[Workshop] Campaign Development

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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by Pr0nogo »

Yeah, sorry about that. I hadn't listened to them out of StarCraft (in the briefing it was much easier to hear), so I didn't realize that they were bad until this morning. Here's the nosound version.
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by GnaReffotsirk »

This is cool, Progono. Sure it's a rough but we could definitely use something like these. Everything big starts small.

Things look promising. :)

So, thebrowncloud, what do you have in mind?
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

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GnaReffotsirk wrote:This is cool, Progono. Sure it's a rough but we could definitely use something like these. Everything big starts small.

Things look promising.  :)
Hey, thanks! Here's some of me as the Overmind. I know it's too deep, but it was MY Overmind (not Blizzard's), so :P

(Briefing 3 is a Kukulza Guardian and Briefing 4 is a Cerebrate, all others are the Overmind)

But yeah, I think I could pull off some pretty nice themes. What sucks is that I don't have the background sounds for a Ghost or Marine. :/
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by thebrowncloud »

thebrowncloud wrote: Well, the only problem with these ideas is that the UED fleet that led the attack on Char Aleph (the one that Kerrigan fought and destroyed) was COMPLETELY destroyed. No one from that particular fleet made it out alive. The only members of the UED that are left alive are the ones that didn't take part in the battle on Char Aleph. Those people were most likely in various UED bases, such as the one on Abaddon (according to the story that StarCraft Ghost was going to have, this base does still exist). I think that it shoulld have been a ship involved in a battle of some sort on a space platform of another planet that we could say is nearby, such as New Venice over Reynif II (the only UED-controlled platform I know of). The planet was, say, under attack from Dominion forces stationed somewhere besides Korhal and the ship escaped after being heavily damaged. It didn't go back to Reynif II because it was under attack, so it flees in the general direction of Abaddon, loses power, and is sucked down to the surface by the planet's gravity.

I'm not sure about the resident being a former military officer. If he were, he wouldn't be in cold sleep/stasis when the ship is heavily damaged and they are fleeing attack. I think he would be a prisoner that was maybe being tested on on New Venice and they evacuated him. Or, like you said, a former scientist that was exposed and got affected by experiments he lead, etc.
That. Stays away from canon characters, is relatively simple, and could even be shown in a cinematic map in the very beginning if we wanted to. We should have the very beginning start off simple and easy to understand for any audience. If we go for the gusto and start making a complicated lore reference in the very beginning, it might throw people off the story almost immediately.
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by GnaReffotsirk »

If you could make the thing more solid? Like, say, the Psychic is UED, right? And the ship that we have him in cryo-stasis came from a skirmish on one of the mentioned platforms? I'm totally shooting in the dark here. We'll wait for a your final take on this subject, then let's see where we go from there.
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by thebrowncloud »

We'll say the ship was docked on New Venice when it came under attack. The scientists on New Venice had been experimenting with the Resident there, but decided to evacuate him (and maybe the scientists as well) onto the ship and they flee while the rest of the docked ships and forces fend off the Dominion (and fail). I still think the Resident should be someone they found while they were either on the way to the KS or someone they found early in their invasion. I'll look into some places that he could be from, but I think the extent of his military training should be a planetary millitia at most. Nothing fancy.
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by Dem0nS1ayer »

I really like the Cerebrate voice.  The other ones are way too distorted to the point that you can't even understand them anymore.
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by GnaReffotsirk »

thebrowncloud wrote: We'll say the ship was docked on New Venice when it came under attack. The scientists on New Venice had been experimenting with the Resident there, but decided to evacuate him (and maybe the scientists as well) onto the ship and they flee while the rest of the docked ships and forces fend off the Dominion (and fail). I still think the Resident should be someone they found while they were either on the way to the KS or someone they found early in their invasion. I'll look into some places that he could be from, but I think the extent of his military training should be a planetary millitia at most. Nothing fancy.
This is indeed so much cooler. I like it. If no one else contends with the stuff here, we'll set this in stone.

So what we have is:
1. The resident is found by the UED somewhere, sometime before the invasion.
2. He is a specimen in a lab on New Venice under a certain project. Whether he is the main subject of the research or not is yet to be determined.
3. The Ship is either a science ship, evac ship, cargo, or civilian. Why it crashed is still to be determined.

Now, about his skills to use a gun, I think that would be something irrelevant. As we know, his unique ability is this psychic thing, right? So, there's actually more stuff we could add to his Psychic abilities later on. Like, he could actually "temporarily have" a skill through his Psychic abilities. (I'm seeing bonus damage, speed, or anything bonus to his unit game-wise).
Last edited by GnaReffotsirk on Fri Aug 28, 2009 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by thebrowncloud »

GnaReffotsirk wrote:
thebrowncloud wrote: We'll say the ship was docked on New Venice when it came under attack. The scientists on New Venice had been experimenting with the Resident there, but decided to evacuate him (and maybe the scientists as well) onto the ship and they flee while the rest of the docked ships and forces fend off the Dominion (and fail). I still think the Resident should be someone they found while they were either on the way to the KS or someone they found early in their invasion. I'll look into some places that he could be from, but I think the extent of his military training should be a planetary millitia at most. Nothing fancy.
This is indeed so much cooler. I like it. If no one else contends with the stuff here, we'll set this in stone.

So what we have is:
1. The resident is found by the UED somewhere, sometime before the invasion.
2. He is a specimen in a lab on New Venice under a certain project. Whether he is the main subject of the research or not is yet to be determined.
3. The Ship is either a science ship, evac ship, cargo, or civilian. Why it crashed is still to be determined.

Now, about his skills to use a gun, I think that would be something irrelevant. As we know, his unique ability is this psychic thing, right? So, there's actually more stuff we could add to his Psychic abilities later on. Like, he could actually "temporarily have" a skill through his Psychic abilities. (I'm seeing bonus damage, speed, or anything bonus to his unit game-wise).
Yeah, his abilities could be anything. I just don't think we should give him cloaking or lockdown missiles because those are both ghost abilities which he is not and is not trained to use. I think we should either go with a custom unit or a modified marine unit with special abilities besides the stim packs (maybe even getting rid of stim packs, considering they have a reputation of being a habit-forming recreational drug). I'm thinking that general psionic abilities involving telekinises and being able to explode someone's head or brain with their mind is kind of generic in terms of psychics, so I think we should think a little outside the box and try something a little more involved in nature. Perhaps he is even able to manipulate different aspects of nature, such as the earth. I'm kind of getting into the realms that he is borderline xel'naga here, but spit-balling at the same time. We have time to think about it, but we will need a lot of custom effects and such.

In terms of the ship he is on, unless we can get a sprite for another class of ship, I don't think we have much choice other than to make it a battlecruiser considering that is the only kind of ship that has a wreckage building. If someone can get another kind of ship wreckage sprite, then, by all means, we will use that. However, it is worthy of note that converting battlecruisers into a ferry of sorts in that it was nearly completely neutralized of weaponry is not completely unheard of. The ship I am referring to, of course, is the Gray Tiger from StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga: Firstborn (yes, quite a mouthful, but definitely one of the best SC novels).

With the other specimens of New Venice's science department, I think we could have the important ones split up into different vessels that each set their course for a different destination so that the losses of the critical data would be minimal. The rest of it that could not be evacuated would be left behind and the Dominion would seize it once they gained control of the platform.

As for how the ship with the Resident on it crashes onto Abaddon, it was damaged during the escape and the ships power systems destabilized, causing it to begin leaking power rapidly. The lack of power made the option of warp-jumping impossible (sorry, getting technical to cover all our bases), so all it could do was continue away from Reynif II and New Venice and hope for the best. The best being that it escapes, but the power runs out after only a couple of hours and they lose all thrust from the engines. Gravity from the nearest planet then takes control and pulls them toward the surface to crash land with nearly the entire crew dead (except the Resident for his cold-sleep chamber being very sturdy and George Foreman whom I have no idea how he would have survived other than being inside, say, a siege tank when the ship crashes, crippling the siege tank yet protecting him from potential mortal wounds). This planet, of course, would be Abaddon and is not the most hospitable of places. In order to enforce that, once the player advances to a mission that is outside the ship (currently, mission 2), there should be no critters on the map. Just the player and enemy computers.

Read carefully, cause I've said a few things more than once.  ;)
Last edited by thebrowncloud on Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by Legion »

Dem0nS1ayer wrote: I really like the Cerebrate voice.  The other ones are way too distorted to the point that you can't even understand them anymore.
The cerebrate is the most audible. I hear a lot of clipping as well, and especially the effects on the Overmind are too much.

What software did you use, Pronogo?
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by GnaReffotsirk »

thebrowncloud has you! :) Seriously, this is epic.

Okay, I'm taking this page with me back to the pad to go over it again, and again. I have all the pages too, so, this is going to take some time.

I'll try my best to patch everything into this solid mass here. Finally!

You give me the shivers. Good shivers that is. ;)
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by thebrowncloud »

GnaReffotsirk wrote: thebrowncloud has you! :) Seriously, this is epic.

Okay, I'm taking this page with me back to the pad to go over it again, and again. I have all the pages too, so, this is going to take some time.

I'll try my best to patch everything into this solid mass here. Finally!

You give me the shivers. Good shivers that is. ;)
Hehe, thanks. See? Isn't it so much better when everything fits like a puzzle piece? That's how I see the SC universe. Just one big puzzle with an infinite amount of pieces just waiting to be found and placed in the proper spots. The official media are just big puzzle pieces that add more spaces to fill. When everything connects, the story is so much stronger and more entertaining!  ;D
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by Pr0nogo »

BadManners! wrote:
Dem0nS1ayer wrote: I really like the Cerebrate voice.  The other ones are way too distorted to the point that you can't even understand them anymore.
The cerebrate is the most audible. I hear a lot of clipping as well, and especially the effects on the Overmind are too much.

What software did you use, Pronogo?
Audacity and RecordPad Sound Recorder; the clipping is most likely my mic, but I honestly didn't see (or hear, rather) anything wrong the the voice.

Oh, and I can understand the Overmind. It's the Kukulza (Briefing 3.wav) that I made too distorted. I have text to go along with it though.
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by GnaReffotsirk »

Hey guys. Wow it's been quite some time. There is one theme for our Perspective character in store, but before that, we need to clarify a few things.

What we currently have on the Resident:

I. ABOUT "The Resident"

i. Description

A subject found by the UED on their expedition. With paranormal psychic abilities, He
can acquire information from certain subjects, allowing him to piece together the
past and uncover the big picture of what's happening.

He would also discover an ability to manipulate "things in nature."

Survives the crash on Abaddon, while escaping from Reynif II and New Venice attack. The
ship runs out of power after being damaged.

Sought after by multiple factions, he finds himself tagging along a Protectorate squad,
after being rescued along with some scientists held in captivity by a Kimeran Pirate group.

He is one of the many specimens under experimentation by the UED.


ISSUES:

1. About his Xel'Naga type powers, currently shown in his ability to manipulate things in
  nature.
Questions:
1. Is he a Duran type character, someone of Duran's caliber or rival, or something
  else entirely?
2. Is he part of the grand scheme of the Xel'Naga? If not, what is it related to?

2. Regarding where the UED found him, the what, and the how.
Questions:
1. Was he in a stasis cell when the UED found him, if not what?
2. Where exactly was he found?
3. What led the UED to find him?
4. What particular thing has the UED found interesting about him that made them
  bring him along?
5. Has the UED found something about him, and to what end?
6. Or is he really just one of those "might give us something" specimens?
7. The UED have been studying Zerg for some time prior to their invasion, was he
  somehow found along that process?

POSSIBLE WORKAROUNDS:

For issue #1:
Neither. He's not involved in any of these subject matters. He's just a new
kind of potential. A mutated psychic of the sort. Not too fancy or powerful.
We focus more on his ability to gather info.

For issue #2:
1-a) He wasn't found in a cryo-chamber. He was found almost dead in some planet.
The man on the desert sand type thing. He was rescued in good faith, but
his bio-feedback were too "strange" that the UED began studying him.
1-b) He was in a cryo-chamber, in some abandoned Confederate facility. Evidence
of a recent skirmish is there. The UED takes him along with research data
for "info that might help them during their invasion". But they didn't.
Instead, the UED began speculating that this guy is some sort of a weapon.
Some kind of forced mutation to make a new kind of ghost operative.
2) Some planet not far from other planets. It's a barren desert planet, with
turbulent weather, sandstorms, acid seas, etc. A modified Planetary fortress
is there.
3) Distress beacon lures advance scout party to check the planet. The idea of a
distress beacon coming from a crazy planet made things a bit interesting.
4) Either his bio-feedback were "strange" or his mutation. Or Both. (ref. 1-a and 1-b)
5) Not enough to make use of him. Not yet. But someone obviously has been
withholding research data.
6) Somebody might have made him look that way. But he's obviously something of
high value.
7) Indubitably.

we can have this, if you think we're good to go.

Here's a rough regarding the UED and their discovery of the Resident:

We can have a scene like this:
Spoiler
Int. Cockpit -- space

Matilda, mid 30's, the usual tomboy, chews-bubble-gum-pilot, ignores the reddish-brown
planet filling the window, receiving an incoming transmission with a press of a button.

Scout Pilot (on Radio)
I don't give a damn what you think about my tastes, leutenant. You just
get your boys down that storm, take a pebble, and leave.

Matilda
You startin' to sound like the old man.

Scout Pilot (on Radio)
Just do your damn job.

Matilda
Oh, alright darlin'. Now, don't 'ya worry. We be gettin' them baby pebbles now, okay?

The Radio signal starts getting weak, choppy. The ship shakes as they begin their descent
into the planet's atmosphere, when a sharp beating sound pulls Matilda back grabbing her
head in agony.

Scout Pilot (on Radio, breaking up)
I don't want any more surprises this time. You copy that, Em?

Matilda shifts and steers, as she recovers herself, dodging huge rocks in the air.
They're getting closer to reaching a much clearer sky. Something more appropriate,
natural, normal.

Matilda (to comm)
Alright, boys, fun's almost over.

Matilda (to herself)
What in god's name was that?

cut to:

Int. Battlecruiser Triton -- central command deck.

An array of advanced computers and high-tech equipment decorates this deck. Almost feels
like this ship is some sort of a mobile science facility.

Captain Trevor Gram -- late 50's, rugged, he clearly has been through many battles,
too much even for any man --, grabs his cup, draining it clean with one gulp.

Trevor Gram
I can't beleive it either. Almost like we've been out here for too long.

Doctor Victor Dome, not your typical nerd scientist, slowly snakes his way. Steadily,
taking the cup away from Tervor's trembling grip.

Victor
We have to be patient. Waiting has its own results. Let time do the work for us at the
moment.

Trevor Gram
That's the thing, Vic. Listen, something strange is happening on my ship. The longer
we wait in this god forsaken space, the more we risk our assess to nothing!

Victor takes the Captain's chair, turning his back against Trevor. Tapping his fingers
like playing on a piano, slowly, one after the other, then stops.

Victor (to himself)
You haven't seen anything yet, Captain.

Cut to:

Ext. Planet's Surface -- day.

Strong winds stirrs dust flying everywhere. Up ahead the dropship floats over, fighting
the wind, trying to stablize for drop.

Marines exits the ship in haste, one, a pair, and three more.

Wristbone, a skinny guy in a much slimmer suit design, jumps down last. All other marines
gather around him, all four of them.

The winds blows stronger, even as the Dropship takes flight.

Wristbone (screaming)
Alright! I need two men --

Grisly, mid 30's, huge guy, almost finding his marine suit too tight, throws his rifle
to the ground in revolt.

Girsly (interrupting)
Why do you always have to scream, man!? Radio, dude. Radio!

Marco, calm and collected, mobster type of a guy, picks up Grisly's rifle, returning
the dusty thing back to its rightful owner.

Marco
Looks like we got ourselves a hungry bear in our hands.

Wristbone (still screaming)
Right, right! Sorry about that, mate!

Joanne, pretty, eyes deep and dreamy, pushes Grisly to back off.

Joanne
You don't want me wasting my scrubs on something like this. So calm down.

Cyrus, early 20's, your typical new recruit, takes a shot at an ice breaker.

Cyrus
I'd like you to save some for me too!

Obviously not even remotely funny, nor making any sense. Everyone gives him the stare.

Cyrus
Okay, okay, I'm a rookie. Obviously regarding everything else.

Joanne
You're cute, so, yeah, sure. I'd save one for you.

Marco (interrupting)
We all know where and what we're after. Let's go in there and get the schmucks talking.

Wristbone (whisphering)
Alright.

The squad starts moving out, then we cut to:


Int. Planetary Fortress -- science lab.

The place is a mess. Everything broken, glass, metal, chairs, everything is in chaos.

Lights flicker, as if something terrible has taken control of this place. Something
extra ordinary.

The squad looks around. This is obviously something they weren't expecting to find.

Joanne
Nope, nothing. Seems like this place has been abandoned or something.

Marco
Not really. Look --

Marco leads everyone towards a computer console just up ahead. It's still recording
something. But something's out of place.

Upon closer inspection, we find the console's keys still pressed, the operator's chair
dented, as if someone's still sitting on it. This goes for everything else. Shapes
begin to glimmer, telling us people are still here.

Marco
Stasis. This entire facility could have been warped here for some reason. Everyone's
still phasing in.

Wristbone (screaming)
Not good, not good!

Cyrus (to marco)
Protoss technology?

Marco
Maybe, but I don't think so. It's the why that bothers me more.

Grisly takes point at the exit. Checking left hall, right hall. All clear.

Grisly
We got company.

Joanne's scanner comes to life. Rapidly, one bleep, two more, until it fries out.

Joanne
There goes our eyes.

Marco keeps looking around, very careful not to come in contact with phased objects,
while Grisly slips out the room and takes forward position.

Grisly
We gotta move, guys.

Marco slips in a data disk into one of the servers, and begins downloading data.

Marco
Just a few seconds.

Writsbone goes frantic, loses control, and almost bumps into one of the phased personell.

Luckily Cyrus is there to grab him steady.

Cyrus
Keep it together, okay?

Wristbone (screaming)
This is not what we came here for!

Marco's downloading finishes, he's good to go, and everyone else moves out with him only to
find Grisly gone.

Marco
We got a bear on the loose.

Wristbone struggles to radio Grisly in. No response.

Cyrus takes the lead towards the right turn, stopping at the fork.

Cyrus
Through here. He obviously wouldn't go that way.

The band follows, very careful, sweeping their rifles as they haste along, when Cyrus
suddenly disappears in front of them.

They pull back, frantic, everyone's swinging their guns faster, still in perfect
harmony, but not Marco.

Wristbone (to marco)
What are you doing!?

Marco just stands there, the data disk in hand.

Marco
Joanne, can you link us up with Matilda?

Joanne realizes what Marco's thinking. They won't survive this. Not now.

Joanne (shuddering)
Yes, yeah. I guess we could --

Marco throws the disk, Joanne almost fails to catch it.

Marco
Do it.

Fade Out.


Fade In:

Ext. Planetary Fortress Perimeter -- day.

[extraction event follows]
The script shows a few things about the location of the resident, being a planetary fortress which suddenly appears on some planet which the UED ship Triton finds, etc. etc.

Now it's time to "Smash, hack, crush".
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Re: [Workshop] Campaign Development

Post by Pr0nogo »

I'd be willing to voice any deep- or mid-pitched voices you guys need.

More samples, this time it's me as an AI (named "BORIS"). He's deep-voiced (the voices are from a training mission from my mod; these are only the briefings, I'll upload more tomorrow if necessary).
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