MARS' Art Showcase Options

[MARS]

Here's a little showcase of the signatures I found on my hard drive. Comments and constructive criticism are welcome!





















This post has been edited by Rayburn: 2 Jun 2009, 20:56

[MARS]

Not 'art' per se, but I suppose I could also use this thread of mine for writings and random concepts...

Concept for a two-faction, asymmetrical RTS based on H.G. Wells' 'The War of the Worlds'

Setting premise:

The year is 1898. The 19th century is nearing its end and the world bears witness to amazing technological progress and the surging nationalism of the European empires. For the time being, the British Empire still stands as the de facto superpower of the world. But it's scientific and technological prowess are dwarfed by the achievements of the Martians, humanities yet undiscovered neighbours in the solar system. However, their civilisation is in peril: With the resources of Mars depleted, it's magnetic field weakening year by year and its population decimated after a period of turmoil, the new elders of Mars have come to the conclusion that the conquest and colonisation of Earth would be the only chance of survival for their once prosperous civilisation. While the humans of Earth go about their daily business in a state of blissful ignorance, thinking of themselves as the definitive masters of their world thanks to their growing industry and scientific understanding, Mars is gearing up for war.

Gameplay premise:

TWOTW is a tactical real time strategy game, involving base building, resource gathering, tech progression and combat operations between two asymmetrical factions: Martians and Humans. The goal of the game is to defeat the opponent and/or complete the objectives of the campaign missions, which would depict the war effort from both perspectives. Technologies, playstyles and mechanics would differ vastly between the two factions and are detailed as follows.

Humans:
The humans are a relatively conventional RTS faction with a technological level based around the late 19th/early 20th century: Rifles, cannons and early means of mechanisation are present. When playing as the humans, players would have to collect two types of resources in order to sustain and expand their operations: Supplies, which are automatically generated at a set rate which can be increased, either in exponential or linear steps via certain technologies, abilities and buildings, which is used to purchase all structures, units, as well as certain abilities. The second resource is referred to as Xeno-Materials. Xeno-Materials can be salvaged from the remains of destroyed Martian technology and can be used to advance human technological developments, first by developing then-theoretical human weapons (such as machine guns, armoured vehicles, aeroplanes, chemical/nuclear weapons) early, then by outright replicating Martian weaponry.

At the start of the game, Human players would have a headquarters type building, which allows them to recruit construction pioneers and basic combat units such as riflemen, sappers and cavalry scouts. Later buildings would grant access to different types of artillery and motor vehicles, as well as upgrades and, on special maps, naval units. In a 1:1 confrontation, any Martian unit with combat capabilities would defeat most human units, unless they have armour-piercing weaponry or a means of temporary protection from the infamous Martian Heat-Ray. The idea is that human players would find themselves in an uphill struggle against a vastly superior foe. Their advantage would be a.) numbers and b.) local production, which would allow them to defeat the enemy through attrition as well as guerilla tactics: Later upgrades would allow human units to conceal themselves as well as move underground through the use of tunnels. In a nutshell, humans would spend much of the early game responding to Martian attacks, yielding territory when required and trying to salvage as many Xeno-Materials from destroyed Martian units as possible until they can field more advanced units and strike back on a larger scale.

Martians:
The Martians would be extremely unconventional compared to the humans, in that they would always find themselves outnumbered by virtue of their design, which rewards micro management, unit preservation, small unit tactics and efficient management of scarce resources. The Martian game would begin with a cylinder, the means by which the Martians travel to Earth. A cylinder comes with a set number of Martian Workers, as well as construction materials for additional buildings and machines. On its own, a Martian is a frail and vulnerable creature due to Earth's greater gravity and dense atmosphere. In order to survive, they have to construct specialist machine bodies which have to be assembled and then crewed by a Martian. The Martian inside the machine gains experience for the actions he performs, and should be evacuated in the event that the machine's destruction is imminent.

The Martian game revolves around two types of resources: Bio-Matter and Minerals. Bio-Matter is required for any biological unit and depletes over time, based on the number of biological units present. If the stockpile remains at zero for a certain amount of time, all biological units will suffer attrition damage and eventually die until a new source of Bio-Matter is secured. Minerals serve as construction material for artificial assets such as buildings and machines. It can be aquired through automated mining, as well as the 'deconstruction' of human buildings and machinery. Overall, Martian units would be less varied in numbers, but exceed human units in terms of quality. A brief summary:

Martian Worker: The basic Martian unit. These are best used to operate Handling-, Construction-, and Scouting Machines. Their sub-par combat capabilities make them vulnerable without a machine body and their performance when operating a combat machine is reduced.
Martian Warrior: A stronger breed of Martian who is more resilient to human weaponry and armed with the equivalent of a Martian 'infantry' weapon. These can be used as actual infantry if necessary, but their main purpose is to crew and operate Martian Combat Machines, which would be available as an allround Fighting Machine, the artillery-centric Bombarding Machine and the Disabling Machine, which employs electric weaponry against mechanical targets in addition to stunning humans for capture and processing by a Handling Machine.
Martian Leader: Essentially an 'officer' type Martian who increases the combat and work efficiency of lesser Martians. In addition, it is the only type of Martian that can operate the Flying Machine, which is easily the most lethal and mobile weapon at their disposal.
Martian Telepath: A Martian with superior telepathic abilities that can control and manipulate human units and structures. His ability can be amplified by operating a Mind Machine.

When playing as the Martians, every single unit is precious and must be used to the fullest of its potential. While some tasks can be filled by fully-automated units, players would still want to operate an army of Martians manning a variety of Machines. It is also imperative to determine the right approach: On the one hand, Martians have to destroy as much of their human enemy as possible to win the battle. On the other hand, Martians need to employ special machines and tactics to capture life humans, which make for a more profitable source of Bio-Matter, which is required to sustain additional Martians as well as unlock genetic advancements. These advancements improve the abilities of Martian units. But more importantly, they allow you to build up a resistance to Earth's microscopic biosphere which, until neutralised, reduces your Bio-Matter at a constant rate, effectively forcing you to farm and process more Earth creatures instead of destroying them. Unlike the humans, Martian units also offer little potential for improvement aside from combat experience.

Another special mechanic of the game is the Red Weed, which automatically grows around Martian-controlled areas like the Zerg Creeper from Starcraft. The Red Weed will automatically heal Martians and disallow humans from building on top of it. In order to counter-act the effects of Red Weed, Human players have to use flamethrowers to undo its expansion or employ chemical weapons to poison it, thus locally reverting the healing effect into a damage penalty for Martian biological units in the area.

Stylistically, the game would go for an authentic, but colourful depiction of the battlespace and weaponry. Since the British Empire was the world's leading superpower at the time, most units would have a distinctly British appearance to them, with infantry starting out as late-period redcoats and later evolving into camouflaged WW1-era 'Tommies', fighting alongside pseudo-historical tanks and airplanes that take on a more advanced, alien appearance as they improve in the later part of the game. The Martians would appear very Lovecraftian and mollusc-like, in a way similar to Wells' original depiction, while their machines would reflect some of their physiological features, the idea being that these machines are both practical devices, but also literal embodiments of Martian cultural ideals and icons, since their biological bodies are little more than highly developed brains with delicate tentacles and a digestive system while every Martian, based on its 'role' would treat his machine as an extension of its own body. Finally, the map selection would include locations across the British isles, as well as areas that were controlled by the British Empire at the time, including snowy Canadian forests, African deserts, the subcontinent of India and various oriental trading ports.