Jack Ernst
07/21/2011
Professor Higgin
Comrade Dusk
Characters
The Voice is an asexual representative of an invading alien race, sent to scout the galaxy
of Comrade Dusk. Disillusioned with what his race is becoming, The Voice decides to aid the “to
be colonized” months in advance to the actual invasion.
The Invaders are amorphous group of aliens which have settled on expansion to heal their
ailing empire. The information network for the Invaders is immense, and many spies can be
found for scouts when a new sector is being targeted for expansion.
Humans are the primary race for the galaxy in Comrade Dusk, and have split into many
factions which control several portions of the galaxy. Opinions are extremely divided between
the sectors, and there is great animosity between some factions, often to the point of violence
immediately on seeing a person of a different sector.
Setting
Taking place in a fictional galaxy filled with transfer routes to and from star systems,
Comrade Dusk also holds a variety of differing regions at war, peace, and in the middle of
breaking diplomatic relations. Planets will focus on a mix of technologically advanced or
resource bearing to drive reasons for The Voice to scout there to begin with, as well as political
hotbeds already being targeted, which require settlement prior to the invasion.
Combat areas are dungeons or connecting areas between major cities on planets, with
possible confrontations in space as The Voice travels. Because of the possibility of endgame
space combat on top of normal combat, the player will have to become familiar with both, so
barring certain circumstances, space travel is set as freely accessible and planets and dungeons
can be revisited for skill improvement.
Plot
The Voice is set to come into the human galaxy as a scout, but en route has a change of
heart as he learns his ancestral home world is destroyed for the Invader’s empire. Knowing the
vulnerability the Invaders have when begin expansion, The Voice moves to strengthen the
humans as he believes that a unified humanity may stand a chance to destroy the Invaders. In
order to unify the humans, The Voice has to join a team that consists of leaders, heroes and
champions from various societies which have tendencies for socialism, capitalism, sexism, and
slavery. The Voice must overcome these underlying traits in each of the societies, and related
conflicts between his teammates as well, so that when he finally has to confront the Invaders, the
Humans stand a chance of fighting them off.
Mechanics
Combat focuses in a style reminiscent of traditional role-playing games, where enemies
are on one side and allies are on the opposite. Damage and support actions are dealt in turns, with
the most agile team beginning. Placements of friendly units close or far from one another allow
for bonuses or penalties to character damage dealt and taken, in relation to how that character
relates to the nearby character. If a character hates another character immediately adjacent, that
character deals less damage, while the opposite is true if the character loves the adjacent
character. If a character reaches critical health condition, and a nearby character loves that
character will absorb damage for that character, whereas a hated character will be left to die. If
the character is hated and is left to die, the death is permanent, but the character must be hated by
more than one other character on the team.
Character interactions with other characters after joining the team are based on the
influence of The Voice. The Voice has to gain trust with any new characters to the team through
optional side quests and through nuanced dialogue options. If avoided, side quests have the
repercussion of only allowing a character to trust The Voice to a certain point, and love for other
characters cannot be obtained if it had not already occurred prior to the new character joining the
team. Dialogue between characters and The Voice pertains to situations occurring in the
campaign and side missions relevant to the addressed character.
Besides combat for viewing how well teammates work with each other, tips can be given
by well working teammates when puzzles are encountered. Dungeons used to the end of solving
sector problems may have traps or culturally contextual puzzles that require new or
knowledgeable characters after allowing for enough time to confer about the problem. This
option is used in the case that the player has not been focusing on the lore of the game enough to
solve the problem alone.