Alright so i'll keep things on blogger.com a while longer, it's a nice setup and i'm finding wordpress to be a pita. I've been roofing, changing jobs, getting certifications (TOGAF 9 Foundation so far!) and lots of stuff, but here is the most recent build of Nightfall:
http://nightfall.logicwell.com
So for Nightfall, about the name - it's working for me atm but I have some thoughts about how the game will work as work progresses. Obviously the whole zombie/sandbox/survival theme is saturated, but the notion of "night time = uber zombies" seems a little disingenuous to me as well and doesn't quite fit with my story.
About the story, I'll post a quick synopsis of it to give some idea where this is all headed.
The game starts (single player/fresh game) with you in a cryo-stasis tube, looking out into a fuzzy laboratory as your surroundings are falling apart, it feels like an earthquake. Banging on the tube to try and escape you see a robot come over and open the tube for you. It welcomes you back as "Number 382" and assists you with leaving the tube.
After getting out of the tube and gaining your bearings, the robot refers to you as Father, and tells you there is little time to fill you in, normally he'd use the cerebral implants to confer a full situational update but at this time that is not possible with the Drones at our door.
The Drones as it turns out, are driven by a near sentient nano technology, Alien in origin. Robot explains further, telling you humanity was attacked by what are believed to be the last vestiges of a violent Alien race, three ships in total attacked earth with a bombardment that drove much of humanity to the brink of extinction. The survivors developed advanced robotics to combat the Drones which came next - like a dust settling on the earth the nano colonies would form collectives that when fused with a dead creature, could re purpose said creatures body to use as a weapon - seeking out remaining humans and eliminating them.
As it turns out, our immune systems were easily able to kill off attempts to infect living humans, in fact animals too were able to fight off infections. The nano colonies needed an intact nervous system and brain, fusing themselves to that body and in doing so animating the "dead" while simultaneously becoming susceptible to to death themselves. Once fused, the colonies become dependant on the host to survive themselves. One advantage the nano colonies have is converting bio-matter into fuel, but over time that became scarce so they had to fall back on photosynthesis to "recharge" during the daylight hours. These days, says the Robot, they are typically at their most dangerous during daytime.
The notion of immune systems gave Humanity an idea, and it was able to infect the Alien invading force with a trojan, destroying the three Alien ships. Without guidance, the Drones now stalk the earth destroying anything in their path. Robots become more and more intelligent, Robot himself is the first and only truly sentient robot and though the last of the robotic armies have finally succumbed to the Drone onslaught, he has a small memory card which he hands to you.
The lab is breaking apart it seems, daylight starting to pour in - this is no longer a safe area. The Robot tells you Humanity must step forward and cleanse the planet of the remaining Drones, while weakened by their war with the Robots, the Drones are still numerous - you must leave this lab and find remnants of Humanity to work with and save the planet.
The wall comes down and the remaining robots move in, outnumbered but able to buy you time to escape. As you make your way down through the back area of the lab a small floating robot greets you, he'll be your guide - or he fancies himself, Scout.
Guiding you out of the lab (this is tutorial section to learn movements and choose starting gear), you and Scout come by a base with an LED readout: Number 383. Scout explains you are a human clone of sorts, the base is a cloning machine, if you die you'll be reconstituted at one of many bases around the city. As you reach the exit, Drones start to enter the area - there are a couple backpacks of gear and you pick one then quickly leave out into the night ....
....
So, basically Drones will allow us to develop some cool creatures, from the dumb old shambling 'zombie' to some really cool stuff, for instance I'm thinking this game will allow for building a home base to protect and there will be a "siege drone" which has incorporated concrete barricades for hands and can smash down walls and doors quickly. Perhaps a sand worm kind of drone that can spawn inside your defences if you don't have a concrete floor.
Should be fun, anyhow back to roofing and certification obtaining, i'll be putting time back into Nightfall after the Unite 2013 conference!
