BattleZone 2 Timeline

[TheJamsh]

ive got a few ideas, but i think appearences of new races which want to exterminate everything are a bit cliche. im thinking someone would want something with more depth to it to slot in after FE.

Currently the mod looks like it will start its timeline right at the end of FE, entwining a little with General Thanatos' side of the story, then going on afterwards.

thanks to whoever filled in the gap between BZ2 and FE, its made my mod a LOT easier, seeing as i dont have to introduce bio-metal to the public etc, and i have a reason for the scion to be a little evil... possibly. not sure about that.

be a good idea to get my assets done first.

[Avatar]

Well, when it comes to plot lines there aren't really that many options that produce an exciting, dynamic storyline.  It all comes down to finding a reason to fight, anything more is just frosting... and of course if there's no fight it's a short, boring game... 

You need a PROTAGONIST, which is the Player, and an ANTAGONIST, which is his enemy.  Some plots throw in a twist and have them unite against a common foe (BZ1, LOST, HALO) that's too powerful for either to destroy alone and who may or may not have driven the original Antagonist to attack the Player...

You need a reason for the Antagonist to attack the player.  Common reasons are religion, resources, territory, racial, power, or just plain meanness.  There has to be some reason for the conflict.

Finding a new reason is very difficult, and adding complications to the reason can enhance the story or muddy it depending on how it's done.  BZ2 split both factions into opposing factions of their own, which in my opinion was fairly logical but just served to muddy the fight.   Still, if Braddock had put up more of a fight at the end it could have been worthwhile.

The real trick is how NOT to fall into cliche...

"An Ancient Evil Awakes..."
"A Ravenous Enemy that destroys all in it's path..."
"A Godlike enemy eradicating all unbelievers..."

Those sorts of things take some effort to pull off, as either there has to be a fresh approach to the presentation OR the forces themselves have to be interesting enough to hold the Player.  Lord of the Rings was the Ancient Evil bit all over again but nobody would deny it was very well done and entertaining. Fleshstorm's Swarm, HALO's Flood, these forces are interesting enough to keep things fresh even though they're just the 'Ravenous Enemy' bit.  Babylon Five had a bit of everything but in the end it was just the "Ancient" races destroying everything in their path until their fatal flaw was uncovered by the "Lesser Races".  Still, B5 was a great ride and few deny it was amazingly entertaining and fresh.

-Av-

[Nielk1]

"A Godlike enemy eradicating all unbelievers..."

Stargate and the Ori...

[shane ward]

That reminds me, anyone wanting to make a stargate mod

[Nielk1]

GBD is.

[Avatar]

Was.

-Av-

[Axeminister]

Isn't there supposed to be a timeperiod between bz1 and bz2 where the "bio-metal wars of the sixty's" occur. Why can't someone make a mod using those baddass Chinese ships along with some Soviet, American and make up a few like Australian and Japanese.

Would be neat to build a base in a modern city, and maybe even protect the city from destruction. I think Steeveeo or someone made a deathmatch map with flying jets that do something like that.

[Nielk1]

I would love to try to make units for some older human factions. I've been having a lot of fun with DLLs and my class system makes my code highly portable, so in making a new race I can also make them DLL supported and do some fancy pants things.

Japanese, Australian, heck Hawaiian!

[bigbadbogie]

Yay! I'll make a bouncing walkeroo!!

[TheJamsh]

killer surfboards with powerful coconut milk powered laser beams... thats a very Acne Vulgaris thing to say.

i have some much better ideas now. having cheated my way through FE. im trying to do exactly what -Av- said, not bring in any cliches of huge powerful races. in a way FE was exactly that, but we can hardly deny it was pretty damn well done!

i will most likely continue using the FE races, but i wonder if people will get bored of it? i may just bring in a new one for the hell of it. the EDF is geting sucked back into the AAN's special forces (yet to be named). colonisation is going to be fairly underway, an AAN sponmsored project. (thanks to whoever bridged the gap between BZ2 and FE, with bio-metal going public).

Certain drugs allow 'citizens' to awake from deep sleep before they reach there destinated planet/moon, and steal the AAN vessels, starting a small pirate group. its going to have a little star wars x-wing alliance influence on the colonisation part... not sure if anybody played that.

Im also thinking about the AAN discovering the location of the Scion super computer, and hiding it for whatever reason. the core disaster was one idea, but thats getting a bit overused.

theres plenty more that will happen. so much more came to light when i was reading the full briefs and debriefs in FE that i understand just how much depth there is to the story of that one.