UPDATE – I thought I had updated this, but I guess I didn’t. I have officially shredded Threshold, and it now lives on as “Convergence:Zero,” the first part of a 3-part series. It is still being built out, but I have a lot of assets, code, and documentation that will guide this project. I have now updated the material below to offer more material on what this game has become
The Inspiration
Who doesn’t want to be a superhero (or supervillain)? We watch tons of movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and we play video games where we save the world (or destroy it). One of my favorite cult classics is the Kick-Ass movies, which feature realistic superheroes and supervillains with real problems. I also finished “The Perfect Run” by Maxime Durand, which blends dystopia, post-apocalypse, and other common themes, pitting superheroes and supervillains against each other. I have also been a huge fan of Larry Correia‘s work in the Grimnoir Chronicles, which features a rich world where people possess different powers depending on the kind of power that seeks them out. All of this has inspired me to try my hand at the genre with my own style. I did attempt to reach out to Larry himself, but Maxime is a bit more difficult to contact. However, he did contact me back and said he had already agreed to let another company create a game based on his property so I made the game my own.
Lastly, my philosophy in designing games is focused on a key item: every choice matters. I have played countless games that claim that your choices make a difference, but rarely does this play out in the grand scheme. A notable example is Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR), which features a “dark side/light side” dialogue system. The more your character leans one way or the other, the more success they will have with certain groups and the less with others. Of the games I have played, this one has the most effective system, allowing you to turn some characters good or evil, and so on. However, once you get past a certain point, the choices matter less and less. I thought that Hogwarts Legacy would offer this, but the game does not take into account whether you choose to be good or bad, other than slightly changing the way someone speaks to you. I wanted a game that makes memorable and meaningful choices over time.
The Premise
In the early 2020’s, a massive new Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was secretly built underground in the Pacific Ocean. The plan was that the cooler water would reduce the cooling required to support the machine and also bring the spin closer to Earth’s center. The machine reached speeds previously thought impossible, but it caused a problem, due to unknown circumstances, reality was rewritten in an event called “The Cascade,” which granted superpowers to approximatley 40% of the world’s population. Overnight, governments, militaries, and other groups had to maintain order amid a war between superhumans and regular humans. Society fell into chaos, and wars were prominent. Society is fractured into different groups with different ideas about how powered and unpowered people should coexist.
Ten years later, the world has formed into a number of factions:
- The Crescent Initiative – Built on the ruins of the old United Nations, this government organization believes in the shared responsibility of the governments to maintain order and prevent supers from using their powers for anarchy, terror, etc. It is a fragile peace, but some parts of the world have become more peaceful as a result of their influence.
- The Deontists – Some organizations (especially those with lots of money) have decided to create a group of well-funded corporate superheroes who provide superhero skills and private security services to any group willing to pay for them. Despite their reputation for being money-hungry, the Deontists do seem to believe that they are making the right choices and want to preserve order.
- The Shard – For everything the Deontists are, the Shard are the opposite. This group of people believes that only the strongest will survive in this world. They have formed a loose federation of military, paramilitary, and privateers who are determined to keep society on its heels or else risk monopolization and power consolidation.
- The Phoenix Consortium – The voice of the unpowered, Phoenix believes that all people, human and superhuman alike, need to care for each other. When the larger groups come forth with their armies of supers, the Phoenix are the ones who step in the way to keep the ordinary people from being crushed underfoot. They are not funded by outsiders; they have no agenda other than to forge peace among Earth’s remaining inhabitants.
- The Unseen – The power of the world is held by those who have access to all the information. The Unseen is an underground group that focuses on making the most of this situation by brokering information, providing research, or generally sowing discord. They have no names, they all wear masks, and they know everything that can be known, or they will figure it out. Every other group depends on the Unseen to provide them with the information they need to get ahead. If profit is made and a ghost is needed, this team steps up.
- The Primigenial – The most mystical/religious of the factions, the Primigenial believe that their superpowers are gifts from a higher power and should be used as those higher powers intended. Their founding members were among the very first super-powered individuals whose powers manifested almost simultaneously with The Cascade. This group is led by an unknown person known simply as “The Oracle,” who seems to know every aspect of what is happening at any given time. Though their membership is small, the control their members have over their power is startling. The Primigenial say they serve a higher power; it’s hard to determine what (or whom) that higher power is.
These factions have forged alliances and agreements, and this effort has brought the world into an unstable yet relatively civil peace. As long as two factions don’t cross each other on the wrong path, society has learned to move forward. However, when the news reports that the organization originally responsible for The Cascade has been given approval (after years of safety measures, legal fights, etc.) to power on the LHC once again. This news reignites the civil wars among the factions who believe that if another Cascade occurs, it may end life on Earth as we know it. Others have heard rumors that it might cause the loss of powers that each faction has grown so accustomed to controlling. Needless to say, the world now teeters on the edge of a possible new cataclysm with everyone standing up for their own belief about what should happen.
Features
When the game launches, you will have a narrative that guides your starting character’s powers and personality. You will then be launched into the world with 30 days until the LHC fires back up again. Each “day” serves as another level that you must complete in whichever way you decide. You may join any faction you wish during the first day or choose to remain a lone wolf. Just remember that every choice has a consequence and you may choose a path that makes you a target for another group.
As the game progresses, you will meet a cast of characters that may prove to be your closest friends (even lovers) or may wish to end your life (sometimes both). Your choices will determine which factions you support and which factions are out to get you. Ultimately, you must choose the path that leads to the final encounter with the LHC and its team. Choose well, the world really is depending on you!
Stay tuned for more great information about this game!