Part 23: Intermission 3. Character backgrounds

Intermission 3

Character backgrounds.

Today I want to show you the individual backgrounds of our crew. You can talk to them, if you feel like it, and they explain their person, past and future hopes. It's a nice touch and plays into the game's atmosphere a whole lot. It would also play a lot into the interaction system, but as I already stated, it was never fully developed.

Agnes

:"Tell me something about yourself, Agnes!"


This does get reflected with interactions for the most part. While Agnes will hit on some females, a lot of characters will pick on her and some get pretty mean. Her vegan thing is not implemented as fully as it should be. As I already said, she will not eat meat herself and comments with a "Blargh" line when you try. She will also make a comment when you place meat in another characters inventory. But that's about it, and there are many places where this trait should trigger a response.

:"What was your past like?"


This explains her skills and gives a little depth to her character. But we will never find out what happened at the gorge.

:"What are your plans for the future?"


The last bit adds more flavor. I like that the developers where so normal about her being a lesbian. I might go out on a limb here, but I cannot recall too many other games with a character like this. At least from the top of my head. More often than not, gay characters are overly outrageous or a walking stereotype/caricature. Okay, a lesbian vegan is a stereotype in itself, but not such a horrible one.

Victor

:"Tell me something about yourself, Victor!"


While it explains his talents, this bit also gives a reason for his low interaction count. Victor is kind of shy and introverted. He mentions his trouble with ladies, and another character will let him expand on that.

:"What was your past like?"


This also plays into his person. Growing up without other people around will not give you great social skills.

:"What are your plans for the future?"


More depth. Again he mentions his wish of getting a girlfriend, but also that he would rather go back to isolation than to live in a city.
I may be reading too much into it, but I think that Vic represents those slightly odd people who don't fit with the popular crowd, and try to figure out why. Or who have given up on that and turned their backs.

Butch

:"Tell me something about yourself, Butch!"


I think this paints a good picture of Butch. A big fella who is surprisingly kind and a bit childish in mind. He also is not that smart, as reflected by his stats. But he's a good bro! That comment about cars has already been reflected with an interaction during the Lp. But it can trigger on practically any vehicle in the game.

:"What was your past like?"


I felt really bad for him when reading this the first time. It's no surprise that a certain kind of people would take advantage of him being kind and dopey. He got played pretty bad there.

:"What are your plans for the future?"




Ivana

:"Tell me something about yourself, Ivana!"


This also is a very fitting description. While Ivana is not that smart, she still makes the best of what she got. She had the highest initial combat skills of our crew and is a viable sniper, if you want to make her one. I like that she is honest and kind of simple.

:"What was your past like?"


More depth, but I like that they explained where she got her values from. Although it is never explicitly stated we can assume that she is of Russian descent. That would also explain why she started with some familiarity with SKS rifles.

:"What are your plans for the future?"


This explains why Ivana has a crush on Butch. He is pretty much the perfect candidate and shares that dream. If he would be a little less dense, he might get it.

Milton

:"Tell me something about yourself, Milton!"


No surprising revelations here. But it does explain why he has so little interaction. And I can understand his line of thinking. People have egos, and sooner or later those will clash.

:"What was your past like?"


More depth. I like that they gave him another angle with his former wife.

:"What are your plans for the future?"


They took his persona a bit far here. But on the other hand, if he is so in-tune with nature. Why not?

So there you have it. It's pretty neat overall, I think. The atmosphere is really one of the major strongpoints of the game, maybe even it's biggest. But that depends on taste mostly, I guess.

Votes

I just wanted to post this again so people know what's coming.
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You can still suggest gun-names for Agnes, Ivana and Butch. As before, if no one cares it's okay. I'll make something up.

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Milton or Agnes?

I decided to have that vote a bit earlier than initially planned. It's a matter of the structure the following parts need to have. Thing is, I don't want to waste Xp on a character that will not stick with us till the end. But the next update will have us clear out minor areas, so I might as well get the last team member early so he can benefit from that, as he is a bit harder to level then the others.

Quick breakdown:
Agnes is now a weak fighter, has more potential and interactions. - Milton is now a good fighter, will reliably become what I want and has no interactions.

At the moment Agnes is favored and I expected that. But please, make up your own mind about who seems more interesting to you for the Lp.

I'll close voting sometime on Wednesday. It should be enough time for you, and let's me produce the next update before the weekend.