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"Story" for this mechanic (SF, strategy)

Chris · 2015-01-03T04:42:49

4X sort of space empire builder. But with a twist (rather big one). What I have - There are different coloured systems on the galactic map (which looks utterly cute and I want to keep it that way) these colours are designating what race/faction/whatever controls it What I want - asymmetric gameplay (player plays by different rules than Ai opponents - the game is purely singleplayer) - the player creates THE EMPIRE, and I want it to feel like that (I want to avoid a situation where it feels like there are several empires in the game and the player just controls one of these) - AI opponents should launch regular attacks vs the Empire (they might or might not fight each other - anyway I would prefer if they tend to fight the player more than each other at least) Questions Who the AI opponents are? Why are they attacking the player (the Empire)? I'm generally looking for a backstory/explanation that would feel like the player is controling an Empire and that there is only one empire in the game (no feel of competing empires). Also looking for anything related.

Writing for Games Game Design

Started by Acharis December 24, 2014 11:29 PM

9 comments, last by ShiftyCake 9 years, 5 months ago

ShiftyCake

733

January 03, 2015 04:42 AM

You could go for an old trick where the alien races have limited resources, and Earth is a figurative gold mine. It could begin from attempting to fight off the first invasion, which nearly wipes out the entire human race. Then The Empire is formed with the remaining population, and you reverse engineer the aliens and what they had to gain a basic advancement, sort of leveling the playing field without making you strong yet.

Additionally, in relation to focusing on one Empire, you could say that due to their limited resources much dissension within the alien races was created, and so their is no significant power left. The problem you arise with there being only one Empire, is that there is no plausible reason (that I can think of) for any significant advancement in power/numbers over time.

On the note of the 'Eliminators', I think it could work quite well. Perhaps the reason Earth was attacked now is because a prophecy, or event, has taken place that revealed to them their limited time before the 'invasion'. Over time, through defending the Empire you created and collecting information on your enemies, you discover this. By that time, you have become a lot more powerful, and so you will shift away from the minuscule fights with the aliens and face the much larger threat at hand. This could easily explain a change in difficulty as well.

If, at any point, what I post is hard to understand, tell me. I am bad at projecting my thoughts into real words, so I appreciate the knowledge that I need to edit my post.

I am not a professional writer, nor a professional game designer. Please, understand that everything you read is simply an opinion of mind and should not, at any point in time, be taken as a credible answer unless validated by others.