The Inspiration

A couple weeks ago, I rediscovered an old Nitrome game called Ice Breaker. It was a flash game released around 2009. The premise was you played as Winter Vikings who have to free frozen Vikings as a physics-based puzzle. I fondly remember quite a number of flash games I used to play back then: Hannah the Pirate/Ice Caves (from Neopets) and Papa Louie being among them. Unfortunately, these being flash games makes it rather difficult to play today. Thankfully, Youtube has footage of most of these games and that includes the soundtracks.

This song reached me. It’s a beautiful, sort of solemn-sounding yet adventurous piece. Considering it plays during all the levels of Ice Breaker, it’s hard to forget. But it became quite the ear-worm for the last week or so.

One day, I just laid back while trying to escape the Summer heat and played this a few times. I let my imagination create different scenarios, settings, and characters that this song could fit with. And as I thought more about it, two games I had played on Steam came to mind. The first was Sable

Sable is an open-world game set on an alien, desert planet. you play as a young woman named Sable who is sent out from her village to find her calling. Everyone wears masks to protect themselves from the environment and mysterious ruins are scattered everywhere.

I was severely underwhelmed by Sable I’m sorry to say. The world was too big for not enough content. The upgrades you get often don’t justify your journey. And there’s little to no greater impact from your choices. The end of the game has you choosing your life profession but doesn’t explore that. Had the game been smaller, it would have been far less boring. However, the game definitely had charm and notably meaningful moments. Some characters stood out, learning the origin of the people of the world was fascinating, and there even some emotional scenes relating to reuniting and coming-of-age. If nothing else, the game makes you feel like a young adult, trying to find your place in the world and dealing with the sense of loneliness.

The second game I thought of as Hyper Light Drifter.

Hyper Light Drifter is a top-down, pixelated adventure where you play as a mysterious warrior in a dilapidated setting. The story is left a bit more intentionally vague, complete with foreign languages and visions the protagonist experiences. It could just be that I’m not very observant but to this day, I don’t fully understand what the plot was of the game. I’m certainly tempted to replay it in preparation for my own game concept. Unlike Sable, I was very satisfied with my time in Hyper Light Drifter. The combat, puzzles, and upgrading system were far more satisfying. The presentation was lovely and made you want to understand more about the setting. The game was efficient. Every area had some kind of purpose with little padding. I could feel the dread and excitement surrounding the threat the game’s protagonist faced, especially against these terrifying giant beings which appear in the protagonist’s visions.

All these games stirred in my head like a soup: marinating until a distinct idea came to mind. So, I hopped on Procreate and drew up a protagonist of my own. Here, I would like to share my early ideas for this hypothetical game. Everything is subject to change. The working title at this stage is After-War.

The Intro and Inciting Incident

The game would be closer to the nearly-top-down style of Hyper Light Drifter where you can see the environment from an above angle. I could go either way between fully pixelated or using 3D models with cell-shading. Given that the protagonist won’t speak much, there isn’t much need for dialogue profile art for other characters but having art of each character stored in a journal after each encounter would be there to give a full-body reference for each. The setting will be space-age SciFi, complete with hovering structures and holograms.

Papers Please

The game opens with the snowy planet Kro’Enx, specifically at a docking station for incoming space vessels called Kiba Reefings, just at the edge of a frigid ocean. A number of alien species get off a large transport and are processed through a Receivings Office. There aren’t many people coming off the transport–maybe a couple dozen–with the Protagonist being the only one of his kind. Most of the planet’s default population is the same, being these bulkier, armored aliens.

The Protag has to go through the office just like everyone else. While waiting in line, you can read an information board and/or factoid pamphlets about the planet setting. From this, we learn the following:

• It has been 1 year since the end of a devastating, multi-planet war.
• This planet is part prison part cemetery. It holds a number of high-level prisoners–especially those from the war–and stores culturally sensitive graves for millions who have passed. Given what happened with the war, both prisoners and deceased are in the upswing here.
• Weapons are banned on this planet by order of the multi-planet government in power. Only local law enforcement are permitted to arm themselves unless special privileges are given.

This Receivings Office vets everyone arriving on the planet: checking them for weapons, making sure their IDs match, and looking for any criminal history. Anyone who visits has to specify how long they intend to stay and they must check in and identify themselves at a government building regularly. If they don’t, they’re assumed to be breaking the law and/or in peril.

When the Protag reaches the front desk, the officer assigned to him is immediately put on-edge. Let’s give this officer the placeholder name Bu’leyg. Bu’leyg makes note of a lot just from how the Protag looks.

• Bu’leyg identifies the Protag as a Reenashim. This fish-like alien has a violent reputation and is famous for being used as fodder during the war. But Bu’leyg also comments that he almost thought the Protag was a Rekshay. Bu’leyg won’t actually talk about this yet but the Rekshay are an ancestral species to the Reenashim who were revived through modern science. They were then enhanced and used as super soldiers during the war. But the Rekshay were unhinged and started to cause massive devastation for everyone in the war. The Rekshay are like intelligent, human-sized piranhas.
• The Protag is wearing a Bortus Clamp. This neck cuff is used to subdue violent alien types if necessary. Normally, any species forced to wear a Bortus Clamp also requires a representative escort–akin to a parole office–but with a good reputation, these species can be allowed on their own while still wearing the clamp. The Protag’s ID labels him as safe, but Bu’leyg is still suspicious.
• The Protag is wearing a Veteran’s Garb. While not very useful as armor, this uniform indicates one’s station as an officer and can be used to pull rank. And when the Protag turns around, Bu’leyg notices the symbol on the uniform’s back. It’s the Blindman. It represents a high rank position as well as notable sacrifice in duty. It could be compared to a Purple Heart. And it’s what makes Bu’leyg become less suspicious of the Protag, now concluding that the Protag doesn’t talk because of a war injury.

The Protag’s travel documents say that he’s here to visit a deceased veteran’s grave. Bu’leyg doesn’t see anything wrong with this so he clears the Protag but not before making him remove his hat. The Protag does so and Bu’leyg studies his face. The player can’t see the Protag’s face at this time but Bu’leyg is clearly suspicious of something. Still, he doesn’t plan to stop the Protag.

The Protag gets his clearance and is instructed on what path to take to the gravesite he needs to visit. But just before he leaves, Bu’leyg grabs him by the arm. He encourages the Protag to take care of his business quickly and leave the planet, suggesting that there could be trouble for someone like him, and he doesn’t just mean because the Protag is Reenashim. He means because there’s a growing negative sentiment toward veterans.

Crisis

From the Receivings Station, the Protag is let out into a larger plaza area. The further out you go, the fewer police posts and markers you find. The Protag starts out with some money to use on a few shops in the area. Some will have cosmetic clothing alterations. Some will be useful for health and environmental problems.

{The section in red below has been altered in a more recent blog post. See Entry 02 for details.}

This early in the game, you’ll be eventually led to a trolley-like transport that leads across the city and up a tall, black mountain. The Protag will see much of the area that he’ll eventually explore throughout the game. The trolley will have alternate routes you can travel but at this point, the Protag has no reason to go to them.

The Protag reaches a massive fortress of a black cube at the top of the black mountain. This isn’t a cemetery site. It’s a prison site. An optional information board will name the fortress as Baxem Kro. In addition to being one of the main planet prisons, it holds the corpses of hundreds of fallen criminals and POWs. Many are kept in cryo-pods so that they can be studied and even have their brains reactivated for information extraction. This is not public information and no one without proper clearance is allowed at this fortress.

When the Protag enters Baxem Kro, the warden–Koroxo–storms over to him, furious. He wants to know how the Protag got permission to be here and threatens to throw him in prison. He barely stops himself from attacking the Protag outright and one of his subordinates has to explain to the Protag why Koroxo is so upset. The fortress wasn’t informed ahead of time that a Reenashim would be coming. In addition to not liking Reenashim, the fortress is in the middle of delicate work and can’t entertain visitors.

The Protag learns from this that the Reenashim are not honored like most species. They and the Rekshay are kept in the same levels as criminals and POWs. Koroxo claims that it’s for security purposes. He points at the Protag’s arm and insists that the Protag knows what he means. Reenashim and Rekshay have a nasty habit of resurrecting themselves from fatal injuries and becoming feral after doing so. When they lose a limb or need an organ replaced, their skin turns to the same hot-pink-red.

The Protag doesn’t leave but Koroxo threatens to put him in jail if he doesn’t go back to the arrival plaza. He tells him that they won’t be permitting entry for at least a month and to wait there. One of Koroxo’s subordinates brings up who the Protag is here to pay respects to and suggests that they let the Protag at least leave something with the grave capsule. Koroxo is reluctant to allow this but relents to avoid escalating the situation.

The Protag hands over a wooden shape which Koroxo examines for a moment before handing it off to his subordinate. He then tells the Protag to get off his planet. The Protag leaves the fortress but on the trolley ride back, something attacks him and the other passengers. An officer is in the trolley but he’s killed. The Protag is forced to take his weapon and kills the feral beast. Other creatures attack but they relent when the trolley gets closer to a populated area.

When the Protag reaches the next stop, he’s arrested. We cut to a day later. He’s back at the entry plaza, being released by Bu’leyg. Bu’leyg explains that the Protag was getting blamed for the attack on the trolley but it’s obvious he didn’t do it. Still, he’s expected to leave the planet the next time a transport arrives, which will be within ten days. In the meantime, he’s allowed to roam free in the entry plaza area but he can’t go anywhere else in the city.

Bu’leyg mentions how Koroxo wanted someone guarding the Protag at all times but Koroxo isn’t the governor. Bu’leyg also implies that he’ll look the other way if the Protag slips out of sight of the officers to go pay his respects.

So the Protag is off to find a way to sneak out of the plaza and find answers about what all’s going on.

{End of Alterations for this post}

Last Notes

As I think more through this, I’ll be getting more into the game mechanics, such as weapons, movement, puzzles, etc. The tone I want to give with this is a little bit of Rambo: First Blood. The Protag is in an area that doesn’t like him but he’s a free citizen who was unfairly treated by his government and people. And all he wants to do is pay his respects.

There’s also a greater mystery to what’s happening on the planet and where those monsters came from. I want to maintain the openness and lone fighter aspect of Hyper Light Drifter but still make the world populated, with multiple reoccurring characters. And more about the Protag will get explored as we go on.