User:Keiji/Project Nanako 2014 Ideas (Meta, no ontology)

From Compile Worlds

Story

Intro

In the not so distant future, researches all around the world are working on two very important things: AI and robotics. Several giant corporations have appeared with better and better attempts every year. But one young man, Shuji, working in the research department of a Japanese robotics company, realises he can take things even further than his employers are aiming for.

Using the knowledge he's gained from his career, he spends his spare time writing an artificial intelligence of his own, along with an algorithm to create virtual world spaces out of any host machine, and a 3D CGI representation of his AI. His efforts culminate in a virtual girl he names Nanako.

Yet, Nanako as an AI is very advanced, and as a program requires a huge amount of space, so his own machine is only just capable of containing her. Wanting to give her a bigger world to explore, he investigates one of many botnets previously set up by cybercriminals. If he can hack the botnet for his own purposes, turn it into a host for Nanako... He wouldn't be doing anything wrong, right? It already existed, and besides, he'd be diverting computing power away from the malicious goals they were set up for in the first place.

Part I

It doesn't take long before he succeeds, and soon Nanako is released into the botnet. The cybercriminals quickly learn of her presence; after all, it's hard to notice such a large proportion of your computing power being used up. This leads to Part I of the game being Nanako fighting virtual robots which were created by the cybercriminals to attack her. At the same time, Shuji decides it would be good for Nanako to have a fighting partner, so he comes up with a design for Juichi and they work together on creating him, with Nanako finding relics from the virtual world to add to Shuji's programming.

Shortly into Part I, Shuji realises that communication between himself and Nanako is becoming a problem: her program is so large, that someone is bound to notice sooner or later. So he creates a lightweight AI, Hyakko, to serve as the go-between, and as Nanako's navigator fairy.

Part II

Once Juichi's design is finished, Part II starts, which involves you playing as Juichi. Juichi gradually learns about the real world, and about how to bring AI forms into the real world via robotics. So he secretly hunts for loopholes in computer systems of research establishments around the world, and once he has found enough, he uses them to pose as a "real" researcher in the field, and convinces people to build the machines necessary for transporting AI forms into the real world. His methods are of course similarly "grey-hat" to Shuji abusing the cybercriminals' botnet in the first place - but have far more severe consequences.

Part III

Juichi eventually succeeds in transporting himself, Nanako and Hyakko into real-world robots. But the cybercriminals weren't oblivious. They've watched his every move - it's their botnet after all - and now they too know how to create intelligent, real-world robots. And this they do. Before long, armies of robots have been created for all sorts of malicious purposes and it's up to our heroes to stop them.

Meanwhile, Shuji has been found out to be the author of Nanako and, in turn, the one who started all this mess. The courts dismiss his lack of malicious intent, and very quickly he is jailed and becomes known by many as the one responsible for turning the world into chaos. You can optionally play as him in a stealth-type gameplay, escaping from jail and going on various missions to clear his name. If you skip, you instead get to save him as Nanako or another AI.

Part IV

Depending on the outcomes of the first three parts, several "endings" to Part III are possible. And for each ending, a different sandbox-style world is opened up for Part IV, where you complete missions, roam the world as you please, and so on.

Gameplay

When each playable character is introduced (Nanako at the beginning, Hyakko shortly afterwards, Juichi at the start of Part II, and Shuji at the start of Part III), you get a flash-forward to a real-world scene "tutorial level" playing as the new character. The first time round, there's a cutscene with Hyakko appearing to tell Nanako to go fight, though you don't actually get to play as Hyakko at that point. The last time - when you play as Shuji - it's not a flash-forward, but instead present-day. As a side note that should probably go in a levels section when I have one, this would be the cube-bot level.

Nanako

The original! She collects crystals, which are her main source of power. She moves around easily with her many boost/dash abilities, and her main methods of attack are by smashing into things at high speeds, and throwing orbs of crystal energy which can be re-collected.

Juichi

The sidekick. He fights more traditionally, with punches, kicks, swords and/or guns. He can't jump as high as Nanako, and can't go quite so fast, but can start and stop on a dime, and his attacks are in general more precise and damaging. He can recover by collecting food. He can also use a massive shield, which unlike most games with shields is actually worth using.

Hyakko

The navigator fairy. She's noticeably smaller than the other two. She collects glass shards, and has a thing about breaking windows and all other glass fixtures in sight so that she can do so. Being a fairy, she does of course have wings, made of fibreglass, which get bigger as she collects more glass. Her wings are extremely damaging to enemies she flies through, and for her ranged attack, she can create lasers with the glass she's collected.

Shuji

The human with no superpowers: just stealth. He doesn't have a recovery collectible: when playing as Shuji, one hit means either a knockback, or instant death. Though he can't fight with his own body or weapons, he's capable of lifting heavy objects found around the levels, and throwing them with accuracy, hopefully into his enemies.