Happy birthday! In honour of the day, and also because I don't want to make a post about it but I think it may amuse you, I have a funny story, though it's slightly sketchy from an Olwyn-being-considered-a-responsible-adult standpoint:
So I left my horn in the Mac lab in the Fine Arts Building on Saturday. I had it with me because I came straight from a show and since the lab was going to lock in about three minutes, there wasn't time to put the horn in my locker before going into the lab. So I went in, did random stuff for a couple of hours, and left. I remembered as the door locked that my horn was still in there.
School was closed Sunday and Monday. Today, I came right after work and looked in the lab, hoping that, if it was gone, it would have been turned in to Campus Security.
But it was still there, sitting at the back, more or less where I'd left it - I think somebody may have moved it out of the way a bit.
I love this building. It's full of musicians. Instruments aren't considered out of place wherever you find them. People leave stuff everywhere and no one panics because it's assumed you'll be back for it. (This has obvious drawbacks, but it sure worked in my favour today.)
Also:
This sounds a bit dry when it's hurriedly explained like that
Actually, I'm completely intrigued. I wish I had the time. It reminds me of my brother's plan for a space game, though it's completely different and his is rather more standard. It grabs me in a similar way, though - probably the personal details of Our Hero (which are also not the same, but exist. You know).
Thanks. Your story is both heartening and rather damning to my school, where the shortest span of time is quite enough for anything valuable to get snatched up.
If you actually have a computer to play it on, I'd definitely recommend the demo. A given level only takes a couple of minutes, so it's not bad for someone as busy as you.
Since I don't actually own my own computer and we're not supposed to download/install much on the school ones, I'm not sure I could get away with it. I might give it a try, though.
I wish I could remember it more specifically, but the idea was, I believe, partially inspired by a number of songs on Chicago's 16album. I will outline it for you as well as I can remember:
Gameplay:
-idea developed years and years ago, so game mechanics would be primarily your standard side-scrolling space shooter, much like R-Type and Gradius. Later on there are planetside levels; I assume it would then look much like Metroid without the power armour. One could adjust these to take advantage of modern game technology.
Premise:
-humans have colonised many worlds. However, human expansion is colliding with alien expansion/invasion from far away. They are bent on total control of the galaxy. By the start of the game, they've made a lot of headway, taking over human-inhabited worlds with ease and subjugating the populations with 'borg implants to force obedience. They then leave the planets, probably having programmed the humans to work the worlds and produce resources which are then transported for the aliens' use, under light supervision from soldier/techs who maintain the control programs, plus intense orbital defenses. A fierce holdout of core human worlds is left, but they realise that new tactics are necessary if the aliens are to be finally defeated.
The proposed solution: a one-man fighter craft, ultimate in speed and stealth, with weapons specifically targeted at the aliens' particular defense technology, to strike like lightning and retreat rapidly. It requires a pilot with incredible reflexes, intuition and finesse. All remaining free worlds are scoured for recruits to go through training and screening. One only can be chosen, since humanity has not the resources or time to produce more than one of these super-fighters.
You are that one.
Plot:
-you begin successfully, completing initial missions with relative ease. Everyone praises you. You free worlds, you stop invasions. You can do no wrong.
-then, riding too high on your ego, you make a disastrous error in judgement [PLOT POINT] and while you fell for a diversion, you lost a world.
On that world lives the girl you love.
-your motivation for the rest of the game is to free that world and that girl. Because you've made such headway elsewhere, this is the aliens' last, biggest push against you. Most of the resistance you meet is on the way to the planet. When you get to the plant itself, they've stuck to their standard practice of leaving very little ground support, because they are not strong physical fighters. The orbital forces, however, are the strongest you've yet encountered.
To beat the game, you have to get through them, presumably with a final boss in there somewhere... and the end music, when you're finishing him/it off, and going planetside to take out the techs and shut off the programming/free everyone, especially your girl, is the song "Rescue You" - or at least, most of it. Some of the lyrics are stunningly plot-appropriate, others are not. But it was definitely a major inspiration.
I was about ten when he first told me about this, and though we've discussed it considerably more recently, I can't remember what he said verbatim, so I'm fleshing it out from my comprehension of his creative intent.
So I left my horn in the Mac lab in the Fine Arts Building on Saturday. I had it with me because I came straight from a show and since the lab was going to lock in about three minutes, there wasn't time to put the horn in my locker before going into the lab. So I went in, did random stuff for a couple of hours, and left. I remembered as the door locked that my horn was still in there.
School was closed Sunday and Monday. Today, I came right after work and looked in the lab, hoping that, if it was gone, it would have been turned in to Campus Security.
But it was still there, sitting at the back, more or less where I'd left it - I think somebody may have moved it out of the way a bit.
I love this building. It's full of musicians. Instruments aren't considered out of place wherever you find them. People leave stuff everywhere and no one panics because it's assumed you'll be back for it. (This has obvious drawbacks, but it sure worked in my favour today.)
Also:
This sounds a bit dry when it's hurriedly explained like that
Actually, I'm completely intrigued. I wish I had the time. It reminds me of my brother's plan for a space game, though it's completely different and his is rather more standard. It grabs me in a similar way, though - probably the personal details of Our Hero (which are also not the same, but exist. You know).
Reply
If you actually have a computer to play it on, I'd definitely recommend the demo. A given level only takes a couple of minutes, so it's not bad for someone as busy as you.
What is this plan?
Reply
I wish I could remember it more specifically, but the idea was, I believe, partially inspired by a number of songs on Chicago's 16 album. I will outline it for you as well as I can remember:
Gameplay:
-idea developed years and years ago, so game mechanics would be primarily your standard side-scrolling space shooter, much like R-Type and Gradius. Later on there are planetside levels; I assume it would then look much like Metroid without the power armour. One could adjust these to take advantage of modern game technology.
Premise:
-humans have colonised many worlds. However, human expansion is colliding with alien expansion/invasion from far away. They are bent on total control of the galaxy. By the start of the game, they've made a lot of headway, taking over human-inhabited worlds with ease and subjugating the populations with 'borg implants to force obedience. They then leave the planets, probably having programmed the humans to work the worlds and produce resources which are then transported for the aliens' use, under light supervision from soldier/techs who maintain the control programs, plus intense orbital defenses. A fierce holdout of core human worlds is left, but they realise that new tactics are necessary if the aliens are to be finally defeated.
The proposed solution: a one-man fighter craft, ultimate in speed and stealth, with weapons specifically targeted at the aliens' particular defense technology, to strike like lightning and retreat rapidly. It requires a pilot with incredible reflexes, intuition and finesse. All remaining free worlds are scoured for recruits to go through training and screening. One only can be chosen, since humanity has not the resources or time to produce more than one of these super-fighters.
You are that one.
Plot:
-you begin successfully, completing initial missions with relative ease. Everyone praises you. You free worlds, you stop invasions. You can do no wrong.
-then, riding too high on your ego, you make a disastrous error in judgement [PLOT POINT] and while you fell for a diversion, you lost a world.
On that world lives the girl you love.
-your motivation for the rest of the game is to free that world and that girl. Because you've made such headway elsewhere, this is the aliens' last, biggest push against you. Most of the resistance you meet is on the way to the planet. When you get to the plant itself, they've stuck to their standard practice of leaving very little ground support, because they are not strong physical fighters. The orbital forces, however, are the strongest you've yet encountered.
To beat the game, you have to get through them, presumably with a final boss in there somewhere... and the end music, when you're finishing him/it off, and going planetside to take out the techs and shut off the programming/free everyone, especially your girl, is the song "Rescue You" - or at least, most of it. Some of the lyrics are stunningly plot-appropriate, others are not. But it was definitely a major inspiration.
I was about ten when he first told me about this, and though we've discussed it considerably more recently, I can't remember what he said verbatim, so I'm fleshing it out from my comprehension of his creative intent.
Reply
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