Unwanted
Game Design by Jeff Grim
Unwanted is the story of Jack, told in a manner to allow the player a chance to earn his redemption. A former
firefighter cast out when a routine fire caused three fellow firefighters to be injured and a woman to die. Now a
security guard at a local factory, Jack supports a wife and daughter as well as a few unwelcomed habits. The goal is
to help Jack through the toughest night of his life, how he survives is up to you.
ABOUT THE WORLD
The game is set in a small country town in Alabama. The action takes place over one fateful night. A forest fire
ravages the countryside and the peaceful town's residents have their lives changed forever. Springfield is encircled
by forests with a river and hills nearby. The sky is clear and the stars are in abundance but the smell of smoke will
soon be filling the air. Jack will need help if he is to survive the night.
STORY SYNOPSIS
In a lonely guard shack at the entrance to building 3 sits Jack. He is the third shift guard for Springfield's only
factory, MSW automotive. Jack shakes his head as he reads over the results of the weekends' games in the paper.
While tallying his losses from his weekly gambling, he gets a call from his girlfriend, Julie.
Jack:
Hello
Julie:
Hey you, Working hard?
Jack:
Do I ever?
<They laugh>
Jack:
What time will you be here?
Julie:
I can't come out to see you tonight
Julie:
Maybe you could come see me after work
Jack:
A)
I really do not have time to see you tonight.
B)
That sounds like a plan; I will see you in a few hours!
Julie
A)
You never have time for me, are you seeing someone else?
Julie
B)
Great! I will have something special waiting for you.
Jack
A)
No babe; you know you are the only one I want.
Jack
B)
I can't wait!
Jack
A)
I have to go.
<Click>
Jack breaks out his hidden bottle of whiskey and pours himself a shot.
As the clock struck five in the morning, Jack handed off his clipboard to the morning shift guard, still upset at the
nights' developments.
1st Guard:
Morning, how was your weekend?
Jack
Terrible, I lost every game, again!
1st Guard
Maybe you should quit gambling
Jack
That is all I need, you telling me what to do
Jack heads home in his truck while trying to find a good country song on the radio. Suddenly a news report comes
through the radio with an update to the growing forest fire in nearby Sumner county. Jack took his hand off the radio
and listened. "The heavy winds are pushing the fire towards Springfield state park", the voice on the radio reported.
"Springfield State park is only a few miles from my house!" Jack exclaimed.
Jack A)
Unfazed by the radio report, Jack continues towards his girlfriend's house.
Jack B)
Jack realizes the danger his family is in and rushes home.
Jack C)
Jack remembers his friends in Engine 13 and races toward the fire with the hope he can help.
Jack A)
<As Jack pulls up to Julie's house he does not see her car.>
Jack A)
I can't believe Julie isn't here. How could she do this to me?
Jack A)
Jack drives off upset.
As Jack made his way across town, he could see the glow of the fires off in the distance. Jack panicked. The thought
of losing his home was overwhelming. As Jack approached his home, he could see the flames racing through the
forest and knew it would not be long until his home is devoured. The smell of smoke was thick in the air as Jack
leapt from his still running truck and quickly entered the house.
Jack scrambled through the house looking for anything of value. While trying to gather his things he notices the fire
just beyond the garage and realizes it is time to get out. He rushes into his bedroom and wakes his wife. He furiously
tells her about the fire as he continues to grab items from the room.
Jack
Wake up! Wake up!
Shelby
What's going on?
Jack
There is a fire behind the house, grab your things
Shelby
A FIRE! Where is Erica?
Shelby
<runs out of the room to get her daughter, Erica>
His wife frantically runs out of the room screaming for their daughter to wake up. She grabs he child out of bed and
she carries her through the house and out into the yard. Jack runs out behind her with his hands full of random items
which he couldn't live without.
After Jack puts his things in the truck he runs back into the now burning house to save his gun collection. Jack's wife
Shelby screams for him to come back to no avail. Jack enters the house and runs through the smoke filled hallway
and down into the basement. He frantically grabs up one rifle after another. Jack, with guns in hand, attempts to run
up the smoky stairway. He loses his grip on the guns as he chokes and drops to his knees. Jack, now crawling up the
stairs, becomes trapped as the fire rages at the doorway. He falls down the stairs and hurts his leg as smoke fills the
room. Lying trapped in the basement, Jack's thoughts turn to his wife and child safely outside. In his final moments
he realizes that while he tried to live the life, he forgot about the life he had waiting at home.
PRIMARY PLOT POINTS
Learn of the fire that is spreading across the countryside.
Help Jack as he struggles with life's temptations
With limited knowledge you must help Jack do the right thing
Help Jack redeem himself in his own eyes
Avoid tragedy as each choice leads to possible hardship
Save and solidify Jack's family and help Jack learn what is important.
CHARACTERS
Jack is a 6’3” man with signs of a beer-belly starting to show. He has tightly cropped brown hair and hazel eyes. He
is a former firefighter with Engine 13 who lost his job after being called into a late night fire. He had spent the
previous six hours at the local bar with his mistress, celebrating the news that she was not pregnant. Jack insisted he
was sober and convinced the fire chief to let him go out on the call. While attempting to rescue a woman who was
trapped on the third floor of the local bank, Jack led two other firemen into the burning room without properly
checking the area. Soon after they entered, the main support collapsed, pinning the woman to the floor, resulting in
the death of the woman, one of the firefighters and injuring the other. Jack was unable to see his brothers in fire
through the debris pile. Jack left the building and got help, when they were unable to save the trapped firemen and
they were deeply saddened by the death of the nearby woman. Jack never completely recovered form the deaths. He
has since gotten a job at the local automotive factory as a security guard.
Shelby is 5’ 6” with stunning red hair and brilliant blue eyes. She is a former nurse who lost her job when the local
hospital was closed due to financial reasons. She is currently trying to work from home selling mail order items on
EBay. Shelby and her husband Jack have been fighting recently. She received an offer to move to Jacksonville and
work at the number one hospital in Florida but Jack refuses to move.
Erica is the five-year-old daughter of Jack and Shelby. She is a smart little girl with beautiful green eyes and
stunningly contrasting red hair just like her mother. She will be celebrating her sixth birthday in two weeks and
wishes for puppy and for her parents to stop fighting.
Julie is a 29 year old with dirty blonde hair and a slight weight problem due to constant drinking. She is Jack’s
mistress and a waitress at the local redneck bar. She lives in a trailer park on the outskirts of town. Julie has a son
named Marcus that lives with his father in New Orleans. The father won custody after Julie was involved in a bar
fight with the wife of a customer she was sleeping with. She served three months for assault and has not seen her son
since that night.
OPENING CUTSCENE
INTRO CUTSCENE:
The screen is filled with solid black smoke. The camera pans out to show a forest fire raging below and the efforts of
the local firefighters trying to put the blaze out. Multiple fire-trucks are on the scene but it appears the firefighters
are having little luck containing the blaze.
Firemen yell back and forth needing more pressure to keep the fire from jumping the road into Springfield State
Park.
Fireman #1:
We need more pressure!
Fireman #2:
Another line up here, we need another line!
Fireman #1:
The fire is near the road! Where's that other truck?
The park sign sits just meters away from the glowing fire. The fire is clearly growing out of control and the once
clear cries of the firemen are now muffled by the roaring inferno. Through the loud crackling of the fire we hear the
frantic firemen yelling as a tall burning tree falls across the road.
Fireman #2:
Lookout!
Fireman #3:
Tree down! The fire is spreading across the road!
The fire is now entering the park.
The camera zooms out and away from the fire, showing the scale of the damage it has inflicted. The camera
continues to pull away across many miles and over a small country town nearby. The quiet scene is in stark contrast
to the hectic battle being fought just a few miles away. As the camera swings around over the town a lone car is seen
driving out of town onto a lonely, dark stretch of road. The camera follows the car across a bridge to the only other
source of light in this black, starless night.
The lights of the local automotive plant become clearer as the car approaches and pulls up to the guard shack at the
front gate. As the car comes to a stop the camera zooms in slowly to show the security guard talking to the driver
and allowing him onto the property.
Jack:
Yes sir, just pull ahead to lot #2. The foreman will be waiting for you.
Driver:
Thanks, Have a good one.
The view switches to a camera inside the guard shack as the driver pulls away, the guard closes the window and sits
down. The camera now focused on the guard as he picks up the sports page. The phone rings...
EXIT CUTSCENE
Begin dialogue between the guard and his girlfriend.
SAMPLE QUESTS
Jack is talking to Julie on the phone while at work, he finds out she can't come see him tonight but invites Jack to
come to her house after work. Does Jack commit to seeing Julie after work or does he go home?
Yes - Jack now gets a third option to continue to Julie's house after hearing of the forest fire.
No - Jack only gets two options after hearing from the forest fire.
Jack, on his way home from work, hears a report of the growing forest fire on the radio. Jack must make a decision:
A) go back to help his former crew fighting the blaze, B) head home to assure the safety of his family and home or
C) go to his mistress's/girlfriend's house(based on phone conversation with Julie).
A) Jack heads to where his crew is battling the blaze. This causes Jack's home to burn and his family to die as he
cannot arrive in time to save them.
B) Jack is able to get home and has a chance to save his family.
C) Jack goes to Julie's house, this causes Jack to arrive too late to save his family or make a difference with his
former crew fighting the fire.
Jack, after having gone to Julie's house, discovers she is not at home. He is now upset and leaves. Does Jack A) go
to help his old crew or B) does he continue home?
A) Jack arrives onsite to help his former crew but discovers they are moving out of the area as the fire is spreading
too fast.
B) Jack arrives at home to see his house already engulfed in flames, too late to save his family.
Jack arrives at home and sees the fire spreading to his house, does Jack A) go into his basement to save his gun
collection, B) run upstairs to save his family, C) stay outside and call the fire department?
A) Jack runs into the house and to the basement, he grabs up all of his guns and attempts to climb the stairs. He
fumbles a few guns and this causes his to fall and injure his leg resulting in his entire family dieing in the fire.
B) Jack runs upstairs and wakes his wife, she runs to get their daughter and they all make it out of the house safely.
C) Jack calls the fire department for help, sadly they arrive too late and Jack's family dies.
Jack safely rescues his family, does he attempt to go back into the house and recover his possessions before the fire
destroys everything?
Yes - Jack runs into the house and to the basement, he grabs up all of his guns and attempts to climb the stairs. He
fumbles a few guns and this causes his to fall and injure his leg. Jack is now overcome by the smoke and dies in the
basement.
No - Jack allows his home to burn but he has saved his family and is redeemed in his own heart. Forgiving himself
for the accident he caused with his crew.