Raygun Gothic

Oct 07 2011

‘This here’s the sample plot graphic I alluded to at The Aetheric Ludometer, trimmed down somewhat for the sake of spoilers and generally protecting our work. ;) The task I set myself was to plot a period covering millennia, in which the actions of two species affect the three playable factions on the galactic stage during DarkConduit’s ‘present day’. The plot as it stands begin at a time named ‘The Grand Stasis’, in which a technologically superior race named the Elders have rescued humanity and the Earth from self-destruction. The Elders hoped to set things back on the right course after civil war and widespread ecological damage took hold; mankind was not ready for the singularity which they accidentally brought about. I don’t want to go too far into the plot at this time, but the experiment ultimately failed, and so the Elders intervened again. With the Earth now ruined, they Elders had little choice other than to find a new seed world. In the time it took to find a suitable candidate, opinion began to divide and the Elders decided to split the humans. One faction would be left entirely as they were, while the other would be granted enlightenment through religion. The former became known as Andrans; the latter, Koyaan. That’s pretty much what caused the ‘present’ political situation in the galaxy. Three major factions (you may notice that I left one faction off - this was intentional!) vie for political and industrial position, all the while fighting enemies at home: splinter factions, like the Cy’jurann and Exiles. They fought through their own trials after events at The Divining, but were reunited at The Summoning. I wanted the plot graphs to be capable of showing all this with as little room for confusion as possible.’

‘This here’s the sample plot graphic I alluded to at The Aetheric Ludometer, trimmed down somewhat for the sake of spoilers and generally protecting our work. ;)

The task I set myself was to plot a period covering millennia, in which the actions of two species affect the three playable factions on the galactic stage during DarkConduit’s ‘present day’.

The plot as it stands begin at a time named ‘The Grand Stasis’, in which a technologically superior race named the Elders have rescued humanity and the Earth from self-destruction. The Elders hoped to set things back on the right course after civil war and widespread ecological damage took hold; mankind was not ready for the singularity which they accidentally brought about.

I don’t want to go too far into the plot at this time, but the experiment ultimately failed, and so the Elders intervened again. With the Earth now ruined, they Elders had little choice other than to find a new seed world. In the time it took to find a suitable candidate, opinion began to divide and the Elders decided to split the humans. One faction would be left entirely as they were, while the other would be granted enlightenment through religion. The former became known as Andrans; the latter, Koyaan.

That’s pretty much what caused the ‘present’ political situation in the galaxy. Three major factions (you may notice that I left one faction off - this was intentional!) vie for political and industrial position, all the while fighting enemies at home: splinter factions, like the Cy’jurann and Exiles. They fought through their own trials after events at The Divining, but were reunited at The Summoning. I wanted the plot graphs to be capable of showing all this with as little room for confusion as possible.’

(Source: raygun-gothic.net)

Mar 02 2011

DarkConduit Design Document I’m quite pleased with the way that this - my neater, offline copy of the design document - is coming along. Use of some simple heading and paragraph styles makes this neat and concise, in ways that MediaWiki simply cannot reproduce. It’s all in the contents page!

DarkConduit Design Document

I’m quite pleased with the way that this - my neater, offline copy of the design document - is coming along. Use of some simple heading and paragraph styles makes this neat and concise, in ways that MediaWiki simply cannot reproduce. It’s all in the contents page!

(Source: raygun-gothic.net)

Jul 01 2010

The Internet Crashed

Cyberspace is surely a virtual world by today’s standards. It may be more chaotic than the likes of Second Life, and its interface alien to we of the Apple/Microsoft generation, but nevertheless it is an envisioned, digital space into which cyberpunk heroes immerse. The trouble is that for many in these cyberpunk worlds, cyberspace confuses or replaces their reality. There are digital junkies, sentient AIs and reality simulations abound. Identities are fluid and volatile, implants project data directly onto the world around us and our very sense of self can be challenged by the use of a cyberbrain. In cyberspace, how do you know you’re not a dog? Many cyberpunk works have dealt with reality in some way; Gibson, Dick, Shirow et al caught on that the concept of reality takes on new meaning if communication, perception and our identities all turn digital. How do we distinguish man from machine? Can we verify that what we’re seeing is, in fact, real? What is ‘real’ anyway?

Click to read more…

This is the first of my articles for Brian “Psychochild” Green’s exciting cyberpunk project. The Internet Crashed seeks to invite discussion and provide information about the past, present, and future of cyberpunk.