The Plot thread

[brethren]

Ok, here we go. Need some good story ideas. Obviously, each person will need to come up with the narrative for their own mission, but we need some kind of a loose, overall story that will take us through all of our missions in a campaign form.

 

I'm open to anything at this point. My original idea before any of you joined, heck before even posting the "novice campaign" thread to see if anyone was interested, was something like this: Protagonist infiltrates a mansion owned by a wizard and gains information (my mission) required to access other remote locations and find certain hidden or secret items. Yes, I know, so original. Pretty much just like the arc of stories from The Dark Project, where The Sword/Haunted Cathedral leads to The Mages Towers/The Lost City/Song Of The Caverns/Undercover. Still, I thought it was a good base idea, as it opened the possibility of creating several unique missions all with different settings and unique atmosphere.

 

We don't need to use this by any means, so if you have ideas, let's hear it. As I've said, I'm open to anything.

 

We also need to decide who our protagonist is going to be. We can come up with someone completely new, or we can go with someone already listed in the Dark Mod wiki. I think the character of Farrell sounds interesting, but maybe we can come up with something different/better.

[jaxa]

Start with "the rent's due". In the middle assassins and/or a dragnet is targeting you. And at the end you bust up the big bad by stealing the control crystal. All in 6 missions.

 

Building on your clichéd idea, you start out by confronting the wizard's tower / mansion which is filled with undead (maybe preceded by exposition rent-gathering type missions that yield rumors / readables talking about a wealthy/powerful wizard on the outskirts of society). Steal the wizard's stuff, and you find notes concerning artifacts that the wizard himself was going to obtain or steal, but he hadn't because he was a.) planning, b.) too lazy, c.) just not stealthy or powerful enough. So each mission after that is a disparate location, in order to grab some kind of special artifact. It might be in a museum (old info?) or in a pagan-like forest location or on an island (pirates!). For extra fun, you might get ambushed by "the colleagues," a group of mages that the wizard was partnering with or employing to steal the artifacts, so they might be an additional obstruction during the missions or even go on a rampage that you have to sneak or fight past.

 

Mission 1: City, loot several shops, loot more guarded location, find book from someone knowledgeable about wizard.

Mission 2: Storm the wizard's stronghold.

Missions 3-6:

Pagan village

Subterranean caves

Generic mansion

Island/pirates?

Museum?

Edited June 13, 2011 by jaxa

[brethren]

A point up for discussion - what does everyone think of the notion of assigning one person to be the primary plot person? At first I was against this ideas, and thought it would be better to have everyone contribute. After thinking about it though, it could get messy and complicated with 7 people contributing ideas.

 

Since we're trying to focus on building missions here, maybe it would be better to bring in one more person to write the story. I'm still adamant on everyone doing the type and style of mission they choose, but maybe a plot writer could use all of the individual ideas and chain them together in a cohesive way, and we can focus on construction. Thoughts?

 

One person I was considering for this was demagogue, since he stated in the other novice campaign thread that he had written a script for a campaign already.

[brethren]

Steal the wizard's stuff, and you find notes concerning artifacts that the wizard himself was going to obtain or steal

 

This is kind of what I was getting at. The wizard's notes would lead to other missions, but they could be in whatever order you wanted. That way, everything's interchangeable, and if someone on the team is forced to drop out of the project for whatever reason (hopefully not), it won't torch the whole campaign. You just leave that item out. This is also similar to the setup in TDS when Garrett is told to steal the three artifcats (Jacknall's Paw, Builder's Chalice, and something else, I can't remember). It's been awhile, but I think with TDS's hub system, the player can even choose which mission to do first or last.

 

Otherwise, if we get into an arc like those in T2 (Eavesdropping thru Trail of Blood, or Life of the Party thru Masks), where each ensuing mission is dependent on the previous one, it could cause problems.

[Dussander]

I like the idea of having one master plot person, we could all have our inputs, but one person would focus it. I also liked jaxa's idea of having a mission building up to the wizard's mansion.

[ungoliant]

I too am in favor of having 1 person in charge, but not anyone outside the team. noob campaign should be noob campaign.

 

Regarding the "wizard" and his crap to steal, my vote is that we stick a little closer to TDM Universe standards, and the player steals the secret of fire arrows from one of the Master Inventors that lead the guild (1st mission), and spends the next few missions attempting to find a high-profile fence to pawn it to (uninvited and un-announced into their mansion/lair/camp/etc) while being pursued by the inventors guild / city watch. (great excuse to find steambots throughout the campaign [if they work yet]).

 

The quest to find the fence who could move that product at high enough price gold could lead to several fantastical or posh areas, as well as slums, where the protaganist looks to drag info out of the well-informed commoners at bars and such.

 

the thiefs work is never done in TDM, and theres no early retirement for main characters, so I think all the fat lootz should be within grasp and slip through his fingers towards the end of the campaign (setup / ambush / tragic accident), and then end.... xxxxx?

 

edit: also, so we don't screw with TDM universe, the fire arrow plans/instructions should be lost before campaign ends, so all is back to status quo with the world when we are finished, plus a few dead people and nobles with lighter pockets

Edited June 14, 2011 by ungoliant

[brethren]

I too am in favor of having 1 person in charge, but not anyone outside the team. noob campaign should be noob campaign.

 

That's cool, I'd say let's offer the job to anyone currently on the team. However, if there are no takers among the seven of us, I'd say it's OK to bring in a non-noob. I think the real point of the noob campaign was for building levels. We could wait forever for a new plot person to show up otherwise. I've already PMed demagogue, and he's interested if we want him.

 

So, that said, anyone already on the team interested in being the "plot" guy?

[ungoliant]

*raises hand*

 

Not sure what it counts for but I did write the plot / briefings / most readables for St. Alban's Cathedral. More importantly, I enjoy the work. If I should be appointed to the task, primary importance to me is to first obtain everybodys FM theme (cave, mansion, bank heist, etc) and then work out which FM goes where in the sequence based on theme (not mapping ability, popularity, etc) and work out the overall plotline progression based on that. Next, overall primary objective(s) for each FM will be determined by what the plot requires, but other than that, the mapper has complete freedom of what they want to do with their FM. So in the end, everyone gets to choose what type of map they want, and build it however they want, providing they can fit the primary objective into their mapping for continuity between missions. Common themes will involve the main character, possible inventory items that carry over, and maybe certain NPC characters that recur throughout the campaign.

 

And, of course, I'm 100% open to input. But if final decisions have to be made between arguing factions, my vote is that the final decision rests with the storymaker (whether its me or not). Things tend to get done that way (for better or worse, but at least they get done).

[jaxa]

Regarding the "wizard" and his crap to steal, my vote is that we stick a little closer to TDM Universe standards, and the player steals the secret of fire arrows from one of the Master Inventors that lead the guild (1st mission), and spends the next few missions attempting to find a high-profile fence to pawn it to (uninvited and un-announced into their mansion/lair/camp/etc) while being pursued by the inventors guild / city watch. (great excuse to find steambots throughout the campaign [if they work yet]).

 

Mages are a part of the TDM universe. I've been wanting to see steambots too but I think we would be the first (or among) to include mages if we tried it. Here's the Wiki describing the q&d universe backstory and explanation for mages:

 

http://modetwo.net/d...php?title=Mages

 

A mage model was first added in 1.04:

 

http://modetwo.net/d..._in_TDM_1.04#AI

 

"Gentleman scientist," who is being added in the upcoming feature frozen 1.06, could also double as an "alchemist" type.

 

Now that I think of it though, I'm not sure mages would be that exciting unless they could hurl some fireballs. I guess they can't yet. There's some more discussion here: http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/12110-new-thief-characters/page__st__50

Edited June 14, 2011 by jaxa

[ungoliant]

Now that I think of it though, I'm not sure mages would be that exciting unless they could hurl some fireballs. I guess they can't yet. There's some more discussion here: http://modetwo.net/d...rs/page__st__50

 

Thats pretty much what I was thinking. The hermetic order doesn't seem to fit the classical description of "wizard". The prospect of opening up the campaign with a high-profile heist of a well guarded inventor stronghold and pilfering the secret of fire arrows (the best kept secret of the inventors guild) seems like a nice way start with a bang, so to speak. Then again considering the scope of the missions (small), an easier solution might need to be written.

[Springheel]

I'm not sure mages would be that exciting unless they could hurl some fireballs. I guess they can't yet.

 

Sure they can. And all kinds of other magical projectiles as well.

 

The prospect of opening up the campaign with a high-profile heist of a well guarded inventor stronghold and pilfering the secret of fire arrows (the best kept secret of the inventors guild) seems like a nice way start with a bang, so to speak

 

Two problems with that:

 

1. Stealing the best-guarded secret in the entire city of Bridgeport might be a little too ambitious for new mappers making "small" missions.

 

2. We have very few inventor assets. Other than the steambeasts (which are non-combatants), there are no other mechanical AI or mechanical traps of the kind that would be guarding the Inventor's Guild. Beginning mappers should really stick to the assets that already exist.

 

You should really decide whether this endeavour is going to focus on being a learning experience for new mappers, or an ambitious campaign. Trying to do both at the same time is a recipe for disaster.

[ungoliant]

just to reiterate:

Then again considering the scope of the missions (small), an easier solution might need to be written.

[brethren]

You should really decide whether this endeavour is going to focus on being a learning experience for new mappers, or an ambitious campaign. Trying to do both at the same time is a recipe for disaster.

 

While it is intended to be a learning experience for noobs, I think we can still make it into a campaign. The main thing is doing it within the scope of vanilla TDM. The story itself can be super ambitious as long as it doesn't depend on huge technical demands within the editor.

[brethren]

*raises hand*

 

So, do you plan on doing both the story/plot for the campaign as well as creating a mission? That might be the proverbial biting off more than you can chew.

[brethren]

Also, just wanted to add that I think using Inventors/Mages in whatever form is the way to go; there are so many TDM missions (hell, Thief missions overall) that use hammers/builders, City Watch guards, or some type of thieves guild that using some of these newer factions will really help the campaign stand out. The other factions can be used in a secondary fashion, but having Inventors and/or Mages as the focus would be really cool and unique.

[Neb]

I'm cool with inventors/mages.

 

I've also been trying to think of ideas for overall plot, but it doesn't seem to be something I'm good at. I have started on the basics of a map though. I have a small outpost high up. From there you can get to another building. Inside there's a room with an elaborate trap, activated by a key, where the floor starts moving (it's just a horizontal elevator) and there's a nasty pit below (too cheesy? (but it's fun to panic while you see furniture drop into darkness)). After overcoming this you find the mission objective (whatever that may eventually be).

 

It's all still up in the air, but I wondered if the person who will be making the mission before mine would like to have acquiring the key to the trap as a mission objective (but at the time the player will be under the impression that it unlocks something valuable). I figured that the trap could be there to assassinate a group of people. Perhaps a meeting of rival inventors/mages? I can change any of this if it doesn't fit the plot that we end up going with.

 

Also, are we going to take advantage of the new 1.06 campaign loot feature? I guess that's more of a general question than plot related.

[brethren]

I think one of our goals is to implement as many of the 1.06 campaign features as possible, since (to my knowledge) our is the only actual campaign project in the works right now.

[fllood]

Good thoughts so far.

 

I like the idea of some Inventor's formular being stolen.

 

 

Stealing the best-guarded secret in the entire city of Bridgeport might be a little too ambitious for new mappers making "small" missions.

The Inventors needn't much assets in TDM if the storyline is well built. We even don't need to use a high security Inventors location at all. Example:

 

1st map:

 

Some high inventor member - maybe even the head - ambitious, with too much self-esteem and thus have got careless - sometimes takes his work at home. Just in RL

Protagonist get info about this and break into his mansion which is not that high security guarded as the guild itself. Just some hired guards and a normal safe (maybe even using Sotha's safe system if he allows us?) or something like that. and maybe a few weird stuff here and there decorating the mansion but more for feel being in an inventors home. but needn't have any gameplay relevance.

 

After finding out the formular being stolen the Inventors might not want to include city watch to not to get ill repute by the city majors for the shame their formular had been stolen for being just uncareful. That could be also good for a mission for the protagonist to blackmail the Inventors (which fails at the end of the mission just as all seamed settled) before trying to sell the formulat to anyone intersted. (2nd map)

(however maybe blackmail is to close to NHAT ?)

 

Instead Inventors hire the assassin / thief guilt to chase the protagonist - could be fine to introduce a famous and feared master assassin (and his thug troop) as recurring antagonist always close breath to the player or hinder getting the stuff sold e.g. for some fence in coalition with them setting uo an ambush the player can flee at the last moment. (3nd map)

 

Next after finding some fence not in coalition with or fear of the assassin (maybe a shaman in the pagan map one like to create?) this guy tells the protagonist he need proof that the formular REALLY works. To do so the player need to steal some ingredients for proofing the formular. This ingredients could for example be found in a mage labor / pagans woods / in a bank safe / undead remains from crypt / holy water from builders / werebeast hair from cave ... whatever a FMA want ... and any AI / enemy type a FMA want to focus on can be added. (map 4-6)

 

After the protagonist got all he need when making proof in the final 7th map - for example having to break into an inventors or mage labor, meet the fence, putting all ingredients together in a labor some unexpected happens / goes wrong (whatever surprise we come up with) and the protgonist must find his way out while the city watch rush the place. hmm ok, not that spcial - sure someone comes up with something more original well ... maybe builders, inventors, mages all show up as the last ingredients is added start fight for the formular. Leaving the protagonist only chance to survive to flee while the fractions being distracted about getting the secret formular for themself. or being betrayed the fence being the master builder himself using the protagonist finding ingredients he couldn't get his hands on so far. ... well, whatever we come up with and do work technically...

 

We also need to decide who our protagonist is going to be. We can come up with someone completely new, or we can go with someone already listed in the Dark Mod wiki.

I think we shouldn't use one of the others people protagonist but invent our own as want him to be and needed for our story...

 

the new 1.06 campaign loot feature?

do you mean the carry-over the loot from FM to FM?

 

The carry-over make balancing in a FM hug system maybe difficult. We at least would have to take care that there are no balancing issues regardless the sequence a player choose to play the maps in a hub: e.g the same loot cap to take over for all hub mission 4-6 in my example.

 

Does a hub system work technically? Regard the wiki campaign support seam only work in FM sequence. Doesn't it?

 

 

I'm very pro for one main story director like I made clear in the novice thread. Both ungoliant and demagogue are OK for me for the job. Whoever do it please take a look at my thought about a good story setup. Yeah I know... that might well be too ambitious questions and aims for a noob campaign - anyway, it doesn't hurt to think about these game design story guidelines when building up the characters and while the main plot thickens

 

 

hhmm, while thinking about which formular of existing player tools could be stolen I have some idea: wouldn't it be cool using the formular for the mine. And the campaign having the protagonist fail at the end and the story end explaining why the mines never work in the world of the Dark Mod as designed from the Inventors guild - being our protagonist the culprit so that might be a nice lore addition for the faulty mines (so far).

 

... if the TDM team make the mine work one day, well, some placates on the walls of later FM might explain that the Inventors figured now - at last

Edited June 16, 2011 by fllood

[Springheel]

hhmm, while thinking about which formular of existing player tools could be stolen I have some idea: wouldn't it be cool using the formular for the mine

 

Greek fire is a liquid chemical that burns in water...there's no obvious connection to mines.

 

The Inventors needn't much assets in TDM if the storyline is well built. We even don't need to use a high security Inventors location at all

 

If the story won't actually include much about the Inventors, then why have it be an Inventor secret at all (not to mention THE inventor secret)? That would be like like blowing up the death star without ever having to deal with the Empire. You could probably write a story like that, but why would you?

[ungoliant]

That would be like like blowing up the death star without ever having to deal with the Empire. You could probably write a story like that, but why would you?

 

:laugh: pretty good analogy. But if we're going to get some inventors involved, we may need some new livery or skins for our AI models. Even if fat-boy in his leather apron gets finished we wouldn't want to encounter 20 of the same model for every time the character sees inventors. Until then it'd probably be wise to avoid too many inventor encounters unless they are off-duty plainclothes or undercover.

[fllood]

Greek fire is a liquid chemical that burns in water...there's no obvious connection to mines.

I miss the connection between a Greek fire and the mines Spring. Please enlight me

 

If the story won't actually include much about the Inventors, then why have it be an Inventor secret at all.

Because if we decide to go for ungoliants "player steals secret formular with chain of things follow that" idea it's logical the Inventors did invent the formular. I like that idea. But there may be other good ones we still come up with

Second I would love to see the campaign bring in a TDM faction in the main story plot that wasn't widely used so far like Inventors or Pagans. (personally I'm not so fond of fire or ice wielding mages like seen in Winter Harvest)

 

Please note: I don't have a clue how much assets are given for any faction. So I do not take this into account with any story considerations I say. If there is nothing / not enough AI & entities to use for a faction focusing on such make no sense of course! One of you guys who know the TDM asset library well has to estimate and then say so...

Edited June 17, 2011 by fllood

[jaxa]

Shit, I better play Winter Harvest already.

[ungoliant]

I still haven't played it either. I'm considering just skipping it (at least until the charlie testers get things fixed)

[fllood]

well ... WH isn't polished and ... lets say unique ... but aleady playable and not that bad in the idea. It has a very good use of ambient lighting to give it a "fantasy" feel in setting. Though lacking in design (imo) SH did add a huge amount of skillfull advanced scripting and an ice wiedling mage.

 

Did one of us played all FM so far (I don't)... we should avaid to come up with sth. as main story that was done in some TDM FM before ..

[brethren]

I don't think there's any way I can make a mansion which would be considered "small sized," so I'm switching my mission type at this point. Thinking of doing a Lost City or Crypt theme now, as long as that doesn't conflict with anyone else's plans.