Ah, the pavilion. Its been awhile.
So, I do actually have business that I need to attend to, and thought you might like to hear from my own mouth that things are going smoothly with The God Gene (which may or may not receive a title change).
So, how have you guys been?
Anyways, my business. Well, I can't find my max drive. I have the disk that goes with it, and I've heard all along you can use any USB flash drive, but I've tried that and the software won't do anything with it. (It always says "Unknown error when copying RPGMaker 3 data to MaxDrive). I want to put out the demo I made, but I might have to buy a new one if someone can't give me a reason why that one doesn't work and a solution.
I do make a promise to you that I will find a way to get this thing online.
I'll also need playtesters, betas, and someone to perhaps play through the game with an eye for any grammar or spelling mistakes or any wording that might be more confusing than revealing (In some places, I have Lost Odyssey-style text--very sparse, and shorter than L.O.s, but they're there). I've done a good job editing myself, but its always good to have an editor with an outside opinion, so I'd love it if I could get some volunteers to playtest it before I release it (it has many classes and story paths, so it would be a pain for the two people--myself and one other--to playtest the whole thing ourselves).
Right now, my biggest challenge is my anal retentive attention to sound and cutscene direction. For instance, I got the crazy idea to have the storytellers sound out footsteps and other things often left alone. I've figured out it is possible to time things simply by leaving empty spaces in the storyteller keys. It actually sounds pretty authentic, especially when I do things like make the rain soften as a character closes and walks away from a door.
There are also some cutscenes that use the character models, and those are a pain. But the story really is a major selling point, so I want to present it as best as possible.
Sound and set design are also being put to extreme importance during vehicle battles, because I can't have them firing lasers at each other (obviously) so everything has to be presented in an almost theatrical way (using light and sound effects that suggest what is happening).
Anyways, there is my update. Also, I suppose I never gave a concrete story teaser, so I guess I'll do that now:
The God Gene takes place in the distant future. Earth's climate and population had already been nearly decimated once by disasters both natural and by the work of human hands. For nearly two-hundred years, humanity lived a mostly tribal existence, without technology, though a basic form of religion remains.
Some traditions of Christianity were kept alive, though, by some men, and it is said that when God decided that there were still righteous men among the savages left in the wake of His destruction Babylon (what the great human civilization was called), He returned them to the cradle where life began, and allowed them to build a city: Mother, the last human civilization on Earth.
Man's ability to think and create was restored to them, so it is said, and new forms of technology flourished. Genetic science is now at the forefront, and even most machines have at least a few organic parts that are synthesized to address the limitations of computer science. A living brain is capable of much more than a computer chip.
Even metal is created through the synthesizing of man-made organisms. Man could make indestructible metal capable of withstanding the heat and destructive force of nuclear fission, but since the metal was indestructible, it was impossible to work it into any shape. By creating living metal cells, however, indestructible steel can be "grown" into shape within a mold, then killed off through a process that stacks and thereby freezes the steel's molecules in place. Finally, it was possible to use Hydrogen-powered steam turbines as a viable and nearly unlimited fuel source.
With this new science, space travel was soon possible (though the sheer amount of time it takes to travel through space is a deterrent to travel further than Mars).
When the first shuttle sent from Mother to Mars landed, however, they found people already living there. It seemed a colony had been formed before Babylon's downfall, and the people living there now had, in an environment different from Earths, grown into an almost different species! They were taller, more angular, and with bone structures so thin that most of the "Martians" would rather remain on the red planet than go to Earth for fear of being too prone to breaking their bones.
Most of the Martians were farmers, their ancestors having been sent to terraform the land and make it fertile. It was soon realized by corporations back on Earth, however (now, in Mother's later years, having to deal with pesky worker's unions and human-rights laws) that here was a people that desperately wanted to industrialize like Earth, and needed Earth's help to do so. And, also, here was a people that were essentially trapped on their planet, unable, because of their fragile nature, to come to Earth.
With Mars industrializing at a fast pace, it wasn't long before the farmer's life was replaced by the life of a menial laborer in factories and weapons manufacturing plants. This worked out well, and was better than paying the minimum wage that the unions demanded for almost half the amount of work they got out of Mars. Even robots or synthetic human slaves weren't a viable option, because the upkeep for maintaining or housing them would cost them dearly. But the cost of living on Mars was very, very low compared to Earth, so Zikkuraut Corp. could could pay them pennies. Earth got goods that were cheap to produce and cheaply sold, and an army of foreign workers paid close to nothing, and Earth's population didn't ever have to see the poor conditions many of the Martian workers lived and worked in. In return, Mars was industrializing. Progress! It was a win-win.
What's more, the Martians were found to be nearly 100% disease resistant, among other advantages their evolution in a different environment had granted them. This made their genetic codes very valuable, and with Martian farms all but disappeared, it was important that a fast, tall-growing, disease resistant crop be grown on earth that could feed two worlds.
Genetic samplings were eventually obtained from Martians, and they were spliced with corn, wheat, rice, and soybeans to create supercrops the genetic patents of which Zikkuraut Corp. owned the patents for. The supercrops soon overtook the natural stock, making Zikkuraut the sole owner of the world's major food sources. Naturally, this did wonders for Zikkuraut's investors' stock portfolios.
Meanwhile, in the city of Mother, society had progressed to its pinnacle achievement: A giant wall separating the richer inner-districts from the poorer outer-districts. Of course, if they outer-district citizens only worked harder, they could join everyone else in the inner district.
Religion is a major pastime. This one is essentially a combination of protestant and catholic beliefs and rituals (two denominations whose differences were small and nitpicky at best, anyway). It seems as though when some men thought to preserve these old ways, some facts got muddled, and the religion has changed somewhat from its roots. It is a common belief that the people of Mother are the last human civilization for a reason, and they await the return of their Messiah to end the world. Naturally, this gives many people an enormous head.
Genetic manipulation was also a fad amongst the wealthy. See, when society came crashing down last time, every race had pretty much interbred, so everyone was dark-skinned and dark-eyed. But if you have the dosh, why not make your children look different? (Had a son five years go with all the latest genetic enhancements? Chances are, he's Windows '95 now. Science advances quickly. Get with the times). Though fads varied over the years, the most sought after features were fair skin, blond or light-colored hair, and blue eyes. This, of course, created an immediate way to recognize who was rich and who wasn't.
Enter the time in which The God Gene is set. Not surprisingly, not everyone is happy with the state of things. Enter Veritas, a mostly peaceful organization lead by a man named Ivan Rosenguard. While one may agree or disagree with their conservative, agrarian idealogy, one can't say their hearts weren't mostly in the right place, but when a man known only as "Mr. B" joins the group, things begin to take a more violent and radical turn as Mr. B's way of doing things find more resonance with the members of Veritas than Ivan Rosenguard's more peaceful methods of simply trying to get Veritas members elected into the government.
About the time Mr. B appears, a young woman shows up during the rainy season at the doorstep of an old cathedral (which doubles as Veritas' H.Q.) She is obviously poor, due to her dark skin and lack of education. It immediately becomes clear that she is pregnant, and not with her own child. She is a surrogate (women--usually members of the underclass--paid to carry the genetically modified offspring of the upper class). And simply by leaving the facility she has committed a federal crime. Father Kevin (a high-ranking Veritas leader, in addition to being a priest) takes her in, knowingly, despite Cardinal Marcus' strict adherence to the laws Zikkuraut lobbied so hard to get passed. Kevin hides the girl from Marcus, and it is not long before she gives birth and subsequently dies from complications arising from the fact that the young woman was barely over the age of 14 (having lied on her application in order to get a paying job).
But there is something different about this child, and the reasons behind her having run away start to reveal themselves as the child grows up in the care of Veritas. The player will then take the role of this child, gaining access to his or her highly mutable genetic code, allowing them to achieve all sorts of classes and abilities. It will be up to the player how best to use them, and to what end. Many factions play a role in this tale as tensions mount between different groups. As you discover the truth behind your birth, you will also be asked to choose your own path. But be warned: You've not the time to idle, because with or without your help, and perhaps in spite of your actions to prevent them, the gears of conflict continue to turn, and there is plotting from all sides, as well as mystery.
Everyone is looking for something, after all.
So, I do actually have business that I need to attend to, and thought you might like to hear from my own mouth that things are going smoothly with The God Gene (which may or may not receive a title change).
So, how have you guys been?
Anyways, my business. Well, I can't find my max drive. I have the disk that goes with it, and I've heard all along you can use any USB flash drive, but I've tried that and the software won't do anything with it. (It always says "Unknown error when copying RPGMaker 3 data to MaxDrive). I want to put out the demo I made, but I might have to buy a new one if someone can't give me a reason why that one doesn't work and a solution.
I do make a promise to you that I will find a way to get this thing online.
I'll also need playtesters, betas, and someone to perhaps play through the game with an eye for any grammar or spelling mistakes or any wording that might be more confusing than revealing (In some places, I have Lost Odyssey-style text--very sparse, and shorter than L.O.s, but they're there). I've done a good job editing myself, but its always good to have an editor with an outside opinion, so I'd love it if I could get some volunteers to playtest it before I release it (it has many classes and story paths, so it would be a pain for the two people--myself and one other--to playtest the whole thing ourselves).
Right now, my biggest challenge is my anal retentive attention to sound and cutscene direction. For instance, I got the crazy idea to have the storytellers sound out footsteps and other things often left alone. I've figured out it is possible to time things simply by leaving empty spaces in the storyteller keys. It actually sounds pretty authentic, especially when I do things like make the rain soften as a character closes and walks away from a door.
There are also some cutscenes that use the character models, and those are a pain. But the story really is a major selling point, so I want to present it as best as possible.
Sound and set design are also being put to extreme importance during vehicle battles, because I can't have them firing lasers at each other (obviously) so everything has to be presented in an almost theatrical way (using light and sound effects that suggest what is happening).
Anyways, there is my update. Also, I suppose I never gave a concrete story teaser, so I guess I'll do that now:
The God Gene takes place in the distant future. Earth's climate and population had already been nearly decimated once by disasters both natural and by the work of human hands. For nearly two-hundred years, humanity lived a mostly tribal existence, without technology, though a basic form of religion remains.
Some traditions of Christianity were kept alive, though, by some men, and it is said that when God decided that there were still righteous men among the savages left in the wake of His destruction Babylon (what the great human civilization was called), He returned them to the cradle where life began, and allowed them to build a city: Mother, the last human civilization on Earth.
Man's ability to think and create was restored to them, so it is said, and new forms of technology flourished. Genetic science is now at the forefront, and even most machines have at least a few organic parts that are synthesized to address the limitations of computer science. A living brain is capable of much more than a computer chip.
Even metal is created through the synthesizing of man-made organisms. Man could make indestructible metal capable of withstanding the heat and destructive force of nuclear fission, but since the metal was indestructible, it was impossible to work it into any shape. By creating living metal cells, however, indestructible steel can be "grown" into shape within a mold, then killed off through a process that stacks and thereby freezes the steel's molecules in place. Finally, it was possible to use Hydrogen-powered steam turbines as a viable and nearly unlimited fuel source.
With this new science, space travel was soon possible (though the sheer amount of time it takes to travel through space is a deterrent to travel further than Mars).
When the first shuttle sent from Mother to Mars landed, however, they found people already living there. It seemed a colony had been formed before Babylon's downfall, and the people living there now had, in an environment different from Earths, grown into an almost different species! They were taller, more angular, and with bone structures so thin that most of the "Martians" would rather remain on the red planet than go to Earth for fear of being too prone to breaking their bones.
Most of the Martians were farmers, their ancestors having been sent to terraform the land and make it fertile. It was soon realized by corporations back on Earth, however (now, in Mother's later years, having to deal with pesky worker's unions and human-rights laws) that here was a people that desperately wanted to industrialize like Earth, and needed Earth's help to do so. And, also, here was a people that were essentially trapped on their planet, unable, because of their fragile nature, to come to Earth.
With Mars industrializing at a fast pace, it wasn't long before the farmer's life was replaced by the life of a menial laborer in factories and weapons manufacturing plants. This worked out well, and was better than paying the minimum wage that the unions demanded for almost half the amount of work they got out of Mars. Even robots or synthetic human slaves weren't a viable option, because the upkeep for maintaining or housing them would cost them dearly. But the cost of living on Mars was very, very low compared to Earth, so Zikkuraut Corp. could could pay them pennies. Earth got goods that were cheap to produce and cheaply sold, and an army of foreign workers paid close to nothing, and Earth's population didn't ever have to see the poor conditions many of the Martian workers lived and worked in. In return, Mars was industrializing. Progress! It was a win-win.
What's more, the Martians were found to be nearly 100% disease resistant, among other advantages their evolution in a different environment had granted them. This made their genetic codes very valuable, and with Martian farms all but disappeared, it was important that a fast, tall-growing, disease resistant crop be grown on earth that could feed two worlds.
Genetic samplings were eventually obtained from Martians, and they were spliced with corn, wheat, rice, and soybeans to create supercrops the genetic patents of which Zikkuraut Corp. owned the patents for. The supercrops soon overtook the natural stock, making Zikkuraut the sole owner of the world's major food sources. Naturally, this did wonders for Zikkuraut's investors' stock portfolios.
Meanwhile, in the city of Mother, society had progressed to its pinnacle achievement: A giant wall separating the richer inner-districts from the poorer outer-districts. Of course, if they outer-district citizens only worked harder, they could join everyone else in the inner district.
Religion is a major pastime. This one is essentially a combination of protestant and catholic beliefs and rituals (two denominations whose differences were small and nitpicky at best, anyway). It seems as though when some men thought to preserve these old ways, some facts got muddled, and the religion has changed somewhat from its roots. It is a common belief that the people of Mother are the last human civilization for a reason, and they await the return of their Messiah to end the world. Naturally, this gives many people an enormous head.
Genetic manipulation was also a fad amongst the wealthy. See, when society came crashing down last time, every race had pretty much interbred, so everyone was dark-skinned and dark-eyed. But if you have the dosh, why not make your children look different? (Had a son five years go with all the latest genetic enhancements? Chances are, he's Windows '95 now. Science advances quickly. Get with the times). Though fads varied over the years, the most sought after features were fair skin, blond or light-colored hair, and blue eyes. This, of course, created an immediate way to recognize who was rich and who wasn't.
Enter the time in which The God Gene is set. Not surprisingly, not everyone is happy with the state of things. Enter Veritas, a mostly peaceful organization lead by a man named Ivan Rosenguard. While one may agree or disagree with their conservative, agrarian idealogy, one can't say their hearts weren't mostly in the right place, but when a man known only as "Mr. B" joins the group, things begin to take a more violent and radical turn as Mr. B's way of doing things find more resonance with the members of Veritas than Ivan Rosenguard's more peaceful methods of simply trying to get Veritas members elected into the government.
About the time Mr. B appears, a young woman shows up during the rainy season at the doorstep of an old cathedral (which doubles as Veritas' H.Q.) She is obviously poor, due to her dark skin and lack of education. It immediately becomes clear that she is pregnant, and not with her own child. She is a surrogate (women--usually members of the underclass--paid to carry the genetically modified offspring of the upper class). And simply by leaving the facility she has committed a federal crime. Father Kevin (a high-ranking Veritas leader, in addition to being a priest) takes her in, knowingly, despite Cardinal Marcus' strict adherence to the laws Zikkuraut lobbied so hard to get passed. Kevin hides the girl from Marcus, and it is not long before she gives birth and subsequently dies from complications arising from the fact that the young woman was barely over the age of 14 (having lied on her application in order to get a paying job).
But there is something different about this child, and the reasons behind her having run away start to reveal themselves as the child grows up in the care of Veritas. The player will then take the role of this child, gaining access to his or her highly mutable genetic code, allowing them to achieve all sorts of classes and abilities. It will be up to the player how best to use them, and to what end. Many factions play a role in this tale as tensions mount between different groups. As you discover the truth behind your birth, you will also be asked to choose your own path. But be warned: You've not the time to idle, because with or without your help, and perhaps in spite of your actions to prevent them, the gears of conflict continue to turn, and there is plotting from all sides, as well as mystery.
Everyone is looking for something, after all.
Comment