Radio Gaga

DISCLAIMER: this is a strictly WIP article for a Main Plot/Storyline proposal based on the (global) weather changes and partly on already created 'content' (if one may call it that at this stage) --Gaspard

SUMMARY
"After several days of wandering aimlessly in a fierce snowstorm, the player finds themselves half- dead at the gates of a settlement. No more rations to go on and most of the travelling gear  damaged or lost in the blizzard. The player has to rely on the inhabitants' mercy for longer  than they'd wish for, eventually getting mixed up in what goes for local politics and power  struggles.   And then a malfunctioning electronics device intercepts a strange radio transmission..."

ROUGH OUTLINE
At the beginning of the game the player is put into a difficult situation straight away, promting the first task or quest beginning automatically - getting equipment to continue travelling. The player will be 'stuck' in the first location because of the weather and cannot leave before certain equipment is collected. For that quests will have to be solved, some paths leading to the equipment being collected being faster, some slower.

As the settlement has hit difficult times (hard weather, internal conflicts) the player has to prove themselves to the inhabitants, getting dragged into a conflict between the settlement Leader Kimmo Niity and his brother Pete. Things turn ugly and depending on the 'eficiency' of the player's actions the conflict could escalate into the inhabitants, on the urging of Kimmo Niity, waging war with a near by settlement.

In the midst of all the action a radio signal is picked up. 20 years after the war this is a very uncommon occurrence indeed and hopefully the player's interest should be peaked. Even if the player chooses not to go headfirst looking for the source of the transmission, during the game there should be pointers every now and then to get the player there - to a pre-war weather station/scientific outpost, somewhere in the mountains. That serves also as a pseudo END LOCATION for the game. Why pseudo? Depending on some of the decisions of the player it might be possible and even necessary for the player to move on after reaching the weather station.

Back to the topic: the weather station. As said this is a pre-war location in a remote, difficult to approach (examples: a mountain trollie broken, previous snow-block opened up by an avalanche during the great blizzard at the beginning of the game etc) spot in the mountains. Station was semi-automated and for yet undetermined reasons the systems got turned on again during or right after the snowstorm (the blizzard either damaged the station, triggering the back-up systems taking over the obviously non-working main power systems; or external meddling - someone found the station and accidentally activated it, could lead to an interesting 'end fight' for the player). The goal of the systems was to monitor weather patterns and transmit any critical data to the outside world, if the station happened to be uninhabited. The transmission is probably in code and complete gibberish until the player make stheir way to the station and sees the raw data for themselves - an impending global weather catastrophe is approaching at a rapid rate. After getting this information the player is faced with two endings (NIHIL!!!) depending on how they played the game. I call them the FAIL scenario and the SUCCESS scenario:

Endgame Scenarios

 * the FAIL scenario: the player was slow and took their time getting to the station. the time is up. no way for the player to warn anyone - doom is at hand. GAME OVER
 * the SUCCESS scenario: the player got to the station in time and manages to warn all or several of the settlements (if chooses to do so). Mind, the catastrophe is still approaching. BUT THERE WILL BE HOPE. game over