source of info, e.g. hologram of Inafune's wife) which told of all the memories each member of each generation would "have had" with Liutras, should they be the generation that finds him and must call him their own. Each generational family has a date upon which they mysteriously receive a birth certificate and other official identification that confirms the legitimate existence of Liutras as one of their family. The package must, however, be completely unopened unless Liutras arrives, therefore there might be multiple older ones stashed away near the book. This would allow Liutras to get around more easily in the world's society, once he finds said family. Perhaps in the actual game, the current generation of that family, which Liutras encounters, has been narrowed down to a single girl -- one who stubbornly refused to listen to the legend, and whose parents died before they could provoke her to hear it out. She left the legend along with the book (whereabouts unknown to her) in her parents' house since they died, and set out on her own. Because Liutras is close to her "age" when he finds her, he would "legally" be/become her brother. Once they meet and eventually get along, part of the quest could be to find her house and the book for more information regarding Liutras' purpose. Also, perhaps to consider is that her old home was on a small island. Coincidentally, there was a stapulate directly beneath this island. Once they reach it, they find that it has risen out of the water. The house is now atop the stapulate and must be reached by traveling through to the roof of the stapulate. A small part of this path could be the earth that came up beneath the house. Intervention: At a point when Liutras is in a hopeless-looking situation and is in dire need of help, a "reincarnation" or humanoid creation of Keinemas' (new human name instead of Keiji: Keijiin Hinae) shows up and intervenes in a dramatic, deity-like way that shakes the foundations of the playing field. This isn't just any bad situation though. The people involved in tormenting Liutras are extremely familiar with the stories of his work, and maybe even generations down from some of the scientists he worked with. Because of this, they know certain fear when they realize what this incarnation is. Also, perhaps on his own in kind of a protoman-esque not-good-not-bad fashion may be Marto's son, in this situation. He may chuckle to himself, make a revealing or puzzling remark about the incarnation, then run away. Giggldea: world is forced into a multi-year summer. Once everyone has abandoned their winter clothes and has no more, an extreme winter kicks in. Chaos ensues. Have many events hit like whirlwinds! Speed is a key essence of surprise. The "forseen end" of the game is not the true end of the game, and in fact occurs relatively early in the game. In other words, a goalpoint where nothing else, to the players' knowledge, exists beyond that point in the story until it actually happens. (Chrono Trigger being a great example: everyone expects the game to end with the defeat of Magus because none of the game's story is revealed beyond that point, prior to it. The player is then rewarded with the ultimate surprise of actually only being at the half-point of the game, and the subsequent discovery of the floating island city, Zeal) A creature or person that at first seems like it belongs somewhere, but the player soon finds out that everyone you would expect that creature/person to be associated to knows nothing/little about it. Example: translucent shadow creature with mask from Spirited Away. A passive and/or quiet character who seems like they could be good/on the player's side at first, but who slowly proves otherwise over time. Unique method of obtaining a power-up: A certain unmarked floating floaty-thing (identity undecided -- in the dream from which this idea originated, it was an idly floating blue, slippery-looking fish with gold or black stripes and a slight glow/aura) is found in a somewhat tucked-away area, floating. When the player attacks(?) it, it doesn't get hit but instead gives off a small ring of light, some particles, triggers a lighthearted, positive (but feeble?) sound, and the thing itself does like a loop in the air. After that, the floaty-thing may either follow the player by floating around just above their head, or "join"/"enter" the player. In either case, there are multiple of identical floaty things which belong to the same "hidden subquest." In the prior case, more join the group above the player's head and follow him around like the first one. In the latter case, all current floaty things "obtained" pop out from the player when near to a new floaty-thing -- once it is attacked, it joins you and all floaty things "enter" the player again. When all floaty things are following/have joined the player, they begin to circle the player, increasing speed more and more and with some spiffy animation, the upgrade is achieved. It had better be something really cool and unique! (but, more likely than not, will not be a required part of the game's main timeline) Weapon/ability idea: a modification to the harpoon that fires forward, creates an unmoving "web" in the air and from a thread of energy from the light harpoon that was attached to the projectile, pulls Liutras forward. Dash substitute? Ability/feature: Charge time of chargeable weapons is shortened as the player moves around more. Power-up idea: Jet gloves. Have jet boosters on each glove, each of which are attached to a solid, rotatable-yet-stable "ring" around the wrist. Early forms require manual rotation to the desired direction. Later forms are somehow automatically controlled, or else via some mechanisim in the gloves near the fingers. The jets allow for quicker movement of the hands in the direction opposite they face, which can improve various abilities and introduce new abilities. Day and Night Cycle ------------------- When "morning" comes, small floating light sources fall or float down from the subterranean ceiling and into the ocean, spread apart. Or maybe whatever they are aren't lit, so that they're barely visible in the night and their existence is hardly acknowledged, hence few believe they really exist? Shortly after they enter the ocean, the aforementioned igneous gas bubbles etc. that ignite to bring light to the world begin to rise out of the ocean and linger in the air. Night comes when the "bringers of light" fly back up out of the ocean and up until they can't be seen. (Unbeknownst to the player, they do that to recharge on the surface, or via docks that have power conduits from the surface - they use solar batteries) During the night, which is brought by the dying-out of the light bubbles, a dim light is cast upon the subterranean surface by a suttle glow of perhaps green light behind the giant carvings in the ceiling. Details of the Light Harpoon ---------------------------- The light harpoon is a device which is able to manipulate energy by means of threading that energy through its core, which most often occurs from an orifice on one of its two ends, through to the other. Because of this, it is not always useful, as there must already be energy present for it to be used to the advantage of the light harpoon. Liutras may use it with pre-existing environmental energy sources, but most of his techniques and weapons will be derived i.e. from stores of different forms of energy he keeps with him and gains throughout the story, and perhaps also from his body itself since he is essentially composed, sort-of, of Enno. If the latter, he does not learn or know for sure that his body is the source, or perhaps just why it's the source, until later on. Intro Sequence -------------- It begins in darkness, and the violet glow from a yet unseen object comes down from above, illuminating the environment of (probably) a dark, ruined science & engineering facility. The source of the glow floats gently down from the top of the screen and into view, which turns out to be a phantasmic leaf composed of flickering strands of light that flow through its most prominent details, i.e. the veins in the leaf and the outer edges. As the ghostly leaf slowly falls like a feather, the camera begins to follow its downward path after it reaches the center of the view. The leaf lands atop the surface of either a puddle or an otherwise small body of water contained by something like a bowl (or perhaps you just can't tell - the bottom of a large vertical tube?) It sits for a while and flickers to greater degrees of contrasting darkness and at higher speeds until it quietly but quickly disbands i.e. into spark-like specks of purple that sink into the water. This is followed by other elements of similar visual representation (but green): first, a large spike of ice that forms on the surface, which then erupts into flames (again, all in that green flickery energy), it all begins to flicker like a hologram, then its color inverts back to the purple that the leaf had, and finally it all disbands and the spikes ride on ripples in the water (representing shrill beats) until they fade away. Right as the fading finishes, the reflection of a blue glowing object passes as its light illuminates the surrounding environment, and from the depths of the water, a red glow slowly forms and grows brighter as the camera pans out slowly. The water eventually forms into a red glowing orb (of Enno) that is flickering somewhat, and it moves in the same direction that the blue object did. The blue object is revealed as an identical orb as the red orb catches up with it, and the two orbs are followed through the facility (illuminating from their glow) until they are flying through perpetual darkness. It transitions to them flying downward and off-screen, then it fades from black to the scene of Liutras floating on the surface of the water unconcious. Outline for Area Ideas ---------------------- + A place calm, somber, and peaceful; secluded from the rest of the game world in a way. + Later in the game, the area high above the surface where the "spirit" or "core" of Liutras was contained, now dark (maybe) and empty. This is where it floated down from in the intro. Disguised as/in a giant "stalactite" hanging from the bottom of the shell, above a/the volcano? Journey across a network of stalactites to reach? + A remote, abandoned location (maybe similar to sky town?) + The hero reaches their final destination, which is in ruins, BUT they don't realize at all that it is their destination. Because of this, they move on only to find out later that they've long since passed through where they inteded to go. World/Culture Background and Details ------------------------------------ + Each holiday is actually celebrated the day before the event took place, in order that on the day of, meditation and/or mourning may be held in honor of the event.