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Full Version: So...Does Xonotic have any lore?
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If so, link/explanation?
I don't think so.
If you dig around, you might see story/lore pitches - some being kind of bad.
I think the original Nexuiz had, but it was kind of bad Wink
Present day.... PRESENT TIME

wide panning shot (hundreds of people in a small space on computers)
After Zuckerberg's takeover, hundreds of cyber cowboys gathered in grimy alleyways and basements, away from Candy Crush™ (and affiliates). Black market gaming and virtual cock fights happened exclusively at these gatherings through an underground program, known in the inner circles as....

title screen
[announcer voice] XONOTIC

fade to black

^this is the official story %100$ real ask anyone, trust me i wrote it i would know.
:^)
There's been some discussion already.

Perhaps move these posts under that threads?
(04-27-2017, 07:52 PM)Cinnamon Juice Wrote: [ -> ]Present day.... PRESENT TIME

wide panning shot (hundreds of people in a small space on computers)
After Zuckerberg's takeover, hundreds of cyber cowboys gathered in grimy alleyways and basements, away from Candy Crush™ (and affiliates). Black market gaming and virtual cock fights happened exclusively at these gatherings through an underground program, known in the inner circles as....

title screen
[announcer voice] XONOTIC

fade to black

^this is the official story %100$ real ask anyone, trust me i wrote it i would know.
:^)

Actually for me this is one of the best stories I've seen so far for Xonotic.

But that's probably because adding a story to Xonotic feels as necessary to me as making up some medieval scenario with 32 detailed characters, all playing essential roles in a complex structure of intertwining plots - for a game of chess ("oooh no! Now Fred the peasant got backstabbed by bishop Monroe whe returned from his safe spot behind the enemy lines... will the Dark Queen of Elfenbone tolerate such gruel display in her immediate neighborhood?"). However, the desire to add some sort of storyline or even a story based single player campaign is postulated regularly, so that's just my own personal opinion on Xonotic and storyline. :o)
(04-28-2017, 01:37 AM)BuddyFriendGuy Wrote: [ -> ]There's been some discussion already.

Perhaps move these posts under that threads?

Yeah I reckon if we can get both threads merged that'd be nice


(04-28-2017, 05:53 AM)Halogene Wrote: [ -> ]Actually for me this is one of the best stories I've seen so far for Xonotic.

But that's probably because adding a story to Xonotic feels as necessary to me as making up some medieval scenario with 32 detailed characters, all playing essential roles in a complex structure of intertwining plots - for a game of chess ("oooh no! Now Fred the peasant got backstabbed by bishop Monroe whe returned from his safe spot behind the enemy lines... will the Dark Queen of Elfenbone tolerate such gruel display in her immediate neighborhood?"). However, the desire to add some sort of storyline or even a story based single player campaign is postulated regularly, so that's just my own personal opinion on Xonotic and storyline. :o)

Hahhaha well I am just humbled Tongue 
On a more serious note, I wrote the story as a joke, but it did get me thinking...

What if Xonotic was based on a "meta-lore" (for lack of better words)?
Rather, instead of having a lore which has to fit with all the mechanics/weapons/visuals, why not have the lore fit in with our own reality?

I mean, looking at the other thread, there's lots of attempts at trying to explain why everything is how it is in the Xonotic universe (far future setting, nano-healing robots, super soldiers, etc.)
And these ideas are fine, but it's difficult to create a lore when the game was not made with that intention from the start. No one made the devastator model, for example, with a background explanation set to closely follow the game's lore. They just made it because that's what they did, and that's what they liked.

So what's the point of making up a story when we already have one: the development process of Xonotic itself.
Xonotic is how it is because of how it is.

All you have to do is be a bit hyperbolic about our own reality (refer to the story I wrote above), and the story almost writes itself.


HOWEVER:
with that said, I also don't think a lore should be terribly long, and lister said it well in that last thread when he presented the Q3A lore:
lister Wrote:this is like the entire Q3A lore, not a summary, and it works great
If the lore is short and to the point, then we can leave it up to everyone else to write the rest (either kept in their own minds or posted on the forums) as the development continues.
All that's really needed is an origin story with a relatively realistic amount of exaggeration, so everyone has a "starting platform". It could easily be built off the whole Nexuiz thing (e.g. not looking to simply please the blanks at the cost of their own morals, the group of punks defied the mega-corp's demands and began modifying their own gadget)

Reasons why this is a great/horrible idea:

PROS
  • No need to make the Xonotic gameplay fit the lore
  • No need to make the lore fit the Xonotic gameplay
  • Pretty much writes itself
  • Unique idea (correct me if this has been done before)
  • Could promote roleplaying within the forums
CONS
  • "Official" story needs to be short and provide a good platform for further imagination. This story will have to be agreed on as a community and could will lead to disputes
  • Could promote roleplaying within the forums
  • (I'm sure there's more reasons but I need sleep. Please help fill this out)

TL;DR
Xonotic might work with a "meta lore" that is based off its own development, events surrounding it, and our own reality. In this "universe" Xonotic is simply that. A game. Because of this, no adjustments would be needed to be done on the actual game, in order to "fit" the lore.


that was a lot longer than i wanted it to be. i might have over-explained it (also btw i liked your chess storytelling halogene)
I really like where this thread is going. Smile
(04-28-2017, 10:53 AM)Lyberta Wrote: [ -> ]Well, meta-lore is simple.

Present day. People are enslaved by Steam with its Digital Restrictions Management, microtransactions and proprietary games. Microsoft pushes Windows 10 that spies on every click. Apple is being Apple. Google is being Google. Intel puts IME backdoor into hardware, AMD puts PSP. There is little hope...

But out there, there is a free software movement lead by the greatest hero Richard Stallman that liberates people from technology, gives them control over their own computing by providing 4 fundamental freedoms. For he has created the GPL and spread its mighty copyleft shield on all GNU software. And some companies such as id software released their code as GPL. And though they still deserve death for not releasing the assets, the code has started the development of forks.

One fork eventually became Xonotic, one of the only games with both free code and free assets. It shines the light of free software on the braindead masses of proprietary games. It shows that the PC Master Race not only has the best hardware but also has freedom. And as long as Xonotic is alive, there is hope. There is hope that the civil war on software freedom will be won. That the humans will keep their freedoms. That the justice will prevail.

See what I mean? When reality has become identical to a sci-fi novel, it is quite simple to construct a story not too far fetched from the real thing.
Cyberpunk is now :^)


I'm glad my post was understood though. Wasn't sure if I explained it properly.
Personally I think that we should avoid name-dropping companies (yes I know I did that in my first "story"). Either keep them unnamed or give them a new title (maybe one that hints to the actual company name). I think this is more respectful, subtle, and sounds less cocky.

Anyway, I did like your rundown of "reality". Seems like we're on the same page
Well, it is just my opinion. If most people reckon we should keep the names as is, then I don't see why we shouldn't.

I just think it seems more clever, allows for slightly different interpretations (e.g. "Are they referring to Steam, or Origin? Maybe both?"), and comes across as more imaginative.
FSF and EFF are not game communities wondering if they need a lore, so I don't get why you're comparing what they've done to what we should do. If people wanted to know the current state of the world in terms of technology, they can follow FSF and/or EFF. No need for another group to simply document the current happenings. We have the flexibility to write "fiction" through an exaggeration of reality. Like many dystopian/utopian novels, the author makes hints towards what real-world events they're satirising, without naming any names (obviously I'm not suggesting we write a full novel though)
I think having a set lore works against the great versatility Xonotic offers; we can talk about future stuff all we want, but then we have to handwave away all of the user content contradictory to it, like old Western maps and the like. By instead having many stories inside of Xon, we have to handwave away gameplay (or adapt it), which is much easier, since people already expect incongruity between story and gameplay. How this would actually manifest is probably more complicated; possibly the concept of a "Campaign" could be introduced, and the game would be packaged with a few, and servers could host them or something. 

Anyway, the takeaway here is that Xon doesn't have lore, and lore shouldn't get pinned on as an afterthought. Instead, Xon should become a medium for many different lores. (If there's any demand for such a thing. I suppose Halo proves that Arena Shooters can have engrossing lore, but bla bla chicken and egg bla bla audience differences bla bla I'm not a specialist bla bla.)
(04-28-2017, 10:53 AM)Lyberta Wrote: [ -> ]Present day. People are enslaved by Steam with its Digital Restrictions Management, microtransactions and proprietary games. Microsoft pushes Windows 10 that spies on every click. Apple is being Apple. Google is being Google. Intel puts IME backdoor into hardware, AMD puts PSP. There is little hope...

But out there, there is a free software movement lead by the greatest hero Richard Stallman that liberates people from technology, gives them control over their own computing by providing 4 fundamental freedoms. For he has created the GPL and spread its mighty copyleft shield on all GNU software. And some companies such as id software released their code as GPL. And though they still deserve death for not releasing the assets, the code has started the development of forks.

One fork eventually became Xonotic, one of the only games with both free code and free assets. It shines the light of free software on the braindead masses of proprietary games. It shows that the PC Master Race not only has the best hardware but also has freedom. And as long as Xonotic is alive, there is hope. There is hope that the civil war on software freedom will be won. That the humans will keep their freedoms. That the justice will prevail.


 Shit saan!