[Cam 0] 'Scavenger Wars' Ideas Thread

[Emdek]

As for Gamma, I have no idea what their mission would have been or what they've been doing since setting off to their initial base?

Maybe to look for some underground military bases like this?

I like idea of prequel more, as I would like new campaigns forming trilogy, as single could be too short for more complex plot (although I still don't knowhow how cam4 looks like...).

To make things more interesting, what about letting the player make moral choices allowing the player to form one of the three major factions (nexus not counted)

It could be interesting, but how would it be accomplished?
Three paths to choose at beginning (like separate campaigns...) or later branching (if engine does support non linear paths...)?

[Rman Virgil]

.

Branching, I'm guessing... it's doable now.

.

[Emdek]

Branching could be interesting, if going further that way we could have whole campaigns based on other faction point of view (like in... Earth 2150).

But which events could lead to branching?
And Collective faction would need some extra plot probably...

[Rman Virgil]

....

But which events could lead to branching?
....

That is story yet to be created.
.

[aubergine]

I guess branching could be done using LoadLevel() but with level determined by some other factor - eg. where you build something or which enemy you first encounter, etc?

[aubergine]

Hrm, what if your actions in cam0 determine what team you start on (alpha, beta, gamma) - we could then create prequels to cam2 and cam3, where you play as beta or gamma on their original missions before they get attacked and alpha have to come to their rescue.

[Rman Virgil]

I guess branching could be done using LoadLevel() but with level determined by some other factor - eg. where you build something or which enemy you first encounter, etc?

Yup...that's one way. You can do the same on one map through clever sector design. .... choose one fork - direction and there you have one branch...choose another direction, another, etc.. I'd guess up to 4 per 256 x 256 map. Once committed to a direction, you can backtrack to your point of origin and without having completed the conditions of that branch you would fail. You could restart the level, chose another direction - branch...succeed and continue or fail and restart - branches already tried or another. Replay value, way higher than linear CAM.... but a whole lot more work in storytelling, mapping, scripting, overall consistency planning, etc..

.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

All doable now, from where I sit. I had this idea early on in Cam 4's development to have one 'exit' lead to one zone, another led to another zone, and so on, since it would allow for theoretically unlimited sized "zones" (they'd be compiled as separate sections of the entire zone). It didn't work because you can't have more than one 'NextLevel()' in a script. Perhaps it's time to change that, eh?

This would allow those 2048x2048 FlaME maps I go on and on about to actually be used. Wonder what the devs think of that, being able to preload more than one map ... of course, this means that the 2.3.x branch of Warzone will truly be left behind.

[Berg]

Keep up the brain storming folks I like it...

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

I've recently started thinking about ideas for a campaign (that would use my mod, which I'm thinking about naming it either "Contingency" or "Desperate Struggle", as a base) that would take place alongside the main campaign of Warzone 2100, though it would portray the New Paradigm and the Collective in a more sympathetic light, at least prior to their absorption by NEXUS. It would also introduce 2 new factions to deal with: a faction made up of formerly pious religious fanatics that, like the New Paradigm and the Collective, were already absorbed and corrupted by NEXUS, and a yet-to-be-corrupted, but still hostile, faction founded by a surviving senator of the United States, and his "praetorian guard". Players would take control of a splinter New Paradigm faction as they struggle to survive, and put a stop to, NEXUS's onslaught, uniting with several factions (including the Project) with a common enemy, along with a contingency plan of NEXUS's to try to rebuild/gain control of Kennedy Space Center, located in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and use its facilities to start a "second Collapse" (presumably after the LasSats were destroyed by the Project near the end of the game).

Perhaps the New Paradigm and the Collective could've been more friendly (or at least somewhat less hostile) to the Project in the past, should they be included or mentioned during this campaign?

[NoQ]

To make things more interesting, what about letting the player make moral choices allowing the player to form one of the three major factions (nexus not counted)

Once it's time to build a CC, let player choose one of the three command centers (standard, NP or collective). Once built, disable the two others and give the player one of the bodies (viper, bug or leopard), together with MG and wheels (:

[Rman Virgil]

.

It helps to define a basic story structure.

3 is as old as history for reasons of deep rooted powers & associations invoked; an archetypal dynamic set in motion like a ticking time bomb and keeping you on edge for the duration.

3 distinct Scav tribes. 3 names to go along with 3 distinct PoVs, goals, destinies. 3 distinct mission branches.... distinct from the ground up; obvious from the get go the terrain, along with the opposition encounters, is not the same. 3 new emblematic shields.

Some stuff to stir in the pot.

.

[aubergine]

What about allowing the user to choose which faction to start as at the beginning of the campaign? Not sure how that would be done, but they could essentially choose from 3 factions, one with will later become the project, the other new paradigm and the other collective...

EDIT: It could be done based on which artefact they research first?

[Rman Virgil]

What about allowing the user to choose which faction to start as at the beginning of the campaign? Not sure how that would be done, but they could essentially choose from 3 factions, one with will later become the project, the other new paradigm and the other collective...

EDIT: It could be done based on which artefact they research first?

That's tight. Sounds promising to me.

Scav antecedents to the defined CAM 1 factions. Along with the Scavs who wouldn't join the confederations that eventually became the 3 known factions. Would there be any reason not to have an antecedent to what would later be known as NEXUS..? In effect how the New Paradigm & The Collective came to be infected and for that matter, how The Project resisted.

@Shadow Wolf TJC: I believe this speaks to your post and question. I would guess that however long this CAM is such could be worked into the later stages.



.

[aubergine]

Nexus by definition already exists at the point of the collapse, because the scientist has already transferred his being in to the computer. I always assumed that all nexus structures / droids were just assimilated from the main factions or whatever.

Also, I don't think there should be any mention of nexus in this prequel, as we only find out about nexus later in the existing cams. Maybe the prequel could be filled with some red herrings - false ideas about who caused the collapse, leading to wars between scav factions until somehow they realise they weren't responsible for it.

Also, one thing that was never explained is the weird terrain features around nexus bases towards end of existing cams (where there's sort of animated red bits on some cliffs etc). Maybe discovery of something like that (but no nexus in sight) could lead the warring scav factions to realise that they were not responsible for the collapse, and possibly have them start wondering if aliens are involved (but nothing will come of that). Maybe the thought that aliens were involved could be the reason the newly formed project / new paradigm / collective factions go off looking for military artefacts? They realise that they need proper military systems to fight off whatever it was that caused the collapse. And, unbeknown to your faction, the other factions had the same idea - only they bump in to some weird Nexus faction before you do and being asslickers decide to team up with nexus rather than fight it, but you don't find out about that until later cams.

And, in something like cam5, we could actually introduce some aliens using Jorzi's UFO, etc. Cam5 could start with more war against nexus, but end up with nexus deciding to join the humans to fend off aliens (probably due to aliens also kicking nexus' ass so really nexus joins due to need for self preservation rather than realising it's done horrible things).

Speaking of cam5, we should really rename this "scavenger wars" topic to Cam0 if it's going to be a prequel...?