Here is an example story I've finished writing into the doc, btw arcs are at the very bottom.
Your Name: Qwerty
Ship: Pyramidion
Nationality: Not sure, maybe anglean raiders?
Girl Description: Tough girl obviously, not bitchy and violent as would be the stereotype, more just calculating and distant, careful about her actions, think SHE might actually be the captain of the ship, the player just being a gunner or engineer.
Narrative Summary: While of course there will be a romance arc to this tale, I think the narrative needs to focus on the stupidity of war, how it got the world to this state allready and yet we continue, killing those who could be friends etc etc.
Arcs:
Arc 1: Intro arc (yet to be worked out)
Arc 2: The player accompanies the girl to a military academy of some form, training to join the factions army. This should be a fairly upbeat arc about learning to follow orders, operate a ship during war, and forming connections with the ships crew. Maybe a rivalry would help here but it might be a bit stereotypical. Late in this arc the ‘romantic’ feelings begin on the players side, however they are not reciprocated by the girl.
Arc 3: The player enters the first engagements and quickly discovers that war is not a glorious thing. Between various fights that come from questionable orders, there is a lot of discussions between the crew about the stupidity of this war, how it got the world to where it is now, how they are killing mothers and fathers for the sake of land, or leadership. This arc gets depressing, the character should start feeling like a monster.
Romance begins in this arc, the player and the girl taking refuge from the horror of their actions in each other. It is not a ‘beautiful’ romance, rather an escape from reality for the two of them. Their relationship slowly builds over the duration of this arc however.
Arc 4: This arc is meant to make the player feel tired. The characters are drained from their experiences, and even the players romance holds little joy any more. At this point I envision 2 endings, influenced by the characters choices in the game. The characters go on a final mission, if bad choices are made the player is shot out of the sky in is forgotten amidst the sea of war. If good choices are made, the player and his crew retire, maybe starting a bar or business, scared by war it is implied/stated it will not be easy to re-adjust. The characters have eachother however, and the ending should feel bittersweet.
Additional Notes: Themes; Loss, adaption, war, death, horrors of war, escape from reality, depression, remption, hope
