Golgotha Ideas

Here are some basic ideas about Golgotha and a couple of suggested plots. While they deal mainly with the storyline it might be a good idea to read it anyway, because on this particular page I have made sure that everything I write about is purely a logical approach to the issue and does not deal with personal ideas of mine. I have tried to objectively state out all the possible options that are available to us. If anyone believes that something here is wrong, or if I seem to have missed a point, please do mail me and I will correct my page or will atleast state what you have said and my reasoning against it. I will be objective about anything dealing with this page. That however, does not apply to the links to plots, which are my personal plot ideas.

Most of the stories that were submitted are rather similar to the story released by crackdotcom. However, this is not really necessary. It is true that there are certain limiting factors that must be taken into account while designing a story, but there is a wide variety of options available. I believe that choosing a story that is similar to the original might be a very hasty act and that it would be a good idea to explore the entire gamut before a decision is taken. Though the decision must be made at some time, I believe that a little more time must be invested in choosing the story. One saving grace is that by establishing a small additional set of rules, a large part of the artwork and gameplay can be completed independent of the actual story.

Thus, I have presented here the bare minimum of restrictions that apply to any story suggested, the additional rules that must be kept in place to ensure uniformity (these rules are very basic and when a decision has to be made, I have chosen the one most compatible with the original story), and the resulting variety of options that are available to the storyline developer.

Basic Premise

The basic premise of Golgotha is decided based upon three factors.

  1. The Name of the Game. - Well Golgotha being the name of the game, it would be advisable to choose a plot or storyline which is inherently linked to the place Golgotha, since otherwise we might as well replace Golgotha by Congo or New York city. Golgotha is a place of religious significance and so the plot can be expected to deal with some religious elements. This can mean

    2.  A cut and dry war against a religious leader with an army of fanatics (like the game "Rise of The Triad"),

     A story that involves an enemy that is very difficult to defeat and about whom information is available buried in the myths of an ancient religion (like so many movies and books in the past have done),

     A story involving something akin to entering a pyramid that has lost treasures and is guarded by traps and armies (Indiana Jones like),

     A story involving a fight between two armies both trying to get hold of a religious artifact, invariably of incredible power (You don't need an example for THIS do you?),

     A story about the perennial struggle between good and evil, invariably in such a story the hero is a "chosen man" who "learns of his destiny" and is basically a war between the light side and the dark side (With a little stretch, even 'Star Wars" fits into this category),

     A story involving a fight between two armies of different cultures, where the bad guys belong to the religion the story is talking about (Though this kind of story may not seem common, there are many instances of this. For an example, read on and check out the links for "Plot 2" below)

  2. The Code and Gameplay - The code and gameplay are for a game that is 3D as well as strategy. Thus it would be silly to design a story that turns the game into a fighting game like "Mortal Kombat" or a game such as "Tetris". Ok, these are exaggerations, but the point remains. For example from the previous points, number 3 is not a good choice for a story.
  3. Nuclear Weaponry - "Nukes" are formidable weapons of the current century. They are notorious for the extreme destruction they cause (Hiroshima, Nagasaki), and for their peace keeping abilities (During the gulf war the Iraqi's were persuaded in a friendly manner not to use biological or chemical weapons to prevent a nasty accident with a nuke.). As a matter of fact it is even suggested that nuclear disarmament by all countries will actually destabilize the current political scenario, and I believe that there is even a suggested plot that deals with that. The important thing is that the game code of Golgotha places a restriction that the game should deal with some sort of war. Nuclear weapons used during the course of this war could result in the game having a very quick and abrupt ending. This gives us three choices.

    4.  The game could deal with a war, where no side resorts to nuclear weapons. However, this could result in the unfortunate effect of depicting the villains as being less ruthless than we would like the game player to believe.

     The game could deal with a war between private armies on both sides, neither having access to nuclear weapons. This could be something like wars between private militias or something like the game "Mercenaries". This again may not be desired because of the name Golgotha, the game code and gameplay, and because most of the game writers prefer stories dealing with more "serious" situations.

     The third and by far most popular choice is to somehow do away with nuclear weapons completely.

  4. Space Technology - Space travel is one of the most consistent themes of science fiction. It seems inevitable to most people that an effect of future technology is space travel. It is also supposed to be a part of the "collective unconscious", a psychological term that indicates mankind wants to go to space. Well whatever the desires, Golgotha designers want to avoid as much as possible. Atleast for the duration of the game. The reason for this is based on code and gameplay considerations. Space travel means space battles, which would complicate the game immeasurably. Thus we have three solutions.

    5.   A game where space travel is possible but all the action occurs only on planets. This can be rationalized by claiming cost of spaceships as an inhibiting factor, or other such reasons. This is plausible but it is rather difficult to make it convincing. However, it is a viable alternative.

      A game based on a story where the war is between two armies but all space ships are owned by a third party who will ship anybody anywhere for a price. Though this seems unconvincing at first, it is actually an idea from a very famous and popular book named "Dune". The reasons given are rather convincing. Refer the "Dune solution" under "Story Solutions" below.

      A game based on a story where humans do not have space technology. This is by far the most popular idea. (It is still possible however for interplanetary travel to exist as a result of either forgotten space technology or the wormhole-slipgate solution. The decision rests on the storyline developer).

  5. Futuristic Design - Most of the people in charge of gameplay and art seem to prefer futuristic designs. After all it is here that a wide variety of options are open. It is in this arena that the full spectrum of design possibilities is opened and free reign can be given to imagination. Thus it would be prudent for the developer of the story to set his story far enough in the future to prevent any conflict of interest. It must be borne in mind that this option and the absence of space technology suffer from a conflict of interest.

Summarizing, we want a story that is set in the future, where nuclear weapons and space technology are not available, and which is based on the legends of Golgotha.

Basic Rules to Facilitate Art and Gameplay

Since the game development should not be delayed unnecessarily, the storyline must be decided some time. It is possible however, to formulate a basic set of rules, that are independent of the basic premise, so that a large part of the gameplay and artwork can be completed.

  1. It has been decided that the "monsters" in the game will not be aliens or any other intelligent non-humanoid creature.
  2. The story will be set in the future (this was just a suggestion in the basic premise. It is a rule here.), and arbitrarily futuristic designs and ideas can be used.
  3. This will not be a game that involves sword fighting primarily but will be a shooter (The 3D-part atleast.)
  4. Battles will occur indoors and outdoors.
  5. One decision that has not been made yet, but must be made is whether the story and game will involve innocents, people who are neither "good" nor "bad". If innocents exist, it must be decided whether or not they can be hurt, and by whom they can be hurt, repercussions if any that will occur if the "good" guys hurt the innocents or civilians. This might be a decision that has to be made quickly.
  6. Another decision that has not been made is what sort of flying technology is available. If low and high altitude craft with various weapons are available then land craft may be obsolete. I presume that underwater battles will take place, as it is common in many games.

Based on these rules, the artwork and gameplay designers can design various futuristic weapons, humanoid "good" guys and "bad" guys. Textures for outside scenery such as mountains, trees, rivers and such, and for indoor scenes involving both military and civilian structures. Futuristic vehicles, (maybe all flying vehicles depending on point 6 above). Nuclear and space technology can be avoided or minimized (as in some solutions may allow micro-nukes, and basic rockets that are similar to present day technology may be involved in some stories).

Story Solutions

Based on the previous issues certain forms of stories are possible. All of these take into account the basic premise and the basic rules. What I have presented here is the rationalization that is present in the story to explain the basic premise and the basic rules. Answers to questions like "why are there no nuclear weapons?"

  1. The Fatal Fury solution - This might be a misnomer, but I like the name so I've left it that way. I have seen only "Fatal Fury - The motion picture" and I must admit I liked it. I have never seen the game. In this kind of story, no attempt is made to connect the current scenario to the scenario when the story actually takes place. It might as well be a new world. As the story proceeds we learn the rules and other facets of this story. This is very common and when done well is very convincing. Thus a story which fits the basic premise and basic rules can easily be created.
  2. The Popular solution - Well, I couldn't come up with a better name. In this sort of solution nuclear weapons do not exist because the world has gone ahead with nuclear disarmament. This sort of story is invariably set in the near (30 -40 years) future so that space technology will not be a problem, because even though there is a possibility that space technology is well developed by then, it is reasonable to assume that it will not be so. Since this the most popular solution, I will explain a few problems that exist with this.

    3. Firstly, basing the story in the near future limits the options available to the gameplay and artwork members. There is a more important objection that must be raised. This point is debatable, and though I believe it to be true I agree that this is a subjective opinion. The question is will nuclear disarmament ever occur. I am sure that everybody does know that nuclear weapons are more a political agenda as far as governments are concerned than real issues. No country actually plans to disarm itself. The developed countries do not really plan to disarm because they know that as long as they have it with them, they have an able method of defense. There have been many predictions that disarmament will result in political tension. Another important factor is the natural feeling of xenophobia that exists in our present society. No country is free of this, and at all levels humans have a tendency to form groups of which some people are members and other people are outsiders. All developing countries are busy trying to catch up. Even historically, though disarmament has been an issue for a long time no country actually follows it. Those countries that have done so have been active mainly in scrapping outdated weapons, retaining the more powerful ones.

    One reason that has been suggested is that this disarmament was triggered off by an event such as a nuclear war between India and Pakistan (I am personally against this, being an Indian for various reasons. Firstly I believe that this suggestion was made without really knowing all the facts about the nuclear development race between India and Pakistan. There is as much chance of this war occurring as a nuclear war between the US and Russia, both of whom have much more advanced nuclear weaponry. That is another reason I am against the Indo-Pak nuclear war. The nuclear weapons developed by them are very meager developments and are technologically inferior to those available. As a matter of fact these bombs had a lesser megatonnage than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.). I do not believe that a nuclear disaster (a war) however horrible will result in disarmament. Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are all horrific enough examples to have woken up the earth to the dangers of nuclear warfare. If that did not make them disarm themselves, why would this?

    What is even less believable however, is that in some of the suggested storylines, all countries except one (invariably Iraq) disarm. There is as much chance of this happening as there is of a man standing on a nuclear bomb, and surviving the blast.

  3. The StarWars solution - This solution is to present a technological solution that has developed differently from ours and hence does not have nuclear technology or space technology. The way to do this is by talking about a different race in a different solar system. It has often been argued that development of intelligent life will always be humanoid. Thus our story happens in a galaxy far far away. From another point of view it can be argued, this is a purely philosophical argument, that since the game-player is a creature from among the creatures on the planet, his mental perception of himself, others and even the world will be exactly like ours (on the basis that our mind receives ideas rather than pictures at the lowest level). Thus, even if the creature does not look human we can portray him as being human, because he will see himself as that. Uhhh ... well, it's a solution anyhow.
  4. The Personal History solution - This solution came up some time back in the mailing list. I think that somebody even suggested a storyline based on this. Though I personally do not like this solution, as it is not very neat, it is a solution that is used often in science fiction - especially modern science fiction. This solution involves a story based on an alternate history of the world. i.e. start reciting the history of the world from some point and change it there to whatever world you want. This solution has the disadvantage of not being "believable". Still it is a road open to any storyline developer.
  5. The Dune solution - This is a solution based on the book Dune. Strangely enough the story in the book Dune fits the specifications of our game rather well. It is even religious, but does not involve Golgotha the place and the adapting the story itself is a bad idea. What can be taken from the story of Dune is a part of the history behind the story, including the religious theme. In this kind of story space travel exists, but the technology itself does not exist. It was lost during a Jihad (Holy war). Now the story can be adapted so that its final form is very different from the story of the book. I for example have adapted this idea into a storyline (plot 2), where I have taken this loss of technology during a war to an extreme. I have over-futurised, and maintained the link with Earth and so Golgotha. If you read my story (plot 2) you will see that it is rather different from the story behind "Dune".

It must be remembered that each of these solutions is a form for a story that deals with three separate problems. Thus any story can use one of these solutions directly or a combination of these solutions to explain different aspects.

My Storylines

I have written two storylines for Golgotha. The first one is based on the popular solution. Still there are a couple of surprises in it, such as Einstein's EPR experiment. Here it is Plot 1

The second one is a bit more complicated. It is slightly long, and has been designed so that the plot is discovered as the game is played. I am providing links, both to The Plot which is a condensed version of the whole thing and to The Story which is a more extensive approach that also explains how the game proceeds. Since the plot is complicated you might find the plot very dense in texture, so I suggest you read the whole thing. Trust me, even if you don’t like it for the game, it is different enough to be worth it.