There are many philosophies of game design, but it never hurts if a project has a strong story at its center. And if it happens to be an Amazing Story, all the better.
LucasArts' upcoming science fiction adventure game, The Dig, is based on an original story by world-renowned film director Steven Spielberg. This tale was, in fact, the seed that led to Spielberg creating his popular television anthology series, Amazing Stories. For some reason, possibly budget limitations, the story was never actually filmed for the show. Under the supervision of LucasArts project leader Sean Clark, the story has evolved a great deal, but still remained true to Spielberg's original vision of a cross between the alien setting of Forbidden Planet and the fallible humanity of Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
The story begins with the discovery of a mysterious asteroid in a decaying orbit around the Earth. If something is not done to correct its course, the result could be a great deal of ecological damage. Fortunately, NASA has Commander Boston Low, the player's alter ego. This is almost a routine situation for Boston, even with two passengers in tow. Ludger Brink is a geologist who will take samples from the invading asteroid, and Maggie Robbins is a hardened journalist - a Lois Lane type on the scene to document the mission.
After successfully stabilizing the asteroid's trajectory, the three-person team touches down on its surface to have a look around. Suddenly, the chunk of ordinary-looking space debris undergoes a spectacular transformation into an enormous multicolored dodecahedron and kicks itself into high gear. Our heroes find themselves along for the ride on a faster-than-light journey: destination unknown.
(By the way, this visually exciting scene was created for the game by none other than Industrial Light and Magic, George Lucas' deservedly famous special effects house.)
As you've probably figured out, this is where the game really gets going. The unwilling travelers find themselves on a world that seems as abandoned as it is alien. This certainly does not make it safe. Booby traps abound, and even if all were clear, the crew will not survive for very long without supplies. They will have to find some way to reverse whatever brought them to this place.
While there seem to be no people around on this world, every now and then it seems that a presence is trying to make itself felt. Evidence is eventually uncovered of the civilization that used to make this world its home, and their ambitious plans to achieve immortality. But what happened to this race, and are they really completely gone?
Meanwhile, Ludger begins to collapse under the stress of the situation. He becomes obsessive about stockpiling as many artifacts as he possibly can. After all, these objects are absolutely one of a kind, and will be worth untold fortunes if he can just get them back to Earth. This greedy perspective can't help but harm his relationship with Maggie and Boston, and as he becomes more and more paranoid, he actually starts to believe that he would do better on his own. The truth, of course, is that none of these explorers will survive without each other.
This is certainly a departure from the typical LucasArts game, which is usually either whimsical or more fantastic in its science fiction setting. The Dig is primarily a character-driven story, with just a little near-futurism thrown in for good measure. The main characters will not have the benefit of teleporters or death rays, and yet they must survive in a thoroughly unfamiliar environment. While Sean Clark is doing a great deal of the writing, he is in constant communication with Spielberg to maintain the original vision. Also, a great deal of the dialog is being written by Hugo and Nebula Award winning author, Orson Scott Card. The musical score is inspired by the leitmotif-ridden style of Richard Wagner.
This is a big project for LucasArts. There are several related products that will be released simultaneously with the game, including a novelization published by Warner Books, an audio drama and a CD soundtrack published by PolyGram. While this is the first time a computer game has been marketed in quite this fashion, it also recalls the tremendous blitz of merchandise that accompanied Lucas' Star Wars. That was the first film to spawn such a huge variety of merchandise, and it was far from the last.
The Dig will certainly be a novelty in the adventure game world. While there will be puzzles galore, they will be carefully tied to the plot events. Everything is driven by the story, which is, after all, what started it all. Amazing.
