Singleplayer Story Mode On!

Hey people, ai here.
So this is very very spontaneous on my part and I generally never do stuff like this but here goes.

From now on till later a contest is taking place where people will write a 1000 word or less story/backstory for the singleplayer mode. The winner will of course get his/her story implemented in Xonotic.
However, it may also end up several stories mixed together with each other. No matter the outcome, the original story writers will have a part of helping creating the rest of the story as it was their original vision anyway.

If you guys don't like this spontaneous outbreak on my part then you can go suck it. Heh nah ^_^, just kidding, but seriously, if no one likes what I just did here feel free to delete the topic. I don't mind.

Let the minds roll! Ciao!

Well... Xonotic is obviously about a rebelion of slaves... gladiators of course. For millenia, humanoid races are steal from all around the galaxy to create fun for a unknom hightech race. Weapons are provide to these humanoid, trained by other gladiators, living in weird fortress. One day every month these gladiators are teleported around to fight each another.
You are just another of these gladiator, but also a hacker, and you have some idea of what race is behind the carnaga and how to stop it, you just need furter information, so you have to take it from other prisioners/gladiators... maybe you have to win against these dudes to force then give the bits of information you need, but once you collect all the information, It will be possible to teleport to the very houses of the high race, and exterminate then, to stop the galactic conquest or maybe take over his position and continue with the battles.
Hell.. maybe the original race was wipeout eons ago, and is now managed by greedy humans that used to be gladiators thenselves, but have managed to take over the power.

Havent we got enough of these threads already? I'm losing track of my reading as it is without another...

Take note of: http://forums.xonotic.org/showthread.php...42#pid1942

EDIT: I suppose I'll write something. Stupid inspiration. Its like a disease and it bit me in the ass last night.

No we need more threads!

This is just something I threw together quickly. It's the start of a rough draft

Should I continue? or is it just poop?
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My grandfather told me of the world of our forefathers. A world that teamed with creatures so amazing that it boggles the imagination. He told of a world with vast blue oceans on the surface and giant plants reaching upward toward a blue sky.

It was said that an enormous spacecraft visited that world and transmitted a message that no one could translate. Days later fireballs filled the sky. Asteroids struck the planet and the world burned. This story has been passed down for generations now. I don’t even know if the story is true or how much of our history has bean lost over time.

My ancestors were the lucky ones. They escaped to this small colony here on this cold desolate moon called Europa. They were unable to leave because the ship expended most of its fuel getting here.

I just know I need to get off this frozen rock. That’s why I volunteered for the Xonotic project. It is my hope that Xonotic will help us reclaim our home world and help us rebuild it from the ashes.

Xonotic is a massive spacecraft we discovered . It appears to have crashed here eons ago. It was heavily damaged but lucky for us the computers were still operational. We were able to activate the AI construct. In hours it learned to speak our language. She spoke to us and she told us that she was called Xonotic , and she had been on a mission. She was not sure exactly what her mission was or why she was so far from her home. Her main data core was severely damaged and she was unable to rebuild the mission files . She was however able to help us repair her.

It is later discovered that the ship is a T’Rull siege ship. The T’Rull are a violent alien species that developed the technology to transfer their consciousness and store it in a computer system. They also developed ways to adapt this technology to transfer their consciousness into other humanoid species. No one is even sure what the original T’Rull look like since they can take on the form of any species they conquered. The siege ship has hundreds of cloning stations as well as weapon replication systems.

OK I completed a little something for this in a few hours I had today. Its largely history but I do have the rest of what happens planned out. Was sort of approaching the word limit even though its a draft. I tried to include potential for some of the factions etc. that have been included in the artstyle thread.

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With the creation of the first synthetic lifeforms and integrated cybernetic systems in 2200 all manufacturing and production was taken over by machines. This left mankind free to concentrate on new branches of research. Life extension, suspended animation and interstellar travel became common as mankind spread its wings to colonise the solar system and beyond.

All was not well however. In some colonies people began to sympathise with the synthetics who were working for them effectively as slaves. They began to crack the safety protocols that had been built in to guarantee subservience. This did not always end well. Some synthetics remained loyal, content with freedom and grateful to those who liberated them.

Other colonies were not so lucky. Liberated synthetics quickly turned violent slaughtering every living thing within several colonies. One by one these colonies dropped off communications and the systems they were in quickly named as dead zones to be avoided.

On Earth things went into turmoil as people demanded rights for synthetics or their complete annihilation. Earth's government soon realised that while the manufacturing capabilities of synthetics were required for humanity to function. They had to find some way to control them but still give the illusion of free will. A decision was made to covertly embed just one safety protocol into all of Earth's synthetics: that they would not harm any human directly unless in self defence.

After this was complete, each and every synthetic on Earth was given “free will” and allowed to continue existing. Many opted for career changes.

The synthetic problems mostly over, mankind proceeded with their exploration of the galaxy. This was given a huge boost in 2220 with the creation of the first faster than light drive which was co-developed by a number synthetics. There was now significantly less need for use of suspended animation.

In one particular system in 2250 a strange orbiting object was discovered by the exploratory ship named “The Delver”. It matched no known configuration and did not contain any metal. After collection and closer examination the conclusion was reached that it was some sort of probe. Its shell was composed of an almost sealed and extremely hard, black carbon nanotube structure with other areas that appeared to some sort of sensory organ or apparatus. It was also noted to be secreting various chemicals onto its surface including a cocktail of endorphins. Some time later another was found at a different planet in the system. And another. Something else was exploring this same system.

Weeks after a sensory anomaly was detected at the edge of the system, consistent roughly with a ship dropping out of FTL speeds. With no other human ships in the area the Delver's crew were on alert. A stream of incomprehensible signals were detected coming from the same direction. A day later and it appeared.

A large ship made of the same material as the probes approached the Delver, stopping within 500 kilometres. It began sending a series of what seemed to be communication signals, identical to those detected previously. Unable to decipher them initially the Delver's crew transmitted back a simple series of numbers. Over a period of days the two ships communicated until a rudimentary mathematical language was worked out. Apparently they had wondered why their probes had stopped transmitting. This was humanity's first encounter with the <unnamed>.


Over a period of years the two races came together to share technology and exploration. Despite the differences in culture a friendship had bloomed when at first everything had seemed so alien.

Always however there was animosity between <unnamed> and the many synthetics on Earth.

The first problems occurred in 2300. It had been found that <unnamed>s living on Earth gained a significantly longer lifespan than their fellows back home. This triggered a huge migration. The first population to be moved to make space for the new residents were the synthetics. Many protested but the decision was made and millions of synthetics were uprooted.

This led to the massacre of May, 2301. Synthetics rioting over their eviction came into direct conflict with the <unnamed> population living on Earth. Their covert programming was useless here. These were aliens, not humans. The kite string popped and a slaughter ensued. <unnamed> security personnel were not used to dealing with synthetics, their technology being largely unsuitable for it. Hundreds were killed before the EMP weapons were successfully deployed to disable the rioters.

In the aftermath millions of disillusioned synthetics upped and left, many heading to the dead zones to find true freedom. <unnamed>-human relations were on thin ice. Being the only two known biological races in the universe, it had long since been decided conflict would never be an option.

Instead a new era of exploration would unfold. An advanced exploration ship would be built and crewed by both races, with the combined technology of both. Using a specially designed launching station and drive it would be thrown at tremendous speed through the dead zones to explore the space beyond.

In 2350 the ship was launched successfully. Crewed by the best in the known universe its course held firm, passing through the dead zones safely.

After several years of exploration and star charting the ship came across an anomaly. There was a solar system with no apparent star. Several desolate planets seemed to be orbiting nothing but it was not a black hole or anything else known.

Upon further investigation, it was found they were orbiting a super massive structure, certainly the size of a star. Its surface was an almost perfect black body, masking it from the majority of detection methods. What had they found and... was it meant to be found?

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A black body is something that absorbs all radiation, just so you know. The end point is where our singleplayer would begin and our characters introduced etc.

[spoiler below]
My rough idea is that this thing is basically a pandoras box. Its actually sealing a rip in space that was created in the middle of a star during an war between two uber powerful races, one in a different dimension. Those who have made it are long gone however. All races are now exploring it to see what it does.

@Sep
Not bad, I would make the dates a little more random, everything happens in 50 year increments
Not sure on the black structure thing , almost seems too large. I just find it hard to believe that a structure could be as large as a sun. I do like the Synthetics , they remind me of the synthetics of the Animatrix

Yeah the dates are fairly arbitrary to be honest. The structure said is essentially a dyson sphere (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere).

Yeah the dates are fairly arbitrary to be honest. The structure said is essentially a dyson sphere (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere).

Ok makes sense now. I was thought it was huge structure that took the place of a sun

Is the singleplayer storyline integrated with the universe storyline? Does the singleplayer storyline take place in a point of the universe line, with the player being of consequence? If so, does playing on public servers make the player take the role of a common grunt? There's nothing wrong with this, it just needs to be clarified. Storylines must coincide.

Storyline should be separate from multiplayer. Entirely. Singleplayer has the storyline bit, the multiplayer just has the setting (even then only loosely).

Thats the way I see it anyway.

+1

Storyline should be separate from multiplayer. Entirely. Singleplayer has the storyline bit, the multiplayer just has the setting (even then only loosely).

Thats the way I see it anyway.

I'd prefer to see them tied in together, but loosely. In the same universe, with the same backstory and technology applying to them both, but the singleplayer has an elaborate story, and the multiplayer just has a reason (eg: Halo, multiplayer is described as UNSC training for soldiers)

I agree with Will. If we look at will's story, we can say that multiplayer is HFAF holoarena combat training.

Here's a cleaned up rehash of what I wrote in artstyle development. The wording is a bit... brief to save on words. 410 words in total. I'm thinking of a singleplayer story which would work with Nexuiz-like gameplay.


The Backstory:
The first Mars excavation only found a titanium tablet with what resembles the word ‘Xonos’ on it. Where it originates is unknown.
Mankind, after developing tech using quantum entanglement to communicate over infinitely long distances and building atomic assemblers to build and rebuild any element, were basically solved of all of their problems. Using these technologies together, they were able to build teleporters and explore their part of the galaxy. The year 2178 marked first contact. After building a limited mathematical language, we eventually started to learn about the aliens. First results were very surprising, they were exactly like us; even our genomes were identical. Similarly strangely, their homeworld was about the same size as Earth, and span at the same speed (365 rotations on its axis for one rotation around its star). Diplomacy was going well, and eventually we decided to sync the calendars on 2200. At midnight, they disappeared.
It seems as if after we lost our hominid friends, we decided to make some more of our own. Unfortunately, the Androids started rebelling about 10 years later. Even though they destroyed Earth, it didn’t matter that much because not only had we already colonized Mars, but whole systems nearby. Eventually, they just buggered off to some lonely cluster of the galaxy.
The next hundred years were slower, but also had big surprises. We found other hominids. They had the same genome, same homeworld, nearly the same languages in some cases. As all diplomacy went well (most of them had developed atomic assemblers and QE tech as well, they had anything they could possibly need), we all decided to ally, and formed the UHF; United Hominid Federation. A cluster well suited for life was chosen to be the capitol, we called it the Cradle.
Over time, as the facts were quite obvious that we were engineered, many started believing in the species of the Xonos (as every culture found a titanium plate), the Xonotic.
Though the believers in the Xonotic were the majority, there were still people who thought otherwise. The Dark Galaxy Cult believed that the UHF is a joke and its regulations on genetic engineering and AI (especially) were unfounded. They committed the occasional attack on populated worlds, but never anything major. They believe that we were made from the black holes. It is thought that they are either developing dark and mysterious genetically engineered cyborgs, or just getting high and deciding to blow up transit stations.

(What's changed for acronyms: HF is now the United Hominid Federation (UHF), HFAF is now the Hominid Armed Forces (HAF))

For multiplayer, the holodeck-arena works, but it just proper training grounds with respawn medical facilities works. Maps could be clean and shiny for spaceships, or grimy and dark for back alley urban areas.

Good summary, that's the gist of it. I liked the old acronyms better though

Good summary, that's the gist of it. I liked the old acronyms better though

I didn't

I think that single player is not for multiplayer game important, it might be helpful do training mod tutorial how to use your player character and the keys to which they serve for mooving and using accompanied by text or by video instructions how to prepare great greenmarine for Nexuiz

This is just a short summery of an idea that I've had that could work for Xonotic.

The year is 2634 and the Galaxy has been at peace since the forming of the Galactic Alliance 132 years before. During a ceremony on the star base orbiting Earth it is attacked by an unknown alien race. Through the course of the story, it is found that the alien race, known as the Commandment attacked because they were attacked long ago and thought it was the human race. Eventually, it is learned that it was actually the power of the god Xonotic that attack the Commandment. The reason behind this is that Xonotic had been trapped in limbo thousands of years ago by three keys, that are also warp points to other parts of the galaxy. Xonotic started a war because the Commandment would send ships through the warp point, weakening it and eventually destroying them, releasing the god from his "frozen" state. He is released and so, after learning all of this, the two forces that were fighting against each other, now fight together to destroy the evil god and his army.

I understand that this isn't much of a summery, but with the full idea, either I give a really short summery or one urber long one.
Thanks

May Xonotic go far...

This is just a short summery of an idea that I've had that could work for Xonotic.

The year is 2634 and the Galaxy has been at peace since the forming of the Galactic Alliance 132 years before. During a ceremony on the star base orbiting Earth it is attacked by an unknown alien race. Through the course of the story, it is found that the alien race, known as the Commandment attacked because they were attacked long ago and thought it was the human race. Eventually, it is learned that it was actually the power of the god Xonotic that attack the Commandment. The reason behind this is that Xonotic had been trapped in limbo thousands of years ago by three keys, that are also warp points to other parts of the galaxy. Xonotic started a war because the Commandment would send ships through the warp point, weakening it and eventually destroying them, releasing the god from his "frozen" state. He is released and so, after learning all of this, the two forces that were fighting against each other, now fight together to destroy the evil god and his army.

I understand that this isn't much of a summery, but with the full idea, either I give a really short summery or one urber long one.
Thanks

May Xonotic go far...

story is inspired by the film The Fifth Element director by Luc Besson

story is inspired by the film The Fifth Element director by Luc Besson

The what? I seriously have never heard of the movie. Actually I got the idea from a combination Halo and Anachronox. But that is just minor plot points, like the alien race attack the Federation (based loosely off of the Covenant from Halo) and the evil god (like at the end of anachronox.) There is still alot of story that is fully original. I'll have to see what exactly that movie is about.

As a fan/writer of horror stories, I thought about taking a somewhat Lovecraftian spin on the game. Since he placed aliens and science over ghosts and witches (a novelty at his time) I believe it would be the proper turn for Xonotic to take. For character names I considered the pre-Christian era Slavic Pagan deities.

It’s been years...years since Them came down from the stars. Them were all to willing to share their technology with us. To share all their knowledge of the universe-even immortality. We, the human race, were all too willing and ignorant to accept their offer. How naive we were! Why would Them travel lightyears from their planet just for our sake...?

Them first took over the governments without argument. Former political enemies were now one in their grande pursuit of human perfection and advancement. Them then controlled our means of production in agriculture and in industry. No one was required to work because Them did it all. Them’s automatic farming machines reaped our fields while we grew in wealth. Them’s robots automated the banking processes and made the business transactions. Them’s knowledge of biological health far exceeded our wildest expectations. Everything was at their mercy and yet no one ever spoke up. No one ever questioned and no one ever grew suspicious of Them’s intentions.

 That is until the disappearances started happening. Whole town populations would one day disappear, and no one ever put the puzzle pieces together. Them would simply come onto the FriendCast network and offer their deepest regrets of the missing people, and that all search attempts had been valiant but in vain. No one began to question them until then. You would hear whispers of covert operations being done by members of former governments against Them...whispers of revolution.

We, the Earth Liberation Force, began acting as saboteurs against their centers of power and technology. A few plastic explosives here and a few hacked computers there and we were making enough of a dent in their power grip to be considered a serious threat. My name is Perun*, a hacker E.L.F. who was assigned to steal valuable cargo data from a Them data center. Just before I was done loading the data to my computer, I was caught and locked in a holding area...

As a fan/writer of horror stories, I thought about taking a somewhat Lovecraftian spin on the game. Since he placed aliens and science over ghosts and witches (a novelty at his time) I believe it would be the proper turn for Xonotic to take. For character names I considered the pre-Christian era Slavic Pagan deities.

It’s been years...years since Them came down from the stars. Them were all to willing to share their technology with us. To share all their knowledge of the universe-even immortality. We, the human race, were all too willing and ignorant to accept their offer. How naive we were! Why would Them travel lightyears from their planet just for our sake...?

Them first took over the governments without argument. Former political enemies were now one in their grande pursuit of human perfection and advancement. Them then controlled our means of production in agriculture and in industry. No one was required to work because Them did it all. Them’s automatic farming machines reaped our fields while we grew in wealth. Them’s robots automated the banking processes and made the business transactions. Them’s knowledge of biological health far exceeded our wildest expectations. Everything was at their mercy and yet no one ever spoke up. No one ever questioned and no one ever grew suspicious of Them’s intentions.

 That is until the disappearances started happening. Whole town populations would one day disappear, and no one ever put the puzzle pieces together. Them would simply come onto the FriendCast network and offer their deepest regrets of the missing people, and that all search attempts had been valiant but in vain. No one began to question them until then. You would hear whispers of covert operations being done by members of former governments against Them...whispers of revolution.

We, the Earth Liberation Force, began acting as saboteurs against their centers of power and technology. A few plastic explosives here and a few hacked computers there and we were making enough of a dent in their power grip to be considered a serious threat. My name is Perun*, a hacker E.L.F. who was assigned to steal valuable cargo data from a Them data center. Just before I was done loading the data to my computer, I was caught and locked in a holding area...

s/Them/They/

In any case, unless They are a race of clean, futuristic beings, I dunno if this will fit the art style.
Also, make sure any technologic jargon makes sense, because people who play xonotic are people who know this stuff.

Interesting stories

I'll just drop it here

A stranded spaceship. A war of fractions. You're an alien. They're humans. What would you do?

...and then it's revealed that you're a badass hier to a huge empire spanning almost two whole arms of the Galaxy, which fell into disgrace fifty years prior. Really, you'll have to read the file I posted. However the next idea could be worth a try. Or at least an expansion.

---

A dimension... Where time and space aren't.
*Quick flashes of eerie, dark locations clearly not belonging in our universe*
Most space-faring races use it to fling their ships between two points in space.
*A ship in hyperspace; cut to the deck where all instruments are going crazy, all alarms blaring at once*
Mayday, mayday! All systems failed! We're in hyperspace!
*Fade to white, sound gets distorted*
But nothing is failsafe. Nobody survived that trip.
*A couple of shots of the ship crashing into a blue rock, getting swarmed by creatures with tentacles for legs, and then a cut to a very cliché shot of a power-suited figure standing on a cliff above it all.*
Nobody... but me.
*Cut to black, incl. sound*
I don't think it was just a malfunction.
*Overscored orchestral Rising of the Phoenix theme plays, as the logo "XONOTIC: THE DARK DIMENSION" enters the shot.*