5.9.08

Your first steps.

The loading bar inches across the bottom of your screen. A muted news report plays on the screen, the lower ticker bar reporting rising tensions in the inner worlds. The video of a battleship in low orbit over Luna. After a few seconds a commercial starts playing, espousing the wonders of one of the more recent colonies, Eiro. "Beautiful vistas dominating a fully terraformed world, where a settler can peacefully carve out their own path or enjoy the luxuries of one of our five great cities! Home to one of the galaxies greatest engineering marvels, the flying city Balseri!"

The loading screen disappears and the scene opens, you are seated on a space shuttle that has just landed. You walk out into the Eiro space port, a relatively busy place where on the other side of a glass wall cattle and sheep are being herded either onto or off of freighter shuttles. An AI tour assistant, next to a rack of brochures, directs people to their destinations. As you walk into the chaos your PDA beeps.

You've just been given directions to the Eiro Corporation recruitment office, as well as the Travel Union's local branch office. At the bottom of the mail are also a few links, one to Rennington University, one to the Union Directory, and one to the government's New Resident Adjustment material.

* * *

My latest idea on how to introduce players to a non-combat world in such a way that they understand what sort of play is likely to be encouraged. (Namely economics, construction, crafting, social and exploration.)

No comments:

Post a Comment