The Last Page of History

In this entry, I'm going to discuss some of the work involved with developing the stories for my game projects, hopefully some of the things I mention will not only ring true for my own work, but might reveal something about the kind of work that goes on in game development in general.

First, though, I'd like to say that this blog entry is what it is because of Joe Morse's generosity in allowing his music to be used in Sahaquiel's brand new story trailer, more on that later. Joe Morse is a solo musician and also a member of the band Astronaut Down . You can find out more about him and hear his solo work on his website. I encourage you to check out both his music and his band's because, as far as I can gauge, they have a great sound to their music and Joe's been helpful and giving in working out getting the trailer off the ground, I spent the last handful of days getting everything sorted out with him and I have permission to use his song "Silence" in the story trailer.

Now, all pleasantries well taken care of (read: I hope.)



Here is the trailer that I've hinted at; it takes you on a short romp through the desperate and aged world of Sahaqiel, it features parts of the introduction I've produced to be played at the onset of the game and some original work, you can find the music used in the trailer at Joe Morse's website.

When I make video games, I don't have a fourty head team working at my whim, making art assets, writing graphics engines or figuring out the best way to spin game play to make it seem as new as possible (although any penny pincher investing in mainstream gaming would say the less new, the more safe it is and thusly more desirable,) so we can't always expect much from that. What I am is one high school grad with free time, so that means completely different means to development, and maybe a completely different end.

First off, I don't go with what's safe, instead, usually something will hop out of my head, if it sounds good, I'll catch the idea mid jump and throw it on the drawing board, that's where the fun begins. I would at this point say "what do I have to do to get this working and working well?" About half the time, its out of my reach as a coder (game maker language, not mainstream coding yet,) an artist (I'm an infantile 3d modeler) but hardly ever is it out of my reach as a writer!

They say the best stories are told over and over again in many different ways; a hero, a villian, a conflict, a place, a time and somewhere along the line we start blurring the lines for all of them.

As the player, are you really a shining hero, sole defender of humanity against people who are evil through and through? Or are you part of an exercise in uselessness, one ship staving off an endless army -intelligent and deadly- to defend billions of people against a dozen power brokers trying to buy their way into heaven by playing god with the universe. This almost sounds like a tale of dark towers, wizards and sword wielding knights. Well its actually set thousands of years in the future.

The question above is one faced day in and day out by Dallako Rossen, hand-picked pilot of Sahaquiel. Spun on a molecular level, the result of thousands of years of scientific knowledge and at its core, one of the greatest interface constructs ever conceived, theoretically giving the pilot the ability to bend the very fabric of space and time to his will. Theoretically.

Until that time comes, he is the pilot of a very expensive, unarmed, vulnerable fighter against an army of automated drones a billion strong and growing commanded by a handful of incredibly powerful but hopelessly insane and sadistic AIs. How do you save the world with those kind of odds, how do you even survive? Ingenuity.

In Sahaquiel, that is your only ally as you go on a romp across the universe assisted by a crack team of strategists and thinkers that drop you into the field against some of the most awe inspiring machines of war to date, on the hunt for the five AIs that even now attack humanity mercilessly.

Eventually, if the enemy's genocidal attacks can be curved, if they can even be damaged, you must somehow break through the enemy's invincible stronghold and face an enemy you know nothing about, only then will the universe be saved.

This has been one of the most out-there stories I've had to write for a game, it's been a challenge just settling on the overall premise, and now i have to create a living world for the player to be taken on a thrilling ride through, somehow create details that captivate and inspire, bring the world the player now inhabits to life.

Part of that was emphasizing the atmosphere of the story with music, nowhere is this more true than in the introduction. I had a great deal of tries finding good music for the intro, but this time it came to my serendipitously as I mucked about singing and trying to emulate some of the work in the Homeworld and Homeworld 2 soundtracks. What I recorded was sorrowful and haunting, that's what I heard anyway, form your own opinions and don't take my word for it though.
Have a listen yourself.

So that's it for this entry, I've released a new trailer, divulged on the story of Sahquiel and maybe let some people pick up on new ideas, I hope anyone who's had a go at this entry has enjoyed the read.

My next entry will concern what goes into making the game play of my project come alive, the levels and the enemies you face along the way.