A story. The beginning.

- I have removed the story for now. I'm currently heavily editing it, and I have fairly big plans for it... if anyone even read the initial post!

Tony Coupland's Back Story

Tony Coupland works in an office in a busy industrial estate in Southern England. He is middle aged and to any onlooker would come across as an introverted loner. To Tony, however, he is a perfectly normal middle-class office employee. Tony simply doesn't require the same amount of social stimulation as the majority. Tony's solitude causes him no depression, he prides himself on his working ethic and material possessions.
Before the bizarre events in his life occurred, Tony never really delved into the confusing realm of his emotions. Close members of his blood line had passed away in the past, but Tony never let mourning cloud his goal of remaining true to himself and no one but himself. It was only recently that he truly felt what anger was, what it felt like to have your entire being torn to pieces by insanity, left gasping for air in the pit of your drowning soul.
The issues started with a dream, a dream which may not sound completely out of place when it comes to the subject, a world where the nonsensical makes perfect sense. This dream felt different to others though, whenever he thought back to it he felt as though he was recalling a memory.
The dream began with Tony coming to in some sort of holding cell. The cell felt familiar, filled with smells that brought about nostalgia. No hint of anxiety or paranoia clouded him. He felt like he had been sitting there for an eternity. He could not see beyond the bars, which did not unnerve him. The feeling of the cell was one of security rather than entrapment. After an amount of time, he wasn't sure how long, a man emerged from the darkness. The familiar looking face seemed so close to Tony's, but there was something amiss. It was as though he had stumbled upon an old friend in the most unlikely of places. The man came close to the cell, his presence seeming to conjure unknown emotions.
After looking into the man's eyes trying to understand his intentions, Tony came to the assumption that his intentions must not have been positive. Just his being there caused feelings of deep primal terror deep down in Tony's heart. The man faded back in to the darkness, while Tony began feeling more and more unsecure. The walls to his cell losing definition, no longer feeling indestructible nor able to maintain the stability that had become the norm.

Game Concept

So as a basic concept, there is a large coproration, who is experinemnting advertising in a new way to a select country. This involves using a virtual world which an individual, or persona, logs in to. It is primarily a game which subliminally advertises products to you which is also chemically addictive in its experience as well as mentally addictive as it allows the person to be the person he/she always wanted to be. Over time the virtual worlds became more popular than the real one, people spending more and more time logged in to it. This means there are less people out in the real world to purchase the products being subliminally advertised. This goes against the corporation's wishes so they decide to retaliate and shut all of the servers down to force people out again as the country becomes unstable.
The "players" who are declined their experience turn crazy from withdrawel symptoms, with references from the virtual world seeping in to the real world. With the corporation shattered from retaliation from the public and people growing increasingly ferel, the country turns in to a wasteland of animalistic humans wandering mindlessly looking for ways to recreate the experiences they had in the virtual world, while trying to barely survive off the baren landscape.
The player plays as one of a group of people who never entered the virtual world so never felt its effects. With the rest of the population lost to mental torment, the group must try to survive while attempting to restabilize the country by any means. The task is made harder by the remaining humans who seem to have lost any sense of reasoning or morals. The group decide to find out more about the systems which ran the virtual world while uncovering the secrets the corporation wished to keep to itself. The ultimate goal of the "virtual viral advertising campaign" was not only to sell, but to gain a hold on the minds of the population. This is not the group's only goal, however. With the rest of the world turning a blind eye to the madness, who will help them escape?

Concept In Progress!

"By the Ocean there is a bar"

I started writing this then realised I was writing a lot. Maybe more than the task required! I believe this needed to be blogged before tomorrow morning, though, so I thought I best upload what I have so far.

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By the ocean there is a bar... They called it Hannah’s Roadhouse once... I don’t know what they call it anymore. I just knew that she’d come and bring that thing with her. That thing that to me, was so precious, so deeply moving that just looking at it would blind me. But I had to have it and I knew that I couldn’t have it if she didn’t show up today...

There she was, red hair with a slight orange fleck in the Ocean’s sunrise. She wasn’t old, in fact, she was new, as if reborn, she didn’t see me as she opened the door to the bar. I let her walk, I had no plans. She bought 2 drinks and sat at the bar.

Was she alone? The way she was dressed suggested otherwise, clothed in a professional looking blazer and trousers she looked as if she was on a business outing, however her partner was nowhere to be seen. The drinks she had ordered were 2 colas with slices of lime, apt refreshments for the current weather.

The morning sun hit the ocean as if it were made of crystal, projecting a calming light across the room while a gentle breeze caressed the curtains through the ajar windows. The mood of the room was unlike the previous night. By night, the bar turned into a retreat for the unwanted. Bikers, thugs, people likely friendly with the mob, alongside women looser than the throats they drank with. By morning, however, the bar was a welcoming diner serving surprisingly appetising breakfasts, sandwiches, coffees and the like. It was my bar of choice by day, however by night I would venture deeper into the city where I could drink without fear for my life.

The bar was quiet at this time of the morning, although remnants of the previous night’s madness still scattered the room in forms of broken glass, sticky surfaces and the ghostly groan of a hung-over biker still unconscious in the corner, his body audibly struggling to keep his clogged arteries alive. The sight of this man may have shocked people from outside the area, but even the staff remained nonchalant over his presence. I couldn’t say the same for myself. My anxiety was not due to the unconscious biker, but the woman that sat no more than 5 feet from me.

I hid my unease under my usual disguise, an act I put on to stop people from getting near to me. It wasn’t an aggressive guise, but more of a lone wolf type act. I wasn’t hiding from the impressive looking woman in front of me, nor the biker in the corner who was now regaining consciousness, I was hiding from everyone. It was my problem, a problem I needed a cure to and this beautiful, mysterious woman had the vaccine. I spent my days hiding in my shell, denying anyone access to my feelings or thoughts, my soul rotting away in a stale pit of self hatred. My nights were much the same, dwelling in the earth’s darkness, the blanket of night providing another layer of protection from my enemies; humans. I had never been proud of being a member of the human race, their ignorance and instinctual hatred have been the centre of my thoughts since I can remember. This hatred may seem like a severe case of hypocrisy, but instead of deterring the worrying symptoms of such feelings, it simply fuelled the already volatile hatred I had growing inside of me.

This woman could help me, I felt it as soon as she entered the bar. It was as though I had known her my entire life, not as a person but as a glimmer of hope. No matter how deep into my dire state I sunk, there was always something I held on to. Feeling deep down that someday there may be a way out. At first I thought that the way out was something drastic, a word I dare not say, a solution, an idea, a possibility. Whenever I thought of putting my thoughts into action I felt scared, but also excited. It was like a taboo, the idea of it seemed so perfect and beautiful, yet so wrong and immoral. I felt helpless...

X-Men. At first these words meant nothing to me. Just another collection of letters sprawled against my computer screen. I had heard of mutants in stories and in novels, disfigured creatures hiding beneath a structured and safe community. Something I could relate to, however I tried to make it a rule not to fantasise over fiction. But fiction soon changed to fact.

The word that mutants were in fact a credible and existent force was something I initially perceived as an internet joke. These were far from uncommon. UFO sightings, government conspiracies and a whole plethora of “fan-made fiction” for all sorts of wives’ tales and stories have always existed on the World Wide Web. I was doing my usual midnight internet surfing when a user posted news story caught my attention; ‘MUTANTS, Evolution Begins’. Not one to be caught out by internet jokers, I opened the page expecting to be typing out a few facetious comments after reading the article with a grin. This didn’t seem to be a flame baiting joke, however. The article was convincingly supported with videos and other linked news articles from perfectly credible sources. My heart fluttered slightly with excitement as I was filled with hope that maybe something interesting would happen in my lifetime. The reports seemed to be more scathing than excited though, calling these “mutants” threats to the safety of the human race. Typical for the human race to respond to difference with hostility, were my thoughts at the time. I spent years researching this new and exciting event, which wasn’t hard as the entire world seemed excited by it. I ended up wishing I was also a mutant, which in many ways I already believed I was, but not in the way these “X-Men” were. At least these guys had special powers, I thought. At least they could differentiate themselves with this race I am a part of, and of whom I despise. It felt like my prayers were answered when I heard the name Jean Grey. It wasn’t the name which brought me hope, but what she could potentially offer.

I heard Jean Grey would be here on this warm, summer’s morning and I decided that I had to meet her. Before she seated herself in front of me I had managed to remain calm, which I personally owed to the soothing thoughts I may soon be free of my burden; the burden of being what I loathed. Unfortunately the calm vanished the second I caught glimpse of her. My palms were coated in a thick layer of sweat and my entire being felt as if it was fluttering through realities. I couldn’t quite believe this masterpiece of a being was so close to me.

Budapest Photos

Here are my photos from the awesome experience that was Budapest.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=1&aid=146567&id=660431841

Pros & Cons

I've been playing the PS3 beta of MAG recently, well up untill now because the servers just closed down. The game is officially out at the end of the month and I cannot wait! I loved the game, and here's why:

Pros

• 256 players in a game! That makes up for some very intense firefights which mean alot less dull moments wandering around looking for an enemy.
• Upgrade/Level Up system. As you go up ranks, you get unlock points to unlock new abilities such as the ability to throw grenades further, sprint further and other phsyical abilities. You can also unlock new attachments for your weapons such as scopes and sights, grips and launchers. It adds an extra bit of depth which gives the game much more longevity.
• Finally a good exclusive FPS on PS3?! I've had my PS3 for many months now but barely used it. I'm a big shooter fan and the PS3 has proved to not be too strong in this genre untill now. Before there was Killzone 2 and Resistance, but I wasn't fond of them, they were far too simple and predictable. They did everything I would expect an FPS to do, but not to an impressive or intuitive level. MAG however seems to be the PS3's savior for me. It has the same levels of addiction through leveling and teamwork as games like Battlefield 2 did on the PC. Just having a game this good finally arrive for my PS3 which keeps me coming back gives me a big grin.

Cons

• Average visuals. I'm not all about graphics, I don't go into games expecting volumetric lighting or bloom or HD super graphics. What matters to me is gameplay, however visuals do matter to me to a certain extent as they can affect your enjoyment of the game if they're overly poor. The visuals in MAG aren't awful but they can detract from a 100 player firefight. Some of the animations are quite stiff and lack much energy, such as the weapon animations. They feel rigid and look like some stock animation thrown together to be "good enough".
• Framerate drops. While I don't mind too much about the poor visuals, the framerate drops do really detract from gameplay. It can feel quite sluggish while alot is going on screen, however it never drops to an unplayable level. However because of the relatively low level graphics I wouldn't expect such drops when the PS3 boasts so much power.
• Lack of teamwork. There is an element of teamwork at times, especially when you get into a team with a clan or a lucky matching of multiple people with microphones, however a majority of the time it's just a majority of the players running around freelance without really contributing to a team, which is what this game is all about. For this game to truly be enjoyed there needs to be some level of teamwork, with someone healing, someone attacking, someone defending and so on. I'm not really into hardcore teamwork like some clans but I do think if everything is just running wild they it can become quite frustrating, which isn't fun.

I may add more as I think of them.

Broken Sword II

http://store.steampowered.com/app/33600/

Such a great point and click adventure game for only £3.99. I should really add this to the nostalgia list.