Author Topic: Revised Plot and Planning Thread  (Read 22596 times)

Lord J Esq

  • Moon Stone J
  • Hero of Time (+5000)
  • *
  • Posts: 5463
  • ^_^ "Ayla teach at college level!!"
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #75 on: November 20, 2006, 05:11:39 pm »
Oh and speaking of the central regime, this reminds me of the Vanguard Apocalypse scenario. I always liked the theme of Romantic ideals of old slowly falling into absolute totalitarism (cf. Germany). I thought there was no decent place for it in the new plot though, and Chapter 12 is the closest adaptation we have. But perhaps we could actually make it fit even more? Instead of the Vanguard and Serran creating a central regime, we would have a rebellion and Cakulha try to disrupt an already-existent Vanguard central regime. The options would then be:

Option 1: Cakulha teleports the party and the rebels outside and blow up the building...committing suicide.
Option 2: The party defeats Cakulha in battle, but the rebels launch the missile in the meantime and blow up some city.
Option 3: Cakulha leaves the place and goes to fight King Zeal; the rebels launch the missile but the party has the time to board the Epoch and destroy it in mid-air.

I know my opinion doesn't carry much weight since I've not done any of the hard dev work, but for whatever it's worth, the Vanguard Apocalypse chapter was my favorite part of the original plot mockups, and if it were to be retained in a form loyal to the original concept, that would be slick. My favorite part was the idea of the Epoch flying furious above a bleak futuristic city, trying to chase a missile ahead of it while fending off a pseudo air force behind it. I don't know if TF even allows for that, at this point, but to me it conjured up the most vivid imagery of Hadriel's entire forty-page plot.

ZeaLitY

  • Entity
  • End of Timer (+10000)
  • *
  • Posts: 10795
  • Spring Breeze Dancin'
    • View Profile
    • My Compendium Staff Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #76 on: November 21, 2006, 05:56:18 pm »
It was one of the things we could not pull off. With tinkering, we could have an Epoch move around the OW chasing a simple missile sprite like the 1000 A.D. ferry, but it wouldn't be grand. It deserves full cutscene treatment.

Chrono'99

  • Moderator
  • God of War (+3000)
  • *
  • Posts: 3605
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #77 on: November 21, 2006, 07:33:20 pm »
At the minimum, we can have some close-ups of the Epoch flying with the party on board (cf. the battle against Dalton Plus in CT), and some views taken from a farther distance, with the small Epoch sprite above an ocean tileset (the sprite which is seen under the Black Omen entrance in CT).

I'm fairly certain that we can find other creative ways to illustrate the sequence though. There's the mountain panorama tileset, we could depict the planes there with the "shiny star" sprites moving horizontally. We can also create sprites depicting small planes, seen laterally and/or from above. We might even be able to make a basic view of a city landscape seen from far-above, by graphic-hacking one of the unused tilesets. A lateral close-up of the Epoch, with the characters on it, is also possible (drawing this is not so difficult). An elaborated cutscene with a good music, and switching several times between at least 3 of these screens, will certainly achieve a nice effect.

...I'm sure we'll have fun coding or photoshopping all that (well, I at the least).
« Last Edit: November 21, 2006, 07:37:04 pm by Chrono'99 »

nightmare975

  • Architect of Kajar
  • God of War (+3000)
  • *
  • Posts: 3263
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #78 on: November 21, 2006, 07:44:09 pm »
We could also use the cockpit scenes from when you enter Lavos.

Vehek

  • Errare Explorer (+1500)
  • *
  • Posts: 1756
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #79 on: November 22, 2006, 01:54:04 am »
Those cockpit scenes are Mode7, so it might be a bad idea.

nightmare975

  • Architect of Kajar
  • God of War (+3000)
  • *
  • Posts: 3263
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #80 on: November 22, 2006, 01:58:56 am »
Do we have a problem with mode 7?

Vehek

  • Errare Explorer (+1500)
  • *
  • Posts: 1756
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #81 on: November 22, 2006, 01:59:54 am »
We currently have no way of hacking Mode7, so if we used it, it'd be the same as it was in the original CT.

nightmare975

  • Architect of Kajar
  • God of War (+3000)
  • *
  • Posts: 3263
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #82 on: November 22, 2006, 12:15:50 pm »
No way to mess with the graphics then? That just can't be right, they have to be stored in the data somewhere. Maybe we aren't looking in the right place?

Chrono'99

  • Moderator
  • God of War (+3000)
  • *
  • Posts: 3605
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #83 on: November 22, 2006, 01:42:10 pm »
The mode-7 graphic addresses are listed in the Offset Guide, so it's probably technically possible to change the graphic (the "fire sky" graphic, mainly). We can't change anything else about the mode-7 cutscene though, so we'd be stuck with the screechy sound effect that don't fit the scene.

nightmare975

  • Architect of Kajar
  • God of War (+3000)
  • *
  • Posts: 3263
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #84 on: November 22, 2006, 01:45:56 pm »
The mode-7 graphic addresses are listed in the Offset Guide, so it's probably technically possible to change the graphic (the "fire sky" graphic, mainly). We can't change anything else about the mode-7 cutscene though, so we'd be stuck with the screechy sound effect that don't fit the scene.

Unless we make that the roar of the missle...

ZeaLitY

  • Entity
  • End of Timer (+10000)
  • *
  • Posts: 10795
  • Spring Breeze Dancin'
    • View Profile
    • My Compendium Staff Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #85 on: November 22, 2006, 05:18:08 pm »
Bah, problems have kept me off the computer until now today, which sucks since I always try to post early when everyone's online. I was worried about my new system of preventing corruption (that it'd be too tiresome) but I believe we can just lump huge lists of bugfixes by location and do them all at once instead of gradually cleaning up the entire thing as we go along. CE will thus be built in layers.

Chrono'99

  • Moderator
  • God of War (+3000)
  • *
  • Posts: 3605
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #86 on: November 22, 2006, 06:05:49 pm »
The mode-7 graphic addresses are listed in the Offset Guide, so it's probably technically possible to change the graphic (the "fire sky" graphic, mainly). We can't change anything else about the mode-7 cutscene though, so we'd be stuck with the screechy sound effect that don't fit the scene.

Unless we make that the roar of the missle...
Well, I'm not against trying. Maybe we can do it. If not, the other screens should probably be good enough.

The new anti-corruption system is probably the best solution. All the solutions are tiresome anyway. And ideally, the next TF will be less prone to corrupting.

As for the plot, there's one thing which we could perhaps add but I'm not sure how: a Dalton / King Zeal reunion. They surely knew each other, and even though we don't know the nature of their relationship, the fact that they never meet back in this story may stand out a bit for the players who would expect a meeting. I have no precise idea of a development, though I think Dalton would probably not be happy to learn about the King's ressurection.

Vehek

  • Errare Explorer (+1500)
  • *
  • Posts: 1756
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #87 on: November 22, 2006, 06:27:20 pm »
    From the old simplified Plot Outline:
  • 11998 - While testing, Dalton, catches King Zeal's attention, who takes him to his Pocket Dimension.
I don't know if that's still in. Didn't seem to do much in the older plot besides make him not be there when the party rescues Magus.

Also, how does the  TDC work gameplay-wise in going to other eras in this version?

Chrono'99

  • Moderator
  • God of War (+3000)
  • *
  • Posts: 3605
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #88 on: November 22, 2006, 07:02:48 pm »
The eras will be unlocked for the first time when they're introduced into the plot:

1,002 AD (chapter 3)
11,998 BC (chapter 3)
602 AD (chapter 4)
64,999,998 BC (chapter 6)

Ehe, four eras, just enough to fill a textbox. There will probably be only one Gate per era (the 1,002 AD one is in Denadoro). After the party recovers the Epoch in chapter 13, the TDC will be superfluous, but will allow to go to the human 1 AD instead.

Vehek

  • Errare Explorer (+1500)
  • *
  • Posts: 1756
    • View Profile
Re: Revised Plot and Planning Thread
« Reply #89 on: November 22, 2006, 07:21:03 pm »
How will the 11,998 BC gate work, considering where it is?