Now, we know that story mode is a far cry at this moment, since the game is still heavily under development. However, I want @SDGNelson to take some time and possibly get on board with this idea for a singleplayer and/or co-op experience.
“Survivor Stories” - There would be a list of a few/several characters with one or two chapters that the player controls and help finish tasks. One example of a chapter would be where the player controls a character who secretly helps survivors across Confederation Bridge before the military blows it up due to reports of an “Outbreak”. (Basically the “Prologue”.)
“Colony Manager” - As you explore the post-apocalyptic wasteland, you will end up finding old settlements that you could clear out so NPCs can move in and help bring in resources. The player could command settlers to farm, hunt, guard, or do supply runs to help you out.
“Camera’s Rolling!” - Cinematics may not be important at the moment, but having cutscenes in the story mode would make sense, as long as it doesn’t end up becoming “Metal Gear” levels of tedious. Not only that, but NPCs could use some voice acting as well, whether Nelson does it himself, reaches out to VAs, or asks for the community’s help.
First of all, it’s an unspoken rule here to never ping Nelson. It’s just generally annoying and not so important that it warrants a ping.
Secondly, I’m really not a fan of forced cinematics, unless absolutely necessary. They almost always require perfect execution which is just simply not viable at this level. You’re essentially asking for AAA grade features in a solo indie game. I’d be happy with some old-school NPC action, but let’s leave the action movie grade stuff out.
Note: most of the time when people ask to have community members do voice acting, it implies that they’re wanting to do some too, which makes me not take it seriously. I’m not saying you’re one of these people, just putting it out there. I really don’t see a reason for Nelson to hire voice actors given his soloist nature - how he’s done virtually everything aside from curated content on his own.
I’d much more prefer Valve styled in-game cinematics, that way control is never taken away from the player. The intro to Half-Life 1 is iconic and amazing, and I think that (if they haven’t already in the 20~ years since it’s release) developers should take notes.
The scope of this is big, and might not exactly fit in too well. Would kind of feel like settlement mode in fallout 4 but instead of placing everything yourself, you’re doing quests to build the town. But I like the idea of it, and it sounds like something I would play the hell out of, if done right, but the work required to do so would be kind of out of the main focus of this game.
My idea for a perfect story mode would be one that just has story beats, think starting with an outbreak, forcing you away from the population centers & into the woods, the world changes with less and less resources being around, but at least the zombies are less dense as well, and perhaps lay down several story threads you could follow, such as helping scientists make a vaccine or cure, but the name of the game here is open-ended.
Overall, honestly, cinematics outside of trailers just don’t seem necessary to me. Unturned isn’t a story-driven game, and cinematics are such a time consuming (and ulimately sometimes inefficient or pointless) storytelling mechanic that I feel like doing without them is the better choice.
