Junior Member
I remember a few years back Ubisoft announced that the next Far Cry is going to be set in an arctic/Atlantic setting, since then the idea just couldn’t cease getting out of my head. I have to pitch in some good ideas to stop the inner voice of me head (heh). Maybe it is because I grew up in the tropics; it is boring actually, to have 2 FC games set in the south pacific. I wanted to virtually visit the Atlantic side of the planet. Ubisoft, you just had to make this, its potential is so huge!
Game pitch idea overview:
Far Cry always struck me as an open world game set in the 3rd world or somewhere remote where civilization hardly exist, not necessarily a jungle. The enemy is mother ****ing nature itself, instead of the human foes.
Going back in time: 1976, during the height of the Cold War. The whole game is heavily themed after the 70s with all the stereotypes and what not.
Location and setting: Arctic/pine forest/tundra/craggy coastlines of the atlantic/deep dark bottomless loch and fjord/barren glacier. Can based off Greenland, Scandinavia and Caledonia Scotland. Featuring the aurora at night time, the flora and fauna of that region, climate changing (exploring at nightfall is more perilous due to freezing temperature causing hyperthermia), context specific game challenge (instead of FC2 malaria: trench foot. Trek too long in the snow or icy waters, then the player will get it and had to find cure and shelter for it) (snowstorm, snow blindness, etc. etc) wildlife (arctic wolf, grizzly and polar bear, werewolves, Loch Ness monster – na just kidding, eh why not?)
Background and extras: Similar to FC3 & 4 Letter of the Lost, there is a layer of background history and extra for the player to explore. In this setting, the player finds ancient Viking burial ship and barrows, treasure caves, relics of old WW2 (Battle of Britain wrecks of both the RAF bombers and the Luffwaffe fighter planes/ship wrecks of the US merchant fleet/rusty U-Boat wrecks of the Kriegsmarine with stranded Nazis trapped in their crafts who have no idea that the war is over/barely functional Soviet tanks abandoned in the forest/etc. etc), stonehenges, scary Pagan society of head-hunters, mysterious Druids, and ancient moldy churches.
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Detailed location setting:
Based off the arctic setting in the area inside the circle encompassing Greenland, Caledonia Scotland and Norway Scandinavia; the obvious candidate is Iceland. But looking at FC legacy of locating the game at a fictional location, let’s just based it off on a group of arctic islands with all the local features of the 3 locations mentioned above. That means aurora at night time; dark forbidding pine forest, barren glacier wasteland, grass covered cliff and coastline set against a dark and stormy sky, black bottomless loch and deep blue fjord and snow-capped mountainsides spread across a 100 square km map. Hell, you can basically base it off the Faroe Island (go google).
Detailed wildlife:
Siberian wolves, grizzly bear, polar bear, walrus, dolphin, Greenland shark, marlin, whale, tundra fox, puffin, and some mad monster like Moby ****, Megalodon, Werewolves, Loch Ness Nessie and Big Foot.
Detailed storyline:
Okay, as mentioned in the overview, it is set in the 70s. A group of oilrig employees working off shore far away from civilization in the arctic north received a coded transmission from beyond the mist and cold. Suspicious that there may be outsiders beyond, workers abroad the oilrig draw straws for a 10 men expedition team to investigate the signal. As they went off into the white mist in their boat they discovered the source of the signal, a completely uncharted island group far off in the north with virtually no sign of life. They landed and explored a small part of the first island, encountering a crumbling old Dark Age era church atop a cliff-side. Confusion and fear soon invade the explorers but they decided to stay the night as nightfall was nearing. As the sun goes down, some members of the group began to sense they were being watched and stalked. All was quiet until they were attacked by cannibalistic demonic savages who killed off 4 from their group, leaving the other 6 fleeing for their lives. A blizzard blew in and they were separated from each other. With no sense of direction, they each headed to a path where they thought were the location of their boat. Without realizing, all they did was to venture deeper into hostile territories, all the while being pursued by unknown violent and godless aggressors. Can they regroup and escape this god forsaken island and sail back to civilization?
Detailed enemies and factions:
Throughout the game, the player will be trying to escape from murderous foes and seek shelter from the dangerous wildlife and environment on the island; all the while trying to regroup with their co-workers and send out SOS at any opportunity. The main assailant in the game will be 2 main factions, the Druid Order and the Soviet Vanguard; followed by 2 minor factions, the whaler and the Nazi holdouts. All factions will be hostile to the players, but minor factions still offer opportunity for some sub quest and open to negotiation and trade.
Druid Order: Their order date back into history since time immemorial. Ancient yet sophisticated, they are blood-thirsty cannibalistic nature scholars *** occultists interested in safe guarding the legacy of the Vikings and worshipping the Devil. Using witchcraft, dark arts and modern military grade weapons, they hunt down the oilrig employees to silence their discovery of them as well as to take them as hostages for dark, torturous ritual and sacrifices. In the game they will stalk the player as try to sabotage their escape attempts, the Order is the most unpredictable and dangerous foes on the island.
Soviet Vanguard: In the 1970s, the Soviet armed forces are the main aggressor in Europe, clawing into neighbouring territories. They stumbled across the island by accident via their spy plane few months back and are now actively invading the island in an off-the-books military exercise. They have not encountered the Druid Order yet but unfortunately for the oilrig workers, the vanguards ran into them. Instantly identified them as pro-west citizens, they are treated as spies and hostile enemies. The vanguards pursued the workers hoping to capture and interrogate them. In the game the vanguards outnumbered all other factions but they are scattered into small task forces, allowing a skilled player to tackle them stealthily or head on. Armed with the latest military gadget and hardwares, the vanguard’s arsenal range from auto rifle to armoured tank and helicopter. They have the means to leave the island, however due to political allegiance, the players are strictly on a non-negotiation term with them and they have orders from their commissars to capture and kill any outsiders encountered on the island to keep their operation top secret.
Whaler: Running illegal whaling activities in the surrounding seas and on the island, the whalers are in cahoots with the Druid Order on business terms. Whalers are allowed to operate on the island by exchanging live human and slaves to the Order. When the oilrig workers ran into the whalers, the whalers initially will be hostile to the player due to the discovery of their illegal operation. Gradually, the whalers will offer the player some sub quests but in the long run will betray the player to the Order.
Nazi holdouts: Discovered by the oilrig workers when the player accidentally opened the bunker leading to the hideouts of the Kriegsmarine. Stranded on the island almost 3 decades back when their U-boats ran out of fuel and damaged beyond repair by RAF bombings; they decided to wait for rescue in the carcass of their scuttled submarines. Years passed, most of their members died of starvation and cold. But a handful survived through hibernation in the cold, only to awake into the 1970s. Being isolated from the outside world after such a long period, they became delusional and have no idea that the war was over. Initially aggressive toward the player, they soon offer help and sidequest in exchange for suppliers and communication devices. However, a group of fanatical Nazis should not be trusted, no matter the timeline and the circumstances.
Detailed playable characters and gameplay:
As predicted, the player will be one of the surviving members of the oilrig expedition team on the island. Initially a 10 men strong team; 4 of them had been killed in the Order ambush at the church. Those who died are the oilrig executive officer, 2 regular drillers and the radio-com technician. 6 of the surviving members are the oilrig supervisor, geographer, engineer, lifeguard, archaeologist and the medical doctor. In the game, the player choose 1 of these 6 characters to play, each starting in different location across the island (they were separated in the blizzard) and each having different stats and abilities of survival, allowing interesting play style. The objective of the game is to regroup with your separated co-workers and to find a mean to summon rescue or a vehicle to escape. Combat in the game is aimed at survival; it will often be brief and brutal. The player have to scavenge workable guns and improvise weapons such as bow, javelin, slingshot and throwing axe due to military-grade ammunition being limited and scarce.
Oilrig supervisor (male): 2nd in command of the group, now that the leader is dead, he is in charge. His skills are languages and understanding codes. Playing as him, you can solve negotiation and intercept Soviet vanguard’s military radio channel and morse code. Combat wise all rounded average.
Geographer (male): Playing as him, you can use his binocular and map to chart out what you see from afar onto the navigation map, removing fog of view directly from the map without having to capture lighthouses (watchtower). However the view is limited and to reveal more of the map the player have to climb up on higher terrain and view from atop. Perfect eyes come with deadly aim with a sniper/hunting rifle.
Engineer (male): An expert in improvisation and scavenging. The player can craft more sophisticated weapon out of branches, sharp rocks and used bullet casings as well as tools such as blowtorch, flamethrower and noise maker to distract the enemy. He can also put together IEDs to blow his enemy through ambush and demolition.
Lifeguard (male): The only character who started off with a gun in their hands. The lifeguard had undergone extensive self-defence class and firearms training, he will be the most skilled member with military weapons; reloading and weapon handling will be faster for him. Weapon jamming will be rarer if used in his hands and close combat will be easier for him.
Archaeologist (female): Perfect for solving puzzle and discovering lost artefact and raiding ancient Viking tombs. Combat wise will be at a disadvantage but this can be overcame through stealth play and hit and run tactics.
Medical doctor (female): Survival, impromptu surgery, healing and herbalogy. She can craft tonic and boost from the herbs founded throughout the island as well as improvising sleeping darts and deadly poison flask to combat her enemies.
If the player plays this single player mode, the other 5 characters will become NPC in the game and the story goes on as usual. But if play via co-op or online, the campaign can be played up to 6 players each different character starting off in different locations on the island, working out a plan to escape together.
Last words:
Ubisoft, please brain storm over this and here is me wishing Far Cry 5 will be better than the last instalments so far.
Member
You do know that game ideas are ten a penny, right? It doesn't matter how good an idea is, there are several hundred in the software industry before an outsider's. That isn't to say you've got no chance....just not much of one. Even if you spend weeks or months on a complete design it's highly likely that it will only get a look in if there's some code to demonstrate it. And that's assuming you mail it to the right person and he/she actually does something with it. Yeah...it's not good news. The old days of bedroom coders are long gone, bud.
Hey, but be our guest - write up a design and submit it if you're so inclined.
Member
The truly sad part is that Wassup is right. Ether you need a massive public following large enough that your name alone will garner attention or you need to be part of the internal structure of the dev team(s) involved in the games to be heard anymore. Even then, your idea will likely be hijacked and morphed into something that requires the least amount of effort and likely outright lazy on the part of the industry.
