happyjustbecause wrote:I like the idea of having things like newspapers and propaganda that you can see. We should show the player the reason that things are bad, not just thrust them into the situation. Show some disparity among the people, show a protest, the conflict between the opposing sides. Instead of having things off screen and just hearing about it, the player should have an understanding of why big brother should be taken down...
I think the propaganda is a necessity, without a doubt. I also like the idea of having protests, but perhaps you see the aftermath of a protest, instead of it happening right in front of you. This way the player is able to come to his own conclusions about what had happened based on such evidence (ruined buildings, the overall morale of the people, etc)
The authorities would likely try to cover up any evidence of disturbance. They could try to paint the picture that everything is hunky-dory (when it obviously isn't) perhaps blasting propaganda through loudspeakers or something of the like. Or better yet, build some kind of propaganda around the protest itself, painting big brother to be the "hero" for ridding the community of these "delinquents" that would "dare to disturb the peace and endanger security". Again, pasting that all over the environment via loudspeakers, posters etc.
I had some ideas to expand on where you start in the game. Sort of going on what sky said here:
Skydereign wrote:...Of course as happyjustbecause said, we wouldn't want to just have choices of siding with big brother, or siding with the revolution. I'm imagining choices such as to save your father at the first opportunity (putting yourself before the cause) or to do as you are told, and have an easier fight against big brother. It would also be pretty cool if playing through the story dealt with strategic choices, so not only is it a matter of exploring different choices/endings, but also a matter of how to best fight big brother. Since the main character becomes a strong influence in the fight against big brother, the character will be in the position to make such choices.
Say you start the game enrolled in an institution (known as ISEE, an acronym for Institution of Skill Evaluation and Employment). In this institution, pupils are judged in areas such as strength, skill, intelligence, and loyalty. If an individual is lacking in these areas, students are expelled, most of whom will find refuge in the under-cities. Upon completion of your training, you will be assigned (or more accurately, forced into) an apprenticeship based on your grades and your rank/nobility. You have to choose at this point whether to stay, or drop out.
If you decide to stay, then your plan is to work your way up in high society in order to infiltrate Big Brother. You believe that if you are able to take the establishment down from the inside, you can then free your captive father.
Either that or you decide to drop out. You to hear whispers of a growing rebellion. A mysterious figure begins to mobilize a resistance against Big Brother. This intrigues you, gives you a feeling of hope. This may be a way to infiltrate Archstreptis and free your father.
Basically you have the same goal either choice. You either work within Big brother's system, or completely outside of it to try to rescue your father.
Skydereign wrote:What kind of endings do we want? What kind of emotional attachments and reactions are we trying to create? Should this story be an epic tale of betrayal? The world we are setting up is one that is in the midst of a paradigm shift, so I think the major branching should reflect this.
It would be quite the climax if after you rescued your father, he would either team up with you, or turn on you. Maybe rescuing him is not the final goal of the game, only the midpoint. After which you'll have to overthrow BB's empire with or without your dad's help.
I also think we should have some kind of double agent character, someone who, if you are still "In the system" will convince you to to join him to form a "new rebellion". Near the end, he'd reveal is true colors and betray you.
skydereign wrote:I don't think we'll end up taking the approach of having branching dialogue per say, but rather we'll have branching events. We could if people really want branching dialogue, but it seems like unnecessary work, unless we actually want to exploit that kind of interaction.
Yes, good decision. I just played through BTTF with my sister, and grew tired of pointless dialogue choices. Those got really annoying. I suppose they weren't branching choices per say, they were just choices for the sake of having choices.

Choices like these are stupid and pointless. No matter what you choose, the outcome will be the same.
Here is a mindmap I've started:
Mindmap viewer (Java applet)
Mindmap file (requires
freemind)
There's a lot of details in the document missing. My main goal for this document is to compliment the original doc, and to easily map out the branching story. It is intended to be organic, so anyone who has anything they would like to add (or take away) feel free to speak up.