Story
Bare-bones
- Ecosystem collapses. Global warming/deforestation/meteor strike/giant volcano/killer virus/whatever
- This leaves large areas of the Earth uninhabitable, forcing people to band together in mega cities
- Then, increased political tension (terrorists/racial tensions/old rivalries/etc.) leads to the outbreak of nuclear war.
- A few of the mega cities go under (particularly the capital cities), but the SAM sites at the other cities are successfully able to destroy all incoming missiles.
- Eventually the nukes stop - perhaps they realise they're on the brink of nuclear winter, or that none of the nukes are reaching their targets, or all the missile sites have been destroyed
- Without any centralised government in charge, the major corporations in the mega cities declare martial law. This allows them to reach the tyrannical megacorp status, as seen in traditional cyberpunk.
- And then (presumably) something acts as a trigger to start the game off. Maybe the few remaining global communications satellites shut down, or the food/power supply for a city is destroyed, etc.
Questions:
- Does it matter if an explanation is given for the ecosystem collapse? Certainly can't see any reason to think up one now.
- Does it matter if an explanation is given for the cause of the nuclear war? With the old countries and super powers destroyed and replaced with the megacorps, no-one will really reference the past much. Certainly can't see any reason to think up an explanation now.
Introduction of cybertechnology
There are 3 ways cybertechnology can be introduced to peoples lives:
- Lifestyle reasons - only possible in stable, peaceful societies. Therefore unlikely in this case.
- Military - Soldiers are upgraded to super-soldiers, to gain an advantage in the harsh, post-apocalyptic battlefield, whether in the wilderness or the city.
- Healthcare - Implants increase the survivability of humans when in the harsh climate of the wilderness areas. Implants may also reduce the amount of organic food required (since arable land is likely in short supply), or they may be used to replace damaged body parts to keep Earth's dwindling population in shape.
Of course, there can't be cybertechnology without the resources to develop it, which is where the megacorps come in - with their billions of dollars of capital, they are (a) able to develop the technology, and (b) can use the technology as a bargaining chip to win the favour of the public and come to power (by promising improved quality of life, success in the war, etc.)
Prologue
For much of mankind's history, he has been in a state of constant, anarchic war. The present peaceful state of the planet is nothing more than an anomaly, a happy coincidence brought about by the abundance of natural resources and the fear of the repurcussions of a nuclear war. But as the Earth's human population continues to grow and resources become increasingly scarce, it is only a matter of time before this situation changes. Sooner or later, one side will give in, and the Earth will be plunged into darkness again.
Fast forward a few years and look what progress has brought us. The Earth is a barren, scarred mess, with the ecosystem in ruins; the old countries that existed for much of the last millenium are gone, wiped out by the last great war; and the few survivors remain huddled together in fortress-like cities, trying to keep themselves safe from the threats outside, while all the time getting weakened by the cancer within.
Welcome to the world of tomorrow. Welcome to DeathDawn.
Story/setting elements, game/world tone/feeling, etc.
Big brother-ness - Ordinary citizens are kept distant from those in power; those in power care little for them. Confessional terminals are placed in the streets throughout the cities, providing an automated samaritans-type service, as well as being a place for law-abiding citizens to report any unlawful behaviour they've witnessed from their not-so-law-abiding neighbours. Society where you aren't allowed to say anything bad about the people in charge, because you don't know whether any of your friends are informants. Probably rewards giving out to those who snitch on their friends, etc. Could become important gameplay mechanic - maybe in some areas of cities the police response only occurs after someone has reported the incident via a confessional? Maybe some missions involve finding snitches and killing them? Also lots of "confide in me", etc. style posters around the cities showing the citizens how much the government cares by putting the terminals all over the place, etc. Terminals probably used for brainwashing too. Hacked ones can also be used to hand out missions, ala payphones in GTA
TODO:
MUST-DOCS: UNKNOWN: Finish story doc! - but what needs doing, when other docs are taken into consideration?
???
Profit!