With the official start of the contest taking place, I thought I'd take a moment to describe what my intentions are for this project:
PRELIMINARY NOTES
The main draw will be the story.
I think it's relevant to point out why exactly you -- or anyone -- should invest their attention in THE MALICE OF DIAMONDS. While it may sound like I'm tooting my own horn, the honest answer would be because it will offer a well-thought out story with a good amount of intrigue and suspense. Yeah, I think that's what it's shaping up to be. And with the addition of original voices, I believe it will succeed in keeping you immersed in its own little world.
It will be strictly a Terran affair. No other races will be featured.
"Why Terrans only?", you might ask. I've given this some thought, and decided that a Terran-exclusive campaign would be best for the kind of story I want to tell. Allow me to explain.
Firstly, at this point I'm somewhat tired of Zerg-related problems in campaigns. To be more precise, what annoys me is the effect Zerg have on the mood of campaigns. It's what I call "Zerg Hysteria". I believe we're all familiar with it: lots of screaming, desperate shooting, dialogue lines such as "It's teh Zerg! Ahhh!!". Yeah. Well, that's not what I have in mind for THE MALICE OF DIAMONDS.
Rather than that, my intention is to have more of a subdued, constant tension. Right now I'm in the process of writing the script, and I realized very quickly that this effect or mood is much harder to achieve than the aforementioned "Zerg Hysteria". It's taking a good deal of effort, but I think I'm on the right track.
Additionally, I decided not to include the Protoss either, but for a different reason. Yes, it happens in the Starcraft universe, but it's very much a grounded story, with issues not unlike those in movie thrillers that are not sci-fi related at all. Bringing in the Protoss, with their Protoss-y manners and demeanor, would destroy the mood completely. Especially because so much of this story will be centered around unmistakably human qualities, such as arrogance, pettiness and deceit, and also more positive ones like friendship. And for portraying those things, having an all-Terran cast of characters will help in making it relatable and closer to the viewer.
Difficulty-wise, it will range from straightforward to moderately challenging.
This may sound like a bad design choice for some, but my concern here is to always keep the story flowing. The last thing I want is for you to get aggravated and rage-quit the missions, only returning to the campaign weeks or months later because the thought of enduring such punishment was keeping you away from it. At that point the feeling is long gone. Did I just say "feeling"? Yes. So the idea here is to have as few bumps in the road as possible. Of course, some highlights of the story will equate to moments of increased difficulty, but instead of detracting from the enjoyment they will add to it.
Custom content will include:
Soundtrack: I've begun selecting music pieces from different artists to use, since I have no intention of creating original music myself. The way I see it, that would take time I rather spend on other aspects such as writing and polishing the maps.
Original voice-work: this has been confirmed by a soon-to-be collaborator; THE MALICE OF DIAMONDS will be fully voiced. However, I've yet to find a female voice actress to lend her talent in playing Miriam, the protagonist. Once I have finished the script and mapping progress is more advanced, I'll begin my pursue of this unknown lady.
Light Modding: yes, "light" because it will be limited to fairly standard business. Custom portraits (think Cynon portraits from Maplantis), some weapon modifications, and maybe a little something extra, which I won't mention as it's still unconfirmed. Don't expect brand-new units or anything of that level, though.
That's it for now. Hopefully in the next update I'll throw in a screenshot or two for some visual excitement; I know it gets boring just reading text. Meanwhile, any questions or comments are 100% welcome.