SETTING
Theme
80s dystopian future Gameshow like the Running Man where people have the “opportunity” to risk their lives for fantastic prizes. The overall tone should emanate that this world seems normal to those that are blissfully unaware of the situation but should be striking to the player how dark and twisted it all really is. A large focus on the idea of mass desensitisation to the violence but with plenty of cheesy 80s technology and outlook of the future designs to build a layer of satire.
Story
The year is 2021, the world has been captivated by the Gameshow sensation “The Danger Zone” in which contests put their lives on the line for the chance at receiving unimaginably fantastic prizes. But in reality, no one has ever come close to winning, it’s a brutal massacre of the uneducated and those the government doesn’t want walking freely. But the people love it, they tune in to watch in the billions, and fall into a euphoric trance of excitement and adrenaline. If only they knew the reality of what was happening, the message we’re trying to put out that goes unheard. Let’s start with the beginning, shall we?
10 years ago, The National Entertainment and Engagement Department (NEED) proposed an idea for lowering the rising unemployment of the uneducated and labour market of the world while also providing a new wave of entertainment for the masses. The idea was a show in which contestants fought for their very lives to get cash prizes that in reality they could never get to. The games would be fixed so that it was impossible to win but create fake stories of people winning to leave a sense of possibility that would drive the simplest of viewers to believe they could win it themselves.
How do I know all this? I was in that meeting, strongly advising the president of the Network to turn the idea down for the sake of human decency. As you can see, my opinion wasn’t as important as the money NEED could stuff in the Networks pockets and before I knew it, they were lining me up to be one of the first contestants to keep my mouth shut. I got away and started spreading the word everywhere I went and the Resistance began to form, little by little.
It’s time to get back at those bastards for all the lives they’ve taken from us, and we have a plan to take down their whole operation. We’re sending you straight into the belly of the beast, straight to that god forsaken city. That’s right, you’ll be entering The Danger Zone and you’re going to win it. Once you reach the unreachable, you can tear the beast apart from the inside, and this nightmare will be over, hopefully for good.
So your probably wondering how you’re going to do what no one else has done or could ever do. Well, meet your new buddy. They’re going to stop you getting killed by hacking into the shows mainframe and putting you at an advantage. Now I know, it’s not full proof but dammit it’s the best damn shot we’ve got right now and if we don’t take it we may never get another. Now get going, and good luck soldier. Oh, and give my regards to the host, you’ll know why when you meet her.
Narrative
The player will progress through the different leagues as they cause dips in viewership, which indicates the need for more extreme leagues to be used in order to regain viewership.
Upon the viewership dipping below 1 billion, the player will gain the ability to access the final league, which will provide them with a route to the end of the game, though the player will still be able to replay their already completed modes for fun/prize money.
Ex Machina
When the player is killed, they will be greeted with a flashback (possibly the first time only) of being given a new medical implement called “Life Serum” that utilises the recently discovered element Galactium. Upon injecting themselves, the player’s body will begin regenerating and they will be back up and ready to go. This will become a sort of currency to the game that will maintain how long the player can continue a run. The player can eventually get more upon completing a league and receiving their winnings, whereby they can get more through a contact on the inside but must provide a certain amount of winnings they’ve collected so far to fund its creation.
Goal
The ultimate goal is to lower the shows viewership to 0, using a negative scoring system, in which the player's actions are built around trying to ruin the show and stop people watching rather than make it continue to look exciting or endearing for the competitor that would instead draw more people in.
80s dystopian future Gameshow like the Running Man where people have the “opportunity” to risk their lives for fantastic prizes. The overall tone should emanate that this world seems normal to those that are blissfully unaware of the situation but should be striking to the player how dark and twisted it all really is. A large focus on the idea of mass desensitisation to the violence but with plenty of cheesy 80s technology and outlook of the future designs to build a layer of satire.
Story
The year is 2021, the world has been captivated by the Gameshow sensation “The Danger Zone” in which contests put their lives on the line for the chance at receiving unimaginably fantastic prizes. But in reality, no one has ever come close to winning, it’s a brutal massacre of the uneducated and those the government doesn’t want walking freely. But the people love it, they tune in to watch in the billions, and fall into a euphoric trance of excitement and adrenaline. If only they knew the reality of what was happening, the message we’re trying to put out that goes unheard. Let’s start with the beginning, shall we?
10 years ago, The National Entertainment and Engagement Department (NEED) proposed an idea for lowering the rising unemployment of the uneducated and labour market of the world while also providing a new wave of entertainment for the masses. The idea was a show in which contestants fought for their very lives to get cash prizes that in reality they could never get to. The games would be fixed so that it was impossible to win but create fake stories of people winning to leave a sense of possibility that would drive the simplest of viewers to believe they could win it themselves.
How do I know all this? I was in that meeting, strongly advising the president of the Network to turn the idea down for the sake of human decency. As you can see, my opinion wasn’t as important as the money NEED could stuff in the Networks pockets and before I knew it, they were lining me up to be one of the first contestants to keep my mouth shut. I got away and started spreading the word everywhere I went and the Resistance began to form, little by little.
It’s time to get back at those bastards for all the lives they’ve taken from us, and we have a plan to take down their whole operation. We’re sending you straight into the belly of the beast, straight to that god forsaken city. That’s right, you’ll be entering The Danger Zone and you’re going to win it. Once you reach the unreachable, you can tear the beast apart from the inside, and this nightmare will be over, hopefully for good.
So your probably wondering how you’re going to do what no one else has done or could ever do. Well, meet your new buddy. They’re going to stop you getting killed by hacking into the shows mainframe and putting you at an advantage. Now I know, it’s not full proof but dammit it’s the best damn shot we’ve got right now and if we don’t take it we may never get another. Now get going, and good luck soldier. Oh, and give my regards to the host, you’ll know why when you meet her.
Narrative
The player will progress through the different leagues as they cause dips in viewership, which indicates the need for more extreme leagues to be used in order to regain viewership.
Upon the viewership dipping below 1 billion, the player will gain the ability to access the final league, which will provide them with a route to the end of the game, though the player will still be able to replay their already completed modes for fun/prize money.
Ex Machina
When the player is killed, they will be greeted with a flashback (possibly the first time only) of being given a new medical implement called “Life Serum” that utilises the recently discovered element Galactium. Upon injecting themselves, the player’s body will begin regenerating and they will be back up and ready to go. This will become a sort of currency to the game that will maintain how long the player can continue a run. The player can eventually get more upon completing a league and receiving their winnings, whereby they can get more through a contact on the inside but must provide a certain amount of winnings they’ve collected so far to fund its creation.
Goal
The ultimate goal is to lower the shows viewership to 0, using a negative scoring system, in which the player's actions are built around trying to ruin the show and stop people watching rather than make it continue to look exciting or endearing for the competitor that would instead draw more people in.