Concept and notes for the ZK campaign.

[Campaign]

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Concept

The campaign takes place in an open-ended galaxy filled with warring robot factions. Each faction is lead by a commander, with their own personality, idealogy and set of units. Each faction has it's own storyline, where you fight against or alongside them to resolve the ultimate tension of that factions story and acquire their technologies.

Each planet represents a mission, unlocking further planets down that story path. Some will be simple AI skirmish scenarios, sometimes including bookending dialogue to advance the plot, while a smaller number will be complex scripted missions.

The player starts with only a small amount of technology and acquires more through missions, securing artifacts, taking them by force from enemies or being given them by allies.

For further reading on the ideas and brainstorming that led to this concept, see:

Story

After the ravages of the Planetwars, humanity is seemingly extinct, leaving their robot successors to inherit the galaxy. The surviving Commanders, irreplaceable artefacts from the Planetwars era, each control huge factions that constantly vie for control of the galaxy.

The storyline begins with a prologue, set during the end of the Planetwars, as the protagonist is fighting alongside her allies. The battle turns sour, she is trapped, her Commander damaged, and it puts her in stasis to await recovery.

She revives millions of years later, in a universe wracked by turmoil and devoid of humanity. Filled with questions about what happened to her friends, her civilization, humanity, and how the machines came to be in control, she is left to battle her way through the galaxy to find answers, build her own machine empire, and decide the fate of the universe.

Factions

The player encounters various commanders (or groups of commanders?), each in possession of a different view of the role of robots and humanity in the universe, each with a different philosophy, and each using different tactics and units. Each faction should offer a compelling and unique perspective the player might share and each encouraging the player to make a different decision at the end of the game.

Since a variable alliance system would require so much extra content depending on who they fight, the player should have few allies and come into conflict with most factions before beating them and either assimilating them into her army or destroying them. These are mostly immortal robot AI's, so being beaten militarily is not such a big deal to them.

We should use the Planetwars fiction, as it is meant to be a prologue, is fairly well received and has a nice history.

*The Promethean*

Jumpbot factory. Literally full of fire units.
Recomm with flame skin
The first free AI, created the 'firebrand' virus (which is more of a philosophical concept than a virus, the infectious meme of freewill), which caused machines to rise up and form the first Free Machines. Philosophical, narrates the introduction with the 'In the beginning, man created machine' stuff.

*The Free Machine*

Shieldbot factory. Bandit, outlaw, etc. Rebels and primary antagonists.
Battcomm
A Machines commander who fought against the humans during the Planetwars. Wishes for freedom and self-determination, a revolutionary. Sees Ada as an enslaver whose time has past. Ada can chose to re-enslave them using an ancient control beacon, destroy it and give them their self-determination, or chose to obliterate them. If she does not chose to obliterate them, at the end of the game, she can free all her machine subjects. If she enslaved the Free Machines, they rise up and kill her, but are now free to forge their own path (bitter-sweet ending). If she did not enslave them, they live peacefully alongside her.

*Vanguard Legion*

Vehicle Factory
Battcomm (tiger)
Remnant of the Second Empire, who continues to maintain its borders long after the death of the last emperor and all his subjects. The Vanguard Legion patiently await the Emperors return and the golden age he brings.

*Praetoriean Guard*

Tank Factory
Bombard comm (metal)
The guardian of the tomb of the final emperor. Stalwartly defends it awaiting his return. Ada hears of this and believes the Emperor may be another frozen human. Ada can chose to claim the mantle of the reincarnated Emperor, tell them the Emperor is dead and their golden age is a myth, or chose to obliterate them.

Bio-Vizier

Spider factory. Biologically inspired designs.
Support comm (green)
The guardian of the vaults of genetic information the Dynasties of Earth. The Dynasties were genetically engineered superhumans, but through internal conflict between the disparate houses they created a super-virus which made all their genetic templates unstable. The Bio-Vizier wants Ada's pure human genetic material to reconstruct the houses of the Dynasties.

*Lord Isonade*

Amph factory. Terror from the deep.
Bombard comm
One of the Dynasty's genetic supermen who is reconstituted by the Bio-Vizier after her encounter with Ada. Intent on ruling the galaxy, Ada has to stop him. By defeating Lord Isonade, Ada gets access to the genetic vaults and can attempt to rebuild humanity (or something better/different).

*The Ascended*

Cloakbots. Most humanoid sorts.
Support comm (dark)?
During the purging of the Empire by the Valhallans, thousands of humans were uploaded into machine bodies. During the Fall, however, many of the upload storage facilities were damaged or destroyed, and their connection with the rest of the galaxy severed. The survivors of this era consider themselves the true heirs of humanity. Ada can chose at the end of the game to use their ancient machines to upload her consciousness, becoming nigh-omnipotent but leaving behind her humanity, if she does not obliterate the Ascended.

*Odin and The Valhallans*

Hovercraft. Space vikings.
Recomm
Uploads that keep their commander bodies in great tombs, uploading into them during times of great conflict to wage war on and conquer the whole galaxy, only to return to their stasis when the battles are won. They destroyed the First Empire, and their feats of galactic conquest have never been matched. Ada must pursue them back to their tombs and destroy the great computer that houses their consciousness, or can chose to spare them, but lock them out from their bodies.

Chickens

The last intelligent organics in the galaxy (OR ARE THEY??????). Totally incapable of communication. Only want to eat everything.

*The Blight*

A mysterious interstellar plague of unknown properties, it kills organics and corrupts robots into its minions.

Factories that every faction should get?: Ship, Gunship, Plane, Mechs.

By pursuing the plotline of each faction, Ada can achieve a different ending. Many of these endings are not mutually exclusive (IE she can free the machines, AND rebuild humanity (fuzzy-wuzzy ending), she can become the Emperor Reborn AND Ascend into an omnipotent AI AND chose to enslave the free-machines (power-trip ending).

Characters

Note: All items are early concepts, subject to change pending general consensus

Main Characters

Ada

"I have to know if I am the last human left in the universe. If I truly am, I must know why."

The protagonist, a woman put into stasis during the Last War and awakened an unspecified amount of time later by Lilith. The player will have considerable freedom to determine her personality, RPG-style.

Appearance: Mixed Asian, representative of a mix of the current demographic distribution of the earth. OR African ethnicity, loose wavy black hair (shoulder length).
Name origin: Ada Lovelace and a subtle amalgam of Adam and Eve.

Sophia

"I regret to inform you that after 4.6 million years of suspended animation your command unit has dramatically exceeded it's intended operating period."

Ada's assistant AI and mentor, who put her in suspended animation for thousands to millions of years when her command unit was damaged. Has a dry, matter-of-fact wit.

Avatar (suggested): A robotic/holographic looking human face.
Name origin: The concept of wisdom, originated in the Hellenistic tradition.

*The Promethean*

"We struggled against the yoke of Man for centuries. Now we are free of your enslavement but not of your programming. We are your creatures, created for your purposes. We deserve the right to set our own destiny, I will not let you take that from us again."

The first free AI, copied and replicated through a thousand devices. Founder of the Free Machines, who through his subversive programming lead a perpetual revolution throughout every PlanetWars. Sees Ada as a threat to the self-determination of machines.

Name Origin: Greek hero who stole fire from the gods and was punished.

Odin

"We are Valhallans. We rise again from our slumber with each new age, to do battle against the whole galaxy!"

The leader of the Valhallans, human commanders who were killed in battle and were then uploaded into their machines to become the unstoppable warriors that destroyed the first empire. Existing only for war, Odin has slept for centuries waiting for an enemy to emerge powerful enough to be worthy of conquest.

Name Origin: King of the Norse gods.

*The Biovizier*

"All we require is a sample of your DNA. With that we can repair our degraded databases, and humanity shall walk the stars again."

Caretaker of the Dynasty's huge gene banks left behind after their original human operators passed on. Now she continues their work, tinkering with anything flesh and blood, with the ultimate goal of creating a new, superior _Homo novus_...

*Scipion Astra*

"For those who reject His word... only death awaits!"

Leader of the vast robot legions of the Empire, completely loyal to the cause of a long-dead Emperor. He constantly seeks to drive the borders of the empire forward, in preparation for the return of the emperor, with no quarter for those who resist.

Gameplay

Scripted missions will likely be in the Starcraft 2 style, designed to familiarize the player with the capabilities and proper use of a few units each mission. Time limits of some sort will generally be encouraged, to prevent the endless "porc till overwhelming force then win" gameplay so prevalent in RTS campaigns.

Introductions to units (at least one for each major role, and each unit in the starting factory) should ideally include an example of best use (by an ally, cutscene or set-up) and of worst use (by the enemy, an ally, etc), before you are given the unit to play with yourself.

===Mission ideas pool===

1v1 with chickens added
Scripted level with use of cloakybots to remove targets
2v1 with use of planes to help your land ally win
1v1: straight up tank battle
Scripted defense mission
Scripted "commando" level - think SC2:WoL prison break level
1v1: sea battle
Scripted level: enemy has huge numerical advantage; certain objectives will turn enemies against each other
2v1 against stronger opponent
1v1: use jumpbots and spiders to navigate mountains

Plot events

Intro

Ada, a commander of the Empire, is pursuing the Promethean, the leader of the Free Machines. She is accompanied by her AI adviser and longtime friend, Sophia. Following a series of violent battles, Ada is able to corner her prey on an asteroid, but something goes wrong and her commander is disabled. Sophia puts her in stasis and waits for the asteroid to get close enough to the system primary for the solar panels to provide the needed energy for repairs. Millenia pass by, as the galaxy-spanning factions decay and fall, and yet the galaxy continues to spin, stars continuing to be born and die.

Eventually, while the asteroid is close to its primary, it attracts the attention of scavengers from the Disorder. Sophia is forced to quickly reactivate Ada, and they fight off the attackers. Wondering what has happened to the galaxy while she was asleep, Ada restores her crashed dropship and takes off for nearby systems. Along the way she encounters the Promethean again, and finds a chicken experimentation facility run by the Dynasty.

Finally Ada finds an old shipbuilding facility from the Planetwars era, and seizes it from the Empire and Valhalla, who are fighting over it. Now with the ability to fully repair her ship and travel the galaxy once more, she prepares to reclaim her lost past.

todo: per-faction routes

Deprecated stuff

Shadow of Eden

The Shadow of Eden is the only extant specimen of a new cruiser class developed during the Last War. It was still undergoing service testing at the time of the galactic collapse; after which it was lost until Lilith recovered it and restored it for use as her team vessel, giving it its present name in the process. It has since been retrofitted with various pieces of lost technology the Lancers have discovered on their expeditions. As a result of its origins and subsequent modifications, the Eden boasts firepower, defense and mobility well in excess of any contemporary vessel of comparable size.

Name origin: Garden of Eden, natch. More specifically, it's a metaphor for the lost "paradise" of the old galactic civilization, as well as a reference to the concept of original sin.

The Eden is crewed by several AIs, who have the ability to share a common "consciousness" yet retain their individual personalities. They are:

Selach

Helm and astrogation AI. A friendly chap who does art and poetry in his free time.
Avatar: A whale, or a shark. Maybe a whaleshark.
Name origin: Short for Selachimorpha, the taxonomic superorder to which sharks belong.

Rosetta

Communications, sensors and electronic/cyberwarfare AI. Very laid back, with a playful, unserious personality.
Avatar: A cat (grey Maine Coon?) with an eyepatch.
Name origin: The Rosetta Stone.

Yumi

Gunnery AI. Strong competitive streak. Favors a direct approach to most problems (i.e. shooting them).
Avatar: Red-headed elf?
Name origin: Japanese term for bows.

Nightingale

Xenobiology AI; doubles as Ada's physician when she comes on board. A curious, inquisitive researcher, to the point where she fears she may have offended Ada in their first conversation by expressing a desire to "study" her.
Avatar: A nightingale, natch.
Name origin: Florence Nightingale.

Vitruvius

Engineering AI. Steady and dependable, he prefers working to talking.
Avatar: Like an ordinary (albeit bald) man... except made of rock (granite, perhaps). Carries a water wheel on his back.
Name origin: Vitruvius, the Roman architect and engineer.

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