Tiberium Chronicles Blog 02 - Inspirations

[Guest Rabbit]

I guess it's about time I create another blog.

 

This time, I figured I'd post about inspirations for the work, mainly because I find myself constantly battling inspiration when building this game. What I mean by this is I'll typically find myself powering through a lot of work for a couple weeks, then I just burn out, either because of the game design equivalent of "writer's block," or because I've overworked myself. Usually, when I start working again, it's because I either really get in the mood to play C&C for some reason, or something I randomly think about or see in my day to day life inspires me to keep working. With that all in mind, here's a basic writeup of the ideas I come up with, and how I come up with them.

 

All in all, I probably play through the entire C&C series at least once a year (skipping Generals, for reasons I've made clear in other comments over the years). I tend to stop at C&C 3, having gotten my fix, and then I get back to whatever it was I was doing. It commonly takes me a week or two to get through them all, depending on my level of free time and whether I'm playing seriously or just playing for the storyline (IE, tweaking the rules to screw around and just watch the FMV's). My reason for doing this is that every time I do, I seem to fall in love with Command & Conquer all over again. But it really does help. It helped me constantly think of new ideas for the LEGO series I was working on, and it has helped gravely in the production of Tiberium Chronicles.

 

For example, I was trying to think of ways to spice up the game. To add directions that I didn't think about months ago when I outlined the missions / plot. One mission in particular that I came across was "Dogma Day Afternoon," the fifth GDI mission in Firestorm. I always find this mission so humorous and yet so thoughtful, and the part I enjoy most is seeing cultists quite literally worshiping¹ the tiberium floater. This made me realize that cultists were an entire theme that I completely overlooked while outlining the game so far, and it's something I'm gladly going to add in.

 

Playing through the storyline of C&C also reminds me that character relationships are definitely an aspect I strongly want to focus on, adding in new levels of seriousness and levity. I feel that Tiberian Sun was the shining example of the ideal inter-character relationships, especially between Kane, Slavik, and even Oxanna. Renegade did a decent job focusing on first person combat while adding in humor in the cut scenes. Here is an example I will be using within the game I'm building. This is a piece of intel that Eva gives you.

 

I notice that when I create little details like this, I smirk or sometimes laugh to myself. Taken out of context, it might not be very funny, but when you play through games like Renegade or Tiberian Sun, you get a lot of humor by paying attention to the little details. Cultists standing in a circle bowing to and worshiping a floater? That's pretty funny, and yet it's set in a very serious game. I really hope I can emulate things like that.

 

 

I find myself drawing inspiration from other sources as well. Hell, the whole reason I decided to make this blog was because of an idea I came up with in a dream (unfortunately, when I've been working on the game for days on end, I start to dream about working on it as well, but hey, this time it helped out). The idea itself was irrelevant to this writing, as it was just about a conveyer belt with tiberium sliding on it (and the need to grab it before it passes), but the fact that I came up with this idea while asleep was interesting enough to remark upon. Hell, I don't even know if I'll actually create anything like what I dreamt about, but it's an interesting thought.

 

Now obviously, I can't use all of the ideas brought to me by Tiberian Sun or any of the other C&C games. I can't involve cyborgs, or CABAL, or really anything more modern than a black powder pistol. But Tiberium in itself brings a whole slew of future "technology" that will certainly make for a good story.

 

1. Image Credit: SFERY-Lunar

Edited June 7, 2014 by Rabbit

[Sonic 292]

I was under the impression this project was being put on the back burner indefinitely. And no longer being worked on since you decided to step down from the staff.

[Guest Rabbit]

Well, I took a break for some time but I've been working on it pretty strongly now for the past month or so.

 

I intend to finish this game. It might take a while, but it has to be done, otherwise, what a waste.