Game concept and explanation/documentation

[Maxstate]

As requested, first a little 'awesomeness' (by Alpha0mEga):

It's the year 23xx

Humans are slowly getting anxious... climate change has eradicated nearly all humans. Though this was no time to argue right and wrong, climate change has left humanity nearly extinct.

The last few remaining humans reside within a special construct called the Sphere, an artificial environment on Earth; the only environment on earth, that still supports life.

The humans, knowing that they could not stay there for all eternity decided to work on developing technology that would allow them to exit the sphere and survive. Better yet, they decided to develop technology to leave this hellhole that was once known as Earth. Eventually the humans managed to achieve a stage in which they were ready to explore space, to find a new planet to call home, to ensure their own survival, and that of future generations.

You, the player, are one of the crewmembers of a ship, sent out to find a new habitat for humanity, to find a new habitat for you and your crew.



Since no one knows exactly what we're dealing with here, I'm going to give you guys a quick overview of our plans. I have tried to push this moment forward as much as I could, as I'd love to have a fully functional team before releasing information; the functional documentation that has been written so far was supposed to be checked by a team of professionals in their trade. This would save embarassment for the writers, as they would be told, by the professionals of a certain strain of development, whether something they had written for that strain was to be redundant, impossible, etc. Since no real progress has been made so far, I'd like to skip this part of the documentation review, and just show you what we have so far.

Here's a small overview of the first page of this thread:

1) Introduction to game and ideas
2) Functional documentation
3) Example of a mechanic (weapon generative grammar)
4) Example of skill systems and skill categories
5) Example of something we need to implement and are looking up developers for (animations)


First, some examples of the engine we're using:


C4 Engine Physics Test Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H4bH4YPVyk

Voxel Map /Terrain editor (included with kit for all developers)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gf3sFBNOMk

C4 'gravity gun'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFDEHUCZ7qc

Huge spaceship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0a26e4x7-o

C4 Cloth physics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3ekKZR9_SY

Sunset (with one simple shader
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdiQhVsZPpc

moonlight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRY4l0nQ4j0

Sunrise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNBlIaDUQUQ



The best example you can give yourself is to try it out for yourself though.



http://www.terathon.com/c4engine/download.php

Download the Demo Engine from here and try it out.


The storyline I'm keeping to myself so far, as it's not written very well and could use some scientific backing before being made public.

The gist of it is however:


1) It's about 300-400 years into the future;
2) Humanity is on its last legs because of global climate change;
3) The last (assumed) remaining conclave of humans live and work together in a specific construct called the Sphere;
4) The last X amount of years have been spent on new technology and space travel;
5) The human plan for survival is to leave the Earth and set forth a search for a new home planet;
6) Gameplay starts here.



Now, whether we're gonna go for space travel and space ships, or only give the user the ability to interact with specific people after landing on a planet, or whether most of the game will be spent on the ship itself, this is still up for grabs. The main current of gameplay ideas now revolve around the second of those three options, preferring "Enemy Territory"-like gameplay, where the player is part of away-teams who get stranded (or simply land) on foreign planets.

The game will primarily be a First Person Shooter. The user will have access to not only standard 'guns', but will also be able to beat the enemy by using Force-like superpowers, but also the environment of a map. The game will allow a player to grow in a roleplaying game-like fashion. Skills, feats, talents but gun optimizations or modifications will all be open to the user.

[Maxstate]

Introduction
Abstract
Explanation of index
Definition of terms
Game concepts
Factions
Bot / Artificial Intelligence

Systems
- Packaging
- User interfaces
- Heads-up displays
- Profile screens
- Options
- Weapons
- Story-line based
- Powers

Mechanics
- Experience points
- Skill progression
- Shooting
- Looting
- Items

Gamemodes
- Scoring

Requirements


Introduction

Abstract

This document will present a complete functional concept for the kick-off and early stages of the game project titled "Interference" during its working stage. The functional design's main purpose
is to do away with misconceptions and doubt surrounding any part of the basic outline concerning the following: storyline; gameplay mechanics; gameplay systems; definition of terms and new 'science fiction'. The completion of this document will lead to a full and total understanding of the 'idea so far', in turn, and this is the best scenario, allowing developers to lay down the framework for all future systems and mechanics, without a hitch. It will serve not only as a reference guide, but as a book of lore, a glossary and a manual.

Explanation of index

Introduction will introduce the concept of the game to all new developers, players and other interested individuals. First, the abstract part of this project will be defined. This can be explained as asking "What is the problem or goal?" The abstract is an answer to that question.

Characters will define hold information on how player characters, non-player characters, animals, bots, AI and story-based 'individuals' will behave within the game.

Systems will explain the 'back end' of the game. All the parts of which the whole is greater than the sum of their parts. It's this projectgroup's ambition to be able to define all parts of the game as specific systems and treat them as such. Mechanics defines the user experience, the 'front end.' Within this chapter, we will try to put our finger on what we think would be fun to have, fun to see, fun to do and how this should be accomplished within the game.

Finally, Gamemodes will describe the 'objectives' that players will have within the gameworld. It is our ambition to synchronize these with the storyline to create an original ambient and theme.




Definitions of terms:
The cataclysm:
The sequence of events that are at the core of Earth's problems, and find its origins in disastrous global warming.

The Sphere:
A spherical-shaped biodome built incrementally around a set of fusion reactors, used by humans as a last, hospitable haven.

Astrodynamics:
A new field of research dealing specifically with highly abstract astronomical occurrences such as black holes, worm holes, 'white' holes, FTL travel, quantum mechanics.

FTL travel:
Faster Than Light travel. Highly experimental propulsion systems.

Exodus:
The mass emigration of remaining humanity in search of a new homeworld.

Faction 1:
The main storyline's subject faction: the last supposed remnant of the human species.

Faction 2:
Large faction from secondary storyline that has also attempted and succeeded at starting an Exodus mission.

Within documentation:

The team:
All people mentioned in the developer credits & tribute documentation.

Script chunk:
Piece of script used to generate code-based changes to items in game.

Player:
Person running the game.

User:
See player.

Counter:
An abstract statistical element that defines the extent to which an entity can be changed, created or kept in the same state. Includes "Health", "Power", "Ammunition", etc.



Factions


Factions are yet to be named, but will be referred to internally as F1 and F2. F1 being the main storyline's 'research socialists' faction, and F2 being the secondary storyline's 'military capital' faction.

Faction 1:
Proposed name:
-Improvised weaponry
-Intelligentsia faction
-Not combat-ready
-Emphasis on intellect, skills, sustainability of life, mental acuity

Faction 2:
Proposed name:
-Advanced military weaponry
-Militaristic faction
-Full militaristic hierarchy and strategic command
-Emphasis on strategy, cunning, brute force and technology



Bot / Artificial Intelligence


[redacted]

The point is to use these enemies as cannon fodder. We should not make them too powerful - they should die easily - but they should
not be easily mowed down either. These bots should randomly drop 'loot' in the form of items that can be picked up by the player and added
to their inventory.


Systems


Packaging:
The game files should be distributed in the form of DLLs or anything similar as to avoid hacking in so far possible. Multiple files will be used for saving all other non-code related data.

User interfaces:
Menus be in the style of the current C4 engine; simplicity over aesthetics to begin with. The programmer will be able to use the existing code that is used to draw the menus
in order to render simple user interfaces for user navigation. A user interface is defined as: all visuals pertaining to the navigation to and from option screens and menus.

Profile screens:
Will allow the user to customize his or her gear, mental 'powers', character look, weapon attributes, name and faction. Profile screens will also, for the time being, be created
using the standard C4 engine existing code for menu-drawing. Standardization is imperative to good design, and must not lack from the planned game. Menus, HUDs and other user interfaces should, as far as possible, all be created using the same visual style. A profile screen is defined as: all visuals pertaining to the altering of player-based information such as name, skills, weaponry, model, etc.

Heads up displays:
Will echo the simplistic style of C4, noting bars or counters for Health, Shields/armor, ammunition, experience points. To begin with, the HUD will allow the user to make a quick check of vital signs and ammunition pool, and may later be expanded to cover supernatural abilities and the likes. A HUD is defined as: all visuals pertaining to the displaying of statistics that are directly related to a player's status; ammo, health, shields, and other meters.

Options:
Will allow the usual: keyboard/video/sound/mouse.

Storyline based:
As Faction 1 was not planning to meet any resistance in space, their weapons will be subpar in comparison to Faction 2's weapons. They will have the appearance of being improvised. Faction 2's weapons will have to appear cutting edge and militaristic.

Weapons:
A small amount of weapons for each category (pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, explosives) will be made available for the player, with minor difference in aesthetics, but major difference in customization; it should be possible for a user to customize a gun's fire rate, damage, range, etc. insofar that player has earned enough experience points to do so.

Some weapons are better off being hitscan weapons while others would benefit from more realistic projectile physics.

Powers:
All powers will in some way be related to augmenting, pacifying, bending, defying or reversing the laws of physics. Higher jumps, faster running, telekinesis are examples hereof. The user can, for example, temporarily solidify atoms infront of him or herself in a far more compact form, using only the (usually nitrogen/oxygen) that surrounds them, in order to shield from or repel weapon fire.

[Maxstate]

Mechanics


Experience points:

Faction 1)
Will be awarded for capturing points or flags, helping teammates or gathering resources. No experience points should be awarded for killing members of the opposing team unless this is done in defense.

Faction 2)
Will be awarded for capturing points or flags and killing members of the opposing team.

Skill progression:

A player will be able to choose between guns and training in mental powers as soon as the game starts. These will be accessed from either a map-based 'room' or the profile screen.

The power or gun the player uses most (will be measured for use, successful hits, etc.) will advance his or her level in that particular gun or power. Sufficient level in a certain category will give the user access to further customization of weapons, or improvement of powers. Not a lot of new guns will be added until sufficient modelers are found, so the customization aspect of skills will come as a great rescue.

Several talent (or feat) trees will also be made available to the user. The point is to, through the game's experience system, allow users to

Shooting:
A player will have the option to shoot his or her gun or use iron sights/scopes to zoom in the view. Mental powers will feature secondary fire modes used mainly for casting the power on the user themselves.

Looting:
Items should either be looted from enemies' corpses or should be spread out in random directions after the death of the user. Attention should be drawn to the weapons
by a simple effect.

Items:
Basic items should be available from maps, randomly spawning around pre-designated places. Items taken from felled



Gamemodes


The basic gamemodes we will be dealing with are “Repair” and “Deathmatch”. Deathmatch is self-explanatory; “Repair” will deal with the mothership having to land or crash on a planet due to some kind of system failure or outside attack. The players will have 30 minutes to collect resources, parts, etc. to repair the ship and leave the planet.

More gamemodes will be added.


Scoring
-Holding 'points' over a period of time

-Fragging other players
-Taking resources back to the mothership
-Helping teammates
-Healing teammates
-Extraordinary shots



Requirements


-At least 3 modelers
-At least 2 animators
-At least 5 mappers
-At least 3 texture artists
-At least 4 programmers
-PR users (a lot)
-Forums
-Main website

[Maxstate]

Some of the functionality and back-end that we've already padded out are things like weapon generation. We hope to have a system similar to what is used in Borderlands, offering the user a virtually unlimited amount of weapons by random generation. It should also be possible to upgrade or customize an already existing weapon.


Here's some documentation explaining the back-end of the weapon generation:

Introduction

The goal of this document is to provide the programmers with easy-to-use or easy-to-convert script chunks, hopefully which we will be able to use in their form as stated below to generate weapon damages. Please use the below 'script'-like grammar to define any weapon grammar combinations you might come up with.

Example:

Weapon.[Brand] OR Weapon.[Adjective] OR Weapon.[Adjective2] OR Weapon.[Noun] OR Weapon.[Type]
OR Weapon.[Name] OR Weapon.[Level] {

Weapon.Damage = raw damage it does
Weapon.ROF = rounds fired per second per click
Weapon.CloseUpDamage = does it do more damage when fired closer? (shotgun)
Weapon.Range = when does the projectile disappear (in meters) ?
Weapon.Dmgtype = plasma? laser? projectile?
Weapon.Accuracy = calculated as random diameter of circle around crosshair
Weapon.Type = rifle? shotgun?
Weapon.Shellspershot = rounds fired per click
Weapon.AmmoMagazine = ammo per magazine/clip
Weapon.AmmoPool = total ammo available
Weapon.Scope = (boolean) does it activate a scope when secondary is pressed?
Weapon.Reloadspeed = time in seconds that it takes to reload
Weapon_ChanceToStun = an example of a special modifier
Weapon_RandomColorBarrel = randomized barrel color (selected from a specific list of color combinations)
Weapon_RandomColorMagazine = randomized magazine color (selected from a specific list of color combinations)
Weapon_RandomShader = randomized shader (specular, bump map, color shifter, glow, etc.)

}


For every weapon created, a Brand, Adjective, Noun and Name are combined to make up a randomly generated gun. The values would be selected from an .ini file. The hope is that Darthdie or Grievous will be able to make the system recognize these scripts and translate them into the game, so that anyone from the team can add a new weapon grammar modifier when needed. The Weapon.[Level] modifier is added when the weapon is adjusted to the player's own level. So after a kill, or during a buy-screen, the system checks the player's level and modifies the generated weapon information based on the user's level. In essence, the Weapon.[Level] modifier will contain a numerical or (preferred) percentage-based upgrade to the default or "level 1" generated weapon. More will be explained below.

Before we start, please note the use of the "%ran%" function. Hopefully, %ran% will randomly pick a number between a defined minimum and maximum. So for "%ran%(5-10)" the system will pick a random number between 5 and 10 and apply it to the weapon. If a brand or another adjective is used to add weapon damage for example, but the weapon damage is a randomized number, this doesn't matter, as the weapon damage modifier can be added as thus: "+10%" or "+2", which would make the math look like:

%ran%(5-10)+2"

Note that the "-" does not mean minus; it's not a subtraction but an operator marking the interval between minimum and maximum. If a better, more efficient mathematical randomizer is known to any of you, feel free to adjust this entire section. But be sure to rewrite it!

Another used function would be "%addran%." This function would do nothing more than count up (add) the value given in the brackets ( ) to the corresponding value in all guns that it's meant for. So if a Weapon.Damage = "%addran%(+3)" is added to a script chunk that's meant for Weapon.[sniperrifle], it means that all sniper rifles gain +3 to their base damage, for every level that they are higher than "1." A level three sniper rifle would thus automatically gain +6 to its base damage. This is on-top of all the other damage values that are defined. All values are counted up together, so every "+" constitutes another "upcount" for a mathematical sum. %addran% will be used solely for level up of guns.

So an example of a sniper rifle would be:


/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

//(type)
{
Weapon.[sniperrifle] {
Weapon.Damage = "%ran%(1-2)"
Weapon.ROF = "%ran%(0.3-0.4)"
Weapon.Range = "500"
Weapon.Dmgtype = "projectile"
Weapon.Accuracy = "%ran%(25-20)" (naturally, lower is better)
Weapon.Type = "sniperrifle"
Weapon.Shellspershot = "1"
Weapon.AmmoMagazine = "%ran%(5-7)"
Weapon.AmmoPool = "%ran%(176-200)"
Weapon.Scope = "1"
Weapon.Reloadspeed = "5"
Weapon_RandomColorBarrel = %ran%
Weapon_RandomColorMagazine = %ran%
Weapon_RandomShader = %ran%
}

//(brand)
Weapon.[ViperTech] {
Weapon.Damage = "+11%"
Weapon.Accuracy = "-23%" (naturally, lower is better)
Weapon.ROF = "-2%"
}

//(name)
Weapon.[Name] {
"SL113"

}

//(adjective)
WeaponAdjective.[Army] {
Weapon.Damage = "+3.4"
Weapon.Accuracy = "+3.4%" (here higher is worse)
Weapon.AmmoMagazine = "+1"
Weapon.Reloadspeed = "%ran%(4-4.3)"

}

//(noun)
Weapon.[Vindicator]
Weapon.AmmoPool = "%ran%(+4-7)"
Weapon.Reloadspeed = "-1" (naturally, lower is better)
}

//(level could be applied to weapon types, brands, names, adjectives and nouns; here it is being applied to the type itself (sniperrifle))
WeaponLevel.[sniperrifle] {
Weapon.Damage = "%addran%(+3)"
Weapon.ROF = "%addran%(+0.2-0.3)"
Weapon.Range = "+5"
Weapon.Accuracy = "%addran%(-1.3%)" (naturally, lower is better)
Weapon.AmmoMagazine = "%addran%(+1-2)"
Weapon.AmmoPool = "%addran%(+4%)"
Weapon.Reloadspeed = "%addran%(-0.4 - - 0.7 )" (naturally, lower is better)
Weapon_RandomColorBarrel = %ran%
Weapon_RandomColorMagazine = %ran%
Weapon_RandomShader = %ran%

}
}
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////



So now we have a brand, name, adjective and noun and a level modifier. The weapon would have the following stats when generated:

ViperTech SL113 Army Vindicator
Level : 1
Range: 500
Damage: 1.14 - 2.30
Damage type: projectile
Rate of Fire: 0.29 - 0.39
Accuracy: from 20.1 to 16.8 (%ran%) (lower is better)
Magazine: from 6 to 8
Ammo: from 180 to 207
Reload speed: from 8 to 8.3

If the weapon would be level 2, the script would take notice of the WeaponLevel information and this would come out:

ViperTech SL113 Army Vindicator
Level : 2
Range: 505
Damage: 4.14 - 6.30
Damage type: projectile
Rate of Fire: 0.49 - 0.59 to 0.5 - 0.69 (%ran)
Accuracy: 18.8 to 15.5 (%ran%) (lower is better)
Magazine: 7 to 9 to 8 - 10 (%ran)
Ammo: 187 to 215
Reload speed: 7.96 to 8.26 to 7.94 - 8.24

This is an example of a simple weapon generation. The biggest hassle would be to make the script as stated above get translated properly to the code. This is imperative, as it will save coders a lot of time when even the most clueless of users can create new weapon lists.

[Maxstate]

We plan to have a skill system in the game. The system will be similar to Oblivion's; the more you use an item, weapon or skill, the better you will become at it. A number of 'power' skills, weapon category 'skills' and general other attribute-related skills (think Acrobatics for general jumping, or Athleticism for faster running or longer sprints) will need to be thought up.

This document will only hold the explanation of how the system will work as seen by the player.

Skill selection
A player, once entering a server, will have the option of selecting either a weapon or an offensive 'power' to use at the start. The player will have the choice between let's say a pistol and a simple offensive telekinesis attack.

Skill upgrade
The user will earn experience through various ways. The most important of which will be doing objectives. Hopefully an objective system of some sort will be implemented. The user can also collect resources or frag enemies or enemy bot AI. A skill will upgrade only if it used; the more you use a specific item or power, the more skill points you will earn within its skill 'category'. Using a pistol will result in upgrading your pistol category.

Level up and upgrade points
Once enough skill points are garnered, the user will level up and be able to spend an upgrade point, which will allow them to invest in a new skill category. This will, for example, open up the "shotgun" category or "rifle" category for the pistol user. The user could also choose to invest another point into their pistol category, which would have beneficial effects regarding the use of pistols.

There should be no limit as to the combinations, but upgrading something to a higher level should be a lot more appealing than upgrading a 'new' category.

Study points
As far as I know, the game engine features a 'datapad' like tool that can be used for door openings and such. Hopefully we can use this element of the engine to add an easy but also intuitive and story-line driven way for reading documentation in-game. Manuals, weapon descriptions, skill explanations and storyline additions could be added to this datapad; and a menu-like structure could be adapted for categorisation of these variations of documentation. After reading a bit of lore, or an explanation of a system, tool or weapon, the user could gain 'study points.'

These study points could be invested in a specific skill category, skill, weapon category or whatnot; they would have no other use than to simulate the user's "knowledge" or "theory" in the subject - they would allow the user to upgrade that specific skill more rapidly. In essence, it would increase the rate at which you could 'level' a skill.

This page will detail the different categories of skills which will be available to a player.


Categories
An idea that comes to mind immediately to any role-playing game fanatic is to divide the skill sets into easily understood categories. These categories will not only allow a user to specialize their character, but allowing them to choose multiple, they will be able to make a unique character, with a unique set of skills. This will help not only the 'feel' of the game but will make it less repetetive and more replayable.

A number of categories come to mind; not all will be used, but neither is anything final. Feel free to recommend more, less, or to change existing ones.

Mental
Level upgrade: +3% power; +2% effectiveness of all powers (damage, speed, range);
Will allow the player to upgrade their mental faculty. Allows access to better 'powers'.

Physical
Level upgrade: +3% health; +2% reduction of all damage (fall damage, getting shot);
Will allow the user to 'buff up' and push their body to the limits of its capabilities. Allows access to better physical-attribute related skills such as running speed and sprint capability.

Armor
Level upgrade: +4% reduction of all damage; -2% armor penalty;
Will allow the user to learn how to use better and more advanced armor. Allows access to better armor-related defense/offense/debuff skills.

Light Arms
Level upgrade: +2% damage with all small arms; +4% accuracy with all small arms;
Skill counter for all submachine guns, pistols, rifles, etc. Allows access to accuracy-based weapon powers.

Assault Weapons
Level upgrade: +4% damage with all assault weapons; +2% accuracy with all assault weapons;
Skill counter for all machine guns, assault rifles and other 'heavy' weaponry. Allows access to damage-based weapon powers.

Explosives
Level upgrade: +3% explosive radius with all explosive weapons; +1 explosive ammo on every second level;
Will allow the user to do more damage and carry more explosives; will allow the user to customize their explosive arsenal through skills.

Technology
Level upgrade: +5% time duration of all technology skills; +1 simultaneous technological skill every fifth level;
Will allow the user to use all kinds of gadgets to aid in combat; think radar, robot sentries.

Ammunitions
Level upgrade: +2% chance to ignore armor every second level; +1% chance to critically hit every second level (headshot regardless of point-of-impact);
For the user that likes to customize the damage they do and not with what gun they do it.

These categories will have sub categories. Some of the sub categories that need adding, for example:

Light Arms --> Pistols
Light Arms --> Submachine guns
Explosives --> Remote- explosives
Explosives --> Mines
Ammunitions --> Armor-piercing
Ammunitions --> Shredding
etc.

[Maxstate]

This file will detail the required animations for the game.



Default stances/Idle:
DefaultStance
DefaultWeaponStance
DefaultPowerStance

Movement stances:
HoldWeaponWalk1
HoldWeaponRun1
PowerRun1

Character movement:
WalkingForward
WalkingBackwards
StrafeLeft
StrafeRight
JumpUp
JumpForward
JumpLeft
JumpRight
Sprint
Crouch
CrouchForward
CrouchBackward
CrouchLeft
CrouchRight
UnCrouch

Weapons:
WeaponFire1
WeaponFire2
Reload1
Reload2
Reload3
PowerFire1
Powerfire2
Grenade1

Tactical:
BackToWall
FireOverWall
LeanWallLeft
LeanWallRight

[Maxstate]

You'll notice that the text cuts off at some places. This is because that part of the documentation is either: 1) incomplete; 2) under discussion.

Nothing here is final, though. So if there are improvements to be made, they can be, provided reasonable arguments are given.

[[Alpha]-0mega-]

Vry noice post.
I leik the formatting with the code tags and the story.

Proposed name faction 1: Tree Deity
Proposed name faction 2: Steam Echelon

[Monochrome]

I must express my distaste for the faction concepts so far. Sounds like an overly extreme conflict of ideals that leans too closely to the 80's cartoon conceptions of good versus bad (not to mention Max's political views). Add alpha omega's names and you'll essentially have a goody-goody army of tree huggers against a techno union of captain planetesque villains. Besides, not only opposing such different enemies would prove to have later effects on game balance (as conceptual differences always tend to later ressonate on gameplay aspects), it would also leave little room for a coherent plot other than a chain of senseless acts of violence, because as far as ethnic differences go on polar opposites, there can be only one in the end, which sentences the plot(s) to a predictable outcome.

A good option, in my opinion, is to create a mid therm between the factions. One should emphasize the technological development over mental powers/bio-weapons/whatever, while not being entirely deprived of the later, while the other should do the opposite, not because it was dictated by a higher ideal or a cause, but because of a random event that motivated these two to take arms against one another.

Usually a good way to write a plot is to set a timeline of chain events that should follow a more or less logical order. This will provide for further events to be developed easier. For instance:

1 - Huge ship leaving earth, lots of different people inside
2 - Getting locked up on a small space leaves everyone cranky
3 - Some malfunction kills a lot of people. Everyone blames everyone.
4 - Factions are formed. Conflict erupt inside ship.
5 - Shit happens. Ship gets splitted in two. Both halves crash on a crappy deserted planet
6 - One half has more tech resources whle the other contains most of the bio-research and labs.
7 - BATTLE ROYALE


Just a random setting.

[Maxstate]

Politics will be central to the storyline. There are no cookie-cutter American-style black and white factions planned for depiction, although I see how, without any storyline information, this may be what is being communicated.

Contact me on msn if you want a link/explanation of what's planned.